Hi all! Well, we have been here for over three weeks and we can definately say it has flown by. While we are still getting used to living in Korea we have had some great experiences so far (meeting new friends, eating Korean food, having our own apartment, and even teaching!)
As you can see in the slideshow Ian and I have visited a restaurant and shopping district called Sinchon. Sinchon is an area where thousands of young Koreans come to shop, eat and drink coffee. This area is exactly what I imaged Seoul to be like. It is crowded, has lots of street vendors, neon lights, and hundreds of restaurants. Fortunately, Sinchon is either a 3 minute bus ride or a 15 minute walk from the apartment, so getting there is extremely easy! Plus it has the Korean version of Walmart, called Grandmart! It has a grocery section on the bottom 2 floors and every possible household necessity on the remaining 5 floors. You may notice by looking at the pictures that you see VERY few foreigners. The funny thing is this part of Seoul is considered to have a larger population of foreigners, since there are a few international schools here. Well, Ian and I have found that a "large" foreign population in Korea means you see about 3 foreigners a day, if you're lucky. Now we know how it feels to be the minority!
Another restaurant and shopping district, which is in the opposite direction of Sinchon, is called Hungdai. This is also about a 5 minute bus/taxi ride. We went there last weekend and met up with some friends of Dan (who is Ian's friend from UP). Ian and I stayed out until 2:30 AM while the rest of the group was going to the next bar! The next day we heard they stayed out until 4:30 AM. Staying up late is something they do very well here. Even at 2:30 AM restaurants were busy!
This upcoming weekend we hope to visit a section of Seoul call Insadong. This area is know for its tea shops. Unfortunately, getting tea here is extremely expensive, so we are hoping that the tea in Insadong is little more reasonable. Who would have guessed that an Asian country would sell ridiculously high priced tea! We also want to take the treck to Seoul Tower, which is basically the Korean version of Seattle's Space Needle. You can see the entire city from the top. We just hope the weather works out!
Our next post is going to be about the food we have loved and dispised! Pictures are soon to come...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Seoul's biggest palace and its historic seat of government.
Gangchon
Korean Corn Dog
Notice how much batter there is around the hot dog
Tom's Tacos
Minus sour cream we can get everything to make tacos!
The Completed Apartment
Oh boy! I'm excited to read the next post about food! Les and Ian I love you guys and miss you mucho! your blog is rockin and basically you are experiencing what most of my life was like-- being white with asians galore-- but let me teach you a fun trick (yes i am teaching the teachers hee hee), when you're feeling lonely and wishing there were some other white kids around to share in jovial american laughter, sing this little song to each yourselves... "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong, can you tell which thing is not like the others, before i finish my song?"
ReplyDeleteyes.. that is the hit song "one of these things is not like the other" that our beloved cookie monster sings on sesame street. trust me, it's hilarious.
xoxoxo keep blogging, you crazy bloggers