Adventure Time: Part 3

It’s been quite a while since I posted about my adventures around Korea, so I have lots to catch up on! This time I'll take you through Daegu, Busan, and Seoul.

DAEGU

83 Tower

While the 63 Building is a famous landmark in Seoul, Daegu has its own 83 Tower overlooking E-World, the city’s main amusement park. (Just a note that while I have taken the stairs both up and down the 83 Tower on separate occasions, I also found out the hard way that it’s not technically allowed.) The 83 Tower includes several restaurants, an ice rink, a photography exhibit, a lookout room near the top, and a bungee-jumping platform for more daring souls. But most interesting is the “trick eye” museum within the tower, where you can pose in front of paintings on the wall that are specifically meant to look 3D in pictures. While making weird poses was embarrassing at first, I quickly loosened up and had a pretty awesome time. 

                       

  

Rose Garden

Something I really like about Daegu are the random gardens, parks, and hiking trails scattered around the city, which the government does a wonderful job of keeping maintained. I had passed by the Daegu Rose Garden several times on my way back from various hikes, but I got lucky when I decided to pay it a formal visit in the middle of May. The garden was in full bloom and was filled with more varieties of roses than I even knew existed, some of which were almost as big as my hand and put traditional Valentine’s Day roses to shame. Although the garden was very crowded with families, couples, and selfie-takers, it’s definitely something I’d want to see again.


  

Suseong Lake & the Airplane Cafe 

This picturesque lake, now accessible by Daegu’s awesome new monorail*, is surrounded by mountains and is the home of random small parades, a basketball court, a huge fountain, and dozens of duck boats. (I have yet to ride one.) I’ve been told that it’s even prettier at night. However, I’m more interested in the large passenger plane parked nicely beside the lake that has been transformed into the Snow Factory, a full dessert cafe. The inside is sleek, modern, and even has its own balcony with palm trees (though I’m fairly sure that wasn’t part of the original plane). While the desserts are overpriced, it doesn’t matter because you’re eating ice cream in a giant plane. End of story.

     

*A note about Daegu's monorail: It’s definitely the cleanest, smoothest, and most futuristic-looking public transportation I’ve been on, and it’s just as cheap as the normal bus or subway. But the coolest part about it is that all the windows turn opaque when it passes by an apartment building to give the residents some privacy. And the transition back to transparency once it’s passed the building is amazingly fast. Pretty neat, right?

BUSAN



Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (해동 용궁사)  

Rub this Buddha's belly
and you might be granted
a son! You can tell it's been
rubbed quite a lot.

This sprawling, colorful, and intricately designed temple in the coastal city of Busan faces the open water and is truly gorgeous in the afternoon light, despite the hundreds of people milling around and ruining its serenity. What struck me the most was the vast number of big-bellied Buddha statues scattered all over the place: stone statues, huge gold statues, mini porcelain statues. I was also surprised that, despite the temple's transformation into a popular tourist destination, some people were still earnestly trying to pray and pay their respects. 

On a side note, I’m still a bit startled when I see the symbol for a Buddhist temple on a map or on the side of a building. Although these temples were built way before WWII, their symbol still looks like a Nazi swastika in reverse. The effect is slowly fading the more I see it, though. 

 

Buddhas everywhere!

Lantern-covered ceiling
of a temple room

Golden piggies of wealth

Gamcheon Culture Village

I had seen pictures from friends of this very colorful "culture village" in Busan and decided to check it out myself. Located at the top of a small mountain, this place reminded me of the rows and rows of brightly colored villas one might see in Italy. I took the harder route and chose to walk up the steep but well-paved streets instead of riding the bus. Before I even reached the main village, I got to explore the Biseok Culture Village on the way up. While less touristy and not as well-known, it was filled with the same kind of old, slightly run down but brightly colored houses. Some of them had paintings on their stone walls that were very detailed and truly beautiful. 

             

Wall painting in Biseok
Culture Village

     

Ajuma flower pots!

    

    Each step was a different "book."

