My Last Day in Seoul, South Korea: A Bittersweet End

As I begin my last post in this blog, I am speechless.  Not in the metaphorical, poetic sense - no, really, I have lost my voice.  After getting back to the dorms on Sunday night from the Mud Festival trip, my throat began to hurt.  Throughout the week it progressively hurt worse and now, my voice is completely gone.  It's strange, though, because I have no other cold-like symptoms - just a sore throat and lost-voice.  I debated going to the health clinic on campus, but I heard it is essentially a waste of time, and I should instead go to the hospital. I don't want to waste my last full day in Seoul at a hospital, so I have decided to drink tea and tough it out.  Hopefully I make it back alive!  Last night, we went out to celebrate Trey's departure to Nebraska.  He leaves today, which is definitely sad, as he has become a good friend to me.  As we walked into Cass Bar for Trey's last time, we spotted my Finnish marketing professor, Dr. Karppinen, drinking at a table with other professors.  She was likely feeling quite well when we ran into her, because she worriedly felt my forehead with her hand, as my mom would do, and said "Abbie, I am worried about you, you need to get some medicine.  It feels like you have a fever."  It was adorable!  I told her that I didn't feel feverish, and that I joked that likely I felt warm to her because she had been drinking.  What a funny, interesting lady she is!


On the morning of my last day in Seoul, I prepare to get pedicures (my last treat to myself before I consider myself broke) and shopping for last minute gifts.  Luckily, I have no class or exams today, so I can relax and perhaps begin to pack (though, I do not know where to start).  Our "graduation" ceremony is at 4:30 p.m., followed by an airing of the film students' documentaries on which they have worked diligently the past four weeks.  After the end of summer school this evening, many of us will go out together for one last night before we likely never see each other again. 


I hate to fall into the stereotypical "reflective last entry" trap for this final post, but as I leafed through my past posts, I noticed some changes between the Abbie who wrote them and the Abbie I am now.  I can't help but think of the quote from The Return of the King, when Frodo wonders, "How do you pick up the threads of an old life?"  Though I have only been gone for one month, it will be difficult to adjust to life in the States after having one of the best experiences of my life. 


As I initially imagined, studying abroad has helped me to become more independent.  Since international study is quite expensive, I'm glad I chose to live in a culture far different from my own.  I had many initial fears about living in Seoul - namely, living near the DMZ, eating the food, and living without a cell phone and constant contact with the people I love.  As I look back on these posts, I can't help but laugh a little, since these issues are now nonexistent.


In "Seoul, Dissected," I introduced the idea of a DMZ tour.  I wrote "while I doubt that I will take this day trip, reading about it raises curiosity about North Korea."  I remember initially reading about the tour in my Seoul City Guide and thinking "this is really interesting, but not for me."  As I felt increasingly more comfortable in Seoul, I realized that I had to live a little while I was here.  I didn't want to get back in the U.S. and wish I had done something that I hadn't done.  Who knows when I would get the chance to visit South Korea again?  Currently, I am working on a long post about my trip to the DMZ.  It should be done when I get back in the States on Saturday.


My Seoul City Guide was both a gift and a curse, but more so a gift.  By curse, I mean that I initially felt repulsed reading about the many strange foods, such as kimchi, beondegi, bulgolgi, etc.  I was sure that I would starve for four weeks.  "I'm sure many of you recall me reading off the list of 'daredevil foods' for the brave to try while in Korea.  You likely also recall my absolute repulsion to words such as 'silkworm larvae' leaving my mouth," I wrote in "The 4th of July in South Korea."  Despite my initial fears, I can proudly say that I have tried many things I never would have tried before this trip - including bugs!  I have come to love Korean food - the spice, the variety in texture, the care with which it is prepared and the tradition through which it is eaten.  I will miss many foods in the U.S., such as sundubu, tteok, bibimbap, gimbap, ramyeon, and ddukbokki.  I will miss the wellness I feel from consuming unusual vegetables (for me) such as bean sprouts and kimchi (the fermented cabbage eaten with every meal).  Eating in Korea is an integral part of the culture, and I will certainly miss it. 


