Korean Adventure!

Two weeks after we booked our flight for Korea, it was already time to go. I had no expectations and no knowledge of what we were leaving for whatsoever.  I tried to pack light but with everyone telling me Korea is 10 times colder than Japan, I packed my heavy clothes.

While trying to figure out where the bus pick up was for the airport, my friend and I went in desperate search of an ATM to see if our scholarships had come in. It was expected to arrive that day in our accounts but it was getting down to the time to fly off to Korea and we had absolutely NO money! I left my house with 3000 yen for the bus ride, crossing my fingers that the money would pop into my bank on time.  Luckily, when we checked at the airport right after we had arrived it was there for all of us! PHEW!

We arrived at Incheon Airport and were greeted by Shinae’s Mother who gave us Korean donuts!  They were simply delicious. They were small and chewy with mochi inside of them. Shinae is one of our Korean friends who came with us, though unfortunately she didn’t get to spend much time with us because she was with her family for the Korean New Year. But anyway, after getting our bearings we went to change our money into Won. Did we ever feel rich! I changed about 400 dollars worth and that converted to 52 10,000 won bills! In won, you move the decimal place over three points so it’s basically like getting 400 dollars in tens but that’s a small matter! It felt like we were rolling in cash!

When we got to our hostel, we were greeted by Mary - the most wonderful Korean woman wearing bear claw feet! She was so hospitable and so nice. We came in and she says, “I had to change your room to the suite on the 19^th floor, is that OK?” And we were like, “…o_O For 130 dollars for five nights, that’s more like unbelievable!” Then she proceeded to give us various maps, giving us directions to her favorite restaurants, the clubbing areas, shopping districts in the immediate area; everything we needed! She told us that breakfast was every day from 8-12 and to come and enjoy cereal, toast, and coffee! Our room was a suite with 5 beds, a loft up top, a bathroom, a washing machine, even a tiny stove and coffee maker – all facing a huge wall and a half size window overlooking the city. And it smelled so fresh and clean! What a deal!

The view from our suite! =)

We chose our beds, put down our things (everyone was excited about the beds in the loft but after hitting our heads on the ceiling a few times each, the competition died down ^^;;), and immediately set out to a place in the city Mary had suggested to eat. The weather turned to be great and warmer than Japan! We sat around two tables that had a vent in the middle to cook our food on. As a custom, we were given kimchee, and spicy soups for free with our meal. Everything was delicious! I’m not usually good with spicy food but there was plenty of water to dull the fire. Over dinner our Korean friend, Karhim, who was amazing the whole trip and helped us in every aspect started teaching us some basic Korean phrases. We learned how to order basic things like water and beer and things like thank you. I love the sound of Asian languages, and Korean is definitely awesome sounding. I’m hoping to take at least a year or so of it when I get back to the States!

After dinner we wandered around the city. It’s so much livelier compared to where we live in Japan! There are street vendors everywhere selling delicious food, jewelry, clothes, even puppies. (?!) We found a Turkish ice cream shop and went in. The shopkeeper gave us quite a show! He went outside and had us try to catch the cone he was putting the ice cream in. For those who have never had Turkish ice cream, it kind of has taffy like stretchy texture to it and it’s fun to eat! He really gave Karhim a run. She couldn’t catch it no matter what she did! He would flip it over and sideways on a long stick in front of her face. I tried too and I unexpectedly caught it and crushed my friends’ ice cream cone. <^^ We enjoyed our ice cream and some of our group even found long awaited sandwiches which do not exist in Japan. We were all so satisfied!

Ice cream, anyone?

The next day we all bought subway passes so we could conveniently travel on it without having to buy an individual ticket every time. They popped out in a package resembling a pack of cigarettes haha. Train rides are really cheap in Korea! They were less than a dollar almost every time and we only spent a total of about 10 bucks for the whole trip. We traveled to Jongno and on the way we discovered the giant vending machines that are everywhere, offering large boxes of cookies and other delicious snacks for cheap.

We went out to the town and just shopped around for a bit. We found this really cute store that was selling handmade jewelry where I bought a cute watch necklace. (^^) 

We went all over the town, noticing graffiti all over the walls and the heaps of trash on the ground. (I have to admit, after being on the spotless streets in Japan, it was kind of refreshing!) Then we ate this really delicious street sweet that had red bean paste in the middle of a pastry (I love anko!). We eventually found a restaurant and settled in for lunch. It was a place notorious for its dumplings so we had kind of like a spicy dumpling stew called Mandoo Jeongoal that we shared between four of us.

After roaming, we left to find DeokSu Gung, one of the Five Grand Palaces in Seoul. It was heavily destroyed during the Japanese occupation of Korea so only about a third of it remains but it was still neat to walk around. The architecture was so colorful with vibrant reds and greens and pillars with elaborate patterns on them.

