Current Location: still in Korea
As my last few days in Korea slowly tick away, I figured I should catch up on the past week or else one week will turn into 2 and before I know it I will be so behind on my journaling/blogging that I will never catch up.
Thursday Sept 23-->Meeting more family for the first time!
Upon arrival at Emo's, we were greeted by my great uncle. My mom and Aunt Shin ran right up to him as if they were young children again...apparently looked exactly the same as they had remembered him. So, similar to all of our other family encounters in Korea, the first thing we did was eat. We had a traditional Korean food spread with various veggies, meats, seafood, casseroles, etc. Sitting on the floor with this new surrounding, I found myself oddly comfortable. Koreans seem to really value family, whether it be distant cousins or immediate family, it is a priority in their society. Even though I had just met this family, they opened their home to me and made me feel more welcome than I would have ever imagined. It was wonderful...
Following lunch, we set off for a hike. Now, I accidentally left out that Emo's house was basically at the base of the mountains-her backyard was Bukhansan National Park, which was very convenient for us.
Along the way, we ran into a beautiful Buddhist temple that was set aside from the main trail. Peaceful and quaint, I almost would rather trek to this temple versus the one we visited last week.
The climb down was quite interesting...we climbed down steps for what felt like hours. Holding Aunt Shin's way to ensure her depth perception didn't fail her, we walked down more than a few hundred meters worth of steps.
When we got back to Emo's, we loaded up 2 cars and drove to their youngest sons home. Here we met another one of my mom's cousins (who was not born when they left Korea, so it was the first time for Aunt Shin and Gina to meet him), his wife, 3 year old daughter, and mother-in-law. From here we went to a traditional Korean restaurant. We walked into a muddy courtyard, walked up to our room, slipped off our shoes and sat on mats on the floor. 3 separate tables of food were brought to us:
Again, the constant theme of Korea seems to be FOOD...food all the time! The meal was great, company was entertaining, and the location was an experience. After this, mom's cousin drove us back to the hotel where we all climbed into bed and passed out!
Friday Sept 24: Gina and Shin's last day.
We decided on doing the city tour earlier in the week and never got around to it, so on their last day, it seemed like the right thing to do since we had no other plans. The city tour consisted of purchasing a bus ticket that would allow you to get on and off certain stops where you could stay as long as you'd like and catch the next bus that came around. Basically it is a means of transportation around the city and you are your own tour guide. This worked out perfectly for us, because that's exactly how we like to explore cities.
First stop: Korean War Memorial
This year marks the 60 year anniversary of the Korean War, and for that, we received free entry as foreigners. Come to find out, this is the largest war memorial in the entire world, and wow did it feel like it.
The outdoor display alone consisted of all the tanks, airplanes, guns, helicopters, etc that were used during the war. I have been to quite a few war memorials, and never have I seen this extensive of a display-and we were even allowed to get in and look around the equipment. After walking around for 2 hours we were done and headed to Itaewan.
Itaewan is known as the area where the US troops would hang out and due to this, most signs are in English, and the whole neighborhood is catered towards tourism and foreigners. Walking up and down the streets it does not feel like Asia; besides all of the Korean people, you wouldn't even know you were outside of the US. The first store we stopped in was to look at leather jackets because Aunt Shin was in the market for one. And there it was, gleaming in the fluorescent lights of the store. She put it on and we all knew it was the one...a perfect balance between trendy and classy, ensuring it would never go out of style. When the salesmen told us the price, we all looked at each other slightly disappointed and dragged our feet out of the door.
