A Second Spring in Korea: Seoul Adventures

Over the past few months I've made a few trips to Seoul.  These trips almost always include at least a little shopping--after all, it's nearly impossible to resist the $10 dresses that are for sale absolutely everywhere this time of year.

Aside from shopping though, here are a few of the other things I did during my time in Korea's capital city.

Bukchon Village
I first went to Bukchon last year when my friends were visiting Korea, but I remember at that point it was super hot and we were pretty tired.  This year I made a second trip back when the weather wasn't quite as hot, and we had a wonderful time exploring the traditional hanok houses, which are quite the contrast to the modern city buildings which occupy the rest of the skyline.

One of the other lovely things about Bukchon is all of the little shops around the area. We happened to choose just the right coffee shop to take a break at--we had an amazing view of the back of the palace as we enjoyed our refreshing beverages. 

Hello Kitty Cafe

Later in the afternoon we decided to do something we will probably never be able to do back in North America--check out the Hello Kitty Cafe.  I think Hello Kitty is actually something that originated in Japan, but is pretty popular throughout East Asia. This was a trip we made pretty much just because we could.  When you're in Asia, why not?

Overall, the cafe was an explosion of just about everything pink with some coffee and cake that was mediocre at best (and of course way overpriced).  Overall, one trip here was enough, but I'm glad I went once--just for the experience.

The latte art was cute, but the cake was about 90% frosting.  Pretty gross.

Lotus Lantern Festival

On a different weekend later in May we were in Seoul again for a friend's wedding reception.  The reception ended in the early afternoon, so afterwards we went over to Dongdaemun to watch the parade for the Lotus Lantern Festival.  The Lotus Lantern Festival is a huge festival that is held in Seoul each year before Buddha's birthday.  

Only Korea would make Buddha this cute

Fire breathing dragon.  Pretty cool!

The only bad thing about this parade was since we were at the beginning of thr route, it was still light outside as the lanterns went by.  It probably would have been cooler if we had seen them lit up in the dark.

Wearing Hanboks

My friend Jen and I have been wanting to try on hanboks, the traditional Korean dresses, for quite some time.  There are a number of places in Seoul where you can try them on, but unfortunately during our last few trips to Seoul, we've been having bad luck, either coming in too late, or finding that places had outdated websites with incorrect information. On our last trip to Seoul we made sure that we were up early and made wearing hanboks our number one priority.  We ended up going to a cultural center in Insadong, where we paid only 3,000 won (about $3) to try on the hanboks.

I'm glad Jen likes to play dress up just as much as I do because it's definitely something that is more fun to do with someone else.  I should note that while people don't wear hanboks for everyday life, they are still used for special occasions, such as weddings. At times you still do see people in hanboks in Korea, but you usually know they are going to some kind of celebration when you do. 

Kakao Talk Store 

Kakao Talk is the messaging system that Koreans use. It's pretty much a lifeline here in Korea, and is hands down the number one way I communicate with people here in Korea. It's emoticon characters are extremely popular, and easily recognized by just about any Korean person. Jen and I are also fans of these cute characters, so when we heard there is a store in Seoul that is all about Kakao Talk, we knew we had to visit.

The store turned out to pretty much be exactly what I expected. The interior is bright yellow and there are of course places to take pictures with the emoticon characters. Naturally, there's also a bunch of overpriced merchandise you can buy...and of course the overpriced part didn't completely deter us--Jen and I both bought a few items there.

Probably the cutest bags ever!

The inside of the store. 

  

One of my purchases. I think my love of Kakao Talk, its emoticons, and all things cute is evidence that Korea has really started to rub off on me.

When I first came to Korea it was kind of strange to me that absoltely everything is CUTE, but it's something I've come to love, and will actually miss once I leave.  I don't know if we'll go back to the emoticon store again any time soon, but I'm glad we at least went once!

So, there you have it--a glimpse of some of the things I've been up to this spring. There's still more to write about, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon because things are just going to get busier my last few months here!

