SEOUL WEEKEND: PART I

This weekend I traveled to Seoul for the first time since orientation. Shortly after school on Friday I caught the train from Gumi Station to Seoul. It's about a 3 and 1/2 hour train ride including many stops along the way. Just enough time for me to finish the novel I've been reading, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (every time I read this book I am astounded at the intricacy of the plot and characters), and to begin and finish Night by Elie Wiesel. I love having so much uninterrupted time to read while traveling. For me this traveling time is as relaxing as a vacation in itself. I arrived in Seoul around 9pm and met up with my friend Laura, who is teaching in Seoul, and some other people from Fulbright. I hung out with them well into the night before heading to a jimjilbang (Korean bath house) to stay the night. When you go to a jimjilbang you pay between 5,000 and 10,000 won (usually more at night) and are given access to a series of hot baths, saunas and sleeping areas. This was my first time going to a jimjilbang, but I had read a lot of blogs so I knew what I was getting into. For foreigners there is sometimes a squeamishness surrounding jimjilbangs because the gender segregated baths require you to be naked. However, if you love hot water you will love jimjilbangs. I found the whole experience highly relaxing as — once you've showered — you can walk from one bath to another, stop in the sauna, take a dip in the cold bath and repeat. Once you feel clean and relaxed you can put on the pajama-style clothes provided by the jimjilbang and head to the sleeping area. There you can grab a sleeping mat, block pillow and whatever space on the floor you can get. I headed into a sleeping room just for women and was quite comfortable for the rest of the night (though some whispering and people walking around in unavoidable).

Statue of King Sejong, inventor of hangeul, in Kwanghwamun.

 The next day I woke up, got dressed and headed to Kwanghwamun Square — stopping at a coffee shop along the way — to meet my friend Carolyn who is teaching English in Cheonan (a city just outside of Seoul). Carolyn has lived in Seoul before so together we saw some of the sights including Insadong, a neighborhood famous for its traditional architecture, Samcheon, famous for oodles of adorable cafes, and Kwanghwamun, which happened to be having a variety of cultural events going on.

Green tea and fruit waffle in Samcheon.

We were told this was a traditional comedy show, but it mostly consisted of this woman dancing and shedding an amazing array of skirts.

This percussion troupe was perhaps our favorite part of the day. I can't remember the Korean name, but Carolyn told me it translates to '9 instruments'. They paraded around Kwanghwamun weaving between trees and we had a lot of fun following them.

Our biggest surprise was a re-enactment taking place at Gyeongbokgung Palace. According to the sign it was "Royal Inspection of the Palace Gaurds." The costumes were beautiful and all the more exciting for being a total surprise.