Honja

I kept hearing this word - "honja". You'd think I would remember to look it up, but that would only happen if one had a perfect memory of every intention they had. (and don't many of our best intentions come to no fruition? (or fruitation...inside joke)). It came up in Korean class 2 Saturdays ago, and I'm glad it did. I finally know it means "alone."

Last weekend I went to Seoul (again) with Jongsoo to see his mom and aunts. It was fun. We got steak and all you can eat salad. Mmm. Salad. And after stuffing myself to capacity, he and I went for a long walk along the Cheongyecheon (chun gyeh chun).

The Cheongyecheon is this stream that runs through Seoul and lets out in the Han River (very famous). There was a project funded by the people to clean up and make the stream into a park that everyone could enjoy. It's very very very awesome. There's a path on either side of the stream, and many places where you can cross, like the above, and best of all are the things that live there - the fish and birds. It's beautiful. It also has lights so you can walk there at night. 

The next day, Sunday, I went to Dondaemun honja. Jongsoo had promised to hang out with a friend, and so I had to find something to do by myself. So I went to the history and culture park in Dongdaemun and took pictures, and learned a little bit about Seoul during the Joseon dynasty and the Japanese occupation.

This guy stands at the entrance of the park. 

The park is the site of... 3 historical things? Please forgive me as I am going off of what they had written in English. My Korean is very poor. I can read and know some grammar, but my vocabulary is very small still. 

It seems that this place was along the protective wall that surrounded Seoul during the Joseon dynasty, and later on was the site of 2 stadiums (or one really, that got a massive renovation for the 1988 olympics). This particular site also had like.. some barracks for I forget which branch of the Joseon's defense. So I guess when they were digging here for the olympic stadium, they found relics and artifacts and preserved them (and also later turned them into the museum you can visit). 

This is the water gate where water would flow out of the city. It's pretty impressive to go and stand in there. 

It was pretty weird to be standing in a place where you could see something at least 500 years old, and then right behind it see this new, shiny building that resembled a UFO. Actually, if you go up 5 pictures, notice the building on the left with the big windows? That's one of the museums. The architecture is uber-modern cement. Quite a contrast with the landscaping and the age of the wall. 

I should have taken pictures of the signs so I could report this accurately. This is one of 2 water holes on the property. Very serene looking. 

Chindalae - Azaleas! and a skyscraper behind it in the not-so-far-off distance.

Two of the stadium lights remain as a memorial to the old Olympic stadium. 

That was one thing they mentioned at orientation - Koreans build new all the time. Olympics coming to your country? In America, we tend to just spruce up one of our best. In Korea, it wouldn't be uncalled for to build an entirely new stadium. However, they did not mention that there was a museum built to remember the old stadium. It's in this park. And you can see some cool items that were used in the Olympics  I saw a baseball bat and glove, and lots of old photos. The olympics are a matter of national pride here in South Korea. 

Back in 1948, the Olympics were held in Seoul during the Japanese occupation. Korean participants were forced to use Japanese names and not their actual names. So much so that many athletes felt ashamed and there are photos where they covered their faces. Now flash forward to 1988 under a semi-democratic, rebuilding itself South Korea. This Olympic advent was the complete opposite. And it's still an event that brings a beam of pride to Koreans' faces.

It was a strange thing to stand in such an "old" place, to sense its age, but be surrounded by so many new, bright, shiny and modern things. In a country where everything is being built new, tearing down the old and replacing (booming construction industry right now), it speaks volumes to see a preserved piece of an old, now obsolete wall (that once was vital) and stadium lights from 25 years ago. 

Here's the thing that held the flame from the Olympic torch. It was cool to stand next to this in person. Also note the crane to the left. LOL. Yes. Right next door to this park is a construction project. I think it's for more museum stuff? But I can't say for sure because I can't read very well.

I went shopping in Dongdaemun too. It was some kind of fashion festival? There were so many vendors and stores out lining the sidewalks with clothes. I bought a few things and ate my first Korean-mexican food - a chicken burrito. It was pretty good, and the guy working there spoke to me in English (and i answered in Korean). Then I basically rode around on the metro trying to meet up with Tian and Jongsoo. Yup. I don't know if I've said it before but the Seoul metro is pretty nice. It's pretty easy to understand. It's fast and reliable, and cheap! Anyway, it's bed time!

