Seoul!

The Korean Folk Village in front and Seoul city skyscrapers behind

My 4 days in Seoul was an eclectic mesh of traditional Korean experiences and ultra-Western-urban fun. Each of the dozens of districts is unique with a very distinctive personality, a lot of which reminded me of New York. The first night we stayed in Itaewon, a very foreigner- friendly area. The US Army base is nearby so there were literally hundreds of foreigners here and lots of western-style restaurants and bars. It was overwhelming seeing so many foreigners (especially Africans and African-Americans)! We only stayed there 1 night in a little "love motel", tiny, cheap motels all over the city. Wednesday, the day I arrived, we ate "kebabs" for lunch. You have to understand what a novelty it is for me to eat foreign food! Everything on Jeju is either Korean or American (few and far between at that).

Wednesday we headed straight to a Traditional Korean Folk Village called Nam-san-gol. Then we went to one of the ancient palaces (there are 3 or 4 in Seoul) and wandered around the beautiful buildings and pagodas. The weather was in our favor for the first 2 days and it was pleasant to walk around the city. Thursday we took the subway to Nam-dae-mun and Jennis and I walked around the big market for a while. Then we met John in Yeo-i-do which is on the Han River. I didn't like Yeo-i-do too much because it's mostly skyscrapers and men in business suits. We went to In-sa-dong next and met up with a Korean friend of mine named So Jeong. In-sa-dong is also a touristy area and the streets are lined with shops selling traditional Korean goods and street vendors. I was feeling touristy and enjoyed patronizing these eclectic stores. We checked out Gang-nam next, a Times Square-esque district with expensive designer shops, bars, and restaurants. About 1am we headed back to Nam-dae-mun, found a motel, and then John, Jennis and I decided to climb up Nam-san to the Seoul tower. The views of the city were breathtaking, as was the weather which plummeted to about -10 degrees C that night. Brrr!

Friday we had breakfast in Nam-dae-mun market - delicious steamed dumplings filled with red bean paste, vegetables, or potatoes - and then took the subway out to Buk-an-san. There are many mountains ("san"s) surrounding Seoul city. This one was in a small town that was made up to be a "mountain town" like you'd see at home or in a little Alpine village. John and I hiked part of the way up Buk-an-san to beautiful vistas of Seoul and the surrounding mountains. It was too cold to go to the top (still about -12 degrees C) so we headed into a Buddhist Temple on the way back and then took a cab the rest of the way down. We met up with some Korean friends that night and hung out in a really chill American style dive bar in Hong-dae, a university district in the center of Seoul. Saturday the streets were covered in snow so I mostly hung out indoors, but I did manage to find Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, which I've been craving for a few months. Yay for international food! The weather was really bad in Jeju, but my plane made it safely home and now I'm enjoying a few quiet days before I going back to school on Monday.

I took many random pictures in Seoul so here are some of the highlights:

Itaewon just off the subway...Quiznos and Cold Stone!! Am I still in Korea?

John & Jennis in a cave-deco subway tunnel

An ancient Pagoda at the Geongbokgung Palace

Traditionally dressed guards in front of the palace

Carved Totems

John, Young Su, and Jennis at Gecko's in Itaewon (pronounced ee-tay-wahn)

Nam-dae-mun Market

In front of the Han River in Yeoido (Yo-ee-do)

Starbucks (they're everywhere in Seoul) in Korean writing (Suh-ta-bok-suh koh-pee)

A designer shop in Gang-nam

On the street in Gang-nam, reminded me of Times Square

The city view from Nam-san

Seoul Tower

Jennis and I sharing fresh strawberry juice

The hike up Buk-an-san...it was COLD!!

Buk-an-san peak

Hong-dae (Hongik University District) in the snow

One of the fun sights in Hong-dae

Just another week

The uneventfulness of this week has led me think about other things for my weekly blog post... things I haven't yet mentioned that are part of the reality of living in Korea.

