New Experiences/Ewha Women's University

New experiences: I haven't noticed too many differences between the US and Korea, as far as infrastructure and culture. Korea has westernized a lot more than I thought it had. I think there are some things that are more traditional, but for the most part, things like sleeping on floor and certain etiquette doesn't seem to apply anymore. But there are some things that are very different from the US! Two things that I encountered and had a little trouble with were the showers and the toilets.

The shower in my aunt's house doesn't have a curtain, so the first time I took a bath, I had to duck into the tub and try to prevent all the water from splashing out and flooding the bathroom. Later, I noticed that there's actually a drain in the floor and you're supposed to just let all the water splash out and flood the bathroom. So now after I take a shower, the bathroom is a little flooded and I have to walk around in waterproof slippers, which is interesting. That's apparently just how restrooms in Korea are designed.

The toilets in most Korean homes are similar to the ones in the US, but I had to go to the restroom at a subway station once, and the toilet was in the ground! I spent a couple minutes contemplating how to use it. Whilst I will spare you the details, I can just say that using the toilets in Korea subway stations can be a great way to work out your thigh muscles! ...

Anyways, today I went to Ewha Women's University, which is where a lot of the women in my family graduated from. The students there were preparing for a open-house festival of some kind, so all of the girls were dressed very elegantly and taking lots of photos. The university campus is very pretty and has a lot of new additions that are nice to explore.

Ewha University campus

Afterwards, I stopped by Seodaemun Prison, which used to be a camp for rebels during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It has pretty graphic images and wax figures to replicate the torture methods used in the camps. If you are an emotional person, I recommend that you visit Seodaemun on a sunny day and find a happy place to go afterwards, because otherwise you'll be depressed and you might have nightmares. I tend to enjoy places like Seodamun Prison and the Holocaust museum. Maybe "enjoy" isn't the right term. I find these events to be interesting, because it shows the ability/extent of humans that you don't really get to see or experience. It shows how horrible people can be, but also how resilient they can be...and that's my psychology major coming through.

Prisoner barracks at Seodaemun Prison