Conclusion

I'm back home now...I didn't write too much here during my last week in Seoul, because I was mostly meeting with people and not exploring the city. I had a great time in Korea and I'm glad I found the time to finally go back after almost 20 years. I learned a lot about the country's history and my family's history. I didn't have the greatest impression of the country before, but this trip has helped me open my eyes to a different side of Korea...for which I'm glad.

Clubbing in Korea

I'm getting too old for this...but last night, after waking up early, going hiking in Chuncheon, taking the train back to Seoul, eating dinner out, packing and moving to another relative's house,...I went clubbing in Gangnam until 7 am. I was just following people, so I don't know the names of the clubs I went to, but the first one was PACKED...there was a guest DJ there, pretty famous from what my cousin tells me. I think his name was Dynamic 2 or Dynamic Q or...something, I don't remember. I'm not up to date with any pop culture in any part of the world. The second one was an Electronica club. That was fun.

My comments on the differences between club atmospheres in Korea and in the US:

First major difference I noticed was that hardly any girls and guys dance together, and not a lot of people look like they're enjoying themselves. Most of the people are just standing stiff, bobbing their heads up and down. I think the atmosphere is best compared to a highschool dance in the US. Some people are dancing, but most people are in a circle, watching the one guy in the center that can't really dance well, but is dancing with so much passion that you can't help but laugh/be impressed/be entertained. Then there's the awkward circle that's just full of guys with the one girl in the center dancing like a stripper...it's all good though, they had free alcohol! Other things that I noticed:

1. A lot of girls wear white dresses to the club. I was also wearing a white dress that I borrowed from my cousin...and drinking a red Smirnoff cocktail...while jumping up and down and trying to maneuver my way around the club. My dress made it out of the club nice and clean though. My cousin's outfit was not as fortunate, but she was smart and not wearing white.
2. Some people (mostly guys) in Korea pay to reserve tables in the club, and then try to convince girls to come and drink with them...but their pick-up lines could use some work. One person came up to me and said "Come drink with me, I'm a Seoul University student!" (Equivalent to "Be impressed, I go to Yale")...Hmm. 
3. The club is open until 9AM! Which I actually like. I think it's safer to wait in the club until the sun comes out than it is to try and find your way home at 2 am when the clubs close like they do in the US. Also, most of the restaurants around big club areas are open 24 hours, so after we were done dancing, my cousin and I went to go eat breakfast at 5 am. That was fun! And then we got home and passed out.

I had a lot of fun though! It was interesting to see what clubs are like in Korea. I still prefer clubs in the US since I'm used to seeing a more diverse group of people...but there are aspects of Korean nightlife that I really enjoy too!

Chuncheon

For the past 2 days, I was in Chuncheon, which is a city outside Seoul...takes about 1.5 hours to reach using the KTX train from Seoul. My aunt and uncle took me around on their typical "guest tour". We explored the local dam, did a little hiking, historic sight-seeing, wild berry eating...lots of fun! As usual, the first thing that I noticed when I got to Chuncheon was the air!! So fresh and clean. Although, I feel like I'm almost getting used to the sewage smell on the streets of Seoul...but then again, I haven't been in Seoul for most of the past week, so maybe I just think I'm getting used to it. There are also a lot of farms, but that's always a refreshing sight after you've been in a big city. Also,...it was raining when I got there! (There is a saying in Korea that the dragon "용띠" of the zodiac sign brings rain everywhere it goes...so my relatives have jokingly been calling me the dragon, because the weather forecast calls for sunny skies...until I get there and it's pouring.)

Food: Apparently, there are two things that you have to eat when you're visiting Chuncheon, and that's makguksu and dakgalbi. Makguksu (막국수) is a cold soup with buckwheat noodles and Dakgalbi (닭갈비) which is essentially chicken korean BBQ. According to my uncle, people will travel to Chuncheon from Seoul just to eat these two things, because you can't find better quality anywhere else. For me, it's the best I've ever tasted!...since that was the first time I had either of those dishes...that could be a lie though. Even though I eat a lot of Korean meals at home, the same meals here don't taste the same, so I'm never sure if I've tasted something before or not.

Makguksu

Chicken Galbi

Travel: The places that I visited in Chuncheon were the Soyang-gang Dam, Nami Island, the historic home of Kim Yoong Jung, KN University (KNU), and the MBC studio.

I'll just talk about Nami Island, since the rest of the places are best described through photos. To get to Nami Island, you have to take a ferry from Chuncheon. The Island is famous for it's great scenery of course, but became especially famous when the K-drama hit "Winter Sonata" was filmed there. When the drama first came out, there were apparently a lot of Japanese and Chinese fan girls that would flock to the island, but it's been awhile since the drama was released, so there weren't too many people there when I went (I also went on a Monday). I always like traveling to places at off-peak hours/days. Otherwise, there's just too many people and you don't get to really experience everything. The only downside to exploring on off-peak days is that some programs only run on weekends, but that's fine with me. On Nami island, there's a diverse variety of trees and animals...it was actually very strange. There were lots of bunnies and...ostriches. I spent most of the day walking around Nami island...eating wild berries, exploring the strange exotic animals that clearly do not belong there, and getting my food stolen by a squirrel.

