Hyundai ship yards, Seoul and Closing Banquet

Monday we visited the Hyundai heavy industries building and took a tour through the shipyards. I have never seen anything like it! The ships, facilities, cranes and dry docks are immense and go on for miles. We were not allowed to take pictures, but it was truly amazing. They are planning a future city that floats on the water, they have ships that drill, refine, and process oil in service now, and they manufacture massive ships in huge numbers. Some of the things looked more like the Jetsons than reality, hey where is my flying car?! We returned to Gyongju and had a traditional lunch, we sat on the floor and they delivered the tables with the food on them to us! Let's see you try that at Pei Wei, Gil! Then we were on the road for Seoul. Our bus stalled on a hill about an hour out of the city. We pulled over and I was contemplating whether we would all fit in the other bus, when we would get our luggage, and how hot we would get how fast when suddenly the driver jumped aboard and started the engine. Amazing! We stopped at two of the very large rest areas with more types of fried food than should be allowed in one spot. I really enjoyed walking around both of these, but alas, no minah birds this time. Beth said she saw storage for your dogs, like luggage storage, but with a cage front so you don't have to lock your dog in the car. Not a bad idea really! That evening we had pizza at Spannow's again and then this morning we had until 2:00 pm to venture about in the city. We headed for the department store again, Lotte Mart. It did not open for an hour, but we sampled Krispy Kreme and waited. A few minutes before opening men in dress suits came and stood on the inner side of the outermost doors, women in uniforms with hats and gloves waited near the open inner doors. Just before 10:30 the girls bowed at those of us waiting outside, then at exactly 10:30 the men opened the doors and let us in, the girls kept bowing and the crowd rushed in, I was a little worried about getting lost in the shoppers and thought for a moment it was Black Friday, but it was just another day at Lotte Mart's Premium Sale. We ventured as far as the depths of the food area, which was amazing. The little restaurant stands were still preparing stuffed breads and rice cakes and things on sticks that were fried. Then Beth and I wandered a bit and went as far up as the 10th floor (there are 13, I believe) and headed back down for the walk back to the hotel. I stopped in Nomdemun market for a new suitcase as I ran out of room. Imagine, me shopping?! At 2 we met to go to the University where we filled out evaluations, chatted with Professor Kim and the at 5:30 had a graduation ceremony. I think my certificate from this is nicer than my Master's Degree paper. We came back to the hotel for a ceremonial dinner, a lot of fun, especially the video and then out to walk around some more. We walked down to the stream where we went on the day we ate at Bennigans, then around back by City Hall where they installed sod today, and on to Hagen Das for ice cream. Of course I had green tea. Back at the hotel I repacked my bags for about the 5th time today and Lynn and Beth helped me weigh them. I hope I am not over the weight limit tomorrow. We head back in the morning, will need to leave for the airport around 8:30 in the morning for a flight at noon. We will arrive 15 hours later for us, but only about 5 hours later by the clock, so I hope to sleep. I am sure I won't get the cush seat that I had last time, darn. I have really enjoyed the friendships I have made here and the enormous amount of learning and fun that I had, I hope many more people will get to experience Korea this way! I will edit this and perhaps post some pictures later.