Heart and Seoul

This weekend I made my first (of hopefully many) trips to Seoul. The city was awesome. My experience...not so much. I decided on Friday night just before midnight that I was going to go up with Katie and Steph and meet Geoff there. The train we were taking left at 5:20am. What time did I wake up? 9am. By the time I boarded my train at 10:30am, they were already there. I arrived at Yongsan station at 3pm. Everyone was in Myeong-dong doing some shopping. As stressful as it was, I liked navigating the Seoul metro. I feel like if I can figure out a Korean railway about 243626 times more complicated than the T in Boston, I'm doing alright.

After an hour of wandering around Myeong-dong (none of us knew were we were so we just wandered around) we were finally able to meet up. Myeong-dong was a pretty cool place. It reminded me of Quincy Market except waaaaay bigger. There were a lot of western shops, street vendors, and street performers. There was even a restaurant called "Kraze Burger". Nothing can top the one in 'gansett tho.

We left Myeong-dong in search of dinner. For that we headed to Itaewon, the foreigner hangout in Seoul. Itaewon was pretty much "Little America". Almost every sign was in English, and there were foreigners EVERYWHERE. In about 5 minutes I saw more foreigners than are in all of Yeosu. Geoff, Katie, and Steph had already rented a room in a love motel by the time I arrived. I didn't fell like spending 40,000 won for a room, so I went to look for a hostel. There was one right off the same metro line that Itaewon was on, so I opted for that. Little did I know that it took half an hour to get there. The area my hostel was in was right near Hongik University, which has the best art program in Korea. It was an awesome area. A ton of bars, restaurants and shops all over the place. The streets were like Barlow Circle on the first day of Greek Week...except nobody got runover. It took me close to 40 minutes to find my hostel because the sign was maybe 8 inches x 5 inches hanging on a poorly lit brick building. I checked in (I took the last bed) then went back to Itaewon. We chilled at Bricx, a hookah bar with wicked dirty drink names (I'm Cumming, Fuck Me Dirty...etc) then went to a Canadian bar for some beers. I had to leave early to make the last train, which I missed so I ended up taking a cab. By that point I was pretty pissed. It seemed like all I did all day was run around looking for people and commuting between Itaewon and Hongik U. There was more commuting and searching than actually hanging out with my friends.

Sunday morning was better tho. I got up at around 9 to make the most of the day (I didn't know when everyone else was waking up). By 9:45 I was back in Itaewon and exploring the neighborhood as everyone was setting up shop. I grabbed breakfast at Paris Baguette and waited for everyone my friends to get moving. We met at a starbucks and started our day. Around Itaewon we checked out an English bookstore (closed) and a Foreign food store (wicked expensive). The bookstore is aparantly really on top of their game in sending books to anywhere in Korea for a reasonable price. I might have to look into that.

When we were done with Itaewon we took a taxi to the Changdeokgung. Changdeokgung was a palace built by the Jeoson dynasty in 1405. This place was HUGE. Unlike western castles, Korean palaces aren't one huge structure. Changdeokgung was spread out over a huge area. Each building strategically placed in the most harmonious part of the topography. Being as big as it was, only 30% of the original palace still stands. Much of it was burned in the Japanese invasion of 1592, and again in a fire in 1917. I still can't get over the fact that I'm seeing buildings that are at least 200 years older than anything I've seen in America. This is no Rome, Greece, or Egypt, but still, the history here is incredible.

By the time we were done with Changdeokgung it was 2pm and time to catch the bus home. 5 hours later I was glad to be back in Yeosu. Not too long after getting back I found out some pretty awesome news. Best news I've heard since bing in Korea I think. On Monday September 21st, JEN SCRANTON LANDS IN KOREA TO VISIT FOR A WEEK!!!!!!!! Whats better is that the 21st is my school's birthday so I don't have to go in, which means that I can meet her at the airport! Great success! I can't even wait. The only sucky thing is that I have to work T-F, then on M-W that she's here. I'm in the process of making a list of things to do/see around Yeosu for when I'm at school. But don't worry, as soon as the 5pm bell rings I'm getting home asap for some quality rage time.