First Trip to Seoul!

Ahhhh! I don't even know where to start! This past weekend we went to Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. CNN named it one of the greatest cities in the world, and I can definitely agree! We left early Friday morning (5am) and returned to Jungwon Monday evening.

Friday started out early, but I slept most of the 3ish hour bus ride to Seoul. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed straight for the DMZ (De-militarized Zone). The DMZ is the border between North and South Korea, and is the most heavily guarded border in the entire world. On the South side, it is guarded by the UN, and specifically by South Korean and US soldiers. We took a tour of the border and then went into this little building that sits over the border. It is for both North and South Korea to use, so whenever someone goes in one side they have to lock the door to the other side. Basically, they take tourists in there so they can officially cross the border.

So, the blue building on the left is the building where people can go in to cross. The soldiers you see are South Korean soldiers, and the building across the way there is the guard post on the North Korean side. if you look between the two blue buildings, you will see a line running horizontally where the gravel changes to dirt: this is the official border between North and South.

About one minute after I took the first photo, North Korean soldiers began their round and stopped at the border. You can see them right across the line there. Our tour guide pointed out that the North Koreans are much shorter and skinnier than the South Koreans, due to food and healthcare shortages over the border.

Next, we went into the building. Inside there was a South Korean soldier posted, and windows facing out into that middle area on both sides of the border. So here I am, standing next to but facing away from the windows and our tour guide says, "Oh, looks as if he is very curious about your pretty blonde hair." I turn around and directly meet the gaze of a North Korean soldier. We just stared, shocked, at each other for a good 20 seconds before I just took a picture and walked away. When we left the building, a fellow ETA whispered to me, "Do you realized we just did one of the most dangerous things we will ever do in our lives?" And he was right. I definitely had the shivers for awhile after that.

The soldier that was staring at me. He was about 5 feet from me, through this bullet-proof glass.

The South Korean soldier posted inside the building to ensure North Koreans don't enter.

That concrete slab marks the official border.

To see more photos from the DMZ, check out my album on Facebook. So, after we left the DMZ, we went to the residence of the US Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens. She hosted us for dinner with the Embassy. It was amazing! She has such a impressive background, and she was a PeaceCorps volunteer teaching in South Korea back in the 70s. I got to chat with her for awhile, and she was very kind. Also, I was so happy because we got to eat an American barbeque! They got us food from the US military base and we finally got to have food from home. I have to admit, it made me a little homesick :(

Entrance to the Ambassador's residence.

Later that night, I went out with some of the ETAs from my Korean language class to meet up with our teacher. We got lost getting off the subway, but eventually found her. We went to a bar and then a dance club, which was nothing like an American club. People didn't actually dance with each other, except for the Americans. The Koreans just sort of stood in one place and danced. But it was fun, they played a lot of American music.

Saturday was a free day, so my roommate Gina and I planned a day of cultural sight-seeing. First, we had lunch at McDonald's, which was WAY better than in the US.

Like being home ^^

Then we went to a palace that is a historic landmark of the Joseon Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of Korea. We were in time to catch an English tour, which we were glad of because we would have really missed out on a lot of the cool explanations.

 So this is the main throne room. You can see the path leading up to it is a raised stone walkway with two shorter walkways on either side. The middle walkway was only to be used by the king and queen, with the left walkway for military officials and the right for civil officials.

These are the markers along the walkway that denote the ranks of officials so they knew where to stand.

The throne room.

The hallway that connected the king's and queen's quarters. It was used for procreational purposes ^^

This was the last Joseon king's concubine's quarters. The last living official descendent of the Joseon dynasty, a princess, lived here until her death in 1989.

After the palace, we took the subway (I'm just a regular urbanite now!) to the Korean Folk Museum, which was amazing. There were audio tours in English, and the museum covered the history of Korea's folk culture. Outside there was a little mock-village through the years, showing ancient buildings all the way up to the 60s. There were definitely some cool exhibits.

Replica of an herb shop.

Replica of a comic store in the 50s or 60s.

Close up on the comics. Note the blondes...

Ancient dress of early Joseon dynasty.

Cool art.

Display of kimchi... which is eaten at every single meal.

Picture taken at the palace during the Joseon dynasty. You can see how the officials are lined up.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel and met up with other ETAs to go shopping! Seoul is split into districts, and we hit an amazing one for shopping. I found a lot of dress clothes for pretty cheap. Also ran into this gem of an Engrish shirt:

Oh, yea. Duh. That.

Sunday was also a free day. For the first half of the day, I went to Itaewon with my good friend Kristin, the one holding the shirt above. Itaewon is the foreigner district. As soon as we stepped out I was like... holy crap, I'm back in the US! There were US restaurants and shops, but also food from around the world: Indian, Italian, Mexican. Kristin and I ate at Outback Steakhouse and had real hamburgers! Then we went to a store where they had a lot of American brand foods and drinks for sale. I bought some Lay's potato chips and was in heaven!

Subway exit into Itaewon. Note the Quizno's, Coffee Bean, Cold Stone, and Taco Bell all right next to each other!

Hard Rock Seoul

Random underground black market. At least, I think so because there was definitely some sketchy items.

I have no idea what that is, but it was in the underground market.

While wandering around Itaewon, Kristin and I were looking for a nail salon because we wanted pedicures. We went up these random stone steps to check out a salon but it was closed. So we decided to wander down the hill from the salon instead of taking the stairs back to the main road. I believe we ended up in some kind of red-light section. We definitely passed a few whorehouses, as well as some love motels. Love motels actually aren't that sketchy. In Korea, people live with their parents until their late 20s or early 30s, so they often go to love motels with their significant others. It's a pretty accepted practice. Also, love motels are very cheap and so sometimes foreigners stay in them just to get a cheap room for the night! Exhibit A:

Honeymoon Paradise lol

We did finally end up finding a nail salon, but in another district. We headed over to Ewha Women's College and there was an entire district of girly salons, coffee shops, clothing stores, and more! It was a really hip area, with some really well dressed people. Also, there was a neat mall and a rock band set up in front of it and just started playing! It was definitely cool.

This tattoo/piercing parlor was the first I had seen in the whole country.

Rock band playing in front of a mall.

Then we had Burger King for dinner and headed back to the hotel. This morning, we woke up bright and early and headed to Korea University, one of the top three universities in Korea. Our language teachers are from Korea University, so we have been getting a great education! We then had our Korean class graduation ceremony, which was really nice. We got diplomas and everything; some ETAs said that they were nicer than the diplomas they received from their colleges and universities. I was really sad to say goodbye to my teachers, especially one. We became very close, and she even said I can now call her "onni," or "big sister." This is a sign of a really close relationship, so I hope to see her very soon.

After our graduation ceremony, we headed to the Fulbright building for a briefing on our contract, and went over the whole thing. For dinner, we had Papa John's pizza... but not like any Papa John's I've ever had! It was broccoli and chicken pizza: no tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, broccoli, and chunks of chicken. It was awesome though! Then, we headed back to Jungwon. I slept most of the way, as it's been a long weekend.

Well, it's going to be a busy few days. The ETAs who have already been here for the grant and who are renewing are arriving here to Jungwon tomorrow so that we might have a few days of getting to know them. Then on Thursday will be our very formal departure ceremony and I will leave for my homestay! Friday I will go to my school!

I have about a million more pictures of Seoul, I didn't want to load them all here. Please check them out on my Facebook!