I am Soo Jeong

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Ashley and I went to university together. We were in the same program and had lots of our classes together. We weren't exactly the best of friends, but we got along really well and got to be better and better friends over time. When it turned out that she was going to be living in Seoul around the same that I was traveling through Asia, I figured I really had no excuse to not go and visit her. The flight from Bangkok to Incheon took about 5 hours and I slept through most of it. Getting to Ashley's apartment was easy but took a long time. Lucky for me I met a really nice Canadian man who's lived in Seoul for 13 years and speaks fluent Korean and he took care of me, all the way from Incheon airport to Nowon, Ashley's suburb. Ashley is teaching english to kindergarten and elementary kids at a private language school so she wasn't home when I got there, but she had left the door unlocked for me. I slept until she came home from lunch and I met Erin, her room mate, and we ate lunch together. I got to shadow Ashley in her classes that afternoon (I was really curious to see what this whole English teaching thing was all about) and they took me for dinner at a Korean barbeque restaurant, which was fantastic. We also tried 'Dr. Fish', which is a cafe that has tubs of little fish in the back that you put your feet into. The idea is that they eat the dead skin and you leave feeling nice and fresh. I hated it - its so uncomfortable. It's really nice to see a friend's face and stay put for a little while though. I only wanted to come to Seoul to visit Ashley, so I'm not going to be doing too much traveling around.

I slept through the first two days - apparently traveling around with dad had really tuckered me out. The next few days I visited the Korean War Museum and Memorial and Seodaemun Prison, the Japanese concentration prison. Touristing in Seoul isn't easy because there are very very few people who speak English. The streets don't have names either, so my map is basically useless. In the museums not all the signs have been translated and most of the time the only thing written in English is the title and all the descriptive information is written in Korean. But everyone is friendly and I'm pretty good at figuring my way around. That friday Ashley collected a group of their friends to go to Noraebong (Korean's karaoke) so that I could meet them all. Some of Ashley's friends are really wonderful. Everyone met at their apartment and we went down to the centre of Nowon where all the bars are - No Block, followed by Volume (a dance club), followed by singing until 4 in the morning. They have lots of Korean friends too, so half the songs are Korean and the other half are Western. It makes for an interesting night.

Young Jin, one of their Korean friends, invited me that night to go with him to his aunt's wedding. Ashley thought it sounded fun so she invited herself along too. Saturday we dressed up as best as we could and met Young Jin at the other end of town for the wedding. The ceremony was surprisingly Western - the bride had a white dress and the groom had a tux - but some of the wedding party was wearing traditional outfits. The ceremony was short and then we had lunch, which was traditional and delicious. There was no party or dancing or anything like that afterwards. In total is lasted a little over 2 hours and then everyone went home. Young Jin cam back with us to Nowon and more people came over to go out to the bars again but Ashley and I were too tired so we waited until they all left and then crashed into bed.

Sunday I dragged Ashley along with me to the Korean Folk Village at the other end of town. They had old cottages and noble buildings and people were walking around dressed in traditional outfits and doing traditional tasks. It was interesting, but the weather in Seoul is cold so we didn't stay long since its all outdoors. One of her student's had invited all of us her ballet recital, so we met Erin there and when we asked the security guard where the performance was he pointed out that it was the day before and we had missed it completely. That was a disappointment.

My second week in Seoul I was determined to do some more touristy things. Monday was Ashley and Erin's school's kindergarten graduation so I went along to watch and help out. The kids did skits and songs and were given diplomas by the director of the school. The parents were so proud. The next two days I spend with Weston, one of their friends. He was between jobs and offered to go along with me to some sights, so in two days we visited Changdeokgung (Palace of Illustrious Virtue) walked around Insadog, saw the Comfort Women Protest outside the Japanese embassy, Myeong-Dong, and Gyeonbokgung (Palace of Shining Happiness). Friday I was set up on a blind tourist date with a guy named Rob who was visiting Ashley's friend Ses from Hong Kong for the weekend. Ses was working during the day and she and Erin figured that he could come along with me to the National Museum of Seoul. It was a little odd, but it turned out that he was a lot of fun and we had a good time.

That weekend Ashley and I went to the DMZ on Saturday near the North Korean border. We took a tour run by the USO. We had to be awake at 5:30am and leave at 6:00am to get to the USO office by 7:00am to check in. The USO runs the best tours because they're the only ones that actually to into the military grounds occupied by forces from both the north and south. Throughout the tour we get to see the UN offices, the site of the 1976 axe murder, the bridge of no-return, the Propaganda village and the North Korean forces. We also saw the Third Tunnel of Infiltration after leaving the army base. I wasn't nervous about the idea of going there but once we got there and heard all the rules and saw the soldiers and signed our lives away, it felt a little more intense. But it was a fascinating experience, even though our Korean friends who served their military time at the DMZ said it would be boring. We had a nap once we got home and spent the night with friends at 2 bars and more noraebong.

Sunday we went to a traditional tea shop because I was desperate to do it. Erin and Ashley came with me, and Weston and Young Jin came along, as well as another Korean friend named Josh and the girls' co-worker Eileen. I had lotus leaf tea and it was fantastic. The shop was beautiful and smelled fantastic and the cups were incredible, so much so that I went out and bought 3 right after. That was my last weekend in Seoul. Monday and Wednesday before leaving I worked part-time at the school teaching 4 classes a day because they had more kids register than expected and hadn't found a permanent teacher yet. I made some money, and I really liked it - maybe I'm meant to be a teacher... Tuesday, my last tourist day, I went around the markets and did a little last shopping.

Wednesday night I was feeling really generous. I invited Erin and Ashley out for dinner as a thank you for being such gracious hosts to me. We met some people at No Block for a drink and then went to a hookah bar where I invited everyone to the hookah. I got to see most of the people I wanted to before leaving. It makes me sad to leave because I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on the city and making some really good friends. Thursday morning I leave for Japan, my last stop before returning to North America. I want to come back to Seoul to see people, and if I don't find a job back home I will. I'll teach English like everyone else.

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Photos

Dr. Fish
my face tells is all

Korean Folk Village
getting my name translated, but incorrectly

Korean Wedding
the bride and groom on the right, family members in traditional dress on the left

Graduation
kindergarteners in their costumes before the performance

DMZ
guarding the UN flag

Tea shop
Ashley and I drinking our delicious warmth

Comments

[annie the nomad]

Soo Jeong
I should add this comment - I decided that I needed a Korean name, so on my last night I had Young Jin pick one for me. He named me 'Soo Jeong', it means 'crystal' he says. I like it.

[annie the nomad]

Soo Jeong
I should add this comment - I decided that I needed a Korean name, so on my last night I had Young Jin pick one for me. He named me 'Soo Jeong', it means 'crystal' he says. I like it.