"I think the hardest part of the trip will be missing my core-group of people I love in the U.S. - my family and friends," I estimated in "More Information About My Trip."  "This trip will be the longest period of time I will go without texting since I've had a cell phone.  It'll be such an adjustment, but I think it will be great for me."  Well, I guessed 50% correctly on that prediction:  Sure, the first few days were rough with the thirteen hour time difference and lack of phone, but I forced myself to get off the computer and dig into the city life.  I could not be happier with these efforts.  It was difficult at first, and I had a few moments of homesickness, but primarily, I have had so much fun every day that I've hardly though about missing text messaging and constant communication.  I even sat through six hours of class without a cell phone - something I never, ever, ever thought I could do!  Every time I felt lonely, I forced myself to plan an activity or join an existing one.  Sitting in my room will only prolong sadness.  Being around people always makes me feel better, and I have been blessed to be in Seoul with some of the coolest people I have ever met. 


Tomorrow, my flight leaves at 5:20 p.m.  Jake, Megan, Scott, Sam, and I will be picked up by a van service and taken to Incheon airport at 12:45 p.m.  From there, I will begin my fifteen-hour journey back to Detroit.  Interestingly, I will once again "time travel" - I depart at 5:20 p.m. and arrive a mere fifteen minutes later, at 5:35 p.m.!  I hope to hit the ground running, as I did on my first night here.  Likely, I will take a break from alcohol consumption to give my liver and brain a rest.  However, life is short, I can sleep when I am dead!  Sorry for those cliches, but they are fitting at this juncture in time.  


While I kept this blog for my own records, I also wrote to inform everyone at home about my wanderings in Seoul.  When I get home, I plan to edit my entries and have my blog turned into a physical book.  Such services are quite affordable.  I appreciate everyone who followed my journey and emailed me during my time here - seeing familiar names in my inbox always made me smile.  While I have been as accurate and detailed as possible, I undoubtedly have dozens of stories still to tell, and I am sure at some point, you will hear them.  Although this is my "goodbye" entry, it is not my final.  As I mentioned earlier, I will be adding a lengthy post about my trip to the DMZ when I return to the States.  Be on the look out for details about the coolest part of my trip!


Dr. Karppinen ended our last class yesterday with some poetry that I would love to share:  

Out of nowhere

Joy fluttering past

with butterfly's wings

falls into the nets of

those pure in heart. 

-Riitta Rossilahti

Once again, thanks to my followers!  I look forward to seeing you when I return.  

*Beautiful photos courtesy of my good friend, Rick Punt.

Today was the Perfect Day...

...to go on the roof of the guys' dorm.

The mountains came out of hiding.

Who knew the month, the friendly weather?
I was thinking somewhere else so
I was here. Stray maidens, stay.
Pray for all my other times of year.
-"Poem with Contrails," Timothy O'Keefe

What a beautiful city, doused in sunlight.

There’s a shy puppet

in us.  Lean in –

we’ll show our black pins.

"Candle," Timothy O'Keefe

Mini-Series Post #8: Another Favorite Meal

Tonight we went out for one of my all-time favorite Korean meals, makkoli and bindaedukk.  The rice wine, makkoli, is nothing like the grape wine we are accustomed to and comes in various flavors, such as orange and pineapple.  It is a milky color and has a bit of a grainy texture.  I've tried the original rice-flavored makkoli, orange, and pineapple, and love them all!  

The original rice-flavored makkoli, served in a giant bowl to share with others.

This is the seafood bindaedukk, with pieces of squid and shrimp inside.  

The pineapple makkoli is also dangerously delicious, not at all resembling our Western idea of wine. 

