Weekend trip to Seoul

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Seoul is a massive and energetic city. It isn't the kind of energy that you feel in a city like Manhatten, with people walking at a runner's pace and a constant sense of workaholism in the air, but more an energy just from the mass of people that are out and about almost around the clock. It's a leisurely pace of life. There are buildings and skyscrapers everywhere. Bridges connect different parts of the city separated by the Han River and other smaller bodies of waters.

As one of the teachers is ending his tenure this week and two of us are new residents of the country, seven fellow foreign teachers and I traveled to Seoul together this weekend for some sightseeing and fun. We met in front of Avalon at 11:00 AM and took a quick subway ride to Daejeon station (where you can catch the KTX speed train, Korail trains, and buses). From there, we rode the KTX directly to Seoul, approximately a 50 minute train ride - very smooth and with some nice scenery. Top speed was 297 km/hour.

As soon as we entered the Seoul Station terminal, the difference between Seoul and Daejeon became immediately apparent. There were streams of people coming and going and lines to get onto all of the stairs and escalators leading to the city. We grabbed a subway map and followed Gil to the #1 line, which would take us to the hostel that we would be staying in for the night.

Although it was to be my first experience at a hostel, based on what I have seen and heard, I didn't expect much. So, I wasn't disappointed when I was led down two narrow and secluded streets only to arrive at a small building with old furniture out front and handmade signs with the room rates. Later I would come to find that the rooms and service are surprisingly nice. We quickly rented a couple of rooms and were on our way.

Our first stop was the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Wikipedia excerpt on the Palace: The palace was originally constructed in 1394 by King Taejo and "Gyeongbokgung" was named by minister Jeong Do-jeon. Gyeongbokgung was continuously expanded during the reign of King Taejong and King Sejong the Great, but part of the palace was burnt down during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598).

During the regency of Daewon-gun in 1867, the buildings were reconstructed and formed a massive 330-building complex with 5,792 rooms. Standing on 4,414,000 square feet (410,000 square meters) of land, it was a symbol of majesty for the Korean people and the home of the royal family. In 1895, after the assassination of Empress Myeongseong by Japanese agents, her husband, Emperor Gojong left the palace and the imperial family would never return.

In 1911, the government of Japan demolished all but 10 buildings during the period of Japanese occupation, constructing the Japanese General Government Building for the Governor-General of Korea in front of the throne hall. Oddly, the Japanese took many pictures of poverty in Korea, but did not take a single photo of this historic site.

At the end of the Second World War, major buildings on the site included Geunjeongjeon, the Imperial throne room (national treasure number 223), and Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (national treasure number 224), which stands in an artificial lotus lake, resting on 48 granite pillars. The pavilion is depicted on the 10,000 won Korean banknotes.

Many Koreans still hope to reconstruct part of the original palace. Archeological work has brought 330 building foundations to light. However, the original magnificence of the palace may never be fully restored. Fortunately, the main gate to the palace, called Gwanghwamun, is now being restored to its original state, to be completed in 2009.


When we first arrived at the Palace, we were just in time to watch a re-enactment of the traditional royal changing of the guard ceremony. Traditional Korean wardrobes, such as those worn by the guards, are very vibrantly colored and made for comfort. The ceremony consisted of several marching procedures - all in straight lines. On either end of the procession were two guards playing on hour-glass shaped drums, known as janggu. Some guards carried long swords that were slightly bent in the middle, while others carried colorful flags with fraying on the ends that made them blow through the wind very gracefully, with a presence of their own. The ceremony lasted for only about 10 minutes, after which we proceeded through the main entrance to the Palace. But not before I stopped to have Brett take my picture in front of one of the statuesque guards taking post in front of the staircase - I couldn't resist. I should also mention that entry inside was 3,000 won.

Like most Korean architecture, the layout and general design of all of the Palace buildings was very simple. Simple but elegant. The real beauty is in the details of the roofing structures and entryways. Like traditional Korean attire, they also contain a complimentary mixture of bright and bold colors. The numerous stone figures resting along specific locations on the staircases and roofs also contain details worth paying attention to.

The Palace covered a huge amount of land, with several pathways, different sized buildings and pagodas. From what I saw (we couldn't figure out how to get to certain sections of the grounds) There were three different building materials and correlating designs for different building areas. It was all extremely beautiful and serene. It makes you wonder what life would have been like during the time of its construction.

After we left the Palace, we went to another area of Seoul known for smaller street vendors and ample foreigners, to have lunch. We had the typical Korean lunch, which comes with a large assortment of side dishes (most are pickled and quite spicy) which are placed around the entire table, and then a main meat dish, which is cooked over a bed of coals in the center of the table. This however, was the first restaurant I've been to where it was required to take your shoes off before entering the seating area. You then sit on the floor around a long rectangular table. I also noticed that I am getting really good at using chop sticks!

From dinner, we explored the neighboring streets. We saw a pretty extensive variety of street food and even a taekwondo demonstration. Next stop was Seoul Tower.

