My Trip to Mecca

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.