Mini-Series Post #7: Unwanted Attention

Exercising in Seoul has proved to be easier than I originally believed.  There is a tiny exercise room in the basement of the boys' dorm and a running/ bike path along the Han River, which flows parallel to our dorms across the street.  On dry days, I love to run along the river, over which a tall, cement highway structure carries people wherever they intend to go.  Interestingly, along the river are outdoor exercise machines, somewhat like the ones pictured below:  

Outdoor gyms along the Han River

As I run along the path, adults exercise on these unusual machines.  I pass dozen of people walking and riding bicycles, but not many others running.  I usually do not pass anyone looking my age or younger than me, with the exception of today, when I passed a group of young boys that proceeded to jog alongside me for several seconds until I moved away from them.  Apparently, regardless of the culture, young boys are always looking for trouble!

What I notice most during my runs along the Han River is the bounty of direct stares I receive from men and women alike.  As I jog, I try to figure out why every person I pass stares at me, sometimes to the point of turning their heads to follow me.  Maybe it is what I wear - a tank top and shorts.  I also have yet to see another young girl running, so maybe that's it.  Or, it could be that I don't look Korean.  Who knows?  I hope I'm not breaking any clothing rules for outdoor exercise, but it too hot to wear anything else but what I wear.  Maybe it's a combination of all of these things, or maybe it is something entirely different.  It could even be the difference in the symbolism of the stare between American culture and Korean culture; in the U.S., it is impolite, but here, maybe it is acceptable.  Regardless, now I run with my head down.   


My friends and I receive similarly unwanted attention when we go to some places in Seoul.  In Insadong, it is not uncommon to be photographed by Koreans and foreigners alike, especially when smiling for one of our own cameras.  At the mud festival, we felt like movie stars as dozens and dozens of photographers snapped our pictures.  Ultimately, my question to these people that randomly snap my picture is this:  What do you plan to do with a blurry photograph of me, in which my eyes are likely half closed or I am making some kind of weird, mid-talking face?   

The Last Field Trip: Boryeong Mud Festival & Chunripo Botanical Garden

What an eventful weekend!  Early Saturday morning we boarded four large buses to drive to Boryeong for the 14th annual mud festival.  This festival is very popular among foreigners, offering mud slides, mud wrestling pits, mud jails, and other fun activities involving mud.  The festival is situated along the coast, so visitors could hang out on the beach where a stage hosted various music artists.  Thousands of people swam in the ocean and floated around on rafts and inner tubes.  I wore an old bathing suit and black shorts, which I threw away at the end of the day.  They were definitely beyond repair.  Any reservations I had about walking barefoot into public bathrooms, swimming in a giant pool with strangers from all over the world, and getting completely dirty in general immediately disappeared when I saw how much fun everyone was having; I couldn't wait to get a little muddy, too! 

Getting crazy in the mud wrestling pit!

Absolutely filthy.

The only downside to this event was all of the mud that got in my eyes.  We spent most of our time in the mud wrestling pit, pushing one another down into the pool of mud.  Someone would push me down, filling my eyes with mud, and as I would try to stand up again, someone else would push me down again.  This may not sound like fun, but I could not stop laughing!  I have some bumps and bruises, but it was worth it to get completely filthy.  Most of the day I felt like I had cataracts; everything looked cloudy and my eyes burned.  My eyes were bloodshot for the rest of the night as I tried repeatedly to wipe the mud-goop out of my eyes.  I feared waking up blind, but alas, all is well now.  

Mud wrestling

It was a little rainy when we arrived, but the for the majority of the day it was sunny and hot - perfect weather to play in the mud! A friend and I both woke up with crusty eyes, and I'm pretty sure there is still mud in my ears.  All in all, this was one of the highlights of the trip!

In the ocean!

After the mud festival, we drove an hour to stay in a pension by the shore - a homey, hotel-like place with traditional Korean-style rooms.  The girls were lucky enough to get 2-person beds - the guys had to sleep four to a room on the floor with mats :)

A Korean-style Pension

The beach

Feeling good!

