More Sightseeing in Seoul

Flowers in Olympic Park

We weren't really going to do anything this weekend but decided that we should at least go to one place and thus we decided on Olympic Park.

The park is both a modern and historical landmark: it's a huge piece of land in the middle of the city and apart from the various sports-themed venues, fountains, and modern art sculptures there is also remnants from the early Baekje Dynasty including Mongchon Haeja (moat) and Mongchon Fortress. It's a lovely place to visit if you're in Seoul and have time to just walk around enjoying the scenery. 

So....I started my morning pretty early even though we had decided to leave whenever we were ready today (sleeping in is difficult when you are so used to getting up at the crack of dawn). I took a shower, wrapped up in a towel and headed into my room to put on some clothes only to remember that the shorts I wanted to wear were still hanging where I left them to dry outside on our patio. 

Not really thinking about it, I stepped out onto the patio and reached to grab my shorts off the hanger when out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone walking past the cars parked in the lot down bellow and came to a sudden, horrifying realization: 

I was outside, only three floors up, dressed in nothing but a towel and I just so happened to also have a lovely floral shower cap on my head...

What's worse is that the person who was walking by (totally a dude by-the-way) soooo noticed me standing there and our eyes locked and it was pretty much the awkwardest thing ever.

I think I'll be more careful about retrieving my clothes in the future.  

Any~way, Jenee and I left around 11:00 and we picked up some sandwiches to have for lunch on our way to the station. Olympic Park was a pretty long subway ride (something like 14 stops) but we got there around noon and walked out of the station to be greeted by grey skies and the possibility of rain. 

Of course.

But it wasn't raining yet so we headed into the park and got ready to explore!

The first thing you see when you exit the station is the magnificent World Peace Gate (entrance to the park), obviously constructed in honor of the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. 

Inside the park there is an information center where you can get a nice booklet that includes a map in English and then there is this large area where events are held. 

We found a bench and sat down to eat our lunch. Because it is Saturday, there was a lot of people out enjoying the park and some events were going on as well. 

After eating, we picked a path to start walking down and just went. The park is so big that there is like a park within the park so we just kinda had to go and hope we were kinda sorta making a circle (lol the map was only just a little helpful).

The scenery is beautiful. I'm a little bummed that it was such an overcast day but at least it wasn't hot! 

The park also houses some gardens and trails of flowers. Even though it is early fall, we still got to see some pretty blossoms. 

   

Then there was the historical sites and art sculptures. Apparently  Olympic Park is one of the top five best sculpture parks in the world and it's funny because I was just telling Jenee that they should of called it "Modern Art Park" and not "Olympic Park." 

 

 

 

And this should be a given by now, but of course within Olympic Park there is also a drama shooting location! The currently airing drama The Master's Sun (주군의 태양) shot a few scenes at the park in the first episode with characters Tae Gong Shil (Gong Hyo Jin) and Joo Joong Won (So Ji Sub). 

Episode 1 of The Master's Sun

We were a little bit worried that we wouldn't be able to find it because (as I mentioned earlier) the park is huge and there are most certainly a lot of trees. But, eventually, we did find it!

Well, it's not nearly as vibrant since it's no longer summer but it's definitely the same tree! And actually, you can't go on the grass at this particular location (I even asked a nice security guard that was nearby just to be sure). We called it the "sacred grass" since there doesn't appear to be any obvious reason why you can pretty much walk on all the grass throughout the park except for this grass. Boo. But just FYI in case you ever decide to visit because there isn't any signs posted or anything that say to keep off the grass. 

And if you want to find this shooting location, here is where the tree is (since we had a hard time locating it...but it's easy to get to once you know where it's at). 

If you click on the picture it will get bigger ^-^

We were finished up in the park by 2:00PM which was just perfect. A nice, relaxing day and we got to see a lot of really pretty sights. Plus? It totally didn't start raining until right when we were leaving. Score! 

I will leave you with this hilarious commercial (thanks Jenee)...make sure you watch until the end :D

The Love Triangle in Washington

Getting my picture taken with Kim Soo Hyun...ha, if only!

Well, we are in the Country of epic Love Squares. I will tell you that what you've heard about couples here is probably true:

Yes. Couple shirts exist. In fact, they are everywhere. 

Buying separate meals or Popcorn at the movies? Please. Everything is in a couple set here. 

