So I am going to attempt to write an interesting yet concise entry about our trip to Seoul for Chuseok. Chuseok is one of the most important holidays here and is kind of like Korea's Thanksgiving in as much as it celebrates the harvest, but also during this holiday they pay their respects to their ancestors. A lot of times the whole family will pack up and head off to the cemetery to lay out flowers, gifts, and general tokens of affection during Chuseok. They also give gifts to each other.
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| Our gift of two ginormous boxes of apples from the parents of our school. |
For foreigners during Chuseok, it is a great time to take advantage of a five day weekend and take a trip.
FRIDAY NIGHT
We decided to go to Seoul with a big group of friends we met at orientation our first week here.
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| The Seoul Crew! |
I think the final headcount ended up being around 15 or so. The Hubby and I had already booked our train tickets on the KTX (bullet train) a couple weeks before, so we were shocked when we arrived at the train station to pick up our tickets only to find that they had been cancelled! After a lot of discussion with the people at the ticketing booth, we discovered that we had mistakenly booked tickets for 7:30 in the morning instead of 7:30 at night. Korea uses military time, so when we clicked on 7:30 as a time for departure, we should have been looking for 19:30 instead. <sigh> Luckily, we were able to get what were probably the last two seats on the 7:30, excuse me, 19:30 Seoul bound train. I think they were the last seats because when we got on, some people were having to stand. Thirty minutes after we boarded, we arrived at Seoul station, ready to start our long holiday weekend!
We took the subway to our hotel, found a few people from our group, and went to dinner. After hanging out for the rest of the night into the wee hours of the next morning, we all headed to bed and agreed to meet the next morning to decide what the game plan was going to be for our first full day in Seoul.
SATURDAY
A groggy, yet excited crew met up at the coffee shop on the corner the next morning, and we decided to go to Insadong, a well known shopping area full of all kinds cultural and souvenir-like goods. From there, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, known for housing the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty. Apparently, the original palace complex was destroyed during one of the many Japanese occupations of Korea, but the country has been slowly restoring the buildings.
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| Entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace |
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| The Hubby in front of the palace |
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| Standing with one of the guardsmen. He never moved. They must be really good sports. |
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| Party pavilion at the palace |
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| Gardens. The queen had her own garden, which was really the only place she could go outside since she was forbidden to go anywhere in view of other people. Imagine being under house arrest for the rest of your life. |
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| Throne Room |
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| Beautiful mountains behind the palace |
After visiting the palace, a few of us moseyed on through the streets of Insadong, checking out all the cool artwork and pottery. I love shopping, but it is so hard for me to actually commit to purchasing something. I don't suffer from buyer's remorse as much as I suffer from buyer's paralysis. Just can't decide if I want to spend the money.
After Insadong, we went to Itaewon to meet up with some of the others from our group who had gone on ahead. Itaewon is the area in Seoul often referred to as Little America. It is where all the foreigners go to hang out and is full of all kinds of little western comforts that remind waygooks (foreigners) of home. We reunited with most of our group and ate at a Mexican restaurant called Amigos for dinner. It wasn't bad, but nothing beats Tex Mex from the source.
SUNDAY - Chuseok Day!
After a western style brunch in Itaewon, complete with eggs benedict and homefries (yum!), we decided to hike up to the Seoul Tower to see a complete view of Seoul. It was much steeper than I expected, and I regretted not wearing tennis shoes, but after a long trek up the mountain, we made it, albeit rather drenched in sweat, to the top.
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| So many steps |
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| Come on! You can do it! |
The view on the way up the mountain was really beautiful, as most of the landscape in Korea is.
Once we arrived at the base of the tower, we bought tickets to travel up to the observation deck. While we waited, we had to stop and introduce our British friends to the Cold Stone Creamery ice cream that was available there. At the top of the tower, we were able to see a 360 degree view of Seoul, which is a huge, sprawling city - so much bigger than New York and even more overflowing with people.
No wonder it takes so long to get places on the subway. Manhattan is so compact that you can get pretty much anywhere within twenty to thirty minutes. At least before midnight anyway. One more note about the subway: there is a little song or ditty for everything here. In the subway, a trumpet reveille announces the arrival of the train. The "bell" at our school is the unofficial, quite catchy, anthem for the Chungnam province. Even my washing machine plays a little song to let me know it has finished its cycle. Koreans love their jingles.
