From the Future to the Past

Hey everyone!
It has been a beautiful bright day here in Korea. We started bright and early traveling to the samsung central office just outside Seoul. It was amazing to see the headquarters. They are such a wide spread company here in Korea. They own housing complexes, electronics, home appliances, Transportation, insurance and banking. It is crazy to see the growth of such a company.

It was funny, we got there and their sign said "welcome University of Utah" They were really embarassed and changed it quicky. The professors said that the sign gave us license to behave badly if we wanted since we had the U of U name. (Just kidding of course)

We got to see some crazy new products they are developing that havent hit the us market yet! Amazing televisions, sound systems, computers, and appliances that are tens of thousands of dollars now but will hit the market sometime next year. One LCD tv was 100,000 dollars and has to be special ordered before they will start assembling it! It was the most beautiful thing!

After Samsung we went to a traditional Korean place for lunch. Taking off your shoes as you walked in and sitting on the floor. It was fun, but painful. Metal chopsticks arent the easiest form of utensil.

We then went to the Korean Folk Village. It was really cool to see traditional houses and crafts from ancient Korea. There were many young school children who asked for our autograph and picture. Many havent seen foreigners before so it was fun to see their reaction and interaction with us. They learn english at a young age and were practicing phrases.

They had a performance of dance and tight rope walker. It was amazing! It is hot and humid tonight.

Last night was so fun. We went to the 7th largest amusement park in the world, and the largest indoor park in the world. It is called Lotte World. Kind of a cross between Lagoon and Disney Land. It was fun. We went late at night so we couldnt ride too many rides but it was crazy. We are probably going back tomorrow night.

I dont know what the plan is for tonight. I have a bit of a headache so I may just turn in early. I dont know.

It is amazing to see the workings of a country so fundamentally different from the US but is trying to pattern itself after some of our practices.

I was surprised to see familiardesigners like Chanel down to 7-11 and believe it or not....COSTCO! Outback stake house and TGIFridays. Krispy Kreams and Baskin Robbins! We truly live in a globalized world. I feel so far away, but the influence of the US is all around me!

It was a day that started in the future and ended in the past! New cutting edge technology down to ancient Korea. The ways of life that would be extinct without the efforts to preserve the history. It still blows my mind that their history is so deep and rich. They hold on to that with one hand but try so hard to press forward to the future. It is interesting to see how they will balance that in the future. Can they? or will something have to give! I am excited to see!

All my love!