Saturday - Seoul City Tour

I awoke after less than four hours sleep. I didn't end up getting in bed until 3 and then that beautiful sun woke me up at 5:00 again. I did manage to go back to sleep for a little while.

We decided to do the Seoul City bus tour. This place is all city from Incheon which is on the water at least to Seoul. Bucheon where Jen lives is sandwiched inbetween. It's all together and I don't notice where one thing ends and another begins. Even Bucheon is huge I guess. It takes awhile to get anywhere.

We took the bus to Yeogok station to catch the subway into Seoul (Yongsan station) which is near a big US military base. The one thing I did notice was crossing a good bit of water before getting to the station. There were some very pretty bridges. (Even prettier at night with the lights.)





Our first stop on the tour was the National Museum of Korea. It was a huge museum and we went through pretty fast (couple of hours) since we could have spent the entire day there I'm sure. The exhibits went from the years when people used rocks for axes until present day. This country's history is lots longer than ours for sure.

























We then caught the bus for the Korean War Memorial. I didn't realize how many countries had joined in the war effort. Larry's dad fought in Korea so we especially wanted to go to the memorial in honor of him. It was pretty big as well and we didn't see all of it nor did we even go into the museum there. Too much to do, too little time.



























Our next stop was Myeong-dong which was lots of shopping.































Our next stop was Namsongol Hanok Traditional Korean Village.























We took the bus up to Seoul Tower which meant going up a mountain. It was very pretty. Lots of Koreans walking the mountain which would not be very easy. Jennifer says they are very into fitness and often think they are too fat. There may be a few overweight Koreans but nothing like in the US. We didn't get off at the Seoul Tower stop because we want to do that at night. We ended up being too tired go on Saturday though.



Our next stop was Dongdaemun Market which was more shopping. By this point I was actually getting kind of tired of these things they call malls. They're huge high rise buildings with tons of little boutiques kind of like Black Lion. It's mostly clothes though and tons and tons of shoes. But they rarely have a dressing room. Dongdaemun had lots of these and most of the buildings were very new. One was called Doota and it was pretty nice. There were 3 floors of food courts with a roof top area where you could eat outside. One of these malls had 3 floors of movies. You could also see the city gate outside.


























Our last stop was Insa-dong which was lots of street shopping. Lots of souvenirs here. I bought a few things I won't mention.

























We had dinner at Outback (I cheated). The bathrooms were interesting. No bidets but they did have mouthwash with flat paper cups that you unfold. The hand dryers were also different but I'm not sure how to explain the difference. Interesting note: no tipping in Korea. The waitress makes sure you have exact change before you leave.

I was so tired after this. I kept falling asleep on the subway back to Jen's apartment. Me and all the other Koreans. Most of them were asleep too. We did get home around 11:00 so was an earlier night for me.

Friday Night

Tonight we took a bus and then the subway to Bucheon Station to meet Kristina and Katie for dinner. The bus was interesting. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to hold on. We had to stand. It was pretty crowded but according to Jennifer the buses often get even more crowded.

We got there before the others so we walked around for a bit in the market place. When Kristina and Katie arrived we walked to a Korean BBQ restaurant. We had to wait 20 minutes or so for a table. There was a little porch outside so we sat there. It was really fun to people watch. There would be groups of people passing by us. One of the people would notice us foreigners and turn to tell the rest of the group. Then the others would all turn to stare at us. They think we're all blonde even though some of us aren't blonde at all. Then there was the guy on stilts promoting a new restaurant across from the BBQ. He made balloon hearts for Katie and Kristina.

These places have the grill in the center of the table and you go get raw meats and veggies to cook. It was really very good although a lot of work. We would dip slices of meat in some sort of sauce and put it on a lettuce or sesame leaf topped with a whole garlic clove and rice and eat. It was very good. I'm quite sure I've never consumed so much garlic. I guess that's why that man had a truck load of it today. We also had more kimchi. It's very spicy and I'm not sure how much I like it. They said it has to grow on you. If you could take smaller bites I think I would like it more but you can't really cut it with chop sticks (metal ones). Speaking of which... I'm very bad with them. Occasionally I would get the hang of them only to lose my grip. Some lady in the restaurant saw me I guess and brought us forks.