Continuing to walk up and down the streets, Aunt Shin thought about it and justified the price and we definitely helped. It was a very unique jacket and I personally have never seen one like it before-so after popping in a few different stores we went back, bargained a little, and ended up getting a better price than he had initially asked for. Perfect-hopefully she'll be the talk of the town when she rocks it! I'm sure she'll get tons of compliments! (wish I had a picture of her in it!!! GRR)
Next stop was a huge shopping center next to Dongdaemun Fashion Center (the name of the building started with a P but I cannot remember) Talk about shopping center-this place was SO overwhelming...I love to shop, but even this was sensory overload for me. The first 2 floors were layed out with tiny little boutiques (probably close to 30 on each floor) where the designer/owner would eye you down as soon as you touched/entered their little area. The clothes were some of the cutest clothes I have ever seen and were surprisingly very cheap compared US boutiques. I felt one shirt on display and all of a sudden I was attacked by this woman: she handed me the shirt in my size, a pair of shorts, a scarf, and before I knew it I had an entire ensemble to try on for her. She was like my own personal stylist-thankfully nothing fit right so I didn't feel obligated to buy anything and we went on our way. After getting an overdose of browsing through clothes we weren't going to buy, we headed back to the hotel for happy hour and relaxing. We ventured out to try and buy a gift for Ah Jah Si, but unfortunately everything was closed by that timet, and instead we went to Namdaemun to feast on noodles one last time :)
Saturday Sept 25: solo travels begin
First thing we did in the morning was treck my pack to Ah Jah Si's before Gina and Shin left, so I wouldn't have to do it by myself. (basically Gina wanted to make sure I didn't draw too much attention to myself with a pack larger than I am) We dropped it off, returned to the hotel to check out, and went to Namdaemun for one last walk around and snack (YUM mandu).
It's funny because after 1 week in Seoul together, we were all ready to go our separate ways. It was just time...we were starting to get on each other's nerves and man, my mom was irritating me. I kind of feel bad for how we left each other-I snapped at my mom while waiting with them in the lobby for the airport shuttle over something so stupid-so Gina if you're reading I'm sorry :)
As I walked away from the hotel, I did start to feel pretty sad. I don't really remember the last time we went a full 3 months without seeing each other, but there is a first for everything. We had an amazing time in Seoul together and I'm sure in December I will be more than excited to see Gina and Aunt Shin again for some quality r&r time.
After we separated, I decided to climb Namsan this time (last time we took the cable car).
Again, the view was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The night proceeded to be quite relaxing and I had some much needed alone/breathing time.
Sunday Sept 26: Traditional Korean Village
My "cousin" (really my mom's cousin's daughter) Chung Loc who teaches English here in Korea, took me to a traditional Korean village. Her, her boyfriend, and I traveled about 40 minutes to get to a Korean Folk Village in Yong-in City.
It was a cute little place that was entirely geared towards tourists, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot. We got to see a few performances including a traditional wedding, a man walking on a tight rope? and some boys riding horses...
We walked around the village for a while and then left to have dinner back at Ah Jah Si's. SeoYeun (another "cousin") was already there, and wow it was nice to see a familiar face. SeoYeun spent about 3 weeks at my house in Manlius 4 years go, so it was good to see her and catch up. We had dinner and then I hung out with her and chatted for a few hours. She is extremely proficient in English and apparently fluent in Japanese and in the process of learning Chinese-I'm quite envous of her linguistic skills...
Monday Sept 27: Back to Bukhansan
Before my mom left, I had decided I wanted to go back to Bukhansan and hike a more intense mountain in the park. So, around 6:30 am i hopped on the subway and arrived at Emo's house around 8 am.
I was welcomed with breakfast (obviously) and by 9 am I was off on the trail with my mom's cousin as my guide.
I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. They had drawn me a picture of 4 different mountains and asked me to pick the one I wanted to climb-obviously I picked the highest peak thinking it couldn't be THAT bad...ha, joke's on me...
As we started off on the endless upward climb I started to wonder how high this mountain really was. With a huge language barrier between my "uncle" and I, we hiked onward in silence. It was extremely peaceful and enjoyable until we hit the stairs. Both of us kept on trekking thinking the other was fine, but finally we took a break and both of us were clearly DYING. Perspiration is an understatement for him...we weren't even half way up the mountain and he was drenched. I also was feeling pretty heated, but thankfully was not dripping sweat-I was just short of breath and could feel my heart beating at a rapid pace.
Eventually we climbed on pausing for breaks every once in a while. With about 1 km away from the peak he told me to leave him behind-his calves were hurting and he didn't want to hold me back...so I climbed away for what felt like forever
With the peak in site, I decided to wait for him...we had started this together and I figured it only seemed right for us to reach the top together.
