Subways at Rush Hour

Most of my travel time is spent off-rush hour, so I hadn't seen much subway crowding to this point. I was warned and on a venture out for dinner one night...Mike and I ran into lines.

The craziest part of this is that there is silent organization and norms that just happen...for instance...

• You form two lines for each subway door (Why two...I don't know, but it works)
• The people exiting the subway car come out the center of the two lines...
• Pushing, bumping is ok...actually hard to avoid when you have 20 people in line to get into the subway car and it is already full
• These subway car doors "take no prisoners"...they don't reopen if you try to hop on at the last minute. They WILL close on you, so best that you wait for the next train. It is actually the same with elevator doors (Maddy, our dog, has almost been crushed by the one in our villa a few times)

For those of you planning your trip to see us...don't let this frighten you. It really isn't like this all of the time. And, even though there were all of these people in line, we all managed to stuff ourselves onto the first train!

Biking Along the Han

Bike...check
Helmet...check
Lights...check
Water...check
Camera...check
Cell Phone....check

And I was off for my first bike ride along the Han River. Our seatainer arrived last week and with it, our BIKES! Yeah! I have been watching everyone bike along the river with great envy. It was my turn last night.

Me, geared up for the ride...figuratively & literally!

This was my route. The riverside path is completely
paved and marked. Not too many people here, but definetly got
busier as the night went on.

Lots of cafes and yes, 7-Elevens, along the riverside path. Even tables
outside to stop and enjoy some co-pee, ice cream or whatever your heart desires.

I took off for the ride about 5:30PM and was able to see the river as the sun was starting to set. It was a beautiful site. Here are a few to share...(pretty good camera skills if I don't mind complimenting myself...these were taken while riding...don't tell Mike. He would be upset with my lapse in safety ;-)

Bike Ride along the Han is another "Must See (Do)" for your next visit to Korea!

Costco...it's an adventure!

Yes, Costco is here in Korea.

There are four across the country and I am have been told that they are the highest-grossing Costcos in the world. Can this be true you ask? Well, let's do some quick math. Seoul has about 10 Million people and 2 or 3 Costcos...that is 3-5 Million people per Costco. Livonia, Michigan has 2 (maybe 3 Costcos) and has maybe a few hundred thousand people (totally guessing), which means that is about 100,000 people per Costco. Yeah, I would say it is believable.

With so many people, Costco is an outing and not just a quick stop-over after work. On a Wednesday at 10AM, we waited in Costco parking lot traffic for 1 hr...just to get into the parking garage (this does not include the time to travel from my house to Costco).

There are Costco-employees directing traffic because there are so many people...

Also, since space is at a minimum, Costco is on two floors versus the open plan layout of the U.S. This creates a problem of getting those large Costco carts between the two floors...enter...escalators that can handle shopping cars. The guy at the top (in the yellow vest) helps pull your cart off the moving escalator, as the it can be a bit tricky coming off that incline with 50 lbs of stuff in your cart.

Needless to say, my days of running into Costco for that quick trip are temporarily over...at least until we get back to the states. It does bring a little bit of home to Korea though.

This is the light at the end of the tunnel...
we are just about to enter the garage.

There is a significant number of people just directing traffic.

Cherweon DMZ Peace Marathon & Race

This morning was the Onofray's Inaugural 10K in Korea. Mike and I joined the Seoul Flyers Running Club and completed the 10K in Cherweon near the DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South Korea). 2010 is the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War and this race was a celebration of the end of the war and continued hope for on-going Peace.

American Baseball team hats are popular here. Some Korean women were happy to get a picture with me...sporting their (not mine) Detroit Tigers Hat! Go Tigers! Mac, Neil and Team Toast - I think we found some new team members for DWD 2011!

We also had a smaller fan. This little guy was so excited to talk in English to Americans. He finished the 10K too! By the way, the 2-finger sign does not mean "Peace" as in the U.S. Not exactly sure what it means, but no picture in Korea is taken without it.

Another note, Shira (the girl in the blue shirt below from the running group) ran a 100K ultra last weekend and still beat me by 4 minutes today. I really need to step up my game.

The course was rolling hills, but beautiful scenery with rice fields and gree,lush mountains all around us. Here are a few pictures from the race.

Another last funny note...our driver, Kay (drove us to the race) insisted on running behind us for the race. Kay smokes about 1 pack of cigarettes a day and had one about 30 minutes before the race started, but he was very worried for our health, so again he insisted running behind us. Kay did run the 10K (very impressive given the probably shape of his lungs), but we lost him after about 1km...he said, "Jennifer, you run too fast."

Kay is the guy on the right in the navy
blue t-shirt...running behind us
like he is the secret service and we are important people or something :-)

Free post-race meal. Korean BiBimBap...rice (bap),
veggies and a spicy sauce. It's a staple here in Korea.

Happy Finishers!
Happy Jen...I beat Mike for the first time (fair and square) and had a 10K PR of 54:05!
Although, to be fair, Mike works harder and longer in the office than me these days.

This is a re-post but we also had some picture of Korean War Tanks...the only real sign that we were near the DMZ...

Seoul City Bus Tour

Mike and I ventured out last Saturday night and moonlighted as tourists for the night. We took the Seoul City Bus Tour - Night Edition. Sounds exotic, but was simply a 1 1/2 hour tour on a luxury bus of the traffic of Seoul. Seoul doesn't have "rush hour" traffic...it has traffic 24 hours a day. This is traffic that even the worst of you L.A. and NYC folks have not experienced.