The Gamcheon Culture Village was much busier and was so high up that it was noticeably colder and we were almost in the clouds. (It was overcast that day.) It was filled with touristy places like food stands and expensive art stores. However, it offered a really awesome view of the houses below, along with some unique artwork that also boasted many vibrant colors. People do actually live in the village, so there were occasional signs reminding us to keep quiet and respect the residents.

All the black dots in this
sculpture are actually the
bottoms of beer bottles.

We followed this little guy
up the mountain.

                    

                      This iconic fish is made of all
                    different handmade plaques.

SEOUL

Directly before the hell that was Winter Intensives, my coworkers and I got one of our rare 5-day vacations for the New Year. Once again the tickets to other countries were sky-high, so a couple of friends and I decided to spend several days touring around Seoul instead. Here were some highlights from the trip:

-Gyeongbuk Palace (경복궁) is easily one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul. By chance I was able to witness the changing of the guards outside the palace gates, which was quite a long affair. After enough staring I finally decided that the guards were wearing very convincing face masks to make them look, I don’t know, more ancient?

     

-Insadong is a well-known touristy area in Seoul with lots of small stores that sell old, traditional Korean things, as well as the usual bookmarks and decorated chopsticks that you can find in most tourist shops. One of the most famous sites in Insadong is the majestic statue of Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). He’s known for creating the system of Hangul—Korea’s alphabet—in 1446 to make reading and writing more accessible to the lower classes. Hangul is said to be one of the world’s most logical alphabets because the letters are supposed to mirror the shape your mouth makes to create each sound.

-While the most famous of Korea’s traditional villages is probably the one in Jeonju, Seoul has two of its own hanok villages. Hanoks were Korean houses of the past, with many rooms, lots of open space, ornate roofs, and holes in the floor for toilets (the predecessor to modern squatter toilets). The houses in Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골 한옥마을) were modeled after hanoks from the Joseon Dynasty. Tourists can walk around, look at (but not go into) the various rooms, and take part in traditional Korean games. One of these that I've seen in multiple places is called Tuho (투호), a Hoopla-like game where you throw sticks into a jar or pot a set distance away. It's actually really hard.

Tuho!

A traditional Korean hanok

In one of the hanok bedrooms

One unexpected feature of Namsangol Village was a huge time capsule buried in 1994 to celebrate Seoul’s 600th anniversary. It's set to be opened again in 2394. On the surface is a large stone disk engraved with both Korean and English. I’m very curious as to what’s actually inside it—time capsules are such strange, fascinating things.

-One of the most interesting places we went to was surprisingly the War Memorial of Korea, which is really just a huge war museum. On the outside are dozens of war planes, tanks, and even missile launchers. (A sign in front of one of the model tanks says, “How to operate K-1 Tank: Insert one 500-won coin into the slot. Tank operates for 2 minutes." Who knew giant military tanks were so easy to use?) Inside the museum are various displays, memorabilia, and very realistic models from the Korean War but also from older times. In addition, there are some very touching videos about veterans and the bonds that were formed between foreign soldiers and Korean children during the Korean War.

          

      Creepily realistic models of

      Koreans learning English

       during the war

                 
       
         

           This "teardrop" hanging from the

             ceiling, made of 1300 ID tags, was

             created in remembrance of those

            who lost their lives in the Korean War.

American outfit and equipment
 from the Korean War 

-My favorite part of the trip was our tour of the Secret Garden (후원). This extensive garden is set behind Changdeok Palace (창덕궁), the second palace built after Gyeongbuk Palace during the Joseon Dynasty. The main palace itself is huge, colorful, and a true work of art, but sadly we weren’t allowed inside. The garden behind it used to be exclusively for kings and queens and can now only be accessed by tour. Because it was winter when we went, there was snow still covering some of the garden, which made it very beautiful. The tour guide’s English was excellent and she rattled off facts about the palace and garden like she’d practiced it a hundred times before. (She probably had.) It was definitely worth the 90 minutes and 8,000 won (~$8). I only wish I had taken better pictures!

        

         Inside the palace

        

          I'm sure it's even prettier in spring. 

Walk under this small arch
and you'll gain eternal life!

