Downtown Seoul

---

Seoul is the 11th largest city in the world. Beaten in the states by NYC and LA. 12 million people.

Yesterday I took a self-guided walking tour (they have them in my guidebook) and saw a fraction of the central part. As much ground as I covered, it's amazing how little I actually saw, but what I did see was very cool.


Bosin-gak, a pavilion with a bell forged in 1468.



This street was subtitled "Piano Key Boardwalk". Bet you can't guess why.

As to the other "why", I don't know.



Cheonggye stream - a canal built through the downtown area. The equivalent of $313 million, to "restore" the urban core and make it prettier. I say it worked, but part of me can't help but think, "seriously?"



But the spray of the waterfall/fountain was very welcome in all the humidity.



What I love about Seoul is that you can turn a corner and just stumble across something like this; maybe you have no idea what it means, but it's cool. Also that a small, seemingly-untouched-by-civilization mountain is the centerpiece for this ginormous city. Remember the giant syringe from my earlier entry? That's the N'Seoul tower in the background here.



Namdaemun market. Kiosks with fancy clothes stood back to back with tables of cooked or maybe-not-so-cooked-octapi, which were next to Korean souvenirs, next to handbag shops, which were next to



roots in jars, of which I snapped a picture and ran (or walked quickly, there wasn't a lot of space) before the lady could yell at me. Why do they have this? I think to eat, but I don't know for sure. There were also eels in buckets, but I got a picture of those at the other market so I didn't stop this time.

I may have said this before, but Korean salespeople are aggressive. Some will stand in front of a store, speaking on a microphone, some will even grab people's arms as they walk by. That's a huge advantage to being an obvious foreigner: they tended to ignore me out of the (true) assumption that I had no clue what they were saying. You could always tell which ones spoke English - or even knew a little - because they would shout "hello!" when they saw me.

Just outside this market, I had lunch at a little traditional place. The ladies running it were very friendly, and because it was late I was the only one in there, We spent a good chunk of time teaching each other phrases in Korean or English. I now know the proper way to say "no meat, please," and they can say "vegetarian" - or something like it. It's possible they are two of about ten people in Seoul who know that word.

I can also say "spicy" and "delicious."

There is an element of sadism in the fact that "I don't understand" is extremely difficult for Americans to say in Korean.



Northern Seoul from partway up Namsan, Seoul's centerpiece mountain. Actually, this is just a tiny part of Northern Seoul; for the whole (or half) panorama, see the video. I repeat that this city is huge.

I hiked (actually I took the stairs, which they seem to adore here) up to the N'Seoul tower to see the city. It was exhausting, but totally worth it.



There's a terrace with a fence at the base of the tower. Why is it covered in locks? If I knew enough Korean, I would have asked, but even then I probably wouldn't have been able to understand the answer. All I know is that there were signs, subbed in English, saying "Do not throw your key away!" and they sold locks in a nearby kiosk.

Up in the tower, there's a 360 degree view, and on each section of the window they've written major cities and countries that you're facing. It was pretty cool, waving to everyone I knew from thousands of miles away.























Hello to Aunt Wendy, Uncle Kelly, Courtney and Matthew!



























Hello to Uncle Eric, Aunt Karen, Jack and Katie, Julie (if you read this), Kim (same), and anyone else I know in the West or Midwest.












































Hello to: mom, dad, Ben, Kristen, Abby, most of my extended family, Rutlanders, current Hamiltonians, many Hamilton alumni, Sarah G. and anyone else I might have missed.











































Hello to Naja and Jenn!


















































Hello to people from UEA and Camp!

















































Back at the bottom of Namsan Park.

---

Comments

[Abby]

Hi back! It's cool that you talk to people you don't know randomly in stores. Cool pictures!