Seoul Trip Part 1

This last Friday, May 17, I went on a weekend trip to Seoul with my South African friends, Carien and Jenny, and my Korean friend YeJeong. It was my first time to Seoul and boy did we travel all over the city.

At Daejeon Station, ready to go to Seoul.

 Waiting for our KTX train. This was my first time going on a bullet train. It went up to 300km/hour (about 186 miles/hour).

Crossing the Han River. It is considered one of the most scenic locations in Seoul.

In Seoul. There were lanterns strewn up all over the city to celebrate "Buddha's Birthday" which fell on May 17 this year.

The old Seoul Station located next to the new station. This building was built in the 1920s and it's structure is more reminiscent of western culture than asian. When the new Seoul Station was constructed, it became a Cultural Center.

The current Seoul Station.

For some reason I was designated as the tour guide (before YeJeong joined us in the afternoon). As many of you may know, or have heard, I have a terrible sense of direction. I had written out some directions for us in advance...unfortunately google maps didn't give me the most accurate of directions and the Seoul Subways system is like trying to solve a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. After being on the subway system in Seoul, I am so glad I live in Daejeon.

Seoul Subway Map

Daejeon Subway Map

We went to our subway stop, according to our directions on google map, but couldn't seem to find our next location. We must have looked pretty confused and lost because a young military guy approached us and asked us in fluent English is we needed any help. He then took the time to give us the proper directions (after suggesting that it may be better for us to just take a taxi) to get to Myeong-dong by subway.

Just moments after that, Jenny dropped her wallet while getting on the subway but hadn't yet noticed that it was gone. Someone walked onto the subway, tapped her on the shoulder, handed the wallet over to her, and walked back off the subway. It's really neat how God sends people to help you out at just the right moment.

At Bosingak (Belfry), in Jongno. It was originally constructed in 1396 but was destroyed many times by both fire and war. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) this bell was the center of the castle. The bell was hit to announce the opening and closing of the four gates around Seoul.

We got to take a picture with a guard in traditional officer uniform.

Walking by Jongno tower. The top floor is a restaurant.

Crossing Cheongyecheon Stream.

In Myeong-dong, one of Seoul's main shopping and tourism districts. It is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. It also has some western shops that carry western sized clothing.

So many people!

Socks with the faces of Korean actors and singers on them. They seem to be very popular as they are sold everywhere. If I were them, I wouldn't want my face plastered over someone's stinky feet.

For lunch we went to Itaewon. It is located next to a US military base. Restaurants serving international dishes are found in this area and shops here are aimed towards tourists...which equals expensive. It is one of the most popular stops for tourists in Seoul. There is also a Muslim Mosque located in Itaewon.

There are many shops located above ground and underground. I'm sure there were many people that thought that YeJeong was Korean-American. YeJeong got so used to speaking English with us, that she sometimes forgot to switch back into Korean when speaking to vendors.

To celebrate Carien's birthday, we went the Braai Republic in Itaewon for South African food.

Enjoying some South African food (for the first time) with Jenny, Carien, and YeJeong.

My lunch...so yummy! Lamb chops with garlic potatoes and slaw.

Lamb Potjie (stew) and stywe pap (corn porridge) .

 Amarula cheesecake. I love cheesecake!!! So good!

In Chungmuro, on our way to Seoul Tower, located on top of Namsan Mtn, but before that...time for coffee! 

A well known coffee shop in the area.

Iced latte and brownies and ice cream. Mmmm...

At Namsan Tower with YeJeong and Carien.

The Seoul Tower all lit up.

At Namsan Tower there is a tradition where couples come and hang a lock on the fence surrounding the tower. They then throw away the key which is to represent the couple never separating.

The city view at night from Namsan Tower.

 We took a bus that took us all the way to the top of the mountain, so we didn't have much climbing to do. On the way back, we decided to take the scenic route and walked down. As we were walking down, there were some American guys climbing up the mountain and we heard one of the guys saying as they went by, "Isn't Everland (indoor/outdoor amusement park) in Seoul? So why aren't we there instead of climbing this mountain?" I think he was beginning to feel the pain of climbing so many stairs.

At the South Gate (Namdaemun), one of the eight gates in the fortress wall of Seoul, which surrounded the city during the Joseon period. It is designated as the first national treasure of South Korea. In 2008 the wooden pagoda was burned by an arsonist. It was restored and officially reopened the week before we came.

Pretty lights all lit up at night throughout the city.

At Seoul City Hall in Taepyeongno, Jung-nu, the heart of Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Library, former city hall, is located in front of the current city hall. They were showing an outdoor movie on the lawn.