Stay tuned for more adventures from Korea! ~

First Impressions

After months of waiting and a tearful goodbye to my parents (I told myself I wouldn’t cry, dang it), I finally boarded my plane to South Korea. First of all, let me recommend Korean Air—the service was great, the personal TVs were better quality than usual, and the food was way more involved than anything I’ve gotten with other flight services. (They served seaweed soup and bibimpab for the first meal, complete with steamed rice, red pepper paste, sesame oil, and directions for amateurs like me on how to put it all together.) 

Anyway, fourteen-and-a-half hours later I landed in Incheon, where, lo and behold, I ran into a guy who had just graduated from another college in my state, shared a couple of mutual friends, and was here for the exact same training session I was. Small world, eh? Turns out I didn’t have to get lost on my own after all.

Following the one-hour bus ride to our hotel in Seoul, I spent most of the weekend walking around the Gangnam area....yes, the very same one from “Oppa Gangnam Style,” except Koreans pronounce the “g” as more of a “k." I'll talk more about my training week for Chungdahm Learning in my next post, but here are my initial observations and impressions of the country that, for the next year at least, will be my home: 

• First of all, I was warned that Seoul, and Korea in general, is an extremely fashionable place and I was therefore somewhat concerned about how I should dress when I arrived. I've seen many stylish people here for sure, but there’s definitely a more casual portion of the population as well, at least where I am in Seoul. I've even seen some people in flip-flops.

• I was also nervous about being stared at for being an obvious foreigner, but I’ve rarely encountered that problem so far. I’m sure there would be more of an issue if I were in a smaller city or the countryside, but in a place as touristic as Seoul, people are probably used to seeing random "waygooks" (foreigners) wandering around. 

• There are more coffee shops than I think I’ve ever seen before. Like at least one or two on every block. There’s also a bakery called Paris Baguette that’s as common as Starbucks is in America--though I’ve seen several Starbucks here too, don’t get me wrong.

• There are several western chains scattered about as well, including KFC, Smoothie King, and Burger King ("Buh-guh-keeng" to a Korean). And you can't ignore the abundance of chicken restaurants, because double-fried chicken wings + beer is a thing here. Apparently there’s also a Seoul Museum of Chicken Art somewhere around here too, but I think I'll pass.

• In addition to Korea having the fastest internet in the world, there is wifi EVERYWHERE. Whether you’re in a café or in the subway, there are an average of 10-20 wifi options available wherever you go. Of course that doesn’t mean they’re all unlocked or free, but there's usually at least one or two that are. In one bakery I went to there was a free 5G network. I wasn't even aware 5G existed yet.

• Samsung and LG and their enormous mini-tablet-like screens rule the Korean smartphone market. So much for iPhones. 

• Some of the main subway stations, including the one by my hotel in Gangnam, contain huge, never-ending underground malls. They’re a cheaper alternative to department stores and offer a really amazing variety of clothes, shoes, food, cell phones, beauty products, and other knick-knacks. Random note: You can't go anywhere in these mall-things without a giant Clash of Clans advertisement staring you in the face. I guess it's a popular game here.

• The subways are also much cleaner than most others I've seen and have incorporated the ingenious tactic of separating waiting passengers from the tracks with glass doors that open only when the train has arrived and stopped. It's much...uh...safer.

• It’s not very common, but the few people I've seen holding umbrellas even on a cloudy day to protect themselves from the sun kind of make me laugh—even if they’re saving their skin in the process. There are also pairs of people holding hands everywhere you look. And by pairs I mean both male/female romantic couples and platonic female friends.

• Finally, I'd gotten the notion from what I'd heard and read online that most of the population spoke or at least understood a passable amount of English, but so far there's been a lot more pointing to pictures and confused exchanges than I was hoping for. And no, unfortunately not all restaurants offer English menus. My goal for the year is to learn at least enough Korean to sort of get around on my own.

So there you have it--my foreigner impression of the vibrant country of South Korea, or at least the small portion I've seen of it. Somehow it doesn't seem so different from what I've experienced back home, as if the realization that I'll be living in and not just visiting another country for a year hasn't hit me yet. 

In the meantime, I'm just enjoying the moment.