Korea is an amazing place. There are many things that are similar and many things that are different from China. Now, remember that I've only really been in Shanghai and Beijing, two of the largest cities in the world. Coming into Seoul, another large city, I knew there would be similarities. It is a vast town with a lot of history and very few skyscrapers. It seems that Seoul's real heart lies in the expansion outward and not skyward. As we climbed to the top of the N Seoul Tower, the tallest point in the city, and overlooked the sea of white buildings and rainy day clouds, we saw that we were definitely in a new place.
The next six days would be some of the most adventurous of my young life. With barely a wink of sleep each night, my friends and I would take to the streets of Korea and find adventure in truly cultural and touristy attractions. Whether it was visiting an ancient Korean village or spending a night filled with Soju shots in a traditional Korean bathhouse (jimjilbang), the things we did stretched into long days and (seemingly) short nights. From exploring an outdoor and indoor theme park filled with rides, games, and a claw machine that could not escape my fantastic game play, we found jubilation in the broad streets and lights of this magnificent city.
The four days spent in Seoul blend together like a milkshake of culture, tradition, modernism, and fun. Though it was cold and there were small bumps along the way, we managed to complete most of our itinerary. This included witnessing the workings of the famous Hooker and Homo Hills. These hills, centered in a section of town called Itaewon, are surrounded by the US military base. I saw some of my countrymen walking in their military outfits, though they seemed a bit aloof. We experienced fried chicken and beer at a Hof. These small chicken places are scattered all throughout the country and you could not throw a stone without hitting one. That, along with finding out there is a Taco Bell in the area, we definitely ate our fill that night in Korea.
Come to think of it, we ate our fill quite a bit. We ate everything from Korean Barbeque, corn dogs, hot dogs, Mexican food, Taco Bell, Fried Chicken, and Twix bars. Yes, I found Twix in Korea, and it was glorious. Moving on, eating was definitely not an issue while in Korea. Upon our arrival in Busan, the country's second largest city, we ventured to the Jagalchi Fish Market, famous for being located right on the water and known to have the freshest fish in quite a radius. It was there that I embarked on another eating adventure. I do not know why I enjoy the glory of eating randomly weird things, but there's something about it that makes me proud of myself in a strange way. We approached two old ladies in the fish market and asked for a live octopus. The one woman stuck her hand into a tub and pulled out a squirming, slimy, gray, multi-tentacled creature from the sea. I took it off her hands and, after asking Haley to record a video, put the head of the octopus into my mouth. Now, for the more fainthearted, I will not go into extraneous detail, only to say that it did not taste very good.
Our trip to Korea was planned with an itinerary. Though we knew that we would probably not get through all of what we had planned, we did make quite a dent. We explored Seoul, Busan, and other things in between. It is difficult to sum up a visit to a whole country in six days, but I believe we did a pretty good job at it. When my co-workers and I found out that we had a lot of time off for Chinese New Year, I had said outright that I wanted to visit Korea. I would have gladly gone by myself, but I am extremely happy that I had two friends to share in the experience. There may be things that I like about Korea over China and vice versa, but I would have never known if those lands had gone unexplored.
Whether it was freezing while waiting for a bridge that would never light up, staying in a sleazy motel, sleeping in a Korean sauna, or visiting the site of the Busan International Film Festival, the experiences are too many to count. It was a trip for the books, and I look forward to my second half of living in Shanghai and all the adventures that will come with it.