Another Day in Seoul

Photos: South Korea: Gwanghamun, Day 1

Last night I had my first hookah experience and it was pretty fun! I’ve never been a  smoker of any kind and hookah had always seemed to me to be a somewhat bad-boy thing to do, for some reason. I tend to consider myself as fairly straight-edged, in terms of alcohol and tobacco and drugs. I don’t drink much at all any more, never smoke and don’t do drugs. Pretty simple. I guess I’d always viewed hookahs as being in the smoking/drugs arena and so stayed away. That’s not to say it didn’t beckon as something interesting to try, though, and so last night Carolyn, Mara, Justin and I went to a very chill hookah bar right near Osan Air Base. Justin ordered a strawberry and mint hookah and he and Mara explained to me how to go about doing it. It surprised me that I didn’t taste it so much in my mouth as in – or behind – my nose, and it was a delicate taste (whiff?) at that. They also recommended I try a Green Frog, which turned out to be a mixed drink of freshly blended kiwi, ice and vodka. Yum! Put the hookah and the drink together and we had a pretty mellow, good time. I got pretty light-headed from the smoking. It was a very nice way to try something I’ve wanted to try for awhile, but been too scared/shy to do so. 

Will I do it again? Perhaps. I don’t think I’ll ever become a connoisseur, but at least now I understand the basics and am not so unsure about it. Carolyn said I should try it in Turkey, but I think they smoke something pretty different there… :) Thanks, Carolyn!

This morning, I still wasn’t sure what to do with my remaining five days in South Korea. Honestly, it was stressing me out even thinking about it, but I knew that I had to figure it out quick. The problem is, getting from one end of Seoul to the other – or even from just one area to another – takes time, and not just a little. 

So it didn’t make sense for me to go with Justin and Mara to Gwanghamun, the area I visited last week and where they needed to be to start their WWOOF South Korea adventure, then go back to Songtan, then go somewhere new tomorrow. All the buses to Seoraksan National Park, which is on the east coast, take three to four hours. The trains to Busan take two or three hours. And the starting point for both destinations takes at least an hour or two to get to! So you can see why I was starting to freak out. 

With the help of some literature that Carolyn had given me, and some thoughts from her about what I might find interesting and fun in each area, I finally decided to just pack most of my stuff up and head up to Gwanghamun, a northern area of Seoul, to explore some more. As I mentioned, Mara and Justin were going there anyway so I could travel with them until they had to check in to their program.

Once it was decided, I relaxed a bit. I packed, had some cereal, checked my e-mail and breathed. Around 9:30am, the three of us hoisted our packs of varying sizes and walked to the train station, got tickets to Nambu Station, got on our subway and eventually made it  up to Anguk Station around an hour and forty five minutes later. If you recall from my last post, there was a restaurant I’d read about called Bukchon Kalguksu and I wanted to try it, but the line was too long last time so I didn’t. This time, we got there and while there was a line, we had the time to wait and so we did. It turned out that they moved pretty quickly and ten minutes later, we were ushered through the door. We walked past a table where two men where making the noodles and dumpling skins by hand, then headed up some stairs, through two rooms and finally to the one empty table. Mara ordered the noodle soup and Justin and I each ordered dumplings. It was totally worth the wait! The dumplings were stuffed with ground pork and were huge and plentiful. The soup noodles were yummy and the broth they were in also tasted really nice. Neither Justin nor I could finish all our dumplings, but we all enjoyed the lunch immensely. Plus, it only cost 7,000 won apiece (about $6.50 USD). Not bad!

After lunch we ambled down the street towards the WWOOF center, stopping at a handmade dessert place on the way. The desserts and even the tea were too expensive, but Mara snagged a cup of coffee and we relaxed in front of the cafe. Finally, we navigated ourselves towards the WWOOF building and, only having to ask directions once, found our way there. This was were I said good-bye to Justin and Mara, because they are going to be in a week-long WWOOF program. WWOOF is Worldwide Workers On Organic Farms, by the way, and is a great way to travel for free, or close to it. You work on an organic farm and they feed and house you in exchange. In this case, the Korean government is promoting tourism and the program Justin and Mara are doing has them experiencing a rural area, being hosted by local farmers and working a variety of jobs to learn about Korean culture and traditions. Pretty cool! Unfortunately, by the time they’re done I will have left South Korea. 

I left them at the WWOOF building and went in search of Beewon Guest House, a budget place recommended in a Lonely Planet Seoul book Carolyn loaned me. LP described it as being small and clean, with dorm rooms having only one bunk bed in them. Sounded good to me! I wound my way through the neighborhood, asked directions and made it pretty quickly to Beewon. I asked and they had space available in a dorm room, so I said I’d take it. That’s when I found out that I didn’t have enough won on me, and the girl at the desk told me that using a credit card would add a 4% fee to the charge, so off I went to find a bank. Luckily, there was one quite close by and I was guided formally upstairs to the cash exchange area. I traded $80 USD for 87,852 won, which is an awful exchange rate, but oh well. I needed the cash! 

Once I paid the front desk, the girl showed me through the common areas, which included a sink, a computer room with one internet-connected computer, one non-internet-connected computer, wi-fi and a laundry room. Then we removed our shoes, headed up one flight of stairs, and she unlocked a room which had not one but three bunk beds inside a pretty tiny room, which also contained a coffee table with a TV, a coat hanger and a telephone. That left just enough room to walk from bed to bed! Ah, well. It didn’t look as though anyone else was sleeping in the room, so I picked a bed (“Do not change beds!” the girl told me) and put my stuff down. I asked for a key and she shook her head, I frowned and she shrugged and gave me a key, saying that I had to give it back if anyone else took a bed in the room. Weird.

