So I went to the free market today in Hongdae with Hi-Jin (pronounced He-Jin) and Hun. We took a bus to the subway station (my first time) and I got a T-Money card that can be used for all the transportation here. It is really easy because you don't have to slide it like the bus and metro cards back home, you just tap it. Anyhow. The market was pretty small but the crafts were very interesting. I had to stop myself from buying about 4 different kinds of earings and thins one really weird hand made doll... which I kind of regret not getting now because it was so cool! lol. After the free market we went to eat some noodles that were in a bowl with ice! It was really refreshing because it was pretty hot today and tasted pretty good!
After that we wandered around the Hongik University campus that was near the market. Apparently it has a good art program. I saw a lot of people walking around with instruments and there were some art projects still left up places from the final projects for the semeter. We also came at the end of a street performance dance thing. I didn't see anything but the dresses the girls wore were really cute.
Then we jumped back on the subway to go to this giant bookstore, the Kyobo Book Center. And a center it was. That place was FULL of people everywhere and just books and books and books. Some people were just chilling in the isles with their legs stretched out in front of them even with so many people, and everyone just would walk over them. So there was a huge foreign book selection, I'd say bigger than most mall book stores by at least double. There were a toooonnn of books to learn English so I picked what looked best for me and I can always go back for another if it doesn't work out. I was so surprised. In the states there was pretty much nothing, even when looking on line. I figured they just didn't exist. How silly of me!
Then we walked to Cheonggyecheon River. "Cheonggyecheon is a 6 km long man-made river near City Hall in downtown Seoul." haha. It is the spot I saw the post photos of when I used Google Earth before coming here to see 360 views. It was really kind of strange to think just last month I was sitting in the states imagining myself there. There were some German tourists walking behind us and its funny how massively tall they seemed when they were maybe at most 6'3''... but really I have no idea. I'm bad at guess that stuff. Anyhow. I dipped my toe in and it was freaking cold. Then we wandered and I finally bought a watch of the street. Went to a bus to get home. I picked up a pizza on the way and Hun and I ate it and watched an episode of scrubs. Now I am pretty much beat and my legs hurt but I have to go return these videos I rented.
Today was really awesome and I can't wait to use my new Korean book!
Video bellow.
I feel like there is an overabundance of signage in Korea. That twisted metallic looking thing is kind of neat, though. Better than the broken french fries the twisted metal at UCF looked like.
ReplyDeleteHi-Jin looks as though I imagined her, but Hun doesn't really look like I was expecting, I guess. I love the sideways smile over your camera you have in all the mirror pictures...
I find it extra-disturbing that the stone sculpture with giant balls looks like it has a smile above them. Extra-creepy. I really like the "2 or 2?" picture, among others.
Is it traditional to not smile for pictures in Korea? I just noticed the pattern.
I've had mango frozen on a stick before! Sometimes my mom and I would smoosh mango into popsicle shaped things (me with gloves, obviously) and freeze them to eat by the pool. It was also good for me, because it's not so juicy as it is fresh :)
Nah I don't think so. I'm pretty sure my Korean co-teachers smile for photos. Must just be a personal preference. She smiled in some I didn't post too.
ReplyDeleteYea that ball statue was pretty creepy. I didn't really notice the face. Yuck!