Faster than a speeding bullet...more powerful than a locomotive... It's the bullet train!!

The choir is currently zooming through South Korea at 300mph on a bullet train. The train has lulled many choir members to sleep, so we're obviously taking this opportunity to catch up on must needed rest.

Our hotel last night was very interesting, and a little tricky to figure out at first!! The biggest problem seemed to be in turning on the lights!! The technology here is really fascinating - you have to put your room key in a slot and LEAVE IT there in order to be able to turn on the other lights, there's a thermostat for the hot water, and the room security system has a screen so that you can see who is outside of your room!!

We were like a new choir this morning after we slept well, showered, and had a big breakfast!! Its amazing what the essentials to life can do to a person! Jet lag was not an issue since we could sleep as soon as we got back. The morning started out splendidly and we took a brief driving tour of parts of Seoul on our way to our first official stop in Korea!

We visited the Gyeongbokgung palace today and were able to have our first taste of Korean culture with a Brief tour over the grounds. The palace was burnt in a Japanese invasion, rebuilt, and in use until the 1980s or so (I think, but don't quote me on that.) we learned about the mountains around the palace which were named for creatures like the tiger, dragon, and phoenix, as well as about the placement of dragons within the palace itself. The courtyard stones were arranged with crevices and with a slope so that when it rains, there is almost a waterfall effect as it flows down from the palace to the drains

Some of the choir members were approached and asked for pictures by the Koreans. Some others followed us around with video cameras... As we were being collected, Matt Ostlund yelled something like "come on Concordia we're moving!!" and a big group of school children all said "hello Concordia!" and waved at us!

After the tour we rode over to the Seoul train station where many exchanged currency, grabbed some lunch (mostly at McDonalds, Burger King, and KFC... Go figure) and spent some time exploring Korean shopping options!

Right now, we're about 30 minutes from our destination. Tonight we will be going to a church to rehearse, sing, and have dinner. More to come tonight, with more pictures!! The attached one is a view from the train.