And Then I went to Seoul.

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SEOUL- I’ll refrain from the cheesey Seoul/ soul comparisons. You know the ones, “Seoul, the soul of Korea”. Those types.

I rode the KTX train up to Seoul for the three day weekend over the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. My schools birthday was on the Friday, which meant we didn’t have school. Have I mentioned how much I love Korea? Anyway, I decided kind of spur of the moment the Sunday before that I should take advantage of the extra time off. The train ride was nice, but not amazing or anything. I think people have really high expectations for it but it’s pretty typical even if it is a “bullet train”. There was some nice scenery but a lot of it was kind of polluted or a working field or something. So, all in all, it’s just a nice, quick way to get up to Seoul. Not really an experience on it’s own. Or maybe I just took it for granted. I don’t know. To each their own.

Friday

• First thing I did after dropping my stuff off at the hostel (I stayed at Bong house…yep) was to wander around the area I was staying; Hongdae. It’s a trendy University area. I really liked it.

• I walked around until I found Changgyeong Palace. It cost me 1,500 won to get in, and it had a huge garden with a pond on it. It was so nice to find some nature. I really miss grass. Not the illegal kind. The kind you lay in while you read a book during a picnic. I was walking around lost in a dream of some sort when it started to rain and thunder. I even saw a streak of lightening! So I went and found a little shelter and sat down right outside it where I was still covered by the lip of the roof. I sat down, and since I wasn’t going anywhere for a while I pulled out my notebook and a pen. I was jotting down some notes when two elderly Korean men came out and saw me just sitting there, all smiles. They were a little surprised to find me there, and talked to each other in Korean for a few minutes before attempting to communicate with me. I like to imagine the conversation going something like this:

Old Korean Fellow 1: “Oh look! It’s a foreign creature!”

Old Korean Fellow 2: “So there is! What do you think it’s doing? Why is on the ground?”

OKF 1: “Search me. Should we talk to it?”

OKF 2: “Maybe. It looks friendly enough. How’s your English?”

OKF 1: “Not very good, but I’ll give it a try. Here goes nothing!”

They were lovely fellows. We chatted/mimed with each other for a bit until the rain stopped, then we all went on our merry ways.

• I went to Itaewon, the famous foreigner street near one of the bases. It was so strange to see so many foreigners!! Everywhere I turned there was another of us. Crazy. I did find an amazing book store, and a really good foreign food market where I bought taco shells, taco seasoning, chili seasoning, and a few other things. Then I went back home and crashed at an embarrassingly early time.

Saturday

• First I went to another palace, this time Changdeok Palace, home of the famous Biwon, or secret garden. Poor palace, it just never stood a chance to live up to my expectations. My hopes were too high, and though it was a lovely palace, the garden was slightly disappointing. I was expecting a proper garden full of flowers in every color. Nope. Also, I didn’t want to wait for the English tour so I joined on the next available tour, Korean, because I heard they had signs and stuff posted throughout the palace. The tour was an hour and a half, and we weren’t allowed to go off on our own, and there were only like 6 signs that whole time. So, if anyone out there wants to go, just wait for the tour in your language! Trust me. It was a nice palace though, despite the negatives, and I’m really glad I went.

• Next I walked around for hours! It was exhausting! I finally managed to find the Seodaemun Prson, which was built by Japan in 1910 to house the Koreans who protested Japans colonization of Korea. They did some pretty terrible things there. I had my own private tour guide. Which was great since I only paid like 1,500 won (a little over a buck) to get in! She was so adorable. She said her Korean name was hard to pronounce, so I could call her “Donna”. I thought she looked really young, but was a little surprised when she said she was in middle school. Her English was excellent. I told her I taught middle school girls. She got quite a kick out of that.

• Then I walked some more! I walked around the cool neighborhood called “Insadong”. I liked it there. I got some good jewelry, and a nice little painting. Then I went to Dongdaemun, and found a street that was comprised of pet shops and motorcycle shops. It was such a funny image; cute, fluffy puppies in the windows and men in the street wearing at least one article of clothing that had “Harley Davidson” written on it. It made me picture the men buying the puppies and putting them in little Harley jackets, ect. It was a very amusing 10 minutes. I did some more walking, and some more…and found a few cool markets. Then went home and read a book until I started to doze, again at an embarrassingly early hour.

Sunday

I had big plans for Sunday beginning with waking up early to meet a family friend in Itaewon and going to church with them. Too bad I slept through my alarm! I had to call them ten minutes before I was supposed to meet them and say I wouldn’t be there. I felt so, so terrible. But they are lovely people and they offered to come get me during their break at church and I could accompany them to the second service. So, all was not lost. I went with them to the service, which was on the base. Let me tell you, it was like entering another world…a world called “little America”. They had all sorts of things they don’t have in Korea, and it really was like being home for a day. I got some great Mexican food, because I’ve found myself craving it quite a lot lately. And the family were kind enough to give me some Ranch dressing since they have access to the little military store which sells all American food!! It was a perfectly lovely day, and then I took the perfectly average train home.

It was a great trip, but it was so nice to be home and sleep in my bed, which I’ve come to realize is a lot softer than I’d ever realized before. :D

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[hkwoody]

Seoul / Soul Comparisons
A few years ago here in Asia the Korean tourist board ran ads with the slogan "Your Seoul Our Seoul" (if you're English you'll get it)