Dave in South Korea: February 2009

Well it is 12:36pm on Sunday for me and I just got back from Seoul about an hour ago. What a great adventure. We traveled in a large group for the most part of the day because for many of us it was our first time and traveling, although very convenient, can be confusing in this country. So we made it, ate some lunch and did a lot of walking. The station we came into is called Yongsan. There is a large electronic market. We later boarded the subway and went to a district called Dongdaemun which has a lot of shopping markets and such. After exploring and some dinner, we headed to an area that welcomes a large young crowd at night time. We spent some time in some a bar and then went to a Hip Hop Club for a few hours. For someone who is not single and does not drink (ME!) that scene really has no purpose. But I stuck it out because I needed to stick with the people who knew where we were. By this time, the trains were stopped for the night so making back to the school was not a possibility (it is about a 2 hours process). So I leaned against the wall and bobbed my head (quite the party animal I have to say) but it wasn't so bad. It was interesting to experience Korean night life and the best part was that all the songs were by US rap artists, everything you would hear in an American club. The Korean young people love it. Based on what I have learned so far, once Korean teens get to university the party is on. They spend there childhood in education and it is like freedom once they hit university. Also, like Israel, every man (but not woman) must serve 2 years in the army. I believe some do this before school, take leave of school to do it amid there education, or some other time. I am not totally sure, but i do know that when they have there free time they enjoy it. It was very interesting to see. Some of them are also very interested in foreigners and others seem like they wish you were back on your own planet.

Now for the highlight of my culture experience. At around 2 am we went on a hunt (with some help from Korean friends) for our place to stay. I cannot remember what they are called, but basically it is like a public bath and a place to sleep. I got there, was given a locker and a uniform (see pic above) stripped down naked and went into the bathing room. There were several different pools with different temperatures. By accident, I stepped in the hottest one at 113 C. It was so hot I jumped right out. But after that, I entered the right one which was so relaxing on the muscles. Especially since I had run and worked out the day before and then had been walking all day. Plus, it was about 5 hours past my bedtime. So it was a great experience. Luckily it was only me and two other dudes at that hour. I do not know how comfortable I would have been if it was like this morning with at least 15 hahaha. Anyways, after getting dressed in our uniforms we went to find a place to sleep. The baths seperated but the sleeping rooms are coed. There were two floors with different rooms and each had different temperatures. Some were hot, then warm, and there was one cool one. That was t for us. It was about 20 degrees celcius. Anyways, we grabbed a bunch of towels to make a pillow, laid down on the hard wood floor, and went to sleep around 3 am. At 6 I had a rude awakening. This Korean man had decided to lay near me and was snoring like I have never heard before. O was he driving me nuts but it was a bit hilarious at the same time. I think he awoke several different people in the room. Anyways, that was my experience. Oh and the neat thing is that it only costs about 5 USD to do that. Pretty cheap "hotel" stay but even though you get a nice bath, the sleeping quarters are not so great.

But the adventure does not stop there. At this point I was with one other new student like me, and three students who were here last semester who we were relying on to get around. When I woke this morning, I could only find the newer student. We looked everywhere, but could not find them. Even though I figured out that the older student was still there through playing some charades with the bath tenant dude and getting him to open the shoe locker to see my leader's shoes still in place, i could not lcate him. So I left him a note in his locker, and the other newbie and I made the journey ourselves quite successfully! This is great news because now I can be more independent in my travels!

Well that is the story for now. I posted a bunch of pics but they were probably bumbed to the next page since this post is so long. Check out the one of me in my bath uniform! Reminds me of the old days at Excel. I am off to get some get hygiene and maybe some grub. Classes start 2morrow! Oh, also, an older student has started teaching me Korean. I am learning the alphabet, can read a little, and can say any number, with time to process in my head of course.

Hi all, below are some photos of this morning's sunrise and my walk. It is 8:21 am for me right now on Sat. I had an interesting day yesterday. Had a nice morning run, followed by a not so easy hunt for breakfast then more orientation. Orientation was done around 2pm. I went and got some food (ordered on my own! I learned to say two things that I like). Then I went for a workout, hungout for a bit, and went for an interesting dinner. I had octopus soup! A large group, led by people who have been here before and two Korean students, went to a seafood restaurant. We had to take of our shoes, sit on the floor, and they brought these huge pots of soup putting them on stoves on our tables. And yes, there were many full octopuses in the soup. I have a picture coming. I did not have my camera but had someone take a picture of me for proof. Anyways, that was my cultural experience for the day. Tastes ok, at least I maybe got some protein which is hard to find around here. I miss steak already...mmm steak. But I ate the whole thing, head, tenticles and all. It is a very interesting process. You use scissors to cut it up in your soup. Who knows what else was in there.

Nothing else too exciting to report. I think I am going to Seoul today for the first time. May stay overnight, we will see. Miss everyone very much. Next chance I get I will write about my trip to the city. Hopefully I will be able to find burger or some hardy meat there.