One other random thing: the blog has now totaled over 1000 page views, which I thought was pretty cool. Thanks to everyone that has taken an interest in following my trip.
South Korea album is updated - click here
South Korea - Part Two
I decided to explore another famous palace in Seoul - Changdeokgung Palace. Finding this place was moderately difficult, since there are no signs telling if you if you're walking the right way down the street. A Malaysian man and his family approached me and asked for help finding it - luckily I guessed correctly and we all found it. He asked if I was in Seoul by myself, and after I confirmed that I was, he just laughed and shook his head in disbelief.
Changdeokgung was originally built as an auxiliary palace to Gyeongbokgung (the one I saw on Monday) but it became the main palace over time. Sadly, there are few original structures left due to the repeated destruction from invading neighboring countries. It's still undergoing restoration even today, but what was there was really cool to see.
Later that night I met up with a local contact - she's an American born girl of Korean descent, currently living in Seoul. My dad works with her aunt...they helped me link up with her so I could have a local to show me around. She gave me quite a tour. We met up outside the famous Gangnam subway station and checked out some of the "young and happening" districts in Seoul. We went to a well known coffee shop in a neighborhood called Sincheon, where young people go and hang out all day in hopes of seeing a celebrity walk in. Later, she brought me to an amazing Korean BBQ restaurant, where we ate beef & pork ribs and drank authentic Korean rice wine. She had all sorts of amazing insight into the Korean culture...the type of knowledge you can't find in a brochure.
My local contact confirmed a number of things that I already had suspected. Korean culture is becoming increasingly obsessed with money, good looks and superficiality...classic American stereotypes, really. She also confirmed that Koreans view plastic surgery as acceptable and normal...it's seen as a "rite of passage" for girls graduating from school. (Clinics even offer discounts if you bring in a recent diploma, or a report card with good grades) But don't let these negative images cloud your view of Koreans as a whole. Like every culture, there are pros and cons. You can expect any society to have growing pains after ascending to prominence so quickly on the world economic stage.
The next day I went to the famous Namdaemon street market. This is the largest traditional street market in Korea, and it's been running every day since the year 1414. It was exactly what I expected it to be - massive and crazy. Frommer's gave this place a 3-star rating (the highest rating) and I was not disappointed. The saying is that if you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere...after seeing it, I think it's probably true.
I also tried to find Namsan Park, which supposedly has a cable car ride you can take to the top floor of Seoul Tower. Sticking with the theme of my time in South Korea, I could not find this cable car ride, even after hiking around for close to an hour. Add another failure to my list.
Later that night I grabbed dinner at a place called "Mad For Garlic" inside the Times Square Mall. The meal was tastefully done and not overpowering with garlic flavor. Chicken rice pilaf, with mozz cheese and roasted garlic:
Then I decided to see a movie. I watched the new Star Trek film, which I believe just released in South Korea. Even though I bought my ticket an hour before the showtime, there were only about 5 seats left in the whole theater. (yikes) The movie was in English with Korean subtitles...I didn't even notice them after a few minutes. (This theater at the Times Square mall claims to have the largest movie theater screen in the world. They were showing a Korean film on that screen so I didn't get to see it)
So what did I learn about South Korea?
If I could describe this country in two words, it would be "America East." Walking around Seoul was like walking around Chicago in many ways...except everyone is Asian, and there are ancient temples randomly scattered throughout town. I didn't realize how "western" South Korea truly is, until I went there and saw for myself. If you are an American ex-pat living in Seoul, you can carry on with your lifestyle without having to change a thing. You can eat your favorite foods, buy your favorite clothes, see new American movie releases, etc. I will admit that I only saw the two largest cities in the country, so this statement is probably not true if you live rural. South Korea was great, and I already miss it...I can see why so many Americans choose to live abroad in this country.
Oh yeah...as promised, here is me wearing my Korean style dress shirt. (Note: looking like a d-bag is considered fashionable in Seoul, so I had to make a full effort to capture the style)
I'll try to post a Hong Kong update in a couple days. Stay tuned.
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