After four years of Korean study, somewhat in a bubble (the closest thing to
reality being one-on-one Skype calls with my conversation partner), I finally
set foot in the motherland.
DAY 1- Arrival
After a 15 hour flight, an eight hour layover and another two hours of
flying, we (my friend Kimberley and I) finally arrived at Incheon International Airport.
It was such a great feeling to hear Korean being used all around me. When we
came out, there were many people waiting in the arrivals hall, so I jokingly
said to my friend that all the people were my fans. While withdrawing money
from the ATM after the millionth try we were startled by extreme fangirling
coming from behind us. All of the people actually came to see some celebrity.
From a distance I could see the person because he was fairly tall but I had no
idea who he was *clueless me*.
One hour hadn't even passed and I was faced with several opportunities to
use Korean but silly me just played the foreigner card and only spoke in
English. I was so disappointed in myself but hey. I finally understood how
scary it can be to try to speak in another language with real life people. Strangely
when I first arrived in the city, it didn't feel very strange. I guess I
watched so much Korean TV and researched so much for the trip that everything
somehow seemed familiar.
DAY 2
경복궁 and 광화문 Square, 북촌 한옥 마을, 교보 Bookstore
This day was one I was really looking forward to. Thanks to the drama My
Fair Lady Gong Shim, I realised that you could rent a hanbok to walk around in,
and not just do the typical experience where you are confined to a particular
space. Walking around in hanbok was therefore one of the priorities of the
trip. After meeting Kimberley's Korean friend Yera, we went early and got our hanbok
and headed out to the famous palace, Gyeongbokgung. Because we were wearing
traditional clothing, we got into the palace for free :). Inside was really
beautiful- the buildings, the foliage, the paths- everything. It was like being
in the middle of a historical drama. I could hear Oneora, Oneora playing in my
head as we strolled along LOL. We went to get food from a nearby restaurant, still
in costume, (I had bulgogi- barbecued beef) and then we went to greet King
Sejong in Gwanghwamun Square. It was then time to watch the changing of the
guard at the palace. It was a nice little show.
Our tour guide ,Yera, left us after sharing a bowl of
patbingsu to roam through the little streets of traditional houses in
북촌 한옥 마을. We got so lost. I was hoping to see the
house which was featured in the drama Personal Taste but I guess it wasn't
meant to be. Somehow on the street I ended up buying a dojang (name stamp) while
practicing Korean along the way. The nice man had explained all the meaning of
the different plants engraved on the stamps. Even when I didn’t understand
clearly, he even simplified his explanations for me. That was so nice of him. I
then struggled all the way to
교보 Bookstore because the ballerina shoes I wore
to go with the hanbok were not suitable for walking AT ALL. My plan was to buy
the Ewha Level 5 textbook but after looking inside, it seemed like it would be
a waste. There were too many exercises, which I never do in textbooks.
During the day, sooo many people stopped us to ask where we rented our
hanbok from or to ask us to take pictures with them. It was so
weird...Superstar for a day??
DAY 3
아차산, 한 River
Today was exercise day for sure. We started out with a train ride to the
mountain (아차산). Before we could even get to the base of the mountain we had
to make a steep climb up a road. At the sign at the entrance, I asked an ajumma
to take a picture of my friend and me IN KOREAN!! We then took to the trail. I
personally thought I was going to die. If we didn't have water I probably would
have. At the top of the trail we took, my friend forced me to sit with some old
folks, in order to strike up conversation. My friend swore that one of the men
looked like Confucius smh. I just mentioned where we were from, why we were in
Korea, how long I was learning Korean and what my native language was. It was
nice. After exiting the maze of a trail, taking more pictures along the way, I
had to stop to ask for directions, IN KOREAN, to the subway station. We found
it. Yay me!!
We then made our way to the Han River, or should I say tried to, because
once again we were lost. The initial plan was to eat on the riverside but we
were too hungry to wait, so we just stopped into a restaurant nearby. There I
had gamjatang (pork bone soup) which was really good. However, my friend found
the beef soup she ordered to be bland. After tasting it, I told her that she
probably had to season it to her own taste (which I had heard was common in
Korean restaurants). When the ajumma working at the restaurant came around and
asked how our meal was, we reported our opinions. She and the other ladies went
on about how it was impossible for their soup not to taste good. It was so
funny. When my friend finally seasoned the soup, she found it to taste a whole
lot better. She told the lady this and then the lady proceeded to give me one
firm slap while saying
소금 넣으라고 했어야지! (You should
have told her to add salt!). I was so taken aback but it was funny. When we
were leaving I asked for directions to the river. After much debate, one lady
took us right outside to show us the way. Everyone was so nice.