On the subway, tired, and ready for some sleep. Not that we didn't stay up late that night or anything...cough...cough.

Taepyeong Market

A couple of blocks away from my school, in Taepyeong-dong (neighborhood), is the Taepyeong Market. It's is a large farmer's market that sells pretty much anything, from seafood to clothing. It also has several street food stalls and it even has a cell phone shop...they're seriously everywhere. It is the largest "open air" market in the area. I like to come here to get my fruits and vegetables as they're usually cheaper than buying them at a supermarket. This is where I get my California oranges.

Entrance to Taepyeong Shijang (market).

There are several stalls that offer the same thing, which gives you options when it comes to bargaining.

 

You can buy food in bulk at this stall. People sometimes come to this market to buy in bulk and then re-sell the produce elsewhere.

 Lots of fish and octopus and other sea creatures that I never knew existed outside of sci fi movies.

It is common to have a lot of side dishes (banchan) with your meal. Instead of spending a long time preparing them, you can just come to this stall and take your pick of banchan. Quail eggs are one of my favorite side dishes. It is rare for people to eat salad here, instead pickled vegetables are served with every meal.

You can get a lot of street food here. The foods you can pretty much always count on finding at any street food stand are odeng (fish cakes) and tteokboki (rice cakes). They also have stands that sell fried chicken, mandu (dumplings), and sweets. Fried chicken is very popular here in Korea and I can see why...it's addicting! There's a place in this market that makes chewy rice doughnuts. Yummy! This is a good place to go to if you don't feel like cooking and want something quick and cheap. These foods are considered snack foods, but you can most definitely make a meal out of it.

Picnic Day

Friday was Picnic Day for our kindergarten, and many other kindergartens too. We went to a park with lots of pretty flowers, greenhouses, animals, a dinosaur section, games, and other fun activities for little kids.

The view was great and the flowers were very nice.

Lots of cool flowers.

Putting old toilets to good use.

These flowers smelled like baking cookies.

The kids planting their own flowers.

Harry and Eric, always in style (7s)

Matthew and Jenny with their plants (6s)

Alex (4s), Eric's younger brother; also known as stylish brother #2.

Ooooh. Pretty.

Climbing the hill to see more flowers.

Eddy would rather go downhill than up.

Lots of pretty tulips.

A windmill to go with the tulips.

School picture. I think the main purpose of this trip was for the teachers to take hundreds of pictures of the kids in order to send to their parents. The kids were good sports about it.

The kids were all fascinated by my sunglasses and wanted to take turns wearing them. Here's a few of them.

Eddy

Jay

I took this picture right after we went down the tube hill. They had a hill covered in a green plastic mat. The staff members sprayed water on it, and the kids got to go down the hill on an inner tube. The six boys from the 7s class went, and all eight kids from the 6s class went (including the two girls). These two girls were very brave. I ended up going down the hill together with James. I told James to hold on tight and off we went. I don't think James expected us to go as fast as we did and he didn't end up holding on, and part way down the hill James started to fly off my lap. I flung one arm around him and held onto the tube with the other and hoped that we wouldn't flip. We arrived at the bottom and just laid there for a minute thankful to be on solid ground again, much to the merriment of the other teachers. I think James and I ended up getting more than what we thought we'd bargained for.

James

The 4s: Jeff, Sunny, and Alex

The 5s. I asked for a happy face, and this is what I got.

The 6s. A very energetic bunch, always looking for the next adventure.

The 7s. Their poses are very true to character.

I don't think I've seen rabbits this big before. They were huge! Maybe they're descendants of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.

There was a part of the park that had moving dinosaurs. It had a few of the girls (5s) completely freaked out.

Lunchtime!

I wonder what kind of deep thoughts go through a 7 year old's head.

Who ever said that you can't have snacks after eating lunch? 

We had so much food for lunch! The parents packed food for the teachers in addition to the lunches for their own kids. Typical picnic food in S.Korea is kimbap and fruit.
In the states, picnic food is usually some kind of sandwich. My family always liked to go all the way when it came to sandwiches. Instead of just having plain ham and cheese, we would bring all the sandwich toppings (pickles, tomatoes, etc) in a separate bag to add on to our sandwich when it was time to eat.
In Ecuador, some people would have milanesa (breaded cutlet) sandwiches or bread and cheese, but they usually prefer having a hot meal. There are many little restaurants located around the country that are open only during lunchtime. My family has been on hikes before where the friends with us carried a pot with them, found some wood to make a fire and cooked their potatoes and meat for lunch. That whole process took quite some time. I think ready-made sandwiches or kimbap are so much more convenient when someone is hungry and wants to eat right away.

 

What do you like to eat when going on a picnic?