Evil beggar squirrel eating my food.

Ostrich...?

Bunnies

Oh! I'll say one other thing. When I went to the historic home of Kim Yoong Jung (I think that's right), there was a filming crew there...but alas, it wasn't for a drama...they were only filming a 10 minute talk show. But still, it was interesting to see! They made me leave because my face showed up in the background, but it's all good.

Film crew

Statue of Kim Yoong Jung, I believe

KNU campus

Soyang-gang Dam

Outside MBC studios

Peak hours on Public Transportation

Yesterday, I went to meet my friend for dinner who had come from outside Seoul for a day trip. The day ended around 10pm and I tried to find my way back home by using the subway and bus system. When I got on the subway...first, I went in the wrong direction and didn't realize until I was about 4 stops down. I had to get off and transfer back to the other direction. The first time I tried to find the opposite train, I accidentally got on a train going in the wrong direction AGAIN (I don't know) and then FINALLY I ended up on the right one, except it was A NIGHTMARE. The train was PACKED with so many people, most of them drunk. I was pushed up so close to the door that my face was literally an inch from hitting the window. I had to grab onto the sides of the door so that I wouldn't get pushed through the doors onto the tracks. And then of course when I tried to get off the train, the exit was through the door on the opposite side of the train that I was standing on. I pushed my way through the crowd of people while saying "Excuse me, please let me off here"...but people just gave me weird looks, and one foreign couple even said "Oh my god" as they tried to get out of my way. A nice lady finally said "Don't ask people to let you off, just get off!" and gave me a hard shove to get me through all of the people (Not without some struggles first: my purse got stuck as I was walking out). And that was my experience at a busy hour in Seoul...never doing that again.

And then I got off the train and tried to find the bus stop (This was around 11pm) and failed. I walked around and found a neon cross that I can see from my room window...I walked towards it assuming I'd find my apartment complex, but nope! Ends up there are multiple of those churches pretty much on every block. Eventually, I just had to be picked up, because I was walking around by myself and looking really stupid!...and that was my second adventure trying to travel around Seoul alone. Not very successful!

Seoraksan National Park

I just spent the last two days at Seoraksan National Park with my aunt and uncle...and it was AWESOME. Everything about Seoraksan was AWESOME, from the scenery to the weather and even the SMELL.

Our first stop at Seoraksan was finding a mineral water spring! We went to Osaek mineral spring and borrowed some man's ladle to drink the water. The water tasted like metallic seltzer water...YUM. The water is naturally fizzy (How?!) and is supposedly rich in Sodium and Iron. My reaction after having a sip was: "Ugh! That's unexpected...and gross" and then I proceeded to drink 2 more ladles full, because the sign said the mineral water is great for indigestion, which I had that day...hmm.

Osaek mineral spring 

Mineral Spring: The water I drank!...It doesn't actually look like a rusted pipe in person.

Next stop: Pray to Buddha!

Then our first (and only, sadly) hike at Seoraksan! We were originally only going to walk up to a Buddhist temple built in a cave, but then when we got there, we saw this HUGE cliffside and my uncle said that I could hike up the rest of the way if I wanted...and I couldn't just not hike to the top, so naturally I dragged my 70 year old uncle up there with me. It's okay though, because he's much more fit than I am. So our original plan of hiking 2 hours turned into a 4-5 hour hike, thanks to me.

Hiking up to the top of a mountain always seems like a great idea when you're at the bottom, but when we got halfway to the top, we hit a set of infinite stairs! We were very high up on the cliff, walking on these steel steps that made creaky noises that made us think the stairs would collapse at any moment...and they WOULDN'T END. We thought we'd gotten to the top, only to find that there were...more stairs. Eventually, the signs stopped counting down in km and just started saying "10 more minutes"...10 more minutes at what speed?! But we finally made it!...and the view was amazing!!...and there was even a man at the top selling drinks out of a cooler. (That's something that's different between hiking in the US and hiking in Korea. In Korea, about every 1/2 mile or so up the mountain, there's a restaurant...and real bathrooms!) When we got to the top, clouds were swirling around the cliffside and you could see EVERYTHING. I loved it.

After hiking, I went to a public bath...but I've been to those before in the US, so that was fine. It was a nice way to end the day.

The never-ending rock stairs that we had to hike up...before we hit the never-ending steel stairs. 

Ulsan Trail

View from the top of Ulsan trail

Today, we visited another Buddhist Temple in another awesome location, and then went to the estate of the lady on the 50,000 W bill and her son, Yi Yulgok. I've visited so many Buddhist temples now, that I'm getting very good at formal bowing (called "jul" in Korean). Still not sure if I could handle bowing 180 times to the Buddha during a Temple Stay though...maybe next time.