That night we went out in search for a bar or somewhere to eat. We went to a place Mary had recommended but Mary must be rich because this place was really expensive! It had an atmosphere like a Hookah bar. In fact, we thought it WAS a hookah bar what with the poof cushions, Indian drapes and low lighting but we asked and they said they don’t do that kind of thing.  They even had a hookah looking object but apparently they were using it for a special drink? But anyway it was too expensive so we had one drink and then left to find somewhere cheaper. We ended up at a small restaurant where we ate a stew type meal, Daakgalbi, out of a shovel! It literally looked like they had gotten shovels from the store, cut off most of the handle and put it over a flame. It looked gigantic so we shared two between the six of us. On the way home we had some street food (the shovel wasn’t as filling for 3 as we thought). I got the anko pastry again and tried a fried hotdog with Karhim because she was really excited about it and I wanted to try whatever she did. I thought I was going to die! I just couldn’t finish it. Actually I didn’t WANT to finish it. It was disgustingly fried to four times the size of the actual hotdog. Ick!

The next morning, after breakfast again by virtue of Mary, we met Shinae to go shopping and eat. She took us to a place near our hostel where we had dduk bokgi , a red, spicy dish with long log shaped rice cakes that had twi gim mixed into it (basically fried tempura). They also ordered soon dae, a slimy grey substance rolled into a sausage form. It was all really good! They served hot soup that reminded me of miso with it, which was pretty good. Usually we got hot tea with the meals, which never made sense to me because they don’t help counteract the spiciness of the meal. But this actually complemented it pretty well.

We used this third day for shopping! We stopped by a Zara and had fun dressing up the boys in more fashionable clothes for an hour or two. A couple of them even ended up with some nice long sleeved button shirts. Shinae took us to a busy shopping district that was packed with shops, well known and independent alike. We split up from there because we were searching for different items. I went on a search for make up with Karhim which was a HUGE fail and we ended up spending a lot of the time trying to get the stuff off my face! I gave up and we went to the street vendors where we bought gigantic cream puffs and found a cheap Korean knock off of the most recent Harry Potter movie (which turned out to be pretty shit but it was only 3 dollars ;;). We even found this really delicious sweet called kkultarae that was like white candy over nuts. The guys selling it gave quite a show! They even had an English version they performed for me which was extremely entertaining:

After chowing down in the streets we found a Forever 21 and other stores where we scouted a few items on sale. =) Karhim and Patrick even got chucks at a Converse store that were really neat and original.

That night Shinae took us to this awesome bulgogi place (like yakiniku, cooked meat) It was absolutely delicious! I almost didn’t go because I was so exhausted from the day but I’m so glad I did! Shinae and Karhim did all the ordering for us and it was to die for! They cooked it over real coals in the middle of the table. You cook meat and vegetables over top of it. 

Doesn't it look delicious?!

They also supplied us with lettuce and basil leaves where you put the meat and veggies on top of, and then various spicy things which gave it a great taste. Then you roll them all up and shove the whole thing in your mouth! Shinae said that was the best way to eat it. “You can’t eat it just a bite at a time!” Then after we ate what was on the cooker and we thought that was the end, they cleared the whole thing away and gave us a completely new table cooker, leaves, meat and vegetables for another serving. This happened two or three times until we were all stuffed. It was amazing and only like 12 dollars each! We also had traditional rice whine with it, which went really great with the taste of the meal. You have to swirl the bottle around periodically so the rice doesn’t settle in it. We also noticed that the building we were in had no walls but was covered instead with a heavy plastic that you see in construction sites. It was STILL warmer than a Japanese building! Even in our hostel we were absolutely warm and we never even turned on a heater. The way this happens is because Korea uses heated floors and because heat rises, it makes the rest of the room a really comfortable temperature without using much energy!  I was so impressed I wondered why Japan doesn’t catch on to something so simple and effective. (It’s cold to go out of the warm room in my host house and get my butt frozen in the bathroom! Even with the heated seats, there’s a draft!)

The next day was New Year’s. Most shops were closed so we set off for Gyeongbok Gung Palace which was apparently where all the other Korean’s were going too because there were several special events. (Lucky!) We even got in for free because no one pays on the New Year! We saw a guard march, and got free, small New Year cakes. There was a spot outside where kids were playing all types of different traditional Korean games. Some of them resembled old games in the states like pick up sticks, hacky sack and spinning tops. But all the kids were playing in their traditional garb so it was really cute!

This palace had been burned down completely during the Japanese invasion but they’ve slowly been rebuilding the entire complex. The weather turned kind of foggy and Karhim and Patrick spent the whole trip trying to avoid getting their new chucks dirty on the wet sandy ground but we were glad we went! There was also a museum, which we took a long tour around. When we came back out we found they were getting ready to perform a traditional dance! What good timing. They had white strips of paper attached that twirled around from their hats and energetic dancers twirling about.

