Jet Lag

It's six in the morning and I've been wide awake for two hours. I also feel queasy. Yay, jet lag!

In additional news, I'm 28 now. Happy Birthday to me.

Stuff that Happens in Korea: Crazy Good Ice Snacks

I'm due to arrive to America, Newark Airport specifically, at 1:30 AM on Wednesday. Please forgive me for scheduling one of my last Korean posts for that day...

Now, I've written about bing-su before:

But I have to say, the popsicles are just as incredible!

Leaving Korea

Assuming the plan goes according to... plan, I'll be on a plane in about ten hours, zooming away from this little spit of land.

It's been a crazy year. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Korean War Memorial, Seoul

Today was my last day at work, and my last real day in Korea. I could write about that. It wasn't a great day, but no worse than I expected, and I got paid in full and got to leave early, which was nice. I then met Jason and signed my phone contract over to him before getting some delicious dalkgalbi and ice cream for dinner. And now I'm chilling.

But I think instead I'll write about my visit to the Korean War Memorial in Seoul. It's a really cool museum, with lots of flashing lights and realia, even if there is almost nothing in English. The outside is particularly cool: lots of impressive statues and monuments as well as tons of old planes, tanks, and other war machines. Definitely worth checking out!

me and an F4

This ship was not used during the Korean War.

Old-Timey Korea

In Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, they have an area in the back where they've recreated an old-fashioned Korean town to look how they typically looked in the 60s or early 70s. It's definitely different, and can somewhat help to explain the growing pains that (I feel) the country is still going through.

streetcar

barber shop

cafe

school yard

photo salon

mill

house decor

I'm back in Korea

I had a wonderful trip. Many, many posts will follow. In the meantime, though, I'm back in Korea on the bus to Daejeon. I have four real days to get through, and then I'll be on the airport bus again.

Stylish Seoul

I do like Seoul. It's a cool place, and easy enough to get around. People are also pretty chill there, and I get very little "foreigner blowback." Plus, it's just cool... and you can get all sorts of good food.

 

Seoul in July

In July we went to Seoul to do some sightseeing and shopping on a Saturday. In the afternoon we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace. I'd been there before, but it was nice to see it again in the late spring, green and lush.

I'm a tiger, roawr.

After that we checked out Jogyesa temple. I really love this temple in Seoul because every time I've visited it, the lanterns and decorations have been totally different. This time it was fish and rivers.

Visiting Tiffany in Seosan

At the end of June, I visited Tiffany in her new town, Seosan, on the west coast of Korea. After arriving on Saturday morning, we hung out and chatted for a few hours before heading to an incredible shabu-shabu dinner, where we got free extra meat because our waiter was one of her students. So we then rolled ourselves home and watched a silly movie from the 90s with some wine before sleep.

Sunday morning we woke up and went for a coastal drive. The first beach we stopped at was a bit dirty and super foggy, but also covered with tiny little baby crabs that chased away after each other and either away from our toes or towards them in angry defiance. They were very cute.

We then found a larger beach that was at first so hazy we couldn't even see the water. After a yummy picnic lunch, we ventured out towards where we figured must be sea. It turns out that the beach went out so slowly and shallowly that the water was caught in small pools and evaporating, causing this horror-movie steam over the beach. Once we reached the water, it was actually very beautiful, and I set about rescuing starfish that had washed too far up onto the beach.

We went back to Tiff's and rested a bit before I had to catch the bus home. I feel very lucky to have met her here in Korea and I know we'll stay in touch, if only because I'll need someone to blame for the strange expletive combinations she introduced into my vocabulary!

Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea

There are many fun and relaxing things to do in the town of Gangneung, Gangwon-do. You can ride bikes.

You can hang out at little coffee shops tucked away in the woods.

You can't forget to spend some time on the clean and empty beach!