Buddhist Temple. I thought the temple looked very surreal with all of the clouds swirling around it.

Statue from the previous photo of the Buddhist temple (up close)

Jeju Island

I just returned from a weekend trip to Jeju Island, which people call Korea's Hawaii. Unfortunately, it was raining and chilly for most of the time I was there, but I had the opportunity to see a little scenery and eat a LOT of good food!

I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

First stop: Aquarium. It was built last year and is supposedly the largest aquarium in all of Asia. Don't quote me on that though. The aquarium doesn't have as many species of marine animals as some aquariums in America, but it was still enjoyable. They had penguins, pelicans, jellyfish, walrus, dolphins,...it took ~1 hour to get through all of the exhibits. Great for kids I think!

The largest tank at Aqua Planet

Jeju Island

Igneous rock? Haha, trying to remember my elementary school education.

Ecoland: You take a train around the park and can explore some great scenery!

Ecoland

Sashimi!! There are two things I hear you have to try when you're at Jeju: Sashimi and Pork.

Fish Stew

Korean sausage (Soondae) filled with rice

Tofu stew (Soondubu)

Hydrangeas: They are all over the Island

Osulloc green tea farm!

Green tea goods at Osulloc tea farm

Osulloc tea farm

Osulloc green tea farm: I learned that the dried green tea leaves that I drink are only the tiny leaves. The bigger leaves aren't as flavorful.

The market where we went to get our pork for barbecuing!

Bijarim forest: Has trees that are 1000 years old. The wood from the trees is very valuable and used to make GO (Baduk) boards.

A beach we stopped at on our way to the Airport.

 My Jeju trip was more child-friendly since we had my two nieces with me, but if I ever come back, I definitely want to do some long hikes and spelunking (caving)!

Markets

When I first came to Seoul, I was really bewildered by the lack of homeless people around the city. Whenever you go to big cities in America, like New York or even DC, there are homeless people everywhere! But here, you really don't see too many of them. Apparently in Korea, instead of begging along the streets, there are a lot of homeless people at the larger transfer points for subway stations. Not that I really wanted to see the homeless people, but I was kind of thinking "Where do they all go?" I think that Korea's police do a careful job of keeping them out of the "more aesthetically pleasing" districts (I'm watching my word choice here, haha). So anyways, my uncle took me to Seoul station, which is a large transfer point, and there I got to explore the other end of Korea's population. The part they don't show you on Psy's Gangnam Style video! When I saw them, I think I felt a sense of relief. Like, "Ah~ Korea's not perfect."...not that I really thought Korea was perfect to begin with.

After that, we walked to Seoul city hall, which looks a little funny to me, because they put this crazy modern addition onto the old style city hall building. The inside of the new city hall addition has a Sky Plaza coffee lounge on the top floor, which pumps out a lot of A/C - we took a nice break from the heat by drinking an Ice Americano! It was Memorial Day in Korea the day we went, so there were tons of people in front of the city hall building, so I did some people watching from the Sky Plaza cafe.

The old city hall in front, with the new addition in the back (the glass wavy bit)

Inside the new Seoul city hall addition - first floor

Then we walked to Cheonggyecheon-Ro, which is a street that's been recently remodeled. I believe what happened is that it used to be a really low-end part of town. It had makeshift houses (they called it a "shantytown") and the streets smelled and were dirty and nobody wanted to look at it, so the government (or someone) covered the area in cement...Now there's a man-made stream there that pumps water from the Han river. It's very nicely redone!

Cheonggyecheon-ro

Cheonggyecheon-ro: People sitting along the man-made stream

Then we walked to Nandaemun market and Gwangjang market, which are old-style street markets. There were so many people, so I can't really tell you what was there. It seemed like there were a lot of older people's clothing stands, fried food stands, imported goods, etc. If you need something, you can probably find it in one of the two markets. I got shoved by lots of elderly ladies trying to get me out of their way...and ate bindaeddukk (I don't know how to describe this...mung bean pancake?) and drank makgeolli (alcohol)! Before that, I had a fish stew thing with my uncle, but I really don't know how to eat fish, so my uncle was laughing at me...sad.

Gwangjang Market

We did so much walking around, I was really tired by the end of the day. Today, I went to Kilsangsa Buddhist Temple and took it easy at J's cafe, which is a cafe in the middle of nowhere with an amazing view of the city. I was thinking about doing a Temple Stay at Kilsanga Temple...but I have to think about my self-discipline first...but what other opportunity will I get? This weekend, I'm going to Jeju Island, so I will write something when I get back! (It's supposed to rain all weekend at Jeju...)

Kilsanga Temple

View from J's Cafe

Sno...something from J's Cafe: Chocolate ice cream with meringue