I bet that you are wondering what took me so long?! Honestly, its taken me a while to resize so many photos!! I try to take my camera everywhere, although it's been a bit of an inconvenience.
The plane ride to Seoul took me through 5 timezones, so as I write this it is 9:11AM SATURDAY June 30th here.
Los Angeles --> Japan: 11hrs
...3 hr layover...
Japan--------> Seoul: 2hrs
The airport reminded me how much the "war on terror" has complicated our security systems in the US. It is so commonplace for me to have my shoes in hand before going through the scanner, but in Tokyo I barely had to take off my jacket when walking through the scanner! The other Americans and myself were so shocked at how easy the security was! The Tokyo-Narita airport is very new and is actually located an hour from downtown Tokyo, so i wasn't really able to see any of Japan, except for trees and really cool airport technicians loading and cleaning the plane.
When I finally got out of the Incheon Airport in Seoul it was really amazing. The airport is brand new, and has amazing archways and lights. I'm officially dubbing Seoul as the city of neon lights!! Almost everything is lit by a beautiful array of neon colours. According to my wonderful taxi driver/tour guide Mr.Lee, there are about 26 bridges on the Cheonggyecheon stream (that eventually flows out to the Han river). The drive began on the Samsung highway (yes! owned by the phone company, and the toll was over 7$ !!!) and took about 50 mins to the DongDaeMun area where we are staying until Monday.
It is EXTREMELY humid.
The weather here has been overcast and light showers ( rain season is july and august) but at times unbearably hot and then surprisingly chilly.
Day 1 (Friday):
...was jammed packed. The directors have practically planned every moment of our stay here to remain as efficient as possible. Breakfast was Gim-Bap, a korean dish much like sushi, however the fillings are a bit different. And also with Kimchi. For anyone who doesn't know, Kimchi is the official food of Korea, and is fermented vegetables eaten with every meal! And for some it's a bit spicy. The portions and food quality here are amazing, esp. for the amount you pay! After breakfast we went to the fashion district (Insadong) to see the gallery space we will be using. Ssamzie Gil is an amazing building full of small stores, and a gallery in the basement. We have the entire building to use for the exhibition space. Getting there we got to ride the subway (something we're getting very familiar with). The craziest thing I noticed about the subway? IT IS CLEAN!!!! The walls literally sparkle. And I haven't seen any graffiti anywhere in the city yet. Orientation was at a very interesting tea house. It was like stepping into the Velveteen Rabbit book! or winnie the pooh or something. Very Kitsch.
After a long day of orientation we had the opportunity to experience club night in Seoul. On club night there is a set price for entry to most clubs in a certain district. We went to one called Harlem that played hiphop. (SORRY EMMA BUT.....) Koreans are not known for hip hop dancing. But the club was packed, had great music, and we had a good time. Koreans are, however, great about drinks and things are VERY cheap. A drink cost about 4,000 won, which is roughly 5 or 6 US dollars.
So far it has been exhausting, but fun. Seoul is a great city, and it really is hard to believe that most of South Korea's population lives here! It's clean and has so many interesting qualities. The craziest part is that I don't feel very out of place. Many people speak english here (somewhat to my dismay, being that I'd like to practice) and it feels very comfortable and safe. Also it isn't as conservative as I was expecting, and in fact you can see the western influence on the culture.