AH! We made it!! I have since been informed that this is the 4th highest mountain in Korea, so I feel pretty accomplished about this. We were literally amongst the clouds. When we got to the top we could hear the chanting of monks resonating through the mountains and it was almost more zen-filled than the temple we visited last week. I have way more photos, but do not want to fill up the entire blog of pictures of Seoul and mountains-be on the lookout for an album very soon.
It's funny writing about this because when talking to my mom and aunt shin, neither of them really remembers Seoul being surrounded by mountains...as I look around everyday, all I can see are mountains haha. The city is perfectly placed within a chain of mountains and it is so beautiful and picturesque.
The decent was just as difficult as the climb...surprisingly we made it down without falling down any steps or slipping on the rocks. Phew-5 hours round trip and we were back at Emo's sitting down for lunch-obviously more food!
I proceeded to pass out for 2 hours on the couch and was woken up to National Geographic in Korean! After hanging out for some time, we piled into Uncle's car and headed out for dinner (eating again...). Once dinner was completed, Uncle drove me home to Ah Jah Si's and I passed out in a second-it was quite an exhausting day!
Tuesday Sept 28: Changdeok Palace
This was a day for exploration-I started off at the Changdeok Palace...
Perfect weather and some quality alone time in a very peaceful place-YES. I walked around the palace grounds giving myself a private tour and settled down in the gardens next to a coi pond where I wrote in my journal and just relaxed.
After a few hours here I decided to head out-I ended up at Dongdaemun market shopping. In Korea there is a weird policy where most places do not allow you to try on clothes, so basically you see it, if you like it then you buy it-so me being the consumer I am, found a skirt that looked awesome on the hanger so I bought it. I don't remember my exact justifications for the purchase, but either way I have zero room in my pack for any more clothes, and after trying it on at Sara's apartment I clearly did not think it through-it was more of an impulse buy. typical. Oh well-now I have a long black skirt to wear around the world...
Around 6:30 pm I met up with Sara at her subway stop and she showed me her place! It is probably the cutest, most economical studio I have ever seen. The practicality surpasses any apartment I have ever seen before; it is fully equipped with a kitchen, washer, plenty of cabinet space, a desk, dresser, large bed, and full bathroom-I loved it!! Props to you Ms. Park-you have quite the spot in Seoul!
From there we ventured to Itaewan for dinner with her cousin Jennifer. Greek food YUM-after having Korean food (basically rice and kimchee) for breakfast lunch and dinner, it was a nice break. Meeting Jennifer was awesome-the three of us chatted about the world's problems and have formulated some proposed solutions if anyone cares to hear them...haha kidddinggg, no but really :) Basically we dined and had some deep conversations that were much appreciated-good company is always pleasant and meeting new people is half the reason I travel.
After dinner we separated from Jennifer and wound up in Sinsa-don (spelling is incorrect I think) which is probably one of the cutest streets I have come across in Seoul. It reminded me of something I would see in California somewhere-a narrow street lined with small clothing boutiques, nice restaurants, trendy coffee shops, plenty of bars, and made for good people watching. We walked up the street and found a cute bar where we sat on the 2nd floor with our own window and balcony to look over the street. Again, good company and flowing conversation about life made it a fun night!
Unfortunately we had to say goodbye, but it was awesome re-connecting with her and especially since we got to do it in the motherland! I cannot wait to see her again-hopefully it will be sooner than later...
Wednesday Sept 29: YOGA YOGA YOGA
FINALLY CAUGHT UP! YAY this is today...so, I had my yoga Africa Yoga Project fundraiser in Seoul today! Seoul Salutations!! I had 43 students and raised close to $500! It was definitely an experience seeing as as how I haven't taught since the end of August and it was in a totally different language (I had a translator thankfully). But it was awesome-the yogis were great, super supportive and very accepting! I love how the yoga culture is consistent from country to country (at least from my experiences). The only thing that threw me off a little bit was that everyone practices in these tiny little outfits that resemble more of a bathing suit than work out clothes. They all thought it was odd that I was in pants and a tank top...but either way it was quite an event and such an awesome experience!
Here is my fundraising page again if you can help at all that'd be awesome!!!!
https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/ayoga/donation.jsp?campaign=7
Ok I'm finally done with this book of a post!! Namaste and have a wonderful day!! Off to Australia on Friday!
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