I left Korea on the 20th of December, 2010, and I miss it very much. I have the rest of my oegukin day to relate, so we'll start there, then move on to singing Messiah, getting stuck in Shanghai, and the chain of unlikely events that has brought me to be writing this from my hotel room in Brussels, Belgium.
Back to Oegukin Day! or Il Est Beau Comme Le Seoul, Eh?*
After the museum (oh, culture!) H and I subwayed (it's like sashaying, but on public transportation) over to Gwanghwamun, in central Seoul. Gwanghwamun is a part of Seoul that really feels like a big city: skyscrapers, large public monuments, the works. There is a big gate and some sculpture stuff, and many people, getting Culture. While there, we popped into a different museum (!) - don't worry, just the café part - and had lunch. It was very tasty, and H got us tickets on the tour bus while we were waiting for a seat, so really, an all-around win. The bus departed from across the large boulevard from the café, so after we ate, we moseyed over and waited for departure. It was... brisk. Luckily, we were distracted from comparing goosebumps by the changing of the guard. I'm still not totally sure what they were guarding, but there were definitely guards, and they changed. It was a whole big thing, with period costumes, halberds with flags attached, and a processional with drum. I am a bad photo-blogger for not having pictures, but it was a thing worth seeing in person, and if I had the chance again, I'd go to see it on purpose and everything.
The bus was a comfortable coach affair with headsets for all, explanations of the various sites being made available in English, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. (I tested my various languages against the English version and have determined that my Korean is still terrible, my Chinese is only marginally better, and my French is... actually, pretty okay. Just don't ask me to write anything down in it). The tour was an inundation of information about the various sites we passed. There were markets and architectural wonders and museums and parks and towers and gates and train stations and things. H threatened to test me on them later, but was too nice to follow through on that, thank God. We hopped off at Namsan (남산) Park to go up the tower, something everyone must do if they want to get Tourist Cred in Seoul. It looks like this (in fact, this photo was taken at about the same time of day we got there, so it is quite accurate):
Okay, I showed you that one (which I got from Google) so you wouldn't get only the impression that our photo gives, that we were at some Korean Tower of Terror:
I promise it is not this creepy in real life.
The thing it's most famous for is the view from the top, of the city. It has a well-deserved reputation for being a beautiful sight.
The first picture is very city-ish, and even reminds me of photos I took from the then-Sears Tower in Chicago. The dark bits on the bottom and a bit on the right are the flanks of the mountain on which the tower stands. It's a park, and in the daytime (and the spring) it's very lovely. Take my word for it. This second picture I like because it shows (a bit) the travel arteries of the city.
Don't judge me, man, this is what a cell phone can do. THERE ARE LIMITS.
Okay, it wasn't a tower of terror, but we took a ride on the cable car, which goes down to a restaurant about halfway down the mountain and comes back up. It was dark. There was a breeze. There was rocking. There was... unhappiness. Mostly from me. Only from me. There is video of my quiet panic, but it is not uploading well, so you will just have to use your imagination. It was soon over, and I was back to my usual gravitas in no time. (H, back me up!)
After Namsan, we hopped back on the bus (actually a different bus, but the same company and setup) and rode until we got to Insadong (인사동) a shopping/market-y area known for having a) lots of stuff, and b) no signs in English. Thank God H was there. So much disaster averted. (Seriously, there was a Starbucks there that was signed in Korean: 스타벅스. That was the end of things I could understand alone).
Insadong is centered around a nice pedestrian street with vendors of all kinds of things. Several of the shops could rightly be deemed tourist traps, but escorted by a native, I was relatively safe. I did stop at an art shop and buy a few brush paintings as gifts (it being quite close to Christmas). A few doors down from that, there was a courtyard off the main road, and a building surrounding it that was sort of like an ascending mall. It was as though a branch of the road had split off and curled up like a stem, sprouting little shops along it. I forget what it was called, but it's a nifty place, and one with a higher standard of quality than some of the more questionable street establishments. It is mostly small shops overseen by actual craftsmen, making things right there in front of you, in some cases.
Despite its high quality of goods sold, it was not immune to the lure of somewhat tawdry seasonal decorations:
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| This was taken from the third level up. These snowmen are floating over the main courtyard. I enjoy that the middle one has glasses. |
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| Also, I am actually a flower fairy. |
For those who did not want to ramp up and down, there were shortcuts in the form of stairs. I am in the second picture to give it scale.
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| For science! |
The guys below were making a Korean traditional sweet whose name I can't remember (and if I could, I can't guarantee I could spell or pronounce it right), which is made from honey, some kind of starchy thing (tapioca?) and 7 kinds of nuts. It manages to make you feel healthy while tasting like a Butterfinger, so a win all around.
I bought a box of them as another gift for my family, but the real gift part was the video I got of them doing their patter - in English! This connection is all kinds of weak, so it's not uploading well, but I will send it to anyone who wants a copy. (Totally worth the few minutes it will take you to watch it).
That was pretty much the day. We headed back to Daejeon, feeling cultured and somewhat better prepared for the holidays.
*What up, Mr. Shee!