My Boys

A little over a week ago, while I was grocery shopping, I came across this drink called Sunny 10.
Normally I don't buy soda, and if I do, it's pepsi... but the face on the can spoke to me -- well actually he sang. So I bought it and took it home and kept him in my fridge between the donkatsu sauce and butter.

This is T.O.P from Big Bang (a 5 guy group that is very popular in Korea).
Then Jongsoo found TOP and got jealous and made me drink it so it wouldn't be there to greet me. Lol.
This one was orange soda. Actually a pretty good orange soda. So good that my next grocery trip brought home the other two flavors, which sported these guys:

Taeyang (purple) and G-Dragon (yellow). Grape and pineapple sodas. The grape was fantastic (baby), but I didn't care much for the pineapple. It was a bit too strange of a flavor. These two guys are also in Big Bang. (they need 2 more flavors so I can have the whole band!)

It's one thing that I really like about Korea (i mean, i like a lot of things, but this one jumps at me every day) - the prevalence of beautiful and popular people endorsing any and every product imaginable.
Just a walk downtown and I see the faces of actors I know on ads and buses and things. It makes things feel familiar. And actually, haha, makes me want to try the product. Super effective advertising. ><' Lol. Actually I wanted to try the Cantata coffee because there's a commercial right now with an actor I like. XD I feel so shallow.
I wish I had time to show you the cutesy sketch books, stickers, and everything I've bought - but yes, they're all cute. I bought hard candies yesterday for my students - Hello Kitty. (did i mention hello kitty is everywhere? i've even seen at least 2 or 3 different hello kitty toilet seats. i kid you not.)
Korea is full of bright and cute.

So I'll leave you with some pictures of my hair.

Last weekend, April 20-21, and Before... Like the 18th

I'm sitting here drinking a canned coffee from GS25. It's Cantata (original blend, ooo!), and it's actually pretty good. It might be tying Georgia coffee for best canned coffee.

Last weekend seems so far away. I got a major hair cut (pretty obvious there, huh?) and spent time with friends in Cheongju. I bought a cute pair of Korean heels too. I just wish the sidewalks were more even and not brick. I don't know how Korean women can go all day in heels with the brick sidewalks and buses. It's amazing. Let's see...Saturday was Korean class, then donkatsu (aka tonkatsu aka fried pork cutlet), haircut and shopping. Sunday was house cleaning and then in late afternoon I met friends, did a little coin noraebang (karaoke) and went to dinner with a whole bunch of English speaking friends. Libby's parents were visiting so it was a big gathering of people. Very fun. We had samgyeopsal (3 layered pork belly) and kalbi (beef strips, not sure what cut). You grill them on the table right there. Very good.

And.. it turns out I don't really have pictures from last weekend. But I do have pictures from a walk down to the river I took with Tian.. and I have a couple hair pictures and some randoms! Bahaha.

Welcome to JeungPyeong - famous for ginseng! These ginseng people stand beside a bridge and welcome people. It says.... Ginseng District(?) (well google translate says 'failure of ginseng' but that has to be wrong) in the small letters, and Jeungpyeong-gun below that. (gun is said goon, not gun like the shooting word)

These kissing Dutch children also welcome you, and stand beside the ginseng people.

From the welcome signs, Tian and I went down to the walking path to see the blooming trees.

Magnolias? I think? 

The river, with a white crane! 

Okay, so interesting Korean culture time... Down by the river is the sketchiest looking park-like place - but it's not sketchy. They have exercise equipment and a running/jogging path and things like this. Ours just happens to be... unused? Or weathered. Ours is also like a ginormous parking lot for trucks, buses, and random things. If it were America, there'd be drug deals going down, but this is Korea where drugs are illegal so that's not happening. But I would not be surprised if someone sells car parts on the side down there... with the junky old cars... why not?

Proof I'm behind on these blog entries - these river pictures were pre-haircut. 

Not sure if you can see them, but there are the trucks on the left and way at the end of the path.

Those iron man rings are on ropes. Nothing could induce me to swing from them... the ropes are probably rotten. Lol. Oh but notice the construction equipment and parked cars. (no, it's not like they parked and were visiting... there were no other people visible)

Blossoms!

There were also these lichen covered steps leading to a flat cement platform. Not sure what its use is, but I think it has to do with opening valves or something for the river? Like overflow or something. I dunno. But there is a random sign hanging in that tree! 

