A White Girl in Korea: And Onto Seoul!

I love Seoul. It’s huge and full of people and alive and reminds me of New York. This all further confirms that I am a city girl. I have been enjoying myself on the trip so far, but on the bus rides I would usually fall asleep after looking at the beautiful mountains and trees for just a few minutes. However, Wednesday night when we drove into the Gangnam area (yup, that Gangnam), my face was glued to the window, awestruck by all of the buildings and lights.

Me asleep on the bus

Bustling foot traffic in Seoul

Picture Times Square. Now multiply that by maybe 5. Then add Los Angeles, a little Las Vegas and maybe Chicago. Put that all together and you have Seoul. It’s. So. Big. Think of a busy street in Los Angeles, like Sunset Boulevard. That street has 2-3 lanes going each way if I remember correctly. A comparable road in Seoul has 6 lanes going each way. 6. And they look like this:

Seoul traffic on a Wednesday night

around 9:30 PM

Between the traffic and the bustling energy of all the people and shops and restaurants, I feel right at home here. Plus, they have this:

Law & Order in Korean

Too bad they're mirrors aren't quite tall enough.

The first night in Seoul we went with George’s family to a really nice Chinese restaurant. Korean-Chinese. It was really good. Definitely my favorite meal since I’ve been here. Until the next day when we went to a dumpling house in Insadong (a nice shopping area). There was a line out the door, and as we waited for a table we could watch 2 women in the window as they made dumplings. They were delicious. I want to try and learn how to make them when I get home.

The dumpling restaurant

Watching the women make dumplings through the window

Before lunch we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace (the royal palace). It was gorgeous. It reminded me of Versailles, but I think better. The grounds include a beautiful pond and lots of really pretty trees.

Entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace

Exchanging of the guard ceremony

Now that's what I call a group picture

Pond on the palace grounds

He was very still.

But then he moved.

And I ran away.

After lunch we did some shopping. It’s probably a good thing I haven’t had much time to shop here because otherwise I would spend a lot of money and also need another suitcase to bring it all back.

A woman picks herbs outside her restaurant in Insadong

Shops in Insadong

George bought me a cute little elephant statue. I’m not too sure about the souvenir he bought for himself, though.

George's new pillow

That night we went to a restaurant where we sat on the floor. I had seen rooms with people sitting on the floor in the restaurants we’d been, but this was the first time I’d done it myself. It was a little tricky for me…my legs are a lot longer than everybody else’s.

This morning George and I watched a beautiful sunrise from our hotel window. A sunrise in Seoul. Pretty surreal. I am so grateful to have been included on this trip, and I would love to come back again sometime. Maybe with less than 350 people, though.

Seoul sunrise

I’m now at the Incheon Airport in Seoul. George and I just got chair massages, and I’m tempted to go back and get another one. I seem to have acquired a cold, which is making me nervous about the half marathon on Sunday, but hopefully I can sleep it off on the plane.

I will end my final post with a segment I’m calling: “I Am Obsessed With Korean Kids.” Or maybe I should call it: “I’m a Creepy White Lady.”