For dinner, we had Korean barbecue, soju, and beer. After, we all partied together on the beach - a great way to end a fun day.  Waking up early today was a little rough, but we had a lovely breakfast of fried rice waiting for us.  To be honest, that had a hint of sarcasm in it...I am ready for some pancakes and bacon.  Before we left for Seoul, we ventured to the Chunripo Botanical Garden, where we toured the grounds.  This was a little tiresome for most of us who were exhausted from the night before:

At the Chunripo Botanical Garden

Now, we are back in the dorms.  We are tired and ill-prepared for class tomorrow.  What is most upsetting is the sadness beginning to creep into our minds, the understanding that the end of our summer in Korea is a week away from completion.  It's hard to believe that I've been here for three weeks now and that in one week, I'll be back at home.  While I'm certainly homesick and ready to see the people I miss and love, I will be truly sad to leave this place - Korea has been absolutely wonderful to me.   


NOTE:  I temporarily removed the Mini-Series post about my DMZ trip.  I don't know how the internet is monitored here, and I definitely do not want to cross any lines.  I will update the blog about that experience afterwards! 

Mini-Series Post #6: No Turning Back

A few months ago, I remember feeling extremely nervous thinking about the fact that I would be living a mere 55km from the DMZ (and North Korea!) for a month.  There is nothing more frightening than living next to the most secretive country in the world:

This image, courtesy of Google Maps, shows North Korea as a blank chunk of land.  We have no knowledge of the cities and roadways.  (Please note the Korean text on the map; my internet is almost always in Korean here.)  What is scarier than the unknown?  A universal unknown, like death?  I'm not quite sure I can think of anything.  Fifteen HISS students, primarily from the States and the Netherlands, have decided to take a tour to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and Panmunjom (located inside the DMZ) on Wednesday, July 20th.  The tour departs at 8:50 a.m. from the Panmunjom Travel Center in Lotte Hotel.  It costs W77000 per person, but in my opinion, such an opportunity is completely worth the expense.  There are very strict tour rules, including background checks for visitors from certain countries, dress code, and age restrictions.  Americans are not allowed to wear clothing promoting the U.S.  All visitors are required to wear pants (without holes), shoes (not flip-flops), and shirts that are plain and cover the shoulders.  A friend who has taken this tour, Gera, told me that this is required because the North Koreans sometimes take photographs of the South Korean and foreign visitors and use them as propaganda, telling the North Korean population that South Korea is too poor to properly clothe its people.  

Panmunjom is the closest location to North Korea for visitors to see.  It is the truce village between North and South Korea established on the ceasefire line at the end of the Korean War in 1953.  At that time, only an armistice was signed - not a full peace treaty.  Tours used to run to Kaesong and Geumgangsan inside North Korea, but they have been suspended since 2008 by the North Korean side.    

The Seoul City Guide mentions these things about the JSA (p.162):  

• "In the past a gun battle and gruesome axe murders have taken place in the JSA, but the last serious incident was back in 1984"
• "The Berlin Wall seems like a child's toy compared to this sucker" 
• "It's probably the most heavily fortified border in the world - high fences topped with barbed wire, watchtowers, an antitank wall and obstacles"     

For more information about my specific tour, click here.

For those readers looking for information about North Korea, here is a very interesting documentary on YouTube called Welcome to North Korea.

Mini-Series Post #5: Stereotypes & Perspectives

Today was another slow day of class.  It's so hard to sit inside for six hours when there are so many things I still want to do while I'm here!  Luckily, tomorrow is Tuesday, and we don't have classes on Wednesdays.  Many of us plan to try the unstrained rice wine tomorrow, called makkoli.  This is a drink that goes well with bindaedduk, or mung-bean pancake.  Rice wine has a much lower alcohol content than soju, the vodka-like equivalent in Korea, and is a milky color.  I can't wait to try it!  After that, we will likely go to the clubs in Hongdae - I still have yet to do this!  On Wednesday, we have a field trip to the Hyundai Motor Factory and another trip to Insadong.


