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!

Best race SWAG!

Mike and I are signed up for a 10K near the DMZ in October (thank you Seoul Flyers for your guidance through the registration process) and I received my first package in Korea...it was the race registration confirmation, number and the SWAG!

Guess what you get at races here in Korea...none other than RICE! Not just a little 3 ounce sample, but 3KG! For you non-metric types, that is 6 pounds of RICE! In addition, I am told you will get this at just about every race.

Just some simple calculations (and a good little word problem for those of you with little ones)...
If Mike and I do one race/ month, we will get 12 pounds of rice/ month which gives us 192 ounces/ month. That is about 3 ounces/ day each. Yes, I think I can achieve that, but I don't think I am going to be buying rice anytime soon.

If this is what we get before the race, I cannot wait to see the food we get after the race...I hear Kimchi and Cold Soup! Yum!

Sights, Sounds & Smells of Myeongdong

Myeongdong is an area of Seoul that has the largest shopping district I have ever seen. If I haven't said it already in a previous post...Koreans LOVE TO SHOP! Myeongdong is a few miles of intersecting streets of shops and vendors and on the weekends, they have lots of street food and performers. Along with all of those vendors come lots of people, so that it is not easy to walk, there are so many people.

Another note on shopping in Korea...at least 60% of everything you will find here is bags/ purses/ wallets and shoes. So many shoes and bags! I am not much of a shoe person, but those bag vendors are going to be my downfall one day!

So, we spent a few hours yesterday window shopping and enjoying some of the street food...notice Mike's new "cool" aviator glasses. I think he totally could pass for Tom Cruise in Top Gun now!

Here are a few pictures of the sights of Myeongdong...

And here is some of the food. Dried squid on the left side a a favorite of Koreans here. We have not tried it yet. The right side are things like chicken on a stick, some compressed rice stuff in a red sauce. My descriptions do not sound appetizing, but most of it is pretty tasty!

First 10K in Korea!

Yesterday I did my first 10K in Korea. I have run 6 miles before, but I have to try to describe the conditions for you.

• At least 90F outside with no areas of shade
• Humidity that makes you drip sweat standing on the starting line
• Hills the likes of Pittsburgh or San Fran

Now, that I have you fairly sympathetic to my conditions here, I'll let you know that that is everyday here and I knew what I was getting into. It was a great race. It was actually FREE because it was on the US Military Base here in Yongsan, Seoul. I joined this great group of runners, Seoul Flyers, and they have inducted me into the world of running in Seoul. It is awesome! Running is a really great way to explore the city and see all of the great parks and areas of Seoul. It get's you some good stares as well.

The greatest part of joining the group is that they do all of the race registrations for you. This doesn't sound like a big deal in the world of internet registrations/ paypal/ active.com, etc No, no, no...not here. 2 hours of trying to register on-line for a 10K, a few phone calls and a few nasty words later...I still had not successfully registered for a 10K next month. Needless to say, some things are a little different here! So, with Seoul Flyers, I give them my money and info and they do the work. WaLa! Plus, I have met some really great people that have great info on Seoul and like to run to boot!

Here are a few pictures of the race, the group after the race and us out to a well-deserved "totally US-style" breakfast on base.

I think Ma-Dee likes it here

For those of you who know Maddy, she loves basking in the sun. This is her at our Michigan home...just laying in the sun, protecting our vegetable plants.

She seems to be adjusting to Seoul life pretty well. She loves her walks, as always, and most people seem to like her as well. She is the only pug I have seen here, but certainly not the only dog. She even met a dog friend, DJ. I think she even gained the friendship of the older Korean maintenance men around the neighborhood, who don't say much, although I walk by them at least 4-5X/ day...and since her name "Ma - Dee" translates pretty well to Korean, most people can call her by name.

It looks like she found a spot in the sun here as well, outside on our deck. She is so darn cute!