I spent China’s National Holiday with Michelle and Brian in South Korea. We were mainly in two cities, Seoul and Busan. Michelle and I were mostly overwhelmed by how “cute” everything was.
“Look at that sign. It’s so cute”
“Look at that building. It’s so cute.”
“Look at that Korean baby. It’s so cute.”
“Look at that hanbok [traditional Korean outfits]. It’s so cute.”
“Look at the food. It’s so cute.”
etc. etc.
Until Brian pointed at a poster of a wild boar nursing its babies and asked me ...
“Look at that poster of the pig. Is that cute?”
Seoul was amazing. It’s always nice to get away from Shanghai’s crowds and pollution and see a completely Westernized and developed big city, but with a bunch of Asian people. The streets were clean, people followed the traffic laws, people weren’t rude and pushy, we didn’t have to worry too much about being cheated with cheap goods. It was good. We were there during the Korean Thanksgiving holiday so there would be Koreans wearing Hanboks (the traditional Korean outfit). Palaces were even offering free admission for those who entered wearing hanboks! Promoting cultural pride! Michelle and I also went to visit JYP Entertainment. haha, one of the Korean pop star companies. There were also so many Christian churches all over the place. Most of them had a cross lit up with red lights so they were very easy to find, especially at night.
We took a close to 3 hour KTX (Korean Express Rail) train from Seoul to Busan/Pusan to see more of South Korea. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and also a seaside port on the Eastern coast of the peninsula. We arrived a few days too early for the Pusan film festival which is apparently a pretty big deal in Asian cinema. We did see all the festival setups when we went to Haeundae Beach on our last morning in Pusan. The highlight of our Pusan trip was probably what I shall term the “Hike of Death” when we went searching for Seokbulsa Temple in the hills of Geumjeongsan Mt. Lonely Planet describe it as difficult and hard to find, and a strenuous hike. Oh, all of that was very true. Michelle and I were really working hard at this hike that had us walking down hills using rocks and tree roots as our steps, as Brian kept a fast pace ahead of us. We finally found the temple a few hours into our hike (we stopped for a lunch break, and subsequently also finished our hike that day with a foil package of cooked duck meat). The hike back up to the South Gate was pretty tough since everything was so steep. We now wanted to head to Beomeosa Temple on the other side of the hill. We kept climbing up, passed South Gate and then started following a group of ajummas (Korean aunties) because we were assuming they were headed the same way. Even if they weren’t, they at least knew where they were going so we figured we would end up somewhere. We walk for awhile (a much better trail this time) and ended up at a crossroads and no idea which direction to now head. Michelle and I went to the guard station and using our broken Korean asked which was to Beomeosa Temple. One of them started speaking to us in English and told us that it was getting late and we’d never be able to make it before night fall. Too bad. So we took a bus back down the hill and went to the Busan tower instead. And then caught a Korean movie (no subtitles!) that night as well.
We had 1.5 days back in Seoul, after Pusan, before our flight back to Shanghai. We went to watch a show at the B-boy Theatre near Hongik University. That was pretty cool. The next day, our last full day, was spent shopping. Rather, Michelle and I shopped and Brian went to visit Seoul National University’s admissions office to get information on their language classes. He liked South Korea so much, he’s now making plans to move and live there for awhile after China. All three of us met up at Myeongdong for a final dinner of Korean BBQ. And we left the next morning, bright and early.
South Korea is pretty. I would definitely like to visit it again in the future. The food was delicious, the culture was vibrant (shops close late! these people like their night life, even older people), the colors were beautiful and yes, the people are good-looking too.
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