Seoul, South Korea

Statue of King Sejong

The rest of our time in South Korea was spent in the big city of Seoul.  We alternated between seeing the sights and spending time with Daron’s brother Rod, whenever he was available.  Thankfully, Seoul has a very user-friendly subway system – and it’s affordable too, at approximately $1 per person per trip.  It seemed like we started every morning on the subway, headed to some different part of the city.  We spent one day downtown, walking along the river, which reminded us a lot of Cherry Creek in Denver.  Daron especially loved looking for fish in the water as we walked.  We spent another day visiting the palace complex of Changdeokgung, where we took a tour of the Secret Garden, which is this beautiful forested area with ponds and other structures, all used by Korea’s ancient kings.  One day we felt ambitious and decided to try hiking the trail that follows the old wall that used to surround the city of Seoul.  Parts of the original wall still remain, some of it has been restored, and some of it is just plain missing.  The wall winds its way over some of the mountains near Seoul – we hiked to the top of Mt. Bukhansan and enjoyed spectacular views of Seoul.  From there we continued following the wall through the mountains until we got lost and mistakenly ended up on a trail back into town.  Not very many signs are in English, which made it a challenge to stay on the trail we wanted.  Oh well, it was a good excuse to stop for ice cream!  So much for our plan to hike the whole thing!  I think we did the best part of the walk anyways.

Octopus for sale at the fish market

One morning we took the subway to the fish market, which was huge!  There were many sea creatures for sale that we had never seen before. It was very well organized and clean, especially compared to the fish markets we had seen in Southeast Asia.  The other difference is there were tons of octopuses at this one.  It’s obvious that octopus is a delicacy here.  We read that they like to eat live baby octopus – the challenge is to chew it up before it climbs into your nasal cavity!  (baby octopus video here)  We didn’t try it, although I’ve seen some pretty amazing videos on YouTube of people who have.  The head goes in first while the long tentacles lash onto the person’s face while they’re still chewing.  Koreans also enjoy raw adult octopus, chopped up into still wriggling pieces that move around while you’re chewing! (see video here) We didn't give that one a try either, as I’m not much of a fan of my food still wriggling while I’m eating it.

Our best times were spent with Rod.  One day he met us along the Han River (a large river that cuts through Seoul) where we had a picnic.  Rod used his bachelor-chef skills to make yummy chicken wings and homemade potato salad for us! We walked over a bridge to Seonyudo island for our picnic.  The island was a water treatment facility that has since been converted into a fabulous modern garden and park.  Lots of local families were there too, enjoying the nice day.  After our picnic we rented bikes and rode the long bike trail along the Han River.  Riding the trail gave us a good feel for how big Seoul actually is.  It felt like we had been pedaling forever, yet you could see by the landmarks that we hadn’t even crossed half of the city!  We had a lot of fun that day playing (and sweating!) in the sun!

Riding bikes along the Han River

We did happy hour with Rod for the two Fridays we were there – he got us into the Foreign Correspondents Club, located in downtown Seoul.  Beer was a great price, only $1 each, which makes it a popular spot for a FAC.  The FCC is a great place for expats in the communication industry to meet up with each other.  We enjoyed hanging out with Rod’s friends and learning about life in Korea.  Both times we were there we would start our night at the FCC (for the cheap beer and to meet up with folks), then the party would head to Itaewon, where the U.S. military base is located – there are lots of western-style bars and restaurants there.  Inevitably we would be out until the wee hours of the morning (those writers sure do know how to party!). 

The Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul

While we were in Seoul Rod had a large historical article in the English newspaper.  It was a two-parter that was printed over two days.  We also saw his writings in a local English magazine, which was kind of fun – plus we saw one of his books in a bookstore we went into.  It felt like we knew someone famous.  Truth be told, Rod is actually very well known in his field of Korean history.  It was impressive to hear him speak Korean, which he did often since not many Koreans speak English.  Without Rod it would have been difficult for us to use a taxi, or even order at a Korean restaurant.   After this trip I have come to admire people who can speak two languages, especially when one is a language with an entirely different alphabet. 

Some of our favorite moments were eating out with Rod, especially since he could read the menu!  Not a lot of menus were in English, unless we were at a Taco Bell or McDonalds.  Every time we went out to eat, we struggled with the menu.  One time we walked into a Korean restaurant and played Russian roulette with the menu – we just pointed to a couple of line items, having no idea what they were.  One was decent but the other one turned out to be cold noodles on ice (that’s ICE, not rice!), with hot sauce poured over it.  Yuck!  Not to our taste at all!  After that we didn’t eat Korean food unless we had Rod with us to help us figure out what to order (even better, he usually did the ordering for us!).  Needless to say, we did a lot of fast food when we weren’t with Rod, just to play it safe. 

View of Seoul from Mt. Bukhansan

We really enjoyed our time in Korea.  The weather was fabulous – it was probably in the 70s every day we were there, and the nights weren’t very chilly.  It was nice to be back in a modern land, after spending four months in Southeast Asia.  In Korea I think everyone owns a smart phone.  And the rumor is they upgrade to a new one every three months!  Coffeeshops were everywhere, including Starbucks.  Koreans love their coffee, although it was mostly lattes and not drip.  A couple of times Daron ordered a drip coffee and both times they brewed a pot especially for him (no bottomless cup though).  Everyone in the areas we went to were very well dressed.  They all seemed so fashionable, maybe because Korea is known for its inexpensive clothing industry.  We had been so popular in Vietnam, constantly being approached, whereas here we were pretty much ignored, except for one group of students who interviewed us for their English class.  All in all it was a great visit, made even better by having a “local” guide.  We hope to get back to Korea one day to explore other areas of the country.