The nastiest Korean motel.

After getting only two hours of sleep Friday night, I could barely keep myself awake for salsa dancing Saturday night in Seoul. I had been planning this for weeks and there I was, hardly able to move. Though I took the dance lesson and had a great time, I had barely enough energy to do just one dance with John once the real party started. It was only 10 pm. (Sorry John for being such a party pooper... I know you wanted to dance more.)

I did, however, last until midnight when Courtney joined me in persuading Ceri and John to leave with us and check into the motel. Ceri and John have apparently been staying at some motel in Insadong regularly when they come to Seoul every weekend and arranged for all of us to stay there. They assured us it was nice. Oh, how disappointing it truly was.

We showed up to find that Courtney and I weren't sharing a bed but rather the floor (most Koreans sleep on a thin floor pad) in a truly disgusting room. The bathroom smelled like pee, was super moldy, there were mosquitoes flying around in there, and we didn't even have real pillows--we had these weird neck rolls filled with wood chips. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and it wasn't just because we were on the floor... It was raining hard all night and into the morning, dripping from the roof onto some type of tin outside our window. Then, around 6 am when Courtney got up to use the bathroom, she turned on the bathroom light and the tv came on as well--and wouldn't turn off... About a half hour later when we finally got the tv off and the room halfway silent again, two people started fighting in the hall, slamming doors and screaming at each other. By the time 8 o'clock rolled around, we were out of there. But the horrors don't stop there... When I got home and showered last night, I found that I had weird bug bites all over my arm and a splotchy rash forming as well. Who knows what I picked up on that nasty floor pad... Ewe. Ewe, ewe, ewe... I feel like I could bathe myself in hydro cortisone cream right now...

And as a result of my two sleepless nights, I slept a full 12 hours last night. Twelve hours... That is a ridiculously long time for me... And I'll probably sleep more today (my classes have been cancelled for the entire week which means I have unlimited access to the female teachers' lounge, which conveniently has a bed).

And that means I have loads of time to blog! Hope you're ready!!