Weekend in Seoul

So this past weekend I journeyed up to Seoul for my first ever conference, not a bad place to start one's career I suppose. Well now that I have undergone the rigors and mental tests of a seminar session I can fully admit that while they might prove useful I am not sure I gleaned any truly pertinent information. Now the conference I was in town for was about one of the courses I teach called ACC or the American Curriculum Course or some such nonsense. It is a course designed to have a similar curriculum for ESL students as their American counterparts, how it actually works is up for debate. Now I am not sure how they decided upon their keynote speaker but she was a winner. She thought since it was kindergarten course she would do what anyone in her position would and treat us like kindergartners. So she had us sing, she had us tell interesting facts about animals (did you know giraffes can lick their own ears?) and other amazingly fun things. Now I like being patronized as much as the next guy but I will admit after an hour it began to grate on me a bit. All I really remember of the rest of it was an internal struggle of not doing something that would jeopardize my good standing with ECC, you know like throwing a shoe or the like. Luckily I accomplished that mission!

After the seminar it was early afternoon on a beautifully hot day in Seoul, what was a boy to do? Well since my bum leg was acting up I opted out of hiking and instead ventured into the concrete canyon of the Seoul subway system. Now it's quite the sight down beneath the streets, never know exactly what you'll find, from girls with 3 inch skirts talking about how scandalously clad girls showing there shoulders are to your run of the mill screaming nut job. Oh Korea how I enjoy thee. I had this grand plan to go to the aquarium on the far side of town and it took me the better part of 4 hours to get there. While it is not only because Seoul is frickin' huge but I took a few detours on the way. I stopped at one of the few English bookstores in the entire country, a delightful place called "What the Book" located on Hooker Hill in Itaewon. Have I mentioned that Itaewon is the foreigner district of the city? Odd that a hill named for its abundance of ho's is in an area with increased foreign activity. I wonder why thats the case. Well after much deliberation I picked up One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest because I couldn't remember if I had read it or only seen the movie. Then I went to one of the highlights of the trip dinner.
My first authentic Mexican food in 3 months! (I stop here every time I come to Seoul. Don't judge me you don't know what its like.)

A delicious chorizo burrito and only 9000 bucks er won!

After dinner I continued my trek to the aquarium through the subway, and after another hour of travel, because going 20 stops with 2 transfers takes a spell. I arrived in Samseoung or something similarly sounded. Quick side note, Koreans are really evil with their neighborhood names. They have places called Sinchon and Sincheon and Dongdimun and Dongdimmun and the like, all of which sound the like and are on opposite sides of the city. It's like having Adams Morgan and Adams Morgann. Jerks. Well I finally found the site of the aquarium in a place called the Coex underground mall. Apparently it is the largest underground mall in Asia which I can attest to. I spent 2 hours searching for it and when I finally found it it had closed, which was fine by me because I was really angry with the Coex corporation and wanted nothing less than to avoid patronising their aquarium. Now I did have a lot of fun in the mall, but at the time I was dead tired, sweaty (because they don't air condition it), and really just lost. Luckily for me I found another bookstore to brighten my day. This bookstore had an even greater selection and I ended up buying 3 books, 2 old favorites, The Phantom Tollbooth, Ender's Game, and one new one Fight Club, all for a whopping deal of 40K! At the counter I was really confused when the clerk asked me if I wanted a bag. I had no idea what he was saying until he just put them into the bag for me. It was really a thrilling event, buying English books in person for such a low price is astonishing I would've paid double! Well not double but at least 60...

So it was getting late and I had nowhere to stay so I decided I should head back to where I intended to sleep. Once again on the subway to traipse across the city for what seemed like the 9th time. On the train I was taken aback by this teenager who kept on waving at me, which is a stark difference from the traditional Seoul stance, which is to ignore weygookins as if they were invisible. This girl thoroughly confused me that I got off at the wrong stop for my transfer and I realized it just as the doors closed so I had to wait for another train to come by. The wait was really beneficial as I realized I had left my new bag of books on the train. Not a great 3 minutes I'll tell you. So now the Seoul subway system has 3 books that I am fairly certain only 5% of the population could/would read so at least it didn't go to waste. Oh well ever onward!

So at long last I arrived where I intended to sleep, I was looking for a Jimjillbong which is Korean for Onsen, which is Japanese for turkish bath. The true way to save a buck in this town (and get a wonderful spa treatment) is to find a near by jimjillbong and drop 10 bucks for a night. (only 6 for members!) Now these gems are great, they have several different spas, hot tubs, and saunas, as well, fomentation rooms all designed to cure what ails you. It is a great way to relax after combing a city. So after asking two cops and petting two dogs I finally found the great Silloam Sauna house (jimjillbong) a lovely co-ed sleep house for 1000 people. I ended up spending hours there and falling asleep in the oxygen room. Really good times had by all. In the morning I woke returned my sleeping uniform (everyone must wear one) and was out to see the Gyeongbok Palace, home of the Joson emperor.

The main gate to the palace grounds, the men in Red are guards.

The outer courtyard of the central palace

Yours truly in front of the Main Palace

Throne room and reading tables, sure is colorful...

I forget the actual purpose of this building but it was on a nice little pond

I'm a sucker for Pagodas...I took like 45 pictures of this one

The Courtesan quarters.

The King and Queen of Korea in traditional attire (how lucky am I)

A small shrine in a lily-pad strewn pond.

Another shot of the pagoda, the base of which is the National Folk Museums

Some goof old fashioned head sticks designed to scare away evil spirits.

And that was basically all of my trip to Seoul, it was less eventful then I had wished but in the same token more than I was prepared for. Well I am excited to start another week at ECC it's my fourth month anniversary!