Our friend Alison, who's on exchange in Hong Kong this semester, met us at the hostel along with her three exchange friends from Denmark. Emilie, Alison, Linnea, Sørn and Sørn (who we call the Sørn's - funny what names are common in different parts of the world) and I all spent a great weekend together. It was great to see Alison and so cool to meet new friends from Denmark! Between our stories about Korea, their stories about life in Denmark, ours in Canada, and their exchange in Hong Kong, we had a lot to talk about! One of the best things about traveling and meeting people from around the world is sharing stories and comparing the similarities/differences about what life is like in different parts of the world.
...New Danish friends!
Our first day in Seoul was spent shopping during the day and in the university district (drinking Soju!) at night. The shopping in Seoul, as we soon found out, is absolutely insane. First we went to Namdaemun market, a traditional Korean market full of little shops selling pretty much anything you can think of. Alison even got a pair of prescription glasses for only $50... we walked into the glasses shop, they took her prescription, and told us to come back in 30 minutes. So cool! As much as some things seem backwards in Korea, they definitely make some things a lot easier... like getting glasses! The market is HUGE, with so many little alleys leading you to even more stores... it would definitely have been very easy to get lost in there! Next we went to the Myeong Dong district, one of Korea's main tourist areas. In Myeong Dong we went to Forever 21 which we were all excited to find because it's one of our favourite shops at home. As if we hadn't done enough shopping already, next we went to Dongdaemun where Korea's biggest department store, Migliore, is located. Dongdaemun is Seoul's largest commercial district with both traditional and western shops to choose from. We also visited Cheonggyecheon Stream, a 5km-long stream that flows nearly 15ft. below street level. The stream runs parallel to Sejongro, one of the busiest streets in Seoul, but when you walk along the river you can barely hear the traffic above. Very cool!
Ceonggyecheon Stream
MyeongDong Market
Even though it was Alison and the Dane's first time in Korea, ironically we chose sushi for dinner... not exactly the traditional Korean dinner we should have had, but delicious nonetheless. On our way back to the hostel, we picked up a few bottles of Soju and once we started drinking it disappeared pretty quickly. From the hostel we headed to the downtown university district with some of the people also staying at the guesthouse. We didn't really know where we were going so it ended up being a lot of walking and standing outside, but still so fun because the streets were full of people doing exactly the same thing! Eventually, though, we settled on a Music Bar and spent the rest of the night there.
The next morning we checked out of our hostel and made one last quick trip to see Gyeongbokgung Palace, constructed in 1394 and whose names translates to "Palace of Shining Happiness." We opted not to do a guided tour but instead sat in the shade (it's almost November and we were too hot sitting in the sun!) on the grass outside the palace and just enjoyed the music/scenery. Sitting of the grass was nice and restful until I woke up this morning with huuge bug bites all over my body! My co-teacher even wanted me to go to the hospital because some of them were so big, but I talked her into letting me go to the school nurse instead... the hospital seemed a little too dramatic for a few swollen bug bites!
After Gyeongbokgung Palace Emilie and I headed back to the bus station and Alison and the Danes continued their trip. Unfortunately we had to be back to teach for Monday morning, but they don't leave until Thursday. It was so nice to see Alison and great to meet our new Danish friends... Emilie and I really want to try and visit Hong Kong before their exchange is over in December. Hopefully we can make it happen!
It was such a great trip and I'm so happy to have been able to visit Seoul, but there's definitely much more to do/see and a few more trips before the year is over is definitely in order! We're hoping to get a group to go for my birthday weekend and for the Harry Potter movie premier (...guess who suggested that idea? =) ). We also really want to check out the DMZ (de-militarized zone) between North and South Korea next time we go. Our Korean tour book says that the DMZ is the "scariest place on earth" and yet they do guided tours and the Joint Security Area has become a huge tourist attraction... so strange! Emilie and I will post more Seoul pictures on facebook so look for them sooon!!
Love, jenna and emilie
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