Seoul Lantern Festival

This weekend I had plans to meet up with some friends for the lantern festival in Seoul.  I caught a 6:00 bus from Jeomchon, and arrived in Seoul a little after 8.  I hopped on the subway and met up with my two friends at my friend's place (and consequently felt extremely proud of myself for navigating my way there without getting lost, even with multiple transfers...Yay!)  We put my stuff down, then headed out to Hongdae.

Hongdae is a really cool area of Seoul that I hadn't been to before.  I actually don't know why I didn't take pictures while I was there-- maybe next time! Hongdae has tons of street vendors (street food =YUM!) and a plentitude of bars.  The first bar we went to was a western bar, and for the first time in the three months I've been here, I was surrounded by westerners I didn't know.  It was a really weird feeling, and honestly I didn't care for it.  It was actually a little uncomfortable, and I realized that in some (many) ways my not understanding Korean has put in a larger of a bubble than I even realized.  When people are speaking Korean around me, I can't understand, even if they are saying crude things.  I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Next we went to small, laid back bar, before heading to dance for a little while.  We had a late night (or early morning?), but luckily we didn't have anything in particular on the agenda for the next morning.  .

We started the next day with some brunch, then after a minor delay due to some ummm....technical difficulties? (yes, there is a story there that only the three of us girls will ever know) we finally headed out to do some shopping.  When my friends asked what I wanted to do when I came to Seoul, I said that I needed to do some shopping.  It's been getting cold and my supply of warm clothes is pretty limited due to the whole two suitcase fiasco I had to deal with when packing in August.

Luckily, Seoul is AWESOME for shopping.  It's actually probably a really good thing I don't live in the city because I would, without doubt, be broke.  There were OODLES of sweaters, shoes, bags, whatever you want...and for CHEAP!  I bought 3 sweaters, all for $10 each.  I'm sure they're not the highest quality, but they actually feel pretty nice, and for $10 I don't care if it doesn't last forever, just as long as it keeps me warm this winter.  You can actually buy clothes, shoes, makeup, and other general accessories in lots of the subway and bus stations across Korea..  It's pretty genius.

After shopping for a while, we met up with our other friend and then we headed to the lantern festival.

The lantern festival was really awesome, although totally packed with people.  The lanterns went all the way down the steam, and were quite beautiful if I do say so myself.

Christmas?

After we saw all there was to see at the Lantern Festival, we got some food, I grabbed a chai latte from Starbucks (ahhh, my old friend, Starbucks!), then we went back to Suwon, where one of our friends lives.

Once we got there we met up with yet another person, and went to a few bars. I don't think we even drank anything until 12:30, so I knew it was going to be a late night.  We stayed at bars until maybe 4, then naturally we headed to noraebang until 6 AM.  We grabbed some street food (really delicious, but probably disgustingly unhealthy chicken), then made our way back to the train station.  We couldn't get a train until 7:30 AM, so our wait in the train station was pretty painful and included a short cat nap for all three of us.  We finally got back to my friend's place in Seoul around 8 AM, at which point we all collapsed from exhaustion.

We slept well into the afternoon, at which point I realized I really should get back because Monday was coming too quickly.  I finally got on a bus around 6, and made it back to Jeomchon by 8.

As per usual, the weekend flew by way too quickly, but I had a great time.  Here are my major takeaways from this weekend:

1)  There are A LOT of people in Seoul.  I obviously knew about Korea's crazy population density, but wow, it's pretty intense.  There are people everywhere, and after adjusting to small-town life, it's pretty overwhelming whenever I step into a city.

2)  I still have quite a bit to see in Seoul. Seoul really is huge, and I've barely seen any of it yet.  Good thing I still have plenty of time to explore more!

3)  It's probably a good thing I don't live in a city.  Like I said, there's so much to buy everywhere.  Not to mention the street food, bars, and other general activities to enjoy.  I think it's safe to say I would be dirt poor if I lived in a city, never mind the fact that I could never keep up with that kind of nightlife every weekend.

4)  I'm pretty lucky to have some great friends after only three months of being here.  When I did Nutcracker last year I met a guy who shortly after moved to Korea to teach.  We kept in touch, and meeting his friends has introduced me to some pretty great people.  It's crazy how things work out, but I'm really thankful for all of the great people I've met thus far.