Saturday June 21st
When I travel, I like to go to a city, walk around, grab a drink at the bar, chat with some locals and have them tell me what to do, see, eat and drink. I like to play it by ear and have no set plans. I don't have fear of getting lost because there's always a subway or a taxi as long as I know the address of where I'm staying.
This trip was really different because it was entirely planned, minute by minute. Those plans often changed but I was not in control of them at all. Even though it's totally opposite to my style of travel I have no complaints about it.
The trip organizers gave us a taste of everything over the 2 weeks. We saw the city, we saw the ocean. We stayed with families, we stayed in nice resorts, we stayed in modest accommodations. We ate fancy things, we ate local things, we ate pizza and chicken things, we ate bugs, we ate live things, we ate Chinese food. We saw mountains, we saw temples, we saw the beach, we saw palaces, we saw museums, we saw orphanages, we went to church, we went to karaoke. WE DID IT ALL.
(That of course is an exaggeration because I could tell you a list a mile long of things I wish I could have done but didn't have the time. There's always next time!)
On Saturday, we went to a Korean folk village in Yongsan. This is the kind of tourist attraction I usually shy away from. I'm not really interested in history and the American equivalent makes me yawn. But- being present with an open heart and open mind, I went in with no preconceptions, and it was a great experience. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun.
We toured a faux folk village. We watched a tight rope walker do tricks with no net. We watched horseback riders do tricks on horses (though, our guide told us that because it's so difficult and dangerous- the folk village brings in Mongolian horseback riders to put on the show). We watched a traditional marriage ceremony that we thought was going to be fake but ended up being a real couple getting married and everyone could watch. Last there was my favorite- the Korean drummers and dancers. It was magical to watch them move. It put me in a total trance. I didn't want it to end.
Me riding a traditional broom at the folk village-
symbolic foreshadowing for my crabby attitude later that day?
After the folk village, they dropped us off at Namdaemun Market. We split off into groups to go shopping and then plan was that we were on our own until our curfew at 11pm at the hotel.
I was really excited to get some gift shopping in but the market wasn't what I expected it to be- or maybe I was exploring the wrong part of it. The part I was in was stall after stall of cheap looking clothes, hand bags, sunglasses, and socks.
We were also trying to keep together a group of 6 or 7 in a crowded market. This grew tiresome. The streets in Seoul are hard to read- sometimes they aren't even marked. None of us had cell phones that worked. None of us spoke the language. And even to name a store or coffee shop was dangerous because there were similar shops every few blocks. Everyone wanted to shop for something different and we stopped every 2 stalls or so because one of us wanted to look at something.
I'll be honest- I got a little crabby. I am used to travelling in small groups and with people who know how to navigate big cities. If we get split up, we do our own thing until we meet back at the hostel or the universe brings us back together at some point, as long as no one panics.
We decided to leave Namdaemun for another part of the city. I really wanted to go to Hongdae- it's like the artsy, hisptery neighborhood in Seoul but no one else did because they were all staying on a few days after the trip and their hostel was in Hongdae after the trip ended.
We ended up going to Gangnam and eating dinner and then going to a bar. Some of the others went window shopping around the area. We taught the Korean translator that was with us how to play 'Never Have I Ever" over some beers. It was solid.
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