Back to Namsan Hanok Village, but this time with classmates.
They were all going home afterwards, but I pushed for going to Dongdaemun. We hung out in Dongdaemun and went to a great restaurant with cheap food.
BUKHANSAN.
Up there with Seoraksan for the most beautiful and famous mountain on the south side of the peninsula. Woke up before sunrise to take the first subway into the city. Subway to Gupabal and from Gupabal to a bus to the entrance of the mountain. Hike was supposed to take 3-4 hours, but it took us closer to 8-9. Views of Seoul from the altitude we were at and of Bukhansan National Park were surreal. All that keeps you from tumbling down is a thin metal rail. But we persevered. We made it to the peak. On our way down we ran into Zach on his way up- the same Zach I had meet at Chabad and gone with Andy for the tour of Bukchon with. When we finally got to the bottom, we ate dinner- I ordered the acorn dish of course. On the bus back to the station, we met Peter, a Czech man studying architecture at a university in Incheon.
Seoul City Hall
Seoul Metropolitan Library located inside City Hall and to the Citizen's hall outside of the new city hall building. There is a big ear outside of the new City Hall you can speak into. The government records all things said and listens to them for recommendations. It is a figure that eerily resembles Seoul. One hand it is good that the government listens to its citizens, but on the other hand, Korea has been criticized for "excessive monitoring". I feel this when I see CCTV, government cameras, in the subway stations and on many street corners. It feels a little bit like Big Brother, but it is often referenced when talking about Seoul's stunningly low crime rates. Is having government camera's everywhere a tradeoff for safety?
Changing of the guards ceremony at Deoksugung, the palace next to city hall.
Drum festival with Peter and Kelsi at City Hall
Percussion instruments from all over the world in different booths that you could try out
Saw dance near Gyeokbungung palace- very talented dancers. Telling story of lion.
Met Peter's friend, Daniella, another Czech student studying architecture at the university in Incheon, who had some advice to give from her time thus far in Seoul. "Everyday my concepts of who live on this earth and my concepts of how they live are broken down."
Hapjeong, just one block down from Hongdae, it has a much more toned down feeling with less going on, but interesting nonetheless.
Ate at Miss and Mr. Potato, like its name denotes- a restaurant with only potato dishes.
New painting in the underpass near my school
Kintex is another convention space in Seoul, but is located at the last stop on line 3. It took almost 2 hours to get out there. Our school had wanted to go hiking at Pulamsan for the second time, but it was rained out and so we went to Kintex for a technology exhibition. There were companies like Samsung and LG promoting their latest products as well as a lot of smaller startups.
Itaewon
Mexican restaurant in Itaewon with Kelsi and Jun, but Jun had to leave afterwards. At the restaurant we met Jake, a kindergarden teacher here in Seoul from Ohio. He gave us a nice tour of Itaewon and showed us the Mosque. As you walk to the mosque, you are transported from the signs for bibimbap to signs in Arabic. Baklava and pita restaurants line the streets. The Mosque was beautiful. But I felt uncomfortable. As if the beauty of the Mosque was shielded by my upbringing and education. I felt like screaming out. I didn't know how I felt exactly surrounded by those men donning long robes and black beards, but I know I felt uncomfortable. I think it was important for me to feel that way, though. I had never felt so out of place or confused.
Took us to a fancy bakery he knew and had strawberry jam in a squeeze bottle- a delicacy of this bakery. As I was about to pay, Jake said not to worry about it and that he would pay for it on the condition that I pay it forward later. Kelsi was able to find a gluten free cake, so of course we bought that. Tasted like cake to me!
Met a man that jake knew who was sitting outside of a convenience store with his kid. He was from Israel. I got to speak what little Hebrew I know with him. Nice moment. Humbling. Puts the size of this world in perspective. Small.
Jeonju for the second time Oct 19-21
Like the poem we had read in Korean class, "On the same road, but a different person." My second time in Jeonju, but able to appreciate its history and calmness more so than before.
Digitech Midterm Exams
They allowed me to travel around Seoul.
Kwangjangsigang, ate bibimbap off the street from an ahujumma's stand. She used a barley-rice mix instead of using just rice. I'm not sure exactly why, but there is such thing as "ahjumma cooking" that I have been told to be conscious of. It tasted fine.
Pineapple on a stick
National Museum of Korea with Hyeong
Jongmyo Shrine
Cheokdonggung Palace
Hanging with Digitech Kids Oct 25
batting cage, pinpong and billiards
Was told of a Banpo bridge light show and so I invited all the kids I was hanging out with to go, but we were led to disappointment. Went to the only coffee shop that overlooked the bridge and bought some expensive coffee (as was our duty to stay in the shop) only to be told by the waiter that the show had been cancelled by the weather. Digitech kids got to meet Kelsi and Elizabeth and vis versa.
Biking trip to Yeongjungdo Islands Oct 26
Beautiful
Met couple from the airforce- Sophie and Justin
Rented bikes, but as we were waiting around, my bike was taken by another tour group, which caused quite the debacle. Turned out fine, the leader of the meetup, who was Korean but spoke English very well, talked to the owner of the bike shop and I was able to get a new one.
Abandoned mansion from Korean drama
Eating lunch on the beach
Sunset while on the ferry
Yeongju
Had wired the money not knowing that the trip had filled up just moments before.
Instead of having the man who organized the trip wire it back to us immediately, we decided to wake up early in the morning and go anyway in hopes that two people might not show up. Sure enough, exactly two people didn't show and we were able to go!
Buseoksa Temple in the mountains
Harvesting sweet Potatoes, eating bibimbap and making tofu, sponsered by the Yeongju City government.
Bridge over river with no handles
Ginseng market
Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year
Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year
To whoever is looking at this blog, know that while although one of the functions of this blog is to inform others of my time here, I also use this blog as a way to document what I am doing in Korea for myself. I do this so that come a year, two years, ten, twenty from now, I can look back and remember some of the the amazing people I met, the places I went and the meaningful experiences I had.
Why am I in Seoul, anyways?
Why am I in Seoul, anyways?
I'm studying language in Seoul for the year through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth operated by the U.S. State Department. While in Seoul, I attend a local Korean high school as a regular Korean student and have intensive language classes three times a week at an international institute in Seoul. My school is a digital media vocational school. Both in school and in many other settings, I am often the only American they have met and almost always the only Jew. As such, I have an important role, not only as an American or a Jew, but as The American and The Jew. Because of this, I have been prone to some alarming, but insightful questions. Like when it was drizzling outside, weather that does not necessarily warrant carrying an umbrella, but being asked by my host brother, "Do all Jews not use umbrellas?" I am constantly being put in new situations. I make mistakes sometimes. Like when I clearly asked for "not spicy," however later realized, tears in my eyes, that the woman's shocked expression when I ordered "meh-un tteokbokki" was not from my Korean ordering skills, but was because I had probably been the first foreigner to specifically ask for the spiciest food on the menu.
These year as the non-umbrella-carrying-spicy-food-eating-American-Jew living in Seoul has been exhausting and exhilarating, but a year of experiences I will bring with me for the rest of my life. .
