My very short trip to Korea.

So, I am finished with all the previously written, short, excerpts of my life in Asia that I wish to post here. Now I am on to the real thing. Although I am not telling the whole truth with that sentence. I still have some things that I have not written about and I want to write about. So I suppose the next few (or more) posts with still be me trying to catch up with myself.

This post is about my trip to Seoul, South Korea. I went with a few friends and I was able to visit a Korean friend who was my classmate when I first arrived in Beijing.

On the evening of December 31st, 2009, I boarded a plane in Beijing, headed for Seoul. The New Year came while I was flying and on January 1st, 2010 I was in South Korea for the very first time (because I am sure there will be at least one more trip). Since we didn't (and still don't) know any Korean we mimed and pointed our way to our hostel.

We did well. Got a shuttle bus to the city. It took over one hour. And then a taxi to the hostel. Our taxi driver was very nice, and did his best to find the place, which was down an alley and behind tall bushes. The taxi was very nice and equipped with GPS!

It felt weird not being able to communicate with words. It seems I have gotten very used to China and being able to tell people what I want even if I am not using my native language. I had forgotten what it's like to be in a place were I can't speak the language.

Our hostel was very close to downtown Seoul in Insa-dong, Jongno. We could walk to many places of interest. And it was close to more than one subway line.

I was really impressed with Seoul. It is a very modern city, more so than Beijing in my opinion, but it still holds that traditional Korean feel. At least I felt that way. I am probably misguiding myself, as I didn't study a lot of Korean history and I have only been to Seoul, for about three days.

But the point is, I liked Seoul. The shopping is GREAT! The roads, with neon lights and signs all over, are GREAT! The food is GREAT! I just loved it!

The river that runs through the city had pretty lights along it, and everywhere was decorated with Christmas and New Year lights and trees. Most of the streets had four or more story buildings on either side, filled with shops, restaurants and the like. The outside of the buildings had thousands of bright signs. At night, when lit, it was so bright I didn't feel that the sky was dark.

The food was good too. Of course we had the Korean BBQ, and tried raw squid. The squid was very scary to eat because it was chopped up alive into small pieces, and thus went eaten, still moved. If you put a piece in your mouth that had suckers, it would possibly stick to a part of your mouth. This freaked me out, but I was forced to try. And I don't regret it. Even though I acted like a complete ditz.

The weather in Seoul was quite nice. It had snowed before we arrived, but it melting during our stay and we were quite comfortable outside (as long as I wore my BIG coat).

For some historical touring, we went to the Folk Museum, Changdeokgung (a palace built in 1405, it is very similar to old Chinese buildings), and a small museum that displayed King Sejong the Great's (1418–1450)achievements.

I think I will have to return, and do some more exploring of Seoul and maybe another city in South Korea. Three days is enough to feel like you were a good speed traveler, but not enough to really get the feel of the place.

On January 3rd, a very happy little traveler got home. With lots of chocolate and alcohol I had bought in the airport in Seoul (duty free!).