On Saturday night, a few friends and I went out for drinks at a local bar.  We went out with a guy from the Netherlands and his friend, who has been living in Seoul for three years.  Eventually, we got to talking about stereotypes.  I asked them for the American stereotype:  "Be completely honest - I'm sure I've heard what you're going to say," I said.  They were hesitant at first, obviously not wanting to offend us.  This, of course, peaked our curiosity.  


Basically, the stereotypes of Americans they were accustomed to included the image of the "ignorant American," who knows nothing about the world beyond American borders.  I couldn't help but somewhat agree - it amazes me how little some people know about the world.  They also mentioned that some stereotypes include Americans as selfish and rude in foreign countries.  The guy who has lived here for three years, Raul, showed us a picture on his phone of a "no admittance" sign for U.S. Army members at a bar in Seoul.  "They think they own the place," he said.  "They are destructive and rude and think they are allowed to act that way here.  In my experience, they are not well liked here."  This was really embarrassing for me.  U.S. Army members acting so awful that they are banned from certain restaurants and bars?  Really, all I can do in those situations is remember that I am doing my part as a "global citizen" - I am genuinely interested in other countries and open to different perspectives.  That's really all I can do - worry about myself and how I act when I'm abroad.  


Other instances during which I felt embarrassed while I've been here include moments in class when we discuss the countries we've been to and the languages we speak.  Other students are fluent in two, three, and four languages! I speak English and could get around a Spanish-speaking country.  I've been to one other country.  These students have been all over the world - a trip to Seoul was not monumental, but instead, another stamp in their passports.  I guess I shouldn't feel embarrassed about that - I am a good student, I try hard and I'm involved.  Still, to know that others are such better "global citizens" than me is somewhat unsettling!

My First Trip to Insadong

Insadong is even better than I imagined.  While there are many foreigners flooding the busy streets of this cultural district, it is easy to turn off onto a quiet, winding side street lined with tiny tea houses, restaurants, and little knick-knack stores.  Insadong seamlessly blends the old with the new, offering impressive modern shopping centers like this one while maintaining its ties to traditional Korean culture on the side streets.

A modern shopping complex in Insadong

Traditional restaurants off the beaten path in Insadong

My first priority in Insadong was to find a traditional tea house and try some cha.  "A cup of tea costs around W6000 (as much as a cheap meal), but it's a quality product and often served with a rice-cake snack," the Seoul City Guide acknowledges (114).  Inside the tea house, soothing instrumental music played quietly while customers talked over their tea and rice snacks.  We ordered several different types of tea:  citron tea (iced & hot), cinnamon punch tea (iced) and five-tastes tea (iced).  With our tea, we were given complimentary rice cakes.

The tea house we visited.

Inside the tea house.

ONU students enjoying tea in Insadong.

It was a very enjoyable experience and I plan to try another tea house, Yetchatjip, where "half a dozen little song birds fly around inside" (116).  "Antique bric-a-brac so clutters this hobbit-sized teashop that it's hard to squeeze past and find somewhere to sit" (116). 

International Party & NANTA

It has been a busy few days for me!  I can't believe it's Sunday already and I only have one weekend left here.  On Friday night, the HISS hosted the International Party:

The coolest university-held event I've ever attended!

In case you missed some of the details, this party included unlimited & free alcohol.  No one believed that this was an actual school-hosted event, but no one was complaining, either.  The party was held at Viaerae, a little bar/restaurant/club in Wangsimni.

Viaerae in Wangsimni

Drinks included mojitos with fresh lemon and lime, sangria, beer, and shots.  I am a little interested in how expensive this was, since there were probably between 200-300 people there.  The bar had to stop serving at 12:30 a.m. because it had run out of most drinks.  There was dancing in the club basement of Viaerae, where various contests were held (including handsomest guy/prettiest girl, best male dancer/best female dancer).  When we entered the party, we were given glow stick bracelets that we were told to hand out to the guys or girls we thought were best dressed/handsome/pretty.  I mostly gave mine out to my friends, not taking the whole thing too seriously.  However, by the end of the night, I had received around 22 bracelets from all kinds of people, thus winning the prettiest girl competition!  