Jen's friend Abby had to work late so she met us after dinner. We decided to go for coffee or dessert. Jen saw a sign for a place so we just decided to go for it. It was really, really nice. Each group got their own private room. We had to take off our shoes and sit on pillows. We ordered coffees which were kinda expensive. The desserts were actually cheaper on the menu as were their sandwiches. Turned out that apparently dessert came with a drink for free. We didn't get that so we ordered just 3 desserts for the 5 of us to share. Tiramisu, Mocha cake, and Chocolate cake. Everything was really pretty. They put designs in the foam of the lattes--hearts, leaves, even pigs. The cakes weren't the best. The tiramisu had the cheese but dry lady fingers. They were not bad just not great.

It was 1 am by the time we left and got a cab to go back to the apartment. That was quite an experience. He was an older driver but by far the most aggressive driver we've had. He got us home quickly though and fortunately didn't hit anybody in the process. He used his horn a lot too. We plan to get up early tomorrow for the Seoul City Bus Tour so off to bed for now.

Friday Lunch

I walked back to the school to meet Jennifer for lunch. I met several other teachers and one more of the students. Michael (from Florida but who also attended UNCG) and Joe (from England) went with us. We went just across the street and around the corner where we had bipimbap. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

It did have a raw egg but the food was so hot that when you stirred it, the egg cooked. A little spicy. You don't order drinks. They have a water cooler at the door with small stainless steel cups. I drank at least 5 or 6 cups of water. I began to be embarrassed getting more so I started making Jen get them for me. I definitely drank more than anyone else at the table. I also had my first kimchi. It wasn't bad either but spicy.

I enjoyed talking with Michael and Joe. Michael told me that Jennifer is a totally different person in the classroom. He said she's a great teacher and really teaches with authority. He even said she impresses him. Joe has been here only 3 weeks now. They were both really, really nice. I'm glad to know that Jennifer has good friends here. Michael bought lunch for all of us.

We still had some time before they had to be back to we went around the corner to a little convenience type store for ice cream. There's tons of different kinds. These were the prepackaged kind. I choose Sweet Milk (I think). That's pretty much what it was. Not bad. Some of the ice cream has red beans in it. Jennifer says the bean ice cream is good.

Jen told me I had gone to the wrong market to buy produce and explained where to go. So on the way back I decided to check it out. It was more like a farmer's market. Lots of fresh produce. Lots of fish--some still swimming. Also fresh chicken and pork. I don't think I saw any beef. Some vendors had the whole hog hanging up. I didn't take pictures of the pork but the fish was interesting.

Friday Morning

I awoke to the sun streaming though the bedroom window at 5 am. I know daylight savings time is a little hard to get used to in the spring, but it is a good idea. No going back to sleep for me even though it was after 1 am when we went to bed. At least there was enough light for me to have my quiet time without turning on the light and waking Jen.

I walked with her to school so she could show me where it was. She wrote the door code for me so I could get back in the apartment. The school is on the same street as the apartment so I didn't get lost. YAY! I even walked a little ways down some of the other streets that cross.


Korea has lots of smells. I guess most large cities do. It often smells like Chinese food. However, there was a guy with a truck full of mostly garlic. He was selling this and other produce on the sidewalk as we passed by. It's uphill to the school so I'm guessing I might get some exercise while I'm here. We also passed by a Dunkin Donuts that smelled like Dunkin Donuts.


















I thought the school looked really nice in the pictures she's posted before, but it was even nicer when I actually saw it. The Korean teachers were very friendly. I met a few of the students too.








I came back by the market close to Jennifer's apartment to buy some milk. It was a little difficult to pick which milk to buy because there's very little english. You can't tell if it's soy or what. The prices varied quite a bit between the different brands too. I found one that said fresh milk and got it. I also bought some grapes. Both were a good bit more expensive than they would have been back home. It came to 10,740 won which computed to US$8.66 for about a half gallon of milk and less than a pound of grapes.

Anyway, made it back to the apartment and got the door open. A success I would say!