Seoul Searching

As you might have guess, from the title. I got lost in Seoul. Without my trusty navigator, Sara, I managed to think I could walk 55km, and could use a subway map for riding the buses.

Yes, I'm a genius.

My travels began Friday morning, and Ended Saturday evening. The trip wasn't too bad even with crossing the International Date line. My first stop was in Tokyo. After ten hours of flying all I wanted was something to sleep on. Unfortunately, Air Ports are not made for sleeping. And I seem to always get stuck with the guy who wants to share with me how much he loves Jesus. I was worried that he'd want to talk for the whole flight, as he mentioned that the personal video screens and headphones were a way to make it so people didn't have to communicate. Fortunately, he fell asleep pretty quickly, and I had the opportunity to grab some shuteye as well.

I did manage to watch three movies in the ten hours of travel to Tokyo. I watched Jumper, The Golden Compass, and 27 Dresses. All of these movies sucked. Ever single one. Jumper was boring, The Golden Compass ends incomplete, and 27 Dresses -- well, I fell asleep through it, twice.

I finally got to Korea, and was fortunate enough to meet someone who was going to the same place as me. It made getting to the destination after nearly 20 hours of travel very easy. When I got to my room, I sent Sara a quick e-mail, and then fell asleep. When I woke up six hours later, I took a quick picture of the view from my window. I was pretty anxious to get out and start seeing the place, since I probably won't get much time to see Seoul during the day time. I ended up walking off to Samgakchi, where I stopped at the Korean War Museum. I didn't actually go inside, but I did walk around much of the open space that is free. There was plenty to see and I managed to take numerous pictures.

After wondering around the parameter of the Museum, I began walking to Namsan. This is where the Seoul Tower is located, and the walk is all up hill, but it was beautiful. This is where I spent most of my day, and I enjoyed taking pictures. The weather was overcast, and the temperature was very warm so as I walked I was sweating up a lake. As you walk along there are small shops everywhere. You literally can walk just about anywhere and you can get a snack, and water. My first won spent was 700 won for a bottle of water.

Along the way to Namsan there were a couple of things that stood out. One is the fact that on some of the buildings there were these huge televisions, which are used to advertise. They literally distract their driving population with television. The driving population is very angry too. It is almost like there is a war between the different public transportation drivers. The other thing I noticed is that they have live animals along the way. One such thing was an aquarium filled with these tiny little octopi. Sad that they were going to be turned into a meal for a customer. There was also an area of like five blocks of puppies being sold. They were very cute, but it was also extremely sad.

When I got to Namsan, it became clear that I should have taken the public transportation. Many locals use the hike to the top as an opportunity to exercise. Along the way there are several areas where you can stand on a plate that swivels and you can rotate back and forth. You can also do pull ups, and even lift weights with a bench press, or arm curl.  As you walk up a series of steps you get an opportunity to relax as well.  There are more vendors to buy things from, and many people will bring along a picnic, or watch one of the many events that is going on.  As I was walking up I noticed the voices.  People in Korea like to sing.  Some of it is good, and some is bad.  All of it is entertaining.

As I made the final approach to the top of Namsan, I noticed this drumming sound. Thump, Thump thump, Thump, Thump thump. It made the walk up all these stairs doable. The stairs seemed to climb for a very long time, and each step was actually larger than one would hope for during a hike. Many of the older folks had actually picked up walking sticks to make their way up the steps.

I approached the top and noticed that the singing seemed to be more radio pop than actual drums. Fortunately, there were actual drums, but for a brief moment the sound I heard was pop Korean music. Soon after passing the radio, I came to the top and there was a plaza that had a bunch of very happy youth drumming and dancing and banging on cymbals. I stopped to watch and take pictures for about an hour. I needed the time to rest too. I think the best part was the number of people who saw me with a camera, and wanted me to take a family picture of them with their own cameras. In Korea, at least in Seoul, everyone has a camera. Most are on their phones, but they use the camera all the time.

I finished resting and I began to wander down the hill.
On the way down, I chose to walk the other side. There were a couple of neat stacks of rocks that I found to be amazing looking and reminded me of Goldsworth. I ended up walking down to the bus stop. This is where I got on a bus, and rode around for a short while. I eventually got off the bus as I thought it was going back to the top of the hill. Really it was a mountain, as it even had a area that you could rock climb if it were not a national park. I ended up hoping off the bus, and wandering around downtown Seoul. I ran into a number of things, but I found it almost too unbelievable that at home in Washington there has been an effort to get light rail, improve schools, and all sorts of other social programs with little or no success. In Korea, they have amazing parks all over the place, and they have a day to celebrate the children. One of the parks was a baseball park for the youth games. I have never seen a baseball field this nice for the kids anywhere in the U.S. It just goes to show that socialism can work with democracy. Capitalism can even work with socialism and democracy. The capitalism here is very present, and the people have embraced it alone with American television.

As I was lost and looking for a bus to get me back to my hotel, a very nice guy named Enroh, "Roh" offered help. We talked quite a bit and he showed me how to use the Subway. The Subway is a bit difficult because there isn't as much English to help guide you. In Korea, the people have embraced English, and often long after their education has finished they will spend time studying and improving their english skills. Roh told me that CSI is very popular here and when he heard I was from Seattle, he mentioned that he like Grey's Anatomy as well.

I managed to get back to the hotel, with a blister on my little toe, and just tired feet altogether. Tomorrow will be much of the same, as it is the national holiday to celebrate children here, and I don't have any work to do yet. So I will post more pictures, and please check out the other images in my album