Seoul at Last

Friday night we were supposed to go with some friends to a party at this Korean TV actor's house in Seoul. The party got canceled, but we decided to go up on Saturday anyway. We took the bus at 9:30 am and arrived in Seoul at 11:15--only 1 hr 45 min, not too bad. They had a TV on the bus and we got to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics on the way, so that was nice. (That's the only part of the Olympics we've seen so far--someone told us they only play events that Koreans do well in, and apparently there aren't many of those, because we haven't seen the tiniest bit on TV aside from the opening.)

Seoul has an incredible subway system, which we hopped on as soon as we got to the bus station. We also got our first taste of what it's like to live in the most populated city in the world: Every train we rode on was packed.

People leaving the subway--trust me, this picture doesn't do the crowds justice!

First we went to Kukkiwon, the world taekwondo headquarters, which I'm sure Joel will post about later since he took about 100 pictures, mostly of gear and equipment. Then we ate at Burger King, which doesn't exist in Daejeon. I was really looking forward to the fries since I like BK's fries the best, but I was in for a rude awakening: The fries were the exact same as McDonald's. Joel was in heaven because he prefers BK sandwiches but McDonald's fries, so he got the best of both worlds.

Joel was so excited about the BK fries, he took a picture. You can't tell from here, but those are definitely McDonald's fries!

We wandered around for a bit looking for a tourist area with lots of paths that's really famous for its romantic atmosphere. We've seen it on TV several times, but that didn't help much. Since we had no idea where we were going, we got back on the subway and headed to Insadong, a famous arts and crafts district.

Insadong is basically a giant Korean pedmall. (That's Joel in the middle of the picture.)

We saw a lot of beautiful things but decided to wait until future trips to buy anything so that we'll have a better sense of quality and price. It was great to see all the traditional pottery, calligraphy, art, etc. There are also a lot of teahouses in Insadong, so we stopped and got some warm drinks. Joel got dandelion tea, while I stuck with a caramel macchiato...mmm.

By that time it was getting dark and cold, so we decided to call it a day. We didn't get to see any of the city's palaces or other famous architecture, and we didn't make it to Namdemun (sp?), a famous shopping market, not to mention the tons of other things there are to do and see--we have our work cut out for us next time!