leaving korea

Well I'm coming home in two days and I have to say, overall I had a good trip. I suppose the highlights are seeing my relatives, especially my grandparents who are getting very old and all the shopping!
I had a realization the other day about Seoul. I was in a taxi driving along the Han river (which runs through the middle of the city) at night and I could see highrise after highrise of appartments. They looked like they'd never end and the lights from the windows seemed to form a vast, sparkling ocean punctuated every so often with floating red neon crosses (there are tons of churches in Korea). It felt like I was riding through a surreal dream about a metropolis where, if you had the money, you could get whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. It was the manifestation of the capitalist ideal; everyone trades and gets what they want as the standard of living rises. We are living in a dream world of ease and contentment, insulated from the harsh reality of poverty most of the world lives in. In Seoul, you are surrounded by beautiful people, awe-inspiring architecture, magical technology and markets selling nearly everything you could want until 4 in the morning. It's a beautiful dream but so detached from reality. We are in constant slumber and it's hard to wake up from a good dream. Somewhere amongst the innumerable condos the collective spirit of Korea is sleeping but nearly ready to wake up. Despite the materialism, Koreans can be very spiritual and I think God's light is stirring up awareness of our spiritual poverty. I sense God is doing some great things in Korea and I can't wait to see the transformation!
I think that may have sounded cheesy but I get like that sometimes. It's such a contrast from how I used to see Korea. I felt confounded when I tried to understand the Korean way of life and only saw the superficial side of things and hated it.
Anyways, I've totally shopped myself out and miss hanging out with my friends so I'm glad to leave but who knows, I might end up back here again soon.
I took tons of photos so some of them will be posted soon, including pics of me as a typical Korean pretty lady!