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Tuesday and Wednesday
May. 29th, 2008 08:58 amTuesday we got up pretty early and hung out at the guesthouse chatting until our tour at the Changdeok-gung (our guest house is across the street from it, I love the location of this place and it is really cheap, like $35 a day for the two of us). The tour was awesome, this palace is really impressive and has a section called "Biwon" which is a secret garden. The weird part of the architecure here is that it looks so unreal because it is so different from what I am used to looking at in old buildings. Also the painting is really brightly colored.
After the tour of the palace we went to the shopping street Insa-dong and got some lunch. I don't remember what it is that I got but it was some dish served in a stone bowl with an egg on top that you mix all up before you eat. Between that, the dumplings and all the side dishes that come with every Korean meal, I was full again. After lunch Serinia and I walked to see the Jogye-sa, which is a big modern Buddist temple. It is the headquarters for a sect of Buddism. It is sort of funny to see because it is in the middle of this modern area and again is so brightly colored.
After stopping at some stores to look at Buddist trinkets we decided to walk to the southern part of the city to Nam-san. Nam-san is a mountian that the youth hostel we were thinking about changing to is located. After realizing that we would have to walk a lot with our luggage, that the location wasn't as nice and that is was a very western style hotel we decided to stay at the guesthouse for the rest of the trip.
Then we took the subway back to the guesthouse where Serinia convinced me to take a nap. All of a sudden it was 3AM and I was wide awake. After an hour or two I was able to go back to sleep but I was still up at 7 AM. I figured out our plan for the day and waited for Serinia to wake up (she can sleep a lot!). Since it was raining we decided to go to the Korean National Museum for the day. We got the audio guides, which had some really funny pronoucations of English words, and learned a lot about Korean history. The best part of it was learning about the hanguel language and how it was invented. Now that I know a little more about it the language isn't a bunch of random scibbles anymore.
While we were at the museum the school children kept coming up to us to ask us where we were from and how we were. It was so cute to see them. Actually this is something that happens a lot here, we get stopped in the street by people that want to help us or just want to ask where we are from and what we are doing here. I find I talk much slower and use simpler words now.
After the museum we went to the huge market with all the fabric, Dongdae-mun. I couldn't believe how many different fabrics, furs and sewing materials there were. Also there was a whole city block of just yarn (no, I am not kidding). I bought a blanket because since I had stayed at Sun's parents house I had wanted one. We bought some sort of corndog like street food and watched all the young couples in a square.
We got back to the guest house and the girl that works here was making Korean pancakes and was offering to let everyone try them. They were really good and it got lots of people talking. We met this woman that is 10 days in a 51 day trip around the world. I was a little jealous.
Something that we always talk to other forgeiners about is the state of the US economy. The dollar is not doing well at all and it is really obvious here. When Serinia was here in 2001 the conversion rate was 1300 won to the dollar and now it is 1000 won to the dollar. Korea is still cheaper than the US but not as cheap as it once was. Anyways, it is funny how people view people from the US and how sometimes I feel I should defend parts of my way of life. I always forget about this aspect of travelling until I am out of the country again.
Anyways, we are off to tour the DMZ and then to dinner with Sun, Jonghyeon and his parents. I'll try to post some pictures tonight but here is a video from Monday:
After the tour of the palace we went to the shopping street Insa-dong and got some lunch. I don't remember what it is that I got but it was some dish served in a stone bowl with an egg on top that you mix all up before you eat. Between that, the dumplings and all the side dishes that come with every Korean meal, I was full again. After lunch Serinia and I walked to see the Jogye-sa, which is a big modern Buddist temple. It is the headquarters for a sect of Buddism. It is sort of funny to see because it is in the middle of this modern area and again is so brightly colored.
After stopping at some stores to look at Buddist trinkets we decided to walk to the southern part of the city to Nam-san. Nam-san is a mountian that the youth hostel we were thinking about changing to is located. After realizing that we would have to walk a lot with our luggage, that the location wasn't as nice and that is was a very western style hotel we decided to stay at the guesthouse for the rest of the trip.
Then we took the subway back to the guesthouse where Serinia convinced me to take a nap. All of a sudden it was 3AM and I was wide awake. After an hour or two I was able to go back to sleep but I was still up at 7 AM. I figured out our plan for the day and waited for Serinia to wake up (she can sleep a lot!). Since it was raining we decided to go to the Korean National Museum for the day. We got the audio guides, which had some really funny pronoucations of English words, and learned a lot about Korean history. The best part of it was learning about the hanguel language and how it was invented. Now that I know a little more about it the language isn't a bunch of random scibbles anymore.
While we were at the museum the school children kept coming up to us to ask us where we were from and how we were. It was so cute to see them. Actually this is something that happens a lot here, we get stopped in the street by people that want to help us or just want to ask where we are from and what we are doing here. I find I talk much slower and use simpler words now.
After the museum we went to the huge market with all the fabric, Dongdae-mun. I couldn't believe how many different fabrics, furs and sewing materials there were. Also there was a whole city block of just yarn (no, I am not kidding). I bought a blanket because since I had stayed at Sun's parents house I had wanted one. We bought some sort of corndog like street food and watched all the young couples in a square.
We got back to the guest house and the girl that works here was making Korean pancakes and was offering to let everyone try them. They were really good and it got lots of people talking. We met this woman that is 10 days in a 51 day trip around the world. I was a little jealous.
Something that we always talk to other forgeiners about is the state of the US economy. The dollar is not doing well at all and it is really obvious here. When Serinia was here in 2001 the conversion rate was 1300 won to the dollar and now it is 1000 won to the dollar. Korea is still cheaper than the US but not as cheap as it once was. Anyways, it is funny how people view people from the US and how sometimes I feel I should defend parts of my way of life. I always forget about this aspect of travelling until I am out of the country again.
Anyways, we are off to tour the DMZ and then to dinner with Sun, Jonghyeon and his parents. I'll try to post some pictures tonight but here is a video from Monday:
