Wowee!

Everyday seems to be an adventure for me, after all it is the first week! :]

I RODE THE SUBWAY ALL BY MYSELF, [and I didn't get lost riding them, bonus!] Today was so much fun, I traveled all over downtown Seoul. (Anna, Cho, traveling and learning the subway system in both Seoul and Tokyo is simple; my uncle said that they're both similar and easy to explain.) It takes me a little longer than the native Koreans to make sure I know that I am heading in the right directions, but as the day went by I was soon learning my way around the subway system: like which doors I should stand in front of to make the shortest trip to the stairs, or even which way I should stand in order make sure I can exit the subway in time.

In Korea and in any other country there are of course a lot of young and old people. Today, at one of the subway stops I thought I saw my grandfather who had passed away a few years ago, but then again I realized a lot of grandfathers look similar to my own, as this was not the first time this has happened to me. They're really cute and friendly.

I actually had a brief chat with a Korean grandfather today. Me being me, nervous that I will end up somewhere totally wrong in Korea, I was carrying around the subway system map. In Korea it seriously is customary for them to stare at you and you can totally feel their eyes on you. Personally, this doesn't really affect me because I just go ahead and stare right back then they look away really quickly to make you think that they weren't staring at you... doesn't really work. Anyway, I saw that this grandfather kept staring at me, so I made eye contact with him and we smiled at each other. Then out of the blue he asks if I'm Chinese... I reply with in English, no with a head shake. The next question caught me off guard... he asked if I was MONGOLIAN! hahaha. Me thinking okay, that was ridiculous reply in Korean no. He gets shocked that I can speak Korean and I start conversing with him in Korean for the one short stop we are on the subway together.

I am without a doubt a Korean tourist for now... I understand it's hard for both my aunt and uncle who are both busy with their lives and taking care of my cousin (who is going through junior high finals, which is rigorous in Korea); it is hard for them to hold my hand the whole way through during my trip. BLAH! I can find my way around and explore. hehe.

For today, I filled my day by going on one of those big red/blue Seoul City Bus Tours! HAHAHA!

I went all over downtown Seoul in an air-conditioned bus, it got really cold. The whole point of the tour bus is you pay around 10,000 won, approximately $10 and they take you to all these designated places on the map, and it's your choice where you want to depart and explore. Once you're done exploring a bus comes back to the same bus stop ever 30 minutes, and you just get back on the bus and go ahead onto the next destination. They have these little devices that provides information about the different stops in about 5 different languages. It's really convinient because you can ride these buses all day at any stop, but then I realized I started getting lazy and didn't really want to get off the bus and explore during the hottest part of the day. My thought process was I'll ride the whole tour without getting off then get off during the 2nd round...that didn't really happen. I think I'll see these places again either with my uncle and aunt or when my parents and brother come to Korea.

I'm not going to lie, I'm having the worst luck with having memory in my camera to take a whole bunch of pictures, but the few pictures I took will be up shortly. During the time I did have memory to take pictures, I looked like a camera whore because I went on the tour by myself, but it was fun just walking around in general.

One of the places I went today is Namdaemun Market. For me it really was a surreal experience. I first got lost once I arrived at Namdaemun and went to some underground stores, which seemed weird to me because not many people were there and they sold a lot of school craft supplies. I finally found the real true Namdaemun Market and it was CRAZY!! First, the market is located behind a whole bunch of normal camera stores, I mean there are like 20 camera stores all lined up together, then all of a sudden in like a back alley this whole market explodes in front of your face. So many different foods and designer knock-offs, it reminded me of how downtown L.A. is like. There are different sections in the sense that there's one part that sells designer knock-offs, another full of kiddy toys, clothes, and food. The food looked so good, I actually bought a pastry called Ko-lok-keh, haha I haven't had these in so long that I called it a Donkatsu instead. The pastry is a fried pastry that is filled with chopped up vegetables, so tasty. The only time I've seen these type of markets were in Korean dramas, it made me so happy instead to finally know the different smells and what it really feels like to be in that type of environment.

Another stop, was at the North Seoul Tower. The view from this tower is amazing!!! It's on top of this mountain and you and a 360 degree view of all of Seoul. I haven't gone entirely up the tower, but even the ride up there was amazing! Definitely have to go to the top of the tower before I leave.

I also went to Dongdaemun, which is another shopping area, but it's madness! Dongdaemun focuses more on clothing, but there are like a million stores for both genders. There are two huge buildings that are each at least 10 stories high filled with these little mini-stores, and they almost all have similar style clothing. One of the shirts I always laugh at says, "I gots crumps" in neon colored writing repeatly on a black t-shirt. Oh got to love them Koreans. haha. My friend John, who went on the same EAP program as me last year said that the ladies physically drag you back to buy some merchandise, but I experienced the opposite. As I was browsing the floors, I eventually ended up on the guy section. I think this was culture shock for me... at every different store section (whatever you want to call it) there were these guys staring you down to somehow attract you to their store. They also holler at you and go, Miss, miss have you ever tried this before...??? I got caught by this one guy and I just had to start walking faster and shaking my head no... OY VEY!

Adding to my adventures of the day, my friend Esther Park from Sepulveda contacted me to hang out at night. I, of course took the offer since I wanted to hit up the bar scene in Korea. She had already been to Seoul for a previous semester and returned during May for a Summer program. She had befriended all the bartenders at Na Moo, and to me seemed to know the ins and outs of the small but nice bar. I have finally cut my sober streak! Everyone in Korea, including the bar tenders and the grandfather I met today seemed surprise at how well I speak Korea, but I always thought what I spoke was the norm... who knows. For today, didn't have any soju, I have yet to taste that. Instead, I was treated to a White Russian and a drink that was half Kalua, half Baileys, which tasted like ice coffee. YUM! THANKS for the night out Esther! :D

I realized that the night life in Seoul is definitely different compared to that of either the Valley or Irvine. There were surprisingly a lot of people out at night. I thought on the way back home from the bar that I migh face some creepers on the subway, but nope, lots of people going in and out. Thank goodness.

One thing that I think I will have a hard time adjusting to is the way the women in Korea wear heels. Don't get me wrong, back in the States I love wearing heels, but then again our college society's style of clothing is based on a more casual style. The women of Korea consistently wear heels I would only wear when going to formal events, I have no idea how their feet don't die on them. They wear all these cute different shoes and their feet are completely fine! I want magic feet!