Korea in July

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The first weekend in July, I headed to Seoul to meet up with a new friend. As soon as we arrived in town, we hit the streets of Itaewon. Itaewon is "little America". It even has a Taco Bell, but unfortunately it was closed for the night. We hit a few clubs, did jager bombs and ate a shawarma before heading in the the "night". Since it was nine in the morning when we called it quits, we hit the subway to ride around town. After a afternoon of being a sleep-deprived zombie, we tried to make an appearance on a river-party boat. After a few minutes of being crowded by other people, we got off the boat before it set sail and went home to sleep. Sunday morning, we went Incheon for some amazing seafood. The clam soup with homemade noodles was delicious. We spent the day walking Korea's version of a boardwalk. It was not beautiful, but it was still enjoyable to see a fortune teller and walk in the mud fields. It did take us a few hours to decide we needed to walk in the mud, but we did it!

The following weekend, my student took me around for a very belated birthday present. After visiting an art museum and lunch, we headed to Gwansan sea board. Although it was a very rainy, gloomy day, it was very beautiful. I took a few moments to play in the water and enjoyed my student's story about the seaboard. It is the longest seaboard ever built and is an ecological disaster. The mud fields will be destroyed. It was very creepy to drive across the ocean for over 30 minutes. It was very crowded and appeared to be a major tourist destination.

A friend lives in Hoengcheon, a tiny little village outside of Hadong. We had to take three buses to reach him! Five hours and a beautiful bus trip later, I was ready to sit by the river and talk with friends. Hoengcheon is very quiet and restful. Sitting by the river, I was reminded of similar times in New Zealand. Everything was so green! After it started to rain, we reluctantly headed back. We decided to sing at a karoke room. I have no singing talent, but had so much fun. Nothing like screaming a Rage Against the Machine song and then collapsing into fits of laughter. In the morning, I learned to make tortillas! I have been making Mexican food all week since. My little apartment has been turned into a very small eatery.

For the last weekend in July, my boss and some friends headed to Muju. In the winter, this is a ski town. Muju Resort is fashioned after a town in Austria and feels very European. It didn't feel like Korea at all! After checking out a wine museum, Brad and I hit the go-kart track for some racing. We took a little drive after leaving the resort. Korea was previously three countries. We drove to the a overpass which used to be the only gate and passageway in between two Korean countries. As the day was ending, we stopped at the Pagoda temple. I Buddhist monk spent three years building giant pagodas by himself. We were also rewarded with some great views of a lake. As July is ending, I am looking forward to Jeju Island next week.

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Photos

Walking the Mud Fields
Yuck!

Gateway to a different country
At least in earlier times!