After walking for 15 minutes, then taking a cab for another 7, we arrived at the foot of the staircases leading to Seoul Tower. The tower offers a panoramic view of the entire city from the top of a small mountain. The first few flights of stairs were fun! I was starting to get short of breath by the second... By the third, my feet were throbbing and I just kept searching ahead of me for signs that the top was within reach. A few flights after that, we reached the main city overlook - the view was spectacular. The weather was perfect and we were all enjoying the rest. A few more flights of stairs took us to the peak, where the Seoul Food Festival was taking place and the Tower gift shop and restaurant were located (in the enclosed portion of the needle-like structure pictured below). We enjoyed the view for a while, re-hydrated ourselves, watched a famous group of Korean men perform a pop/hip-hip hop dance while spinning pizza dough (they won some kind of competition in Las Vegas for this), and then headed back down the mountain. The trip down was no more fun than the climb to the top.

On the way down though, we stopped to purchase a little snack from an older gentleman who had set-up a tent near the top of the stairs. For the bargain price of 1000 won, Gil and I purchased a cup full of boiled silk worms - a Korean specialty. I had been mentioning to everyone my desire to try this before we even left Daejeon, so there was no better time and I was honestly excited about it. The brownish-red color and horizontally striped lower body portion of the worms remind you of a cockroach. The smell is not quite that of sewage, but not much better. With toothpicks in hand, we each stabbed through the center of one of the worms and popped it into our mouths. That was the first and last silk worm I will ever eat.

By this time, we were all pretty exhausted. Kyla headed back to Daejeon, Ryan left to meet his brother, and the remaining 5 of us headed back to the hostel to rest up before checking out the nightlife.

A couple hours of drinking mixed Soju drinks in the hostel and watching Korean soaps later, we again took the subway to a popular bar area. Brett, a blonde-haired Canadian, was completely in his element during the subway ride as a pretty Korean girl kept smiling at him. He chatted with her for a while as she just kept giggling (English not so good) and he also chatted with the guy sitting on the other side of her...haha. We figured it was her boyfriend, but Brett is all about the ladies. They both got up to depart at the first stop, but only the girl went. The guy was saying something to her as she left, but she pushed him away and then he just stood on the opposite side of us and gave Brett a dirty look. That was awkward, albeit entertaining. Korean girls seem to be automatically attracted to Caucasian men. Brett is almost always successful in his attempts to make friends with Korean girls in their mid-twenties. And Gil, the tall, lanky guy who looks like a teenager although he is 25, gets tons of unwanted attention from teenage Korean girls. They love him and he is so shy that it makes it all the more fun to watch.

The first bar we went to played a lot of hip-hop and club music. But there was no dancing, just table socializing. So we had a drink and walked around, looking for a more dance friendly location (Korea doesn't have many dance clubs). Before we found one, we were decideldy hungry, so we stopped at another bar to get some food with our drinks. The bars were very crowded and everyone seemed to be having a good time. We ordered some french fries, had some more conversational bonding time and then Ray got us a cab to take us to another area across the Han River.

We finally found a good dance club and stayed at it for a couple of hours. There were a lot of foreigners there. I had no idea what time it was until we left the club and went to another bar to "cool down" and grab some more food...what is it about drinking that always makes you hungry? By the time our order made it to the table, Gil was fast asleep on the table, Brett and Dennis were having a very "deep" political discussion (another thing that always seems to happen when you are out drinking) and Ray and I were just laughing about everything. It was 4:45 AM, the subway reopened in 15 minutes, so we headed out.

Unfortunately, the subway did not open at 5 AM as we thought. Sooo...we plopped ourselves down in the station to wait for the gates to open. After several minutes, an attendant arrived. But the train didn't come until 45 minutes after that. At this point, we were all extremely tired, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep - in a bed, rather than on the subway station tile. So, for the 30 minute subway ride, we slept on the seats of the train. I fell asleep within seconds, and awoke to the guys shaking me and telling me we needed to get off the train. Dennis was laughing because he had remained awake the entire ride and right before our stop, a train attendant came by and repeatedly poked Brett and I with a stick to wake us up (no sleeping on the train). I would never have known this had happened if I hadn't been told.

We checked out of the hostel at noon and went to Itaewon to grab lunch at a good American-style restaurant that Ray and Brett had been to before. You would have never known you were in Korea in this restaurant. It reminded me a lot of a Bennigans or Apple Bees. It was nice to eat a hamburger. The ketchup was still "Korean" (very sugary), but lunch was good. Afterwards, we decided to make one last stop in Dongdaemun to check out it's famous marketplaces.

We walked around for a while, sat at a coffee shopping discussing the weekend and the people who walked by, and then were ready to head back to Daejeon.

More than anything, the weekend was a great bonding experience with some new friends in the city. It was also another revelation of how amazing people are. I've always felt that I learn the most in life just from hearing about the experiences of others. I learned about tree planting in Canada, the difficulties of Korean girlfriends, traveling stories from all over East Asia, and some specifics about good ol' Alabama. People never cease to amaze me. Kyla is Chinese, French, British and Canadian. Gil was born in Venezuela and speaks fluently in Spanish. And another man we work with (who wasn't able to come on the trip), but who I have spent some time getting to know, is from New Zealand, speaks with a New Zealand accent, but is fluent in Korean, Spanish and French, and worked as an interpreter in Spain before moving to Korea to teach. When you think about all of the things that people are capable of and the different experiences that you have not had, or never even knew about, it really makes you feel like such a small part of the world around you. And it just inspires me to do more with my own life.

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