Seoul

We started our first full day in Seoul off late, sleeping in to make up for the lost night (more or less) of sleep at the airport. We made our way to a delightful sushi restaurant for lunch, which wasn’t too bad of a walk from our hostel. We then headed to Gyeongbok gung, one of the famous palaces in Seoul. We took the English tour, which was very nice, interesting, and allowed us to learn some interesting things about Korean history that weren’t in the brochure or the handbook. The palace had been reconstructed in various phases within the last 150 years. This was (mainly) due to it being burned down on two separate occasions by Japanese invaders. Our guide gave a sort of half laugh and odd tone whenever she mentioned this. Because of these invasions and a colonial occupation in the early 20th century, the Koreas don’t have a very good opinion of the Japanese. This was moderately evident in the tour guides presentation. The thing that I really noticed about the Gyeongbok gung was its incredible resemblance to the Forbidden City in Beijing. We learned that there was a strong neighborly relationship between the Korean monarchy and the Chinese emperors. Apparently the state architects were especially close, because besides the signs, I don’t know if I could tell the difference between the two places.

The palace tour took a fair amount of time, and afterward we walked along some of the main streets in that area of Seoul, which featured lots of government buildings. We also walked by the U.S. embassy, which, if nothing else, is a great representation of 1970s office building architecture. There was a big line of Koreans (I assume) outside, but its very ugly brown and deep tan color and outdated design made it look comedic against the surrounding brand new, high tech buildings. In the late afternoon we headed out to the Olympic Sports Complex to catch some baseball, the great American (or Korean?) tradition. It was an absolute blast. First, it was nice just to go to a live sporting event, as those (besides intramural basketball) are very lacking in Changzhou. It was a good game, with the SK Wyverns beating the LG Twins (our team) 7-6, but the game was made exciting by a five run inning late in the game by LG as they staged a comeback. If the team names seem odd, it’s because in the Korean league, the teams don’t use their location as a name, but rather the principal sponsor, in this case, SK a telecommunications company and LG, the technology manufacturer, respectively. Korean baseball is a little different than American baseball, well off the field at least. Beer is the beverage of choice, but there weren’t any hot dogs or cracker jacks. Instead, the snack of choice was dried squid. So I enjoyed my beer and struggled with my dried squid, which was essentially seafood flavored leather. Danthemanstan went to the concession stand and came back with a small bowl of noodle soup; a very Asian twist on concession stand food. The other big off field difference from an American baseball game was the fans. Yes, the obvious, they were Korean not American. But that’s not it. Normally, a baseball crowd is pretty relaxed and there isn’t too much chanting or heckling, at least not until late in the game. Not so for the LG Twins crowd. There was a group of five cheerleaders, and a male cheerleader, who didn’t dance, but was more like an orchestra conductor leading the main home section in organized cheers. A Hello Kitty and LG Twins mascot also joined in on the cheers or dancing (Why Hello Kitty? Because it’s Asia). This made the game much more exciting, and to be honest, I support Hello Kitty cheerleaders at any and all sporting events.

Much of our time was spent moving around the city going to various places, so there was plenty of time for people watching and culture analysis. The most blatant thing I noticed during the first few days was simply how much richer South Korea was than China. The men wore nicer suits, the girls dressed much more fashionably and a little less conservatively, people wore and carried more name brand products, people in general just looked richer (better teeth, non-worn hands, clean clothes, etc.). Now, I know it’s odd that I am comparing Korea to China and not to America, but having been in China for the last ten months, it is definitely my cultural litmus paper. The traffic was a wonderful respite from the no holds barred mayhem that is Chinese traffic. Just like back home (the U.S.A.), in Korea, when the walk signal is green, you can walk, and when it’s red, you don’t. And drivers give right of way to pedestrians. I was almost shocked, when crossing an unmarked intersection; a woman actually waved me across. Apparently I have been walking on Chinese streets too long. When on the subway, there was one thing that almost every Korean was doing. Staring at his or her cell phone. This is the home of Samsung, so I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was still a bit crazy how glued everyone was to his or her phone. Many of them had an antenna on their phones, and were watching TV on sliding screens that shifted horizontally. Others were texting, listening to music, or watching movies or TV shows on their phones, or a portable movie player. Between two sites we stopped to take a break at a coffee shop. I was able to enjoy a delightful bottle of pink lemonade. Yes, something as uniquely American as pink lemonade has made its way onto the streets of Seoul. This was one of the most striking things about Seoul-its large variety and frequency of Western restaurants. China (especially the big cities in the Yangzi River Delta) is moving this way, but Seoul seems well advanced. Most enjoyable was Dunkin Donuts, which was by far the most frequent of all the Western restaurants.