Seoul, April 13, Part 2

Here's the rest of the pictures. But first I must say what I did this weekend... eheh.
Yesterday, April 20th, I went to Korean lessons, went out to lunch with a coworker and her grandson (1st grade! and his English is impressive! warms my heart. :D ), then met up with Jongsoo to get our hair cut. It's a long story I'll tell later. Today I cleaned and went out with my friend Tian and her friends YK and Thomas (korean guys). They're cool.

So, last weekend - Beokkot - cherry blossoms. During the afternoon out with Jongsoo's mother and aunt, he and I headed over to a section of Seoul called Yeouido (yo-ee-doh) which has a pretty big cherry blossom festival. It was still a bit early for the blossoms, however, it was still beautiful. The weather was nice as well, about 70, partly sunny. We ended up in the IFC Mall, and I got a free drink for liking their mall's facebook page in person right there. Pretty sweet.

We headed out to a park nearby for the blossoms and found Sejong the Great reading.

Then on to the trees. 

It turns out Korea has plenty of pretty blossoms in the spring. They have forsythia, and wild azalea, magnolia and even apricot blossoms. The 4th grade teacher taught me the words for these. 

This is how you enjoy blossoms - you pack a picnic type deal (blanket, snacks, hot or cold drinks) and go sit out and enjoy the beauty of spring with friends or family. 

Of course, while you're there, why not try the "walk of pain"? There's this circle track of rocks, bumps, and otherwise unpleasant things to walk upon - which you're to walk on without shoes. It's supposedly good for your health? Like the bumps "massage" your feet and increase blood flow and things. Ha. Hahaha. It's really just made for masochists, drunks and insane people. I walked on the part with the smooth river rocks, but I did not do the full circuit. Jongsoo did though, while gritting his teeth and saying something about being a man. As a female, I don't get it. I really don't.

There were many people out enjoying the blossoms. 

I liked this guy's hair. It's still amazing to me how well Koreans dress, and the extent to which they go to be fashionable. Guys spend a lot of money on their face and hair. It's a completely different feel from American men. In America we had to call them "metrosexual" and people mistake their girly habits as sexually abhorrent. Here, it's normal for a man to use expensive face lotion and bb cream and do their hair. They are all pretty sharply dressed too. (but i will say, hair like the above does get some flack. it's more bad boy style, and more silly even to Koreans)

 At last some actual cherry blossoms!

Strangely enough, juxtaposed to these trees were sky scrapers and offical governmental type looking buildings. 

It was an interesting thing to see. 

Jongsoo being silly. Fun picture, right? ^_^

Everything was quite picturesque. I kept thinking about the British literature course I took in college and our discussions on picturesque versus sublime, and why that mattered. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly is sublime to the Korean aesthetic. I understand the Chinese and Japanese ideals on it, but I am still a stranger to the Korean version. In many areas, they overlap, but it's never safe to assume that something does. It's better to quietly observe and find it out for yourself. However, this is one question that requires further observation and more careful reflection.

I'm tired. LOL. Hardly new to you, right? I've got school in the morning, so annyeong! 

Seoul, April 13, Part 1

Last Saturday I went to Seoul with my boyfriend. His mother was in from California, and so we went to see her. It was my first time meeting her, and also meeting his 2 aunts.
We arrived and I met his mom and one aunt. We immediately went out to Bukchon to walk around the hanok village (hanok is the name for the old traditional style houses). It turns out that many famous dramas were filmed there. :D More fun for me. At some points I felt like I was walking through parts of dramas. The one that came to mind most was Personal Preference. XD Anyway. We had lunch and went on an urban hike.

Here we are walking. That's Jongsoo's mom. I realized after we left Seoul that I never got a picture of them all together. I should have. I'm kicking myself. :-<

The courtyard of one of the houses. 

Me in that courtyard. 

The very steep and crumbling stairs we went down. 

The mountain across from the mountain we were on. (lol) The rockiness of it reminded me of Phoenix. I miss it there (and hope my family there is doing well). 

Jongsoo and I posed for a picture. So much walking, it was good to sit. It was all downhill from here. Yay!

A tea shop/cafe, done in hanok style. :D

We walked on and passed lots of things including the American embassy. ^-^ Somewhere in there we passed a building shaped like a tree trunk. It was really cool in person.

And there was this statue of the Great King Sejong. I like how he looks like he's riding the bus in this shot.