2012/05/12

Seoul, Korea


Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151728997420372.865534.743390371&type=3&l=97341d668a

I arrived in Seoul and went up to the north. There Jintastic picked me up and I got to live with her and her dog Aston. I threw my stuff into her apartment and we went for dinner and a language exchange meeting. Back home again, the dog peed on her bed and we planned some of my days in Seoul. The next morning we climbed the biggest mountain in Seoul. I was a bit impressed that the tiny creature, my host,  was able to get all the way to the top. I used to call her a mouse, but upgraded it to chicken after her achievement this day. In the evening we met up with Sam, my next host, and we went to a Jimjibang (Korean spa). Back home her dog peed on me and we watched an animated movie before going to bed. The last day at Jin's place, she, Aston and I went on a stroll through some sightseeing areas in town before ending up at the Seoul tower. In the evening she made me dinner, Korean barbecue of course:), and dessert! For this achievement she advanced once again, now from chicken to squirrel. She hopes to get the status of human one day.

After some black noodles for breakfast with the squirrel, I headed over to Sam's place and met up with him and the French Arnoud. These guys turned out to be quite cool and the soju would not be safe when we were around. Thursday we just had dinner and got used to each other's faces. Friday night however, would be brilliant. Sam knows his way around and has found a crew that gives free leftovers and beer to English speakers if they sit and chat with Koreans. The Koreans were really cool, especially Paul Please, and the beer and soju just made it better. Afterwards we got a lift from Philip to Haendae, the clubbing area of Seoul. We got the soju we needed and tried to find a place to shake our beautiful bodies. At one place they didn't let me in because I wasn't Korean, so I got to experience racism for the first time in my life. In the end we met some American soldiers and they took us to a club full of black people. It was really cool. Later that night, I fell a sleep on the bus and got kicked out at the end station, Sam slept four hours on the circle line and Arnaud kept falling a sleep missing his stop, and went back and forth some times. Quality guys!

Saturday we met up with some good friends of Sam and sat down near the river bank. The French and I were freezing and we tried to finish our soju bottle as quickly as we could so we could get into a warm bar instead. What happened was, we ended up in a park and the only remedy for us was more soju.The night ended like the one before, we lost each other and the first one that got home was there 6 o'clock. Later that day a bloody Sam told good stories about how he face planted while running in the mountain that morning, still drunk. He also had some good stories about how they all ended in an apartment with a girl when suddenly her, presumably, ex-boyfriend barges in. "Don't you remember yesterday? We broke up!", she said. "I don't even remember now!", he replied. Being an angry American soldier twice their size, Sam and the crew decided to split as quickly as they could. The French fell asleep in the bar and got woken up in the morning by the cleaning crew haha. All I know about myself, is that I was able to get to my own, i.e. Sam's, bed. All in all another great soju day and the next day we woke up at 18.00. That Sunday nothing happened except for some after parties as they say in French.

Monday was another museum day for me and in the evening I went to a swing dance club. Turns out Seoul has the world's biggest swing scene and it was really cool. The amount of people and their level was quite impressive. Needless to say, the clumsy big elephant crushed some toes that belonged to creatures weighing in at 35kg. Tuesday Jin and I went to the War Memorial museum. Yet another brilliant museum in Seoul. There was also a lot of stuff from Norway there, because we gave them some medics during the Korean war. The subway station outside was full of advertisement for Norway. Seemed so random to me. In the evening I met up with my last host in Seoul, Youngju. After a day of planning my trip to Japan, I went to dinner with all my friends from Seoul. It was great and I had a great stay! Thank you all.

Before leaving Seoul on Thursday, I went to the DMZ (De Militarization Zone). It's the spot between North- and South Korea where they meet. The tour was fantastic and one of the best I've had on my trip so far. We got to go into the Joint Security Area, tunnels dug by the North Koreans and shrines around. I went there alone, but a nice Dutch guy didn't have his girl friend with him, so he hung out with me. There was also an amusement park in the area. We even had a deflector from North Korea in the bus who answered all kinds of questions. It was so cool! And she was cute!

Seoul was great and it was time to go south again and finish off my Korea trip!


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