Braving the scorching heat, we went on to the Han River, where we ended up
walking and walking since we could not find the cruise dock the we were
initially planning to go to. There were lots of people riding, just chilling
under the bridges, playing in the pool. There was one character we met, an old
man on a bicycle, who told us that we were "beautipul" and asked us
if we were from Nigeria. After finding out we were Christian, we then got an
invitation to church. Lol. After, finally deciding to go back to the
guesthouse, we took a different route on the way back, walking on the main road
instead. It was there we got shot "secretly" by a passerby in a car
and we realised that Korean drivers are cra-zy.
DAY 4
인사동, 조계사, Lunch at a friend, COEX mall with my conversation partner, 봉은사
We started off in Insadong where we walked around for a while and bought a
few souvenirs. We then visited Jogyesa, the temple located right across
the street. It was interesting to see Buddhism in action after only ever seeing
it in books or television shows. There were many people there, the majority of
them women. The statues and everything there were very beautiful. The
experience was however a bit strange. If I had to describe it, I would describe
it as a reverence in a bubble. Even though there was a ceremony going on, there
were several tourists walking around doing non-religious touristy things all
around. I even felt odd even simply taking pictures. Of course there was a lot
of bowing and chanting. There was however one song that they sang that reminded
me of a song that would be sung in the Anglican Church. It was sung very
beautifully. I must say.
After a bus ride, the only one on our whole trip, we arrived at Yera’s house for lunch. We got a whole spread of Korean
fare. Being the picky eater that I am, at first I was a bit scared. We had 잡채 (sweet potato glass noodles with beef), kimchi, sweet pumpkin and
raisin salad, 유부초밥 (vinegared rice in tofu skins), fish soup, garlic
stems with squid, and dried anchovies. Everything was exceptionally good that
day- even the watermelon we had for dessert which actually had taste unlike the
common flavoured-water taste that most of them have.
I then had one of the most surreal experiences. I met my conversation
partner, Hyejin, who I only talked to on Skype before. It was so odd. We sat down for a
juice and then since we didn’t really have any plans, we ended up wandering
around COEX underground shopping mall and then going over to 봉은사, another
Buddhist temple. My language partner, after hearing about our visit to the
other temple dubbed the day Buddhism Day. There we had a much more interesting
experience than at the previous temple since my friend was able to explain to
us about Buddhism. We sat for a while in one of the great rooms with tagged
lanterns (with prayers for others on them) and several gold Buddha statues at
the front. It was so beautifully peaceful. At the time we were there, there was
a 연꽃 (lotus flower) festival. The lotus flower
is representative of Buddhism. This beautiful flower is grown in dirty water
suggesting that we should live pure lives even though we are subject to this
dirty world we live in.
Today was perhaps my favourite day
of the trip, I learned a lot, tried a lot of new food, got to meet my good
friend and spoke a lot of Korean.
DAY 5
명동, 남산, 쳥계천, 한River at night
Today I ventured out alone since my friend couldn’t make it out. I never
felt unsafe and neither did I feel lost. I must say that I love taking the Seoul
Subway. It is so easy to follow. I am a person who always appreciates signage
in public places. They really overdid themselves. Anyhow…In the morning I went
to Myeongdong. Since this location is all about shopping, I wasn’t really that
interested. I ended up buying some face masks and socks. How exciting. I then
went to find the cathedral in the same Myeongdong. Since we went inside at the
temple, I decided to go inside the cathedral as well. There were a few people
inside. My friend and I had commented the day before that we never felt such
peace in a church at home. However, when I went inside, the peace found there
was quite enjoyable. It was not as great as what I experienced at the temple
but was still good.
