Why'd You Leave This Place?

Wake up to the sound of your fleeting heart
Wake up to the sound of your fleeting heart
When you go, what you leave is a work of art
On my chest, on my heart

 She went out to the hay in the morning grace
She went out and got lost in a tall hedge maze
Where'd you go? Where'd you go? Why'd you leave this place?
On my heart, on my face

And my love is yours but your love's not mine
So I'll go but we know I'll see you down the line
And we'll hate what we've lost but we'll love what we find
And I'm feeling fine, we've made it to the coastline

Ooh, ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh ooh ooh

Past all the signs of the slow decline
Live like your love wasn't meant for mine
Now you've gone, now you've gone to a different life
Til the loneliest side

At the beautiful town of Annandale.

I particularly like this shot-looking down the alleyway, you can see even the white van has print in Korean.

You know, I guess I can see why the non-Korean residents don't like the Hangul, but if it weren't for the Hangul I never would've visited and stimulated the economy. :P. Loved this place!!!

Best picture! Loved the pretty hanboks in the windows. ^^

I spy Karaoke. ^^

The Korean supermarket. The place was HUGE, and a little hard to navigate. There were so many people inside. I heard a lot of Korean being spoken, and was surprised to discover that I can understand it better in real-life conversations than in a drama! Amazing! Though I wish I would've worked up the courage to actually try speaking myself...

It was really quite amazing. Annandale, that is. It is called Koreatown by some, though a lot of non-Korean residents take offense at being 'doomed', I suppose, to living in Korea-in-the-US. I think it's awesome! We have these places in LA and NYC, but I didn't think there was one anywhere near where I live, so I'm extremely happy! ^^
 There were so many Korean signs that I couldn't read them all fast enough. I just took lots of pictures from our car, and tried not to grin like a total maniac. At one point I thought to myself; 'It's impossible to look like a lost, confused, unenlightened tourist anymore. I know exactly where I am, I'm extremely happy, and I can read everything...'
 I also saw a lot of really neat stuff at the H Market, but the pictures are still on my phone...>.>

 Another cool note-the county of Fairfax is where Micky Yoochun, a Korean singer, lived for 6 or so years! ^^ I didn't realize where I was until I saw a sign that said 'Fairfax Methodist Church', and then I found everything about the trip extremely funny. XD


The next day we headed out to a German Market (to please my poor father who had endured much for the past day, and needed a break). These are pictures as we drove down Route 7 toward Columbia Pike/Annandale (yes...we were so close, yet again! I felt bad we couldn't go back). Some of these were pictures my siblings wanted me to take. ^^

Cute bookstore!!!

Love the angle. There were so many different colored awnings.

This was some sort-of Italian business. The building was gorgeous.

 I sadly didn't get any pictures of the German Market (I forgot my phone in the car, I believe...), but we got some tasty Haribo gummies there (kinds I had never seen before), and I got to try pickled Herring (the stuff is amazing), and authentic Curry-Ketchup (much better than what we make at home). There were some of the most BEAUTIFUL desserts in there; one of the highlights of European food is that the desserts are always prepared so prettily.
 Dad got to speak German with some of the shoppers. The store has been here in some form or another for 50 years! It was well-stocked with things that peaked my curiosity. The only depressing part? I couldn't understand any of the names or labels. :P

On our way back from dropping Avery off, I slept for an hour during a rainstorm. Afterwards, there was this beautiful cloud on the horizon.

It rained again after that. I took this picture of the sun, the mountain, and the rain. Soooo pretty. And then I fell asleep again for another hour. XD

As you have probably now guessed, I spent a lot of time sleeping on our way home, and a lot of time awake last night. :P Seriously, though extremely painful at certain times (headache, loss of a very precious anklet, and neck cramps from looking back at the kids to keep them occupied), and unbearably noisy (I hate giving bribes, but the children were told if they couldn't keep quite for five minutes, they wouldn't get any more Haribo gummies or Olive Garden mints XD. And lets not forget the times I had a temper-flare-up from lack of sleep and frustration at noise), it was still pretty nice. For a mini-vacation/weekend-trip. ^^

-Argentia