Mom and Dad will be so proud! 

I won this hat, which says "beautiful flower girl" in Korean.

This was the best night we've had so far and it was so much fun to hang out with everyone finally.  Usually, we do things in separate groups, so this is the first time we've all been together socializing at an event:

We say "kimchi!" instead of "cheese" for photographs!

On Saturday, we attended NANTA, a show in which the performers transform knives and other kitchen utensils into musical instruments.  The show was energetic and exciting, as the performers did tricks with knives and fire and played the drums on anything and everything.  Essentially, it is like the show Stomp! but in the kitchen.  

Today, we plan to visit the "craft capital" of Korea, Insadong.  The area offers more traditional Korean culture with atmospheric tea shops, wonderful restaurants, and Korean clothing & craft shops.  

Yesterday, we hit the halfway point in our trip.  Many of us are beginning to realize that a month is actually a short amount of time in such an awesome city.  Hopefully we can find time to do all that we still want to do!

Mini-Series Post #4: "Midterm" Week

It's been a relatively unexciting few days, as it is currently "midterm" week (during my second week of class - hah!)  However, I've got a few exciting things to look forward too:

1. International Party tonight, hosted at a bar in Wangsimni.  There is unlimited free alcohol and the dress code is "hot," according to the flyer posted around campus.  I'm looking forward to meeting more people in the HISS!
2. Nanta performance on Saturday night, the "Broadway" of Korea, and "one of the best shows you'll ever see!" (The Scotsman)
3. Clubbing in Hongdae Saturday night for my first time 
4. Insadong on Sunday to view traditional Korean culture
5. A tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area) - yes, I am doing it!  I am so excited.  A group of students are looking at tour dates...tentatively, we are thinking 7/20, as we don't have class on Wednesdays.  This tour looks like it costs 77,000 won ($77) but will be totally worth it.  Closer to our tour, I will do an informational post about these areas.  Noted as the "most dangerous place on earth," the DMZ is the most heavily guarded border on the planet.  

On an unrelated note, my lovely boyfriend, Greg, sent me 1-year anniversary flowers from Ohio.  Only he could pull that off:

Beautiful flowers from Greg

Thanks, Greg!  They are beautiful :)

Korean Baseball!

Instead of saying "I hate watching baseball" from now on, I will say instead "I hate watching American baseball."  Today, we traveled to Jamsil to watch the Doosan Bears play against the Lotte Giants.  The crowds were so enthusiastic, which made the game much more enjoyable than American baseball!  Also, the game was much more exciting - there were actual hits and runs made. 

The enthusiastic crowd

Most of the songs the crowds sang in Korean to the tunes of American songs, such as the "I Love You Baby" song that Heath Ledger sings in 10 Things I Hate About You.  The songs were so loud and on tune - it was so awesome to see such a collectively happy group of people.

Around the 6th inning, people began to pass around orange bags.  We had no idea why until we watched others filling them with air and tying them on their heads.

The most interesting hats I've ever seen.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have never seen anything like this before.  After we stopped laughing over how funny/dangerous it was, we (of course!) had to join in on the fun.

When in Rome!

That's a picture of two ONU students - Jacob & Scott - wearing their bag-hats proudly.  I feel like this is somewhat dangerous, especially with children, but that's okay.  

Mini-Series Post #3: A Culture that Encourages Responsibility

Perhaps one of the most interesting differences I have noticed during my time in Seoul includes Korean culture's efforts to encourage social and personal responsibility.  For example, in almost every building I have been inside, various receptacles for plastic, paper, aluminum, and waste orderly sit beside one another.

Separate receptacles on each floor of the dorm. 