"Let's go ride bikes together." Literally means together. Like, on the same bike together. It's sickeningly adorable.

Lovey, dovey. Everywhere. 

Jenee and I actually witnessed something that looked like it was straight out of a drama the other day.

This guy was just standing there awkwardly while this girl sobbed on him: we're talking right out on the street, he's standing there and she's got her head against his chest and her arms were just hanging down...then he lifted his hand with this completely somber expression on his face and kind of patted her on the back. 

I've never really seen anything like it in real life. And I mean whatever was going on was probably terrible because that girl was full on bawling....but...I guess I can't really describe what witnessing that scenario was like. I kinda sorta totally looked around to see if there were any cameras filming near by.  

But these interesting "drama moments" don't stop with just the adults we've encountered here... 

Jenee has a girl in her kinder class (soooo she's only seven, lol) named Victoria and apparently she's quite the Juliet of her day since she's stuck in the middle of a tragic love triangle between two suitors: Robert and Thomas (both, also, seven). 

Robert has the biggest crush in the history of little boy crushes on Victoria. He looks at her with adoration-filled eyes and pats her head with infatuation. 

But no matter how much attention Robert adoringly bestowed upon young Victoria, he has forever been cast aside (aka friendzoned) because the girl of his dreams is totally in love with a different classmate: Thomas. 

So today during lunch poor Robert (who hates kimchi) made a big deal about it being kimchi day and was like, "Ewwwww kimchi!" 

Victoria just looked at him with this total grown-up expression on her face and was like, "You're a big boy, Robert, you need to eat kimchi." 

So, Jenee decided to ask her, "Who's your favorite boy in the class?" 

And Victoria looked over at Thomas, who was totally shoveling kimchi into his mouth and was like, "I like Thomas, he eats kimchi." 

Que Robert and his face crumbling like his heart had just been crushed into a million pieces.

Then Rony, Jenee's Korean co-teacher, gave Robert a pointed look and told him, "Robert, if you eat kimchi Victoria will like you." 

And thus this drama is to be continued. 

Romance isn't the only thing in the air here. If you're familiar with Korean culture (or pop-culture, for that matter) in any way you are probably already aware that with the romance comes the bromance. 

It's pretty much the cutest, funniest thing. 

Guys here are weird.

No really. 

Putting the whole bromance thing aside for just a second, we've totally seen numerous guys snapping selfie photos. It's embarrassing enough for a girl to be caught totally sneaking a selfie-shot with her phone...but dude, guys do it here like they are running for the next top model or something. It's like they don't even care if people are looking. It's super hilarious. 

But anyway, back to the bromance. 

So, I have these two boys in one of my afternoon classes: Anthony and Jeremy. They both make me want to tear my hair our and repeatedly beat my head against the wall on most days but...they are also so funny I just can't even...

The other day I over-heard them talking in Korean and I said something (it was probably a screechy "HEY! What are you guys talking about?!" because that's usually the case) and they just looked at me and Anthony was like, "Teacher. We are ca-po-ru." (Konglish for "couple"). 

I was just like (trying not to laugh because they are second graders) "Oh, really?" 

And he was like, "Yes. We are ra-bu ra-bu." (love-love, lovie, dovie). (giggle, giggle, giggle) 

Then, yesterday in class I noticed that they were both wearing orange shirts so I was like, "Anthony! Jeremy! You match!" 

And because I totally walked right into that one Anthony was like, "Couple shirt!" 

And Elin, my one girl in that class, looked up at me and said, "Teacher! Anthony and Jeremy are Monday-Wednesday-Friday couple!" 

Then they all busted up laughing because it's so hilarious and Anthony and Jeremy are just really good friends but...like I said, bromance is a thing here. Guys are not afraid of being much closer with other guys and it's totally normal. Like giving each other hugs, talking pictures together, holding hands (the boys actually don't want to hold the girls' hands lololol). 

It's so cute. And it's so sweet. But it's so weird. 

I guess dudes are just a little more in touch with their feminine side in Korea. 

Anyway...that's been our super exciting week so far. Whoo hoo. Guess what? TOMORROW'S FRIDAY! 

Chuseok Vacation in Seoul ~ Day 2, 3, and 4

Inside of Gyeongbokgung Palace

On Thursday we made another trip into Seoul to do some more sightseeing. 

