Korea - bookstore, Jon driving, + ..food !

This was a major driving day for Jon!   I'm sure he's exhausted.  In Seoul, density of 42,000
people per sq.mile, and maybe a quarter as many cars, Jon made three major trips into and out
of the downtown area !     Main part of Seoul is 10-million,  metro area is 25-million.
We all left in the morning to drop off Salli in Itaewon for a business meeting.   Jon and I
continued on to the Kyobo Bookstore, near the Gyeongbokgung Palace and many countries'
embassies.   The palace was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, built in 1395.

This was the view from the front seat :

What a bookstore!   Jon pointed me to the 'Foreign Books' section.

I used their wifi to send an e-mail suggesting a couple of books to Ruth Ann.   Salli called

Jon when her meeting was finished.   We drove over and picked her up for lunch.

We ate 'pho' (soup) and spring rolls at a Vietnamese restaurant named "Bun Cha Ra Boom".

Jon then had to drive us back home to drop Salli and I off before heading back into town

for a meeting.   It was exhausting just watching Jon maneuvering through traffic, so I

took a nap while Salli did some work on her computer.     Jon drove back home and 

picked us up to go back to the palace area for dinner, through rush-hour traffic !

We had dinner at "Tosokchon", who specializes in 'Samgye-tang', Korean ginseng

chicken soup .. yummmmy!

Then, of course, Jon had to drive us back home!   What a driving day for Jon !

As you can imagine, from seeing movies or programs about driving in large cities,

changing six lanes in 200 meters is done quite a bit!    Nudge your front end over and

try to squeeze in, and put your hazard lights on briefly .. saying 'sorry' and 'thank you'.

EVERYONE is doing this, including monster-sized busses!    

Here's a night-time picture of Namsan Tower on our way back home :

Jon and I discussed a book that he enjoyed, 'Outliers'- The Story of Success, by

Malcolm Gladwell.    He said .. "Dad, just read the 1st paragraph in Chapter-1."

"One warm, spring day in May of 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers and the

Vancouver Giants met for the Memorial Cup hockey championship in Vancouver,

British Columbia.   The Tigers and the Giants were the two finest teams in the

Canadian Hockey League, which in turn is the finest junior hockey league in the

world.  These were the future stars of the sport - seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen

year olds who had been skating and shooting pucks since they were barely more than

toddlers".      He goes on to talk about how these boys became so good.   He says

this book is about 'outliers', about men and women who do things that are out of 

the ordinary.   The author includes the roster of the Medicine Hat Tigers, and asks the

reader to take a close look and see if they can spot anything strange about it.

A Canadian psychologist first drew attention to the phenomenon of .. relative age.

Seventeen of the twenty-five players were born in Jan., Feb., Mar., or April.

They looked at all-star teams of 11-year-olds and 13-year-olds, ..and.. the

composition of the NHL, .. same pattern!!   Whoa!  I'll have to check the Winterhawks!

Sorry .. didn't mean to weird you out.

Coming up - dinner with Salli's parents and sister and .. packing for Okinawa.

Take care.