Obviously, I can't read the Korean, but I just look inside to see where I'm supposed to put things.  To see such a collective ecological effort is so refreshing!  As I walk down the street, I see shopkeepers everywhere sorting through waste and recyclable materials.  Even at fast food restaurants, there are separate receptacles for all of the waste.  To many Americans, this may seem tedious; however, I think it is absolutely fabulous.  I try to recycle at school, but sometimes, I throw a can in the garbage, thinking, "how far does one person's effort actually go?"  Seeing Korea's recycling effort has reinvigorated my desire to save the planet, one pop can at a time.

In addition to social responsibility, Korea encourages personal responsibility by publicly displaying the calorie counts on the menus of many fast food restaurants!  I was shocked to see this for the first time and I can't believe we have not done this in the United States, since obesity is such a huge issue.  Let's face it, not many Americans go to a website to find additional nutrition information and calorie counts.  With the calories staring back at you while you observe the menu at MacDonald's, wouldn't you feel a little guilty eating a Big Mac?  I know I would never step foot in a fast food restaurant again.     

The 4th of July in South Korea

It was a somewhat strange feeling to be in another country on America's Independence Day.  There were no city fireworks, no hotdogs & hamburgers, no campfires.  There were no American flags - no red,white, & blue at all.  We attended class, which was even stranger.  All in all, it didn't feel much like Independence Day at all, so many students (American and not!) decided to have our own celebration in Seoul last night.


One Korean student purchased W50000-worth of fireworks in honor of the U.S. holiday.  A crowd of about twenty or thirty HISS students trekked across the Han River to a relatively small space on the bike path, which really seemed unsafe to me as bikers and walkers continued to wiz by.  Many of us carried our enormous bottles of Cass beer, since you can publicly drink here...awesome!  I guess it just works when crime rates are low and people are generally peaceful and kind.  

Drinking publicly is legal in Seoul.

Cries of "AMURICA!" could likely be heard for kilometers as our tiny (but mighty) fireworks shot into the air and exploded into bursts of color.  We savored the "firework smell," which mustered feelings of home.  Most passersby were indifferent to our firework show, as if it was not an uncommon occurrence.  One biker, however, actually kicked one of the boxes out of the path (after it had been lit) but luckily all the fireworks had gone off from it.  That could have ended badly.  It wasn't quite like being home on the 4th of July, but it was a truly awesome experience.


After our short fireworks display, many of us went to the bars in Wangsimni to continue the celebration:

We were excited to celebrate, obviously.

In fact, I was so excited that I agreed to try beondegi - silkworm larvae!  I'm sure many of you recall me reading off the list of "daredevil foods" for the brave to try while in Korea.  You likely also recall my absolute repulsion to words such as "silkworm larvae" leaving my mouth.  Well, my friends, I ate not one, but four or five!  They were crunchy and tasted somewhat like how I would picture a shoe tasting.

Trey and I, unsure about the beodegi.

After this interesting experience, we headed to do some karaoke.  Noraebang in Korea involves stylish, individualized rooms with a television, microphone, and seating.  Groups rent the rooms at an hourly rate and sing the night away.  I can't quite remember, but there were between twenty and thirty drunk people in our room, which resulted in screaming along to "Wonderwall" and "Born in the USA."  Twice, an employee had to enter our room to tell us to be quieter.

A noraebang natural!

Needless to say, I was exhausted and worthless today in class.  However, it was the sacrifice we had to make to celebrate the birth of our wonderful country. 

Mini-Series Post #2: B-Boys in Seoul

This morning we awoke to the sound of rain on our window - a typically euphonic sound turned sour due to the heavy amount of rain we've received since we arrived.  However, we weren't going to let the rain stop us from getting out of the dorm - instead, we decided to go to the Olympic Park to see R16 Korea:  the 2011 World B-Boy Masters Championship.

R16 Korea:  the 2011 World B-Boy Masters Championship

This is the stage on which the national crews danced and moved in ways once thought impossible, bending, flipping, and jumping past what most people considered human range of motion. 

