Seoul

Hunter and I have been back in China for a week now so I think it’s about time one of us writes on the blog! The past few months have been very busy. We wrapped up school, moved to Hangzhou, and visited friends and family back in the states. We are back and have finally started to settle into our new home in Hangzhou. We really enjoy it here so far. We live in a nice neighborhood surrounded by all the things we need and are only about two miles away from the school. 

Before we came back to Hangzhou, we were able to visit South Korea for a week. We spent about 4 days in Seoul and 4 days in Busan. Seoul was my favorite of the two so I thought I would share some of the highlights with you guys.

When we arrived at the airport in Seoul, I immediately knew Korea would be great. The skies were a beautiful blue, I could see gorgeous mountains in the distance, and we were kindly assisted by several people in the taxi line. The taxi driver excitedly asked if we like “club” music and before we could answer, our ears were pounding from the bass of some apparently sweet club tunes. We were extremely jet lagged so we grabbed a bite to eat and passed out in our hostel almost immediately upon arriving.

This is the back alley where our hostel was located:

Calling it a “back alley” sounds creepy but one of the things I loved about Seoul was the maze of back alley streets. They were all very clean (I hardly ever saw any trash!) and always full of excitement. There was a never ending amount of trendy shops, bars, and restaurants hidden away. The night life in these back alleys was also really lively; the streets would light up and everyone seemed to have a drink in hand. There always seemed to be something going on!

The first full day in Seoul was spent exploring an old, preserved neighborhood called Bukchon Hanok Village. A lot of the houses were renovated to preserve the traditional Korean architecture and there were a few houses open to the public so you could see the inside. We were able to go inside an elderly mans home and climb to the third floor. We had a great view of the village as well as the city. Side note: everyone in Korea is so kind! The man who let us into his home served us drinks and was so sweet. 

Here are a few pictures of the village:

A lot of homes in this village open up as different businesses during the day. We went to one that held a folk painting workshop and painted flowers on coasters. We were kindly helped by a Korean woman.

In the afternoon we headed to our scheduled street food tour. Our guide was a nice young man who shared a lot of history about Korean food and showed us around a cool pedestrian area. 

First we ate Korean fried dumplings! Yum!

Afterwards we had Carp Bread. This is just bread shaped like a carp and is stuffed with sweet, red bean paste. It was pretty tasty.

We also ate some sweet and sour chicken, fried Korean donuts, and to top everything off we had Korean BBQ. It was a lot of eating for one day.

The next day we went to a famous comedy/cooking show called NANTA. It includes five comedians who give a Blue Man Group-esque performance. There is a lot of dancing, music making, and a silly story to go along with it (all while cooking). Sounds strange but we loved it! Hunter was even called on stage! 

After the show we ate some bibimbap (rice and other goodies all mixed together in a hot, stone pot) and duk-bok-ki. Duk-bok-ki is spicy rice cakes. Hunter is enjoying some in the picture below!

The next day we got up early and headed to the famous Seoul Tower. We had a pretty good trek up a mountain to get there! There were quite a few good views on our way up.

Below Seoul Tower there is a very well known romantic spot. The gates below the tower are covered in "love" locks. Friends, wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends all climb the mountain in order to declare their love for each other. They write sweet, personal messages and promises to one another, close up the lock and throw away the key. (There are also a lot of humorous messages between friends, it was fun reading some of the notes). Hunter and I wrote our own message on a lock and added it to the thousands of others. 

After walking around the inside of Seoul Tower, we went for a nice hike on the mountain. It was beautiful.

That pretty much wraps ups our time in Seoul! It is a great city and we had an awesome time. After hiking we headed south to Busan and the beach! Hunter will fill you in on that part. Love and miss you guys!

-Chelsea