When we had looked our fill we went back to the main part of town to find food and shopping. While we were looking around we ran into a traditional arcade! Like kids (in a candy shop? Isn’t an arcade just the same? Lol) we played around with some of our favorite games that really brought back memories! They had everything from Tetris to Wack-a-Mole to Zombie shooting games and a DDR game. We fooled around in town until dark and then headed back to our hostel.

We found a site online for an awesome club that was free for the New Year and got jazzed up to go check it out! It was in a district far away so it took about 50 minutes to get to by train. When we got out of the station though we noticed giant iPad (maybe 4x the size) devices that we’d been seeing all around Seoul. In the train stations, on the streets, they’re everywhere you turn. They’re capable of google maps, news updates, weather, and all sorts of other useful information while you’re out and about. Since Shinae couldn’t come with us we decided to take a picture with it and send it to her email. It was so cool and convenient! There was one per block the entire time we were walking to Club Eden. We finally made it after the guys decided to get some snacks and after getting distracted when they spotted a Hooters of all things.

It was definitely lucky that this club free for the night because it was one high rolling place. We happened to pick the night where a bunch of models visiting Seoul also came. They were everywhere! We couldn’t believe it. Some of the tallest people I’ve ever seen. But even so, the drink prices might have been the most outrageous thing we saw. While we got “two free tickets” which basically amounted to two shots of tequila (which don’t do too much), the rest of the drinks were upwards of 220 to 360 dollars! It was ridiculous. There were basic drinks for 10 to 20 dollars but I didn’t see the point of wasting money on them. They also had some awkward names like “Tie me to the bed post,” “Orgasm,” or our favorite, “It Doesn't Matter Anymore.” xD What kind of place was this?! The lighting in the club was definitely cool but the music was so-so. It was techno but I prefer music I can sing too because otherwise it gets a little repetitive. After getting hit on by the 5^th guy I was definitely sick of the place and since the others were dead on their feet (it’s tiring walking around all day and then going out til 4 in the morning!) we decided to take a taxi home instead of waiting for the trains to restart. We thought it would be heinously expensive but between three people it was only 5 bucks each! Everything is cheap in Seoul! (Of course, if you took it during the day it would probably be 10x the price)

On the last day we went out to get Bryan’s hair cut and I ended up finally taking the plunge and getting mine done like I’d been considering for a while! It was worth it just for the experience Korean hair salons give! My friends actually said this place is all over Chicago but we never expected it to be so good. They massaged my head for 2-3 minutes just for my pure enjoyment, had separate people for washing, cutting, drying, brushing off hair, straightening, and styling! They used 8 different kinds of scissors I had never even seen. I kind of like the way it turned out but I’m still trying to learn its ways and how to style it.

Afterwards we split up from the guys and did separate shopping, which turned out to be nice. We looked at accessories and a mall we hadn’t noticed before and found a bunch of cheap sweaters. We ran into a problem there though because we had gone to the bathroom but they don’t keep any form of paper in either the boys’ or the girls’ bathroom! Apparently all the shop owners keep rolls of toilet paper for themselves when they have to go. There should be a sign if it’s something like that! I had to beg one of them in terrible Korean before she finally conceded! What an ordeal.

We got some street food and went to go meet the boys and head towards Seoul Tower by taxi. But when we got there, Patrick realized he had lost his iPhone of 3 years! It was devastating. We tried to call the taxi companies but with only a vague description of the driver and no license number, there was just no chance. It kind of put a damper on the tower, which wasn’t as great anyway because the fog limited our vision of the city. The love lockets were neat though. There’s a legend that if you come to the tower with your lover and tie a lock on it, then you’ll be together forever. There were locks everywhere; even locks in tree formations!

This tree is made out of locks!

When we got back we tried in vain to search the taxis again but it was no use.  We didn’t realize how late it was but it was nearly midnight when we returned to the hostel. Apparently Mary had tried to throw us a dinner for our last day but we didn’t realize because we hadn’t been home all day and didn’t see the post. But in our absence, she had cleaned our entire suite (even rolling up our clothes and putting them in our suitcases) and left us Dunkin Donuts with a loving note! She truly is the nicest woman ever!

We love you Mary!!

Since it was so late anyway and our plane was early in the morning we decided to just stay up until it was time to go. But having only eaten some street chicken we went out to town to find something to eat. After setting up our friends on a date (mwahaha) we ran into a boy from the hostel and his mentor and they offered to take us out for drinks. We spent the next three hours drinking the delicious rice wine we had enjoyed the other night, talking to them and reflecting on the awesome trip we had had. It was a great end to the vacation!

And thus ends this post! Maybe next time I’ll actually get back to talking about my Japanese life! <^^

Korean Word of the Day: Kansamnida! Which means Thank you!

Japanese Word of the Day:　旅　たび or tabi, which means journey or adventure. =)

それではまた次回！^^