SEOUL trippin'

The past two weekends I have gone up to Seoul. Being a newbie, I was incredibly proud of myself for making it to the correct terminal in Seoul all by myself. Although I must admit that my ever faithful co-teacher gave me pages of translations so that I wouldn't get lost, as well as calling me a taxi directly from school so that I would arrive at the bus stop in time. Admittedly, I got a bit lost at the terminal, trying to figure out which was the correct platform. Finally a young Korean guy came up to me and said in a pitying voice, " You look lost, I speak English". I could have hugged him!

On the subway with Tamrin!

Who did I meet up with when I finally arrived at Dong Seoul terminal? Tamrin!! Who I haven't seen since graduation. It was like meeting up with a long lost family member. And of course, we did not stop speaking until I got on the bus on Sunday afternoon. It was so great to see her. She took me for my first subway ride back to Munsan (just outside of Seoul) where she lives and teaches at a little elementary school. Her flat is pretty similar to mine, except that it has the weirdest wall paper I have ever come across. Basically the wall is covered with these scenic little country houses accompanied with inspiring quotes about living to your potential. Its bizarre, but hey, its Korea. I laugh every time I see it.

The next morning we met up with another foreigner who has being living in Tamrin's area for sometime. She showed us around everywhere, it was like employing a free built in tour guide. Thanx Cindy! She took us to Gyeongbokgang palace. Palaces here are quite different from the European version and was first constructed in 1395. There are no high towers or ball rooms. But there is definitely a sense of intricacy and wealth. One of the most interesting things that I found was the three separate leveled paths that run along the palace. The highest being for the King, the second being for his clergy/nobles and the third almost dirty path being for the servants.Tamrin, being a fantastic friend, insisted I walk along the lowest path.

The changing of the guard

Very pretty!

I spent the rest of the day in Hongdae and Insadong, which are both pretty foreigner friendly areas. For once, possible since I have arrived, I didn't stick out like a sore thumb. I was just one of the many westerners wondering the streets. What is alarming is that  I seem to have become one with the Koreans. Every time I see someone who isn't from the country, I instantly stare in surprise... "What are they doing here?"  As if I'm not odd at all.
 

Lunch in Hongdae. Sashimi and noodles, dumplings (called Mandu in Korea). As well as kimchi and pickled radish. The Sashimi was kind of underwhelming, like chewing raw chicken.

Silk worm Larvae anyone? At the Insadong street market. Gave it a skip though.

One of the highlights of Hongdae was the Trick Eye museum. In a nutshell, the museum takes a number of well know paintings and distorts them so that it appears you are a part of it. Here are two good ones.

A newer part of the museum is the ice section. I wasnt sure what was on the other side of the doors and was a bit concerned when someone handed me a fleece blanket. To my surprise, a room with igloos, frozen polar bears and snowmen opened  up as well as an apartment reconstructed purely from ice. Apparently the apartment was incomplete without a frozen dump in the ice toilet.

Sliding down the big ice slide

One the second weekend I had dinner at Braai republic which is a South African restaurant in Itaewon. I figured that seeing as I will be missing Braai day at home I might as well enjoy it here. Hey, I may have spent R60 on a Hunters Dry... but it was totally worth it!

My cheap-o Hunters Dry. Savored every sip lol

Last but not least I ended my weekend having lunch with Tamrin. It was our first Solo Korean eating trip and we were mighty proud of ourselves. We had Samgyeopsal. This is basically a type of cured pork rasher that you fry and cook for yourself. Often you wrap it up in sesame lettuce leaf along with a couple of sauce options and eat it. Pretty delicious. The lady who owned the restaurant was out in the back when we arrived. She nearly fell over backwards when two little South African girls were sitting waiting for her in the corner of her empty restaurant.

This weekend I will be off to Everland- a Korean theme park. Cannot wait!