The Korean group, JinJo Crew, was obviously the house favorite.  There were groups from all over the world, including France, the U.S., Kazakhstan, China, and Russia.  I took many videos (including videos of the groups dancing).  At Olympic Park, there was also an urban art exhibit:

While I am not a "big-city type of girl," Seoul has definitely grown on me.  I don't mind public transportation - in fact, I love it.  There is always something to do, nay - a variety of things to do each day.  Sure, I get irritated with the huge crowds, but for an enormous city, Seoul is fairly quiet - there are the typical noises of busy city life, but the people, collectively, are peaceful.  A week ago, I'd never thought I would feel comfortable here, but I truly do.  While this city is exponentially larger than where I'm from, I now believe people when they tell me that it's a relatively safe place to be; generally speaking, "maintaining face" (i.e. respect, a good image, etc) is more important than someone else's material items.  It's a fundamental cultural difference between American and Korean culture (again, generally speaking) that gives me hope for humanity when the homicide count continues to climb in Toledo.  When we struggle with the language barrier to order a meal, the Korean waitresses smile and demonstrate patience you'd never see in the U.S. if the roles were reversed.  Many people I know express annoyance when they hear people speaking in a language other than English in the U.S.; sometimes I wonder if people here experience similar irritation when my friends and I are laughing and talking in English at restaurants and on the subway.  My guess is that (generally speaking) people are not annoyed, because they understand and accept that English, Korean, and other languages are on a level playing field.  They are used to foreigners speaking in other languages in their city, and they are not irritated when I cannot understand them.  Surely, there are exceptions, and I am certainly not putting down the home I love.  If collectively, American culture could begin to shed its elitist mentality and welcome other ideas, languages, and methods, I think a lot of our problems could be solved.   

Not sure how I got to this point from where I was when I began this post, especially since it's a "mini-series" post, but there you have it.  Good night!  

Experiencing the "Soul" of Seoul

Today, we had a scheduled program field trip around the city to four major attractions:  Namsangol Hanok Village, Gwanghwamun Square, the Blue House, and the N Seoul Tower.  We departed the university around 3:15 p.m. and just recently returned around 11:00 p.m.  The trip was slightly disappointing in a sense because we were travelling in a group of about 150 people - many of which are slow walkers, dawdlers, and obviously afflicted with ADD.  Walking was a nightmare, as we'd have to continuously stop and wait for people to catch up. We spent a lot of time waiting for people, which was pretty frustrating.  Nonetheless, the places we visited were absolutely awesome in every sense!

ONU Polar Bears in Gwanghwamun Square

Gwanghwamun features a wide array of royal Korean palaces that "follow Confucian ideals of frugality and simplicity" (38).  This area of the city is also home to the Blue House - the president's house:

The Blue House, home to the President

We couldn't get very close today because the president was in residence.  According to some of our guides, if we wanted to tour the Blue House, we would have had to pay an extraordinary fee in addition to requesting a tour months in advance and having all of our passports identified and approved.  

After Gwanghwamun, we ventured to the Namsangol Hanok Village, an area of traditional Korean houses, called hanok.  "Five differing yangban stone, wood, and tile houses from the Joseon era have been moved here from different parts of Seoul," the Seoul City Guide states (55).  This village is tranquil and quietly maintains an age-old atmosphere; it is filled with little ponds, benches, and winding paths through many different kinds of flowers and plants.

Namsangol Hanok Village

While we were certainly learning and appreciating Korean history, we also had a little fun, too.

My warrior face

After the Namsangol Hanok Village, we traveled to our final location - the N Seoul Tower - a destination "as iconic as kimchi" (55).  From this mountaintop location, viewers can see the city stretch outward in all directions into the humid haze.  The views are breathtaking and fundamentally romantic, which mark the N Seoul Tower as a sweetheart destination.  

N Seoul Tower

Thousands (if not millions!) of locks scrawled with romantic sayings and names of couples cover the gates surrounding the viewing platform.  Couples attach a lock to the masses of locks on the gates and throw away the key, symbolizing faithfulness and "true love."

The love locks at N Seoul Tower