To tell the truth, I waffled a little at that point. I wasn’t quite ready to tackle wandering around the temples and I still wasn’t sure exactly what my plans for the next few days were. So I went to the computer room and spent the next hour on the internet (first on my iPod, then on the computer when it freed up) researching how to get to Seoraksan National Park, where to stay and what to do. 

After that, I felt ready to experience more of the area, so I packed my day bag, locked my dorm room door, and headed out. I’d decided to go to Changgyeonggung Palace because it looked scenic and it was close. I found it fairly easily although it was a bit further walk than I had anticipated, paid the 1,000 won entry fee, and caught up to the last English tour  of the day, which had begun ten minutes prior. There were four other people on the tour, who I later learned were two Australian girls who recently finished a study abroad program in Japan, another Australian who was living in Korea, and his fiancé, a Korean girl. The tour was fun and again, the tour guide was a funny woman who did a good job. Once the walking tour was over and we’d learned a little about the Joseon era, the architecture of the palace and some myths and symbolism of various stone creatures and artwork, the five of us wandered on our own to see the greenhouse and some of the rest of the palace grounds. We headed out just as the palace grounds 

were closing, and decided to head for Insa-dong, a trendy, arty area south of us. 

We walked for about half an hour, accidentally taking a roundabout route, but eventually  got to the right area. The Korean girl found a place for us to eat dinner and ordered for us. There were two vegetarian dishes (for the Australian girls) and one mixed dish that had  meat in it. There were also two large pots of soup with beef in it. It was a delicious meal and I had a good time chatting with the group. They were a funny bunch! After dinner we wandered about Insadong, which at night is a really neat place to stroll. Lots of touristy shops, but also art stores and interesting candy places.

One such candy place stopped us with their patter, which was in English for our benefit.  They were quite silly, showing us how they made the candy with honey and corn starch, somehow multiplying the strands as they formed and counting along: “See, four strands now eight,” and the second guy would echo “eight.” Then, “See, now eight is sixteen and sixteen is thirty two and …" “ You get the picture. When they got to two thousand something, the guy said, “How you say in English, oh my god! OMG! Good lord! Amazing!” He was very funny and earned three different orders of the candy. I myself got the ones with almonds inside. I thought it would be a nice gift for Carolyn (hope she’s not reading this!), who likes sweets. 

We also saw an area within Insadong called Ssamziegil. It was a four-level shopping area of artist shops, with the top level being a rooftop cafe. We only managed to get through the first floor, but it was really interesting: paintings, homemade soap, cards, jewelry, everything! It was quite tempting to buy, buy, buy, but I managed to refrain when I thought of carrying everything up and down Korea’s interminable stairs. 

Eventually I got worn out and bid the others good night. I actually managed to find my way back to Beewon with no help, and here I am. It turns out that I have my dorm room all to myself – hooray! I did use the guest house computer, and met an older couple from Holland who bicycled around every country they visited, including their four weeks in South Korea. Unfortunately, my social meter had zeroed out and so I bid them good night as well and headed up to my room to relax. 

I realize that most of my posts have been blow-by-blow accounts of what I’m doing every day, with not too much thoughtful commentary behind it. So here are some of my thoughts and not-too-deep insights:

• South Korean people are pretty nice and helpful. Three or four times now, people have gone out of their way to ask if I needed help finding something. I get patronizing smiles when I attempt to greet and thank them in Korean, but quite a few smile and seem to appreciate that I’m trying.
• I’m loving the food here. I like kimchi and particularly like the radish dishes. The noodles, dumplings, barbecue and soups are all delicious. I have only felt ill one time and that passed quickly. True, I haven’t tried dog (that I know of) or silkworm larvae yet, both of which are touted as being popular Korean foods. I’m not sure if I’ll get around to them, to be honest!
• The palaces and shrines are beautiful. I’ve never been much into architecture, but the foreign-ness and way they blend with surrounding nature all fascinate me. While I’m not sure I’ll go see every palace I can possibly see, I’m not yet bored with them.
• So far this has been an excellent jumping off point for my travels. Getting to stay at Carolyn and Stuart’s apartment was easy, cozy and comfortable. It was also nice having people to do things with right off the bat. Luckily, they don’t mind when I go off on my own and in fact are willing to give me advice and literature if they have it. I’m looking forward to (and fearing, honestly) slowly weaning away from being around people I know, and traveling truly on my own in unknown territories. I’m proud of myself, though, for taking this little foray of four or five days on my own in Korea, though. I think it’ll build my confidence.
• I don’t feel like I’m on my big trip yet. Odd, isn’t it?
• It could be fun and interesting to teach English in Korea. I would have people I knew (the Neimans) and the country has so many amazing places and things to do. I’m filing it away as a possibility! While I’m not in love with the country, it would certainly be fascinating to learn, explore and discover more about it!
• Shopping stinks here. “One size only.” I get that a lot, along with accompanying head-shakes and frowns as they stare at my body. I had a bit of a bad body image day in Jeju, but luckily I’ve moved beyond that.
• I haven’t found my travel pace yet. There’s no reason I should be exhausted today, but I am. I’m hoping that I can figure out how to get to and enjoy Seoraksan, which will involve a subway ride with one transfer, a four hour bus ride, finding accommodations and then a 30 minute bus ride to the actual park itself. That’s not even addressing the hiking itself!

So, there you go. I’m doing well on budget and spending and I’m having a good time, although there’s several things I want to see and do – DMZ tour, Busan, Jeonju, etc – that I won’t get to, for lack of time. Ah, well… more reason to come back another time!

That’s it for tonight. I hope everyone’s doing well and enjoying fall!

--Z