While on the subway to our next destination after the Seoul Tower, I was standing there when suddenly I felt someone pulling on the sleeve of my sweater. When I looked down, I saw a little old Korean lady trying to get my attention to tell me to sit down in the empty seat next to her. My feet were incredibly sore after the long hike up and down the mountain to get to the tower, so I gratefully acquiesced and sat down next to her. Then she proceeded to try to get one of the other girls in our group to sit in an empty seat across from us. When our friend smiled and politely declined, the older lady began to firmly and assertively nudge our friend's arm, gesturing for her to sit down. Again our friend tried to tell the lady that she was just fine standing up, after which, my new little Korean grandmother began to nudge my arm and whisper conspiratorially behind her hand (in Korean, mind you), trying to get me to convince my American friend to sit down. Then she began to have a full on conversation with me in Korean. I say "conversation" in spite of the fact that it was completely one-sided and I had no earthly idea what she was saying. I think part of it included an explanation about how she needed to sit on the train because of a bad back. This I derived from gestures and facial expressions. An even larger part of it included more insistent nudging of my arm in an attempt to get my American friend to sit down. She was really worried about that apparently. I just smiled and nodded as she carried on, completely at a loss as to what she was saying, but I must have looked like I understood, 'cause she just kept on talkin'.
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| There we are. That's my I'm-trying-to-be-polite-and-not-outright-laugh-at-this-situation face. |
That evening, we went on a boat ride of the Han River. It was a "magic cruise" in that it had a magic show that lasted about 30 minutes. It was pretty cool, but the best part was just being on the water.
After our boat cruise, we went back to the area around our hotel where we decided to go to a noraebang (a private karaoke room rented by the hour) where we had a blast reliving the 80s and 90s with Mr. Big, Ace of Base, and some Oasis thrown in for good measure. Those were pretty much the only decades represented in the English song selection.
MONDAY
Monday morning, we headed out to try to catch what we could of the Hi Seoul Festival, one of the most prominent festivals Seoul has to offer. Unfortunately, when we got to Seoul Plaza, we realized that the opening ceremony wasn't until that evening. We had about four hours to kill, which really isn't much time to get around Seoul, have time to do anything, and then get back in time for the festival events. So we walked around a different part of Insadong. It was soooo crowded! Everyone and their adjumma (grandma) was out and about. After a long afternoon of wandering around on our own, we all met back up to claim a spot on the lawn to watch the show. The opening ceremony began with a kind of sporadic parade. I say sporadic because it didn't just keep flowing like parades in the States do. Instead, one group would pass by, then another, then another. Between acts in the parade, everyone just kind of hung out on the street.
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| This puppet contraption reminded me so much of my time in Lyon, France at a theatre workshop watching and doing some pretty weird theatre. |
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| Fairy bride in a Korean fairy tale |
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| Deer in Korean fairy tale |
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| White Tiger; one of Korea's guardians |
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| Phoenix (that looks an awful lot like a chicken); another guardian |
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| Dragon; another guardian |
After the parade, we went back to the plaza to watch the opening program.
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| These guys formed a human mobile dangling from a crane above the crowd. They were strapped in a harness and were drumming the whole time. So awesome. Above them was a trapeze artist whose face was painted like the Joker. Kind of random, but soooooo Korea. (Although I think this particular troupe was from Chicago strangely enough.) |
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| Lots of fireworks. I mean A LOT! |
After the program, a lady in traditional garb, or hanbok, came up on the stage and had everyone stand up. Please note that everything said on stage was in Korean, so we only knew what to do by following everyone else. After everyone was standing, the lady was still talking and music began to play as well. Before I knew what was happening, Koreans all over the Plaza began to hold hands and then proceeded to skip off in a sort of snakelike line. All of a sudden, I felt someone grab my own hand and looked up to see the bemused face of one of my friends from our group. Some random guy had grabbed her hand and her expression told me that she was not going alone. We were whisked away to join the dancing crowd, but not before I added another of our group to the line with my free hand. I looked around the lawn to find dozens of concentric circles of joined hands and smiling faces. Here and there I could spot other foreigners from our group with the same I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on-but-I'm-just-gonna-go-with-it expression on their faces. I'm pretty sure they only mirrored my own.
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| Me trying to figure out what the heck just happened. |
TUESDAY
This last day, I was pretty tired, and a day at home doing absolutely nothing was beckoning to me. We couldn't, however, leave Seoul without seeing the COEX Aquarium. The aquarium had some pretty amazing fish, and I got to see a beaver and a manatee for the first time in real life. Even so, four days chock full of walking and sightseeing had worn me pretty thin, and I kind of breezed through the exhibits, managing to narrowly escape stumbling over the hundreds of children scattered throughout the tiny rooms of the aquarium. My spirits soared, however, when we were coming around a corner and I saw one of the most beautiful things I have yet seen here - a sign proclaiming the existence of an On the Border! That's right, folks, my last meal in Seoul on my five day weekend was chicken fajita Tex Mex nachos at an On the Border American chain restaurant! It was like the Heavens opened up and God had mercy on my poor little Mexican food deprived soul.
After a lovely, albeit exhausting, weekend, I am now home in Asan! Thanks, Seoul, for being so much fun...even if you are WAY too spread out.
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| THE END! (for now) |
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