Who would have thought. I just celebrated New years 2006 in Seoul, korea! right downtown in the middle of it all. i've never seen so many fireworks in one place in my life! Candice and I heard the bell ring...barely in the middle of it all. the bell is a huge traditional bell that they used to ring everyday to open and close the city gates at morning and night. now they just do it once a year. yay! everyone had roman candles and were letting them off in the street. 4 for 3000 won. you hold them up and light them and 30 go off in the street! there were people in drumming circles dancing and drumming. they looked so happy. they were dressed in white and blue and red in a traditional korean way, and some were waving huge flags.
we got to a solid line of police crossing the entire street about 4 people wide. that was a sight to see. they surroundeed the whole pavilion and circle where the bell was housed. there was a concert going on there too. the place got so crowded that you felt like a fish in a sardine can or somethign. human sandwich! quite an amazing feeling actually. you just go with the flow or you could be in trouble.
one moment before the countdown was when they played the korean anthem, and people started singing it. wow. and then the count down...!!! and i counted down with them all in korean! ship....o, ..., sam, il, i!!!!!!!!!! that was fun! and memorable....
so afterwards was the 'fun' part....all of a sudden we started getting pushed from every side...and then everyone was BEING moved, and you just float.....so we FINALLY moved through the crowd...and now...here we are..in a pc bang. and it's 'peaceful'. man, being here in seoul has been an eyeopener for me. i've never been where there are so many people in my life. seas and masses of people. lineups for subways 20 people wide or so. it just blows my mind. you just take every part for what it is...and go with the flow. where do i start describing that?
well, the saddest part of this new years is missing the important people that i love in my life, and i think about them all so much. One very important person i just found out about, and that's the news that my wonderful Grandma Orlo passed away the other day, and i just found out about it... I'm glad that she's gone and not in pain now. So sad taht I cant be there....and so happy that i phoned her last week. I will always remember her sweet voice, and all the happy moments i had with her, few as they were. And since most people say that i resemble her, i will try my best to live some of that because of her. she was always so pretty and sweet and fun. Its hard to comprehend that she's gone. Two Grandmas in a few months...and now one Grandpaw. life is trange sometimes....no, all the time. i'm so glad that i know that i will see her again one day...that i have that hope.
so...now i have the dilemma of what to do now. Candice and i are planning on going to sleep at a sauna. the saunas here have sleeping rooms and almost all of them are open 24 hours. i'm so addicted to them...i dont know what i'll do when i go back to canada! They'll be one of the things i will miss the most....and now i'm sooo understanding of why the Asian people do what they do....like always at the sauna or rec centres in canada! it's all coming together!
well, i should sign off for now.....so much to tell...and i really do have to keep up with my blog more often. well, i've got the chrismas holidays to blame for that!
best wishes everyone!
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