From Myeongdong I went to see the famous Namsan tower. The trek to the cable
car ticket booth was no joke. The walking in combination with the supposedly
abnormal Seoul heat, nearly killed me. After taking the cable car, a somewhat
scary experience, I was at the deck with the drama famous locks of love. A nice
lady took a very nice picture since she saw me struggle trying to take a
picture of myself. I then paid extra to go to the actual observation deck of
the tower. Truthfully the whole experience was underwhelming. Perhaps it would
have been better with other people…After, I went to Cheonggyecheon Stream and
just topped up on walking. There, more nice people offered to take pictures for
me. One was this ajjushi who was treating me like a model giving me
instructions about how to stand for the picture. I had to struggle to hold back
my laughter. I wonder if he was/is a photographer. Who knows?
Later that night, Kimberley and I ventured out to the Han River for take
two. We found the cruise ticket booth easily since it was two minutes in the
opposite direction from where we started out the day before. We took the regular
night cruise. It was short but seeing the night skyline was very nice. The
night scene at the river was much better and MUCH COOLER. There were many
buskers all along the river so we just sat around for a while listening to some
free music. I could see myself going to the river often if I was a Seoulite.
DAY 6
Church, 노량진 Fish market, LOTTE Mart, 동대문, Play on 대학로
One of the things my friend wanted
to do on our trip was to go to a church. There was an evangelical church we
would pass every day on our way to the subway station but at the times we would
pass there was no service. Since it was Sunday, when we passed there were
people outside. We asked about the service and found out that it was about to
start. We decided to just stop in for a while. They started out with singing and
then prayers and then more singing. The hymn they sang was one that Kimberley knew
so she sang along in English while I followed the Korean lyrics on the screen. Interestingly,
the congregation read the bible lesson together. I couldn’t even follow. They
were reading too quickly for me. The language itself was also unfamiliar both
in vocabulary and style. I figure it was like the Korean equivalent to the King
James Version style of English. One thing I ended up learning was a sentence
ending that I heard a lot during prayers-옵소서. The
choir there was small but was one of the best church choirs I have ever heard.
Their rendition of whatever song they sang was beau-ti-ful. I am really glad we
ended up going.
We then got back on schedule and
headed to Noryangjin Fish Market. On the train ride there we got to see some
sights outside instead of the usual underground nothingness. We only walked up
and down the market to say we went. It was nothing too special. One vendor
asked if we were from Kenya and if we were just eye-shopping lol (window
shopping = lit. eye shopping in Korean). I guess that many Koreans think that most
of the black people in Korea mainly come from Africa. I was surprised that
people just didn’t ask if we were from America.
We then stopped by LOTTE mart at
Seoul Station and I picked up a few snacks and then moved straight on to
Gwanjang market for street food. As we were walking through, some lady lured us
to her stand. There my friend had kimchi dumplings and we were both offered
this barley drink which was not sweet at all but not bad. I guess it was like
iced barley tea. There my slight germaphobia started to kick in. I thought it
would be a good street food experience but turns out it wasn’t. I just had
kimbab (“seaweed rice roll”) and ddeokbokki (spicy rice cakes). Just thinking
about the cleanliness made it hard to swallow but the food itself was ok.
After our “meal” we met Yera once again. We went to Dongdaemun where my friend bought bedding from
the underground shopping centre and we walked around the shopping centres Doota
and Migliore. After eating samgyeopsal (grilled pork) as our last meal in Korea
we caught a play on Daehak-ro. It was called “The Art of Seduction” based on
the movie of the same name. It was hilarious. I was extremely proud of myself
for being able to understand most of what was said. I really enjoyed myself. I
could see myself going to this mini Broadway street often. After, we had
hoddeok (sweet pancake with a sugar filled centre). It was delicious.
We decided to end the night with
Karaoke- a must for any trip to Korea. This karaoke room was another place in
which I got to use Korean. I was happy. When we got there the air-conditioning
machines were being cleaned, so the owner asked us if we would wait. Since we
didn’t really have a choice, we did. In return we got a drink as “service”.
Later during our belting session we were asked to switch rooms which got us a
whole heap of extra time as more “service”. My friend who initially was adamant
that she was not going to sing was rejoicing at this extra time. One thing that
made the experience even more interesting is that when I went to the bathroom,
there were SQUAT TOILETS. Boy was I surprised. To say the least, it was
interesting…
We finally headed in around midnight. What a day it was.
DAY 7- Departure
We got up early to take the train to the airport. Walking out the door of
the guesthouse and swiping my Tmoney card for the last time was truly
heartbreaking but unfortunately it had to be done. This trip only served to
further inspire me on my Korean language journey and also to solidify my desire
to live in Korea for some part of my life.