Our first stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace and the statue of Admiral Yi Soon Shin. Both are famous tourist sites and since it was Chuseok there were a lot of people out and about enjoying the holiday. 

Yi Soon Shin's statue has been featured in quite a few dramas but I'm most familiar with it from City Hunter and (of course) Gu Family Book. 

 

Gyeongbokgung Palace is only a short walk from the statue and is an amazing sight to see in the middle of Seoul. 

Pretty flowers along the walk to Gyeongbokgung Palace

The palace has also been in many dramas including Queen In-hyun's Man, which I adore. 

Screen cap from Episode 1 of Queen In-hyun's Man

Gyeongbokgung is huge! Plus, it was really packed with tourists. Probably because of the free admission for the holiday. It was a little frustrating but I'm still glad we went! It's just not something you see every day. 

 

 

The architecture is ancient and beautiful. There are also some great gardens and even a lily pond inside that help portray the historical setting and significant elegance of the palace. 

 

From Gyeongbokgung, there is an area where you can step out and see the Blue House, which is South Korea's equivalent of the White House. Drama fans like myself will know that the Blue House was a major setting in City Hunter (although I couldn't find any screen caps that specifically showed it). But even if you are not familiar with that drama it's something worth seeing. 

The Blue House

Of course, that's as close as they will let you get (and this is with my camera zoomed in all the way). Plus, all the police officers and guards standing around was a little unnerving, so we took our pictures quickly and then went back to Gyeongbokgung. 

We spent quite a bit of time inside the palace because it is just so huge and it took forever to walk all around it. Once we finished though, it was off to our next destination: Changdeokgung Palace. 

 

Unfortunately, there is only so much you can see at this location without being part of a tour group and the line was huuuuge so we just looked around at what we could and decided we would come back for the tour some other time when it's less busy. 

It's all so pretty, though!

As we were leaving we stopped by a street vendor cart and bought some snacks. I don't know what these are called but they are delicious (like the texture of a fried waffle and filled with sweet bean paste). Our first street food! 

Yum yum yum!

We rested for a bit in the station after that (it was hooot) and then met back up with our friend Michelle for lunch and more sightseeing.

For lunch: cheesy ddeokbokki and a spam omelette (I know how that sounds...)

 

It was really good (which was a relief since none of us were familiar with the restaurant) and we left feeling stuffed. 

Our next (and last) stop was Naksan Park. It's somewhat of a less well known spot (which I of course know from dramas) but I think it's beginning to get more popular because of how unique it is.

The park itself is more like a hike up to what is called Naksan Fortress. It's a restored part of what used to be the Seoul City Wall and during the Joseon Dynasty it encircled the entire city.

 

This spot was featured in the drama The King Two Hearts and actually I had forgot all about that until later but now that I remember I'm even more excited about it. 

 

The view from the park is breathtaking and totally worth all the effort it took to get up there (trust me when I say we were covered in sweat). 

 

Surrounding the park is a bunch of residential buildings built on hills in a very Korean fashion. 

It's crowded and grungy but holds it's own rare beauty. It's becoming famous because of all the street art in the area. At first glance it may look more like graffiti, but the paintings are cleaver and visually stunning.  

 

Plus, a scene from one of my favorite dramas--Rooftop Prince--was filmed here. 

 

Naturally, we had to find those spots and take pictures (it was actually kind of hard to find, but we did it)! 

 

And that's how our second day of Chuseok came to an end! It was a nice trip into Seoul and we can't wait to go back but it probably won't happen again until next month. 

On Friday, Michelle came down to visit us in Bundang and we went out to dinner and then to go see The Mortal Instruments. Actually, Jenee and I had already seen it in America but it just came out here a week ago and it was worth a second viewing. We had to go to the 1AM showing though because there were no seats for the 10PM one we had originally planned on going to. Somehow, we managed to stay awake. 

Michelle spent the night at our apartment and on Saturday we went out to a famous jajangmyun restaurant that's right up the street for the first time. It was actually our first experience at a real, authentic Korean style restaurant and the food was very good! 

Mmm...

When we came back home we decided to dig in to the cake we had bought on Friday to celebrate all of our birthdays together (since we missed each other's birthdays this year). Cakes here are so pretty it was almost painful to have to cut into it but it was certainly delicious.

 

All in all it has been a very nice vacation and I'm so thankful for the opportunity we've also had to just rest and relax. I can't wait to do some more exploring though!