Going out alone is taboo. Even going to a coffee shop alone is different than that experience in America. I frequently go to coffee shops alone to kill time in the city or relax and I have almost never seen a Korean sitting by themselves. Going to a restaurant or bar alone, though is really taboo. I sometimes go to Kim-bap Heaven (김밥창국), the "fast-food" ramen shop, alone when I'm in the city and even then I get funny looks when I dine solo. A lot of places don't make meals for one, everything is family style and served in a large platter, grill, or bowl.

Hanbok Ladies in the grocery store Lunar New Year is coming up and the Hanbok Ladies are back! Korean holidays usually entail people spending time with thier families and bringing eachother pre-packaged gift sets. For this, women working in stores dress up in traditional Korean dresses (Hanbok-see picture below) and stand in the aisles with specially wrapped packages of food, oils, wine, cookies, rice cakes, Spam, etc, and yell out their item and price for hours. This is most common in large supermarkets (E Mart, Lotte Mart) where there are aisles and aisles of these packages beautifully packaged and ready for gifting.



Shoes Indoors: When you go inside in Korea you take off your shoes. When you get to school in the morning, you change your shoes for indoor "slippers" (sandals). When you get home you take off your shoes in the entry way. And at restaurants, if you're eating on low tables sitting on the floor you take off your shoes. If you sit a regular tables with chairs you (typically) leave your shoes on.

Baking Cakes My friend Sinnae asked me the other day if I've ever baked a cake. Of course, growing up with an oven, I said yes. She said she's never baked a cake. Never! She's probably never baked anything! Oven's are not standard in Korea so most people my age have never used them. We're attending a "cake-making class" next month at the local YWCA where she will bake her first chocolate cake. It'll be fun to be a part of her inaugural baking experience. However...people often give cakes from bakeries as gifts and signs of appreciation. I taught a teacher's son this week at camp and the teacher just came into my classroom with 2 sponge cakes for my co-teacher and I to say thanks. Or if you go to a friend's performance or celebration, you might bring a cake from a bakery instead of (or in addition to) flowers.



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It wasn't really an uneventful week. There was a crazy snowstorm for about a week, I had 4 days of really fun English Camp at my school, I just completed a "cleanse", weekly yoga classes, temple visits, and Korean conversation lessons continued, and now I'm officially on vacation until Feb 2nd. Woohoo! Made it! I'm planning another hike up Mt. Halla next week; other than that vacation plans are null. I might head to Seoul with John, but I'm really gonna take it easy and catch up on studying Korean. Waiting out this cold weather...

Hallasan in the snow

Yesterday I hiked to the top of Mt. Halla for the 2nd time. The day was strikingly beautiful. My companions were John, Jason (should both be familiar names by now) and Jessie, a friend of Jason's and our host from Christmas dinner if you recall. I just couldn't choose which pictures to post...there's a lot. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

The morning started out pretty gray with clouds...

Beautiful snow covered trees...and John

White sky, white trees

Be careful!

Jason & Jessie...the trail is still pretty flat here for the first 2-3km

The sky starts to lighten as the sun comes through...

Blue sky! Beautiful day!

These look like truffula trees from The Lorax by Dr. Suess. They were really fluffy and white

One of the many "you are here" signs. We were about 1.5km from the point you have to get to by noon. We got there at 12:06 and my friends talked our way through.

The cloud line as we got past the trees

The vistas on Gwaneumsa Trail are pretty incredible

Trees on the mountainside across from the trail

A bit slick! There were many places people were sliding instead of hiking.

The cramp-on spikes we wore so as not to slip and slide

The crater covered in snow and ice

Jason made killer Italian Chicken and Curried Beef sandwiches for lunch. We were all grateful after the long hike up.

The snow formations at the top were pretty incredible

Jason carried this sled (home-made from a suitcase and leftover building materials) all the way up the mountain. He sledded a good chunk of the way down. It was pretty fun!

One of the many incredible viewpoints from the trail
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New Years Eve: I actually dressed up and wore make-up! Can't remember the last time...

Lana my friend & co-yoga instructor and yes, we are both standing up straight

John & I having fun as usual