Although the bus tour only cost a mere 5,000 KRW per person (< $5), I am not going to put it on my must see for Seoul. I think Mike would agree, as demonstrated by his happy face in this self-portrait.

One thing Seoul loves is its neon lights! There are several dozen bridges that connect North and South Seoul over the Han River and everyone is lit up at night and Seoul-ites are very proud of the unique lighting designs on each bridge. Although the bus tour took us by the bridges at night, I would recommend a stroll along the Hangang Park (riverside park) to see the bridges and the Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain. It really is beautiful at night. Unfortunately, this is the view of the bridges from the bus...not very impressive. (partially poor camera-woman skills and partially bad view from the bus) I'll get better shots for you later.

After the bus tour, we ventured down the road to Cheonggye Stream. About 5 years ago, there was a large movement in Seoul to create more Green Space and the movement continues today. Apparently, prior to 2000, Seoul was one of the worst developed metropolitan cities in the world in terms of Green Space. (seems they got lost in building roads, skyscrapers and such and forgot about the trees.) One of the projects was the un-cover this stream-bed, Cheonggye Stream, that had been paved over with highway many years ago. Now, it is a hot spot for all kinds of people all times of the day. They have opened up a 2-3 mile stretch and paved it (and of course, added neon lights!) I hear that they decorate it beautifully during holidays, so I'll be sure to include some pictures when those time come around. Check out all of the people (this was ~11PM Saturday night) just hanging out by the stream. Also, another find was that we saw some people with a few beers and a snack just relaxing a but further down...like the idea of a few beers outside...going to partake in that sometime soon! Cheonggyechong is a MUST SEE in Seoul!

Korean Wedding

Mike & I were invited to the wedding of one of his co-workers at GM Daewoo this past weekend. It was at the Children's Grand Park in a building that looked like a traditional Korean-style temple on the outside, but had been transformed into a Wedding factory on the inside. They said there is one wedding/ hour there all day, so things move quickly.

Just to qualify this wedding, since the bride and groom were in western-style clothes, I don't think this wedding was completely traditional Korean. The ceremony starts very similar as the bride is walked down the aisle following her mother and mother-in-law and presented to the groom and both stand at an altar or central area as they say their vows and stuff. The different really is about what is going on in the audience throughout the wedding and after the vows.

All throughout the wedding, everyone in the audience is talking, walking around, laughing, and going on as if nothing is happening. The atmosphere seems more celebratory than solemn, as I would explain some American weddings. The parents and some of the family wore traditional dresses and this little girl was particularly cute.

After the vows (20 minutes or so), the couple is presented to the audience and there is a professional singer who serenades them. Following this, from what we can gather, the new groom is asked to do something silly by the announcer, which proves his "manhood" or "strenght" or something like that. In this case, he raised his arms and yelled very loud (as if you were calling from the top of a high summit), then did a little 10 second dance. I am told in other ceremonies, the groom swaddles the bride and needs to do 3 squats while holding the bride. It is up to the announcer what happens. My best guess is that this is part of the tradition, as in Korea, the man is still the matriarch of the family and it is, in a comedic way, proving that he will be able to care for his new bride and their future family. I would definetly have had Mike do the squatting!

The ceremony is followed by food, but the food is served in a non-formal way, as we sit in a very large room and food is served immediately. It feels a bit like a cafeteria, as we handed in our food tickets we got before the ceremony, and just sat down and ate. In traditional Korean style, we (we ate with Mike's co-workers)had a full table of plates and many Korean dishes, soju, mak-ju (beer) and soda. It was delicious and I am going to guess much more affordable than the extravagant US weddings.

I am also told (and have notice) that wedding rings are for special occasions. You rarely see Koreans wearing their wedding rings (engagement rings or the wedding bands). I have gotten mixed answers on this subject, but I think they consider them very good jewelry and think wearing them everyday could ruin them. Personally, I like wearing my wedding bands everyday. I have them, so I might as well enjoy them!

The whole event was just 1 1/2 hours. Best part, we took the subway & bus home and I did it all in my heals! I think the Korean women (who walk around in heals all day everyday) are wearing off on me. Mike was lookin' like a stud on the bus. Couldn't resist this picture.

Typhoon Kompasu

Mike and I, along with most expats here in Korea, experienced our first Typhoon last week.

Typhoon Kompasu hit Seoul in the AM last Thursday and left its marks behind. The winds were howling all night Wednesday night and trees around our apartment were bending sideways. Luckily, we are just on the fourth floor of our building, as many other said they could see or feel the taller high-rises swaying in the 50-60 mph wind gusts in the height of the storm.

Not much stopped. The international schools were closed, but most people were out and about, trying to manage their inverted umbrellas. I was walking Maddy and just after coming in, was surprised with flying debris crashing onto our street (our gutters were on the ground and roof tiles were flying about). Next time, maybe I should stay indoors as they suggested :-) Walking around later reinforced this to me even more, as I saw many up-rooted trees, telephone boxes on their side, lots of debris and signs down. Mike said that a 5th floor window at GM Daewoo was blown out as well. It seems Kompasu did leave its marks.

The best part...there are two more on their way this week! Time to hunker down...and I promise that I won't go wandering outside during the Typhoon...although the Koreans do!