Happy Anniversary

Today I have officially been in Korea for one year!

I feel really good about this. It's been an amazing year and I have become so comfortable since wandering out of Incheon airport one year ago in a fit of nerves and uncertainty. I'm ready to head home to spend time with my family and friends but I will miss Korea so so much. I grew up a lot here. I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of. 

And there have been so many awesome experiences. Korea is an amazing country with a lot to offer. Sure, there are things that I won't be sorry to say goodbye to, like squatter toilets and the smell of bundaegi. But the things about Korea that I will miss far outnumber the things that I will not.

I pretty much have hit everything on my "Things to do in Korea" list except that since the spring I've really wanted to rent a bike and ride along the Han River. So today Brianna and I finally decided to do just that. We woke up early and took the train to Yeouinaru Station, right by the 63 Building, and rented a couple of bikes. 

It was a perfect day for it. The park was almost completely empty which meant there weren't many other bikers and though the day was chilly it felt nice once we were riding for a while. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike! Which is sad! I always liked riding one during summer vacations when my family rented a cottage by the beach because the neighborhood was big and flat and there weren't many cars and it's a nice way to spend an afternoon, just cruising around. 

The bike path is something like 40 kilometers long and it's a really nice ride. We only rented ours for a couple of hours but the area we biked was mostly flat with a few hills thrown in. It follows right along the river so the view is decent and there are lots of places to rest, use the bathroom, or get a drink at a water fountain (or a snack at a convenience store) along the way. 

After that we headed to City Hall Station to find lunch. We ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant and I had a weird feeling of coming full circle because I remember that my first meal in Korea when I got here exactly a year ago was at a Vietnamese restaurant too. I usually don't eat Vietnamese food so, I don't know, it was just a strange thing I guess. The whole day just felt like saying goodbye and that added to it somehow.

Then we headed to Deoksugung Palace to check out the Seoul Museum of Art which is located on the palace grounds. We were actually just at this palace last week but it was at night and the museum wasn't open then.

We were AWWWing so loud at this adorable little boy. 

The museum wasn't really what I was expecting and was kind of a let down. I guess I thought it was going to be much bigger, my mistake, and we were done in about 30 minutes. It holds four exhibit halls and is currently running an exhibit called "Art of Communication".

Each artist had a few of their works on display and I only cared for one or two of them. Then again I don't really like contemporary art so maybe if there had been a different exhibition running it would have been more enjoyable.

After the museum Brianna headed back to Incheon and I went down the street to Kyobo Bookstore to check off one last thing on my Korean to-do list. Since the store is next to Gwanghwamun Square I stopped to take some pictures.

Admiral Yi Sun-sun, a famous commander from the Joseon Dynasty and all around badass dude. 

Sejong the Great, fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, creator of the Korean alphabet (Hangul) and the face on your ₩10,000 bank note. Also it is difficult to see in my photo (I need to get a zoom lens) but on the left, at the foot of the mountain is Cheongwadae, called the Blue House, where the President lives.

I love Gwanghwamun Square. I was actually there last weekend for the first time and couldn't believe it had taken me so long to see it. It was nighttime then and the place was buzzing with people just relaxing on the grass and talking with friends. It's just a really cool place. You don't leave Korea without knowing who Admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong are. They are huge figures here. So being in this place with their statues looking out over the city and the President's House behind them and all these people around felt rather like being in Washington D.C. and looking out at the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial. I think the idea is the same, you get the same vibe, it holds the same significance. 

I think really what I am most happy about as I look back on my year here is that I squeezed as much out of the experience as possible. I know some people who come to Korea and leave without having done much more than sit at the local bar week after week. And hey the local bars can be great, it's part of the experience. But there is so much to this country that every week I have done or eaten or seen or tried something new. I went up mountains, into caves, swam in the Yellow Sea, wandered countless museums, walked through a tunnel toward North Korea, explored temples and palaces, and so much more.

Everyone comes to Korea for different reasons and I know it's not my place to judge what you do with your time. But I will say that if you don't get out and explore you are missing out big time. There are endless adventures to be had no matter what sort of things you are interested in. Don't leave without partaking in some of them!

(It's okay if you skip the squat toilets though)

Trivia of the Day: Jeju Loveland (제주러브랜드) (also known as Love Land) is an outdoor sculpture park on Jeju Island in South Korea. Twenty artists, mainly graduates of top art school Hongik University, helped open it in November 2004. The park is focused on a theme of sex, running sex education films, and featuring 140 sculptures representing humans in various sexual positions. It also has other elements such as large phallus statues, stone labia, and hands-on exhibits such as a "masturbation-cycle." Jeju Love Land is a place where art and eroticism meet in cool, fun, humorous styles.

*Jeju was recently named as one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the World and since then I've seen a few supposed "facts" saying something like, "There is an island in Korea that is full of sex statues and it was just named a wonder of the world". Ehhh, not quite. Love Land is only a park on the island and it's a pretty reasonable location for it considering that Jeju is a honeymoon spot for Korean newlyweds. 

Once upon a time

If you're currently in Korea or expect to be within the next few weeks, I highly recommend checking out the "Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales" exhibit running at the Seoul Arts Center.

Mike and I managed to get there during one of my afternoons off and I'm glad we did. I'd never been to the Seoul Arts Center before but I absolutely plan to go back. It looks as though they generally have a handful of different exhibits running as well as concerts or shows. We took the bus from Yeonsu into Gangnam and then picked up a shuttle bus from one of the subway stations to the Arts Center, which was convenient.

I was expecting we could squeeze in at least two of the exhibits while we were there but the Disney exhibit is amazing and took us four hours. I really cannot recommend it enough if you are someone who is a Disney fan or interested in animation (or both!). It's very thorough and includes tons of film clips, concept art, and models. It's set up chronologically so it begins with Disney's earliest animations like The Three Little Pigs and The Ugly Duckling and in one section there are three screens showing some of these Silly Symphony shorts. This was the first time I saw Disney's The Pied Piper and it is seriously the creepiest thing ever.

Then it takes you through the big fairy tale flicks- Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and also includes the newer The Princess and the Frog and Tangled (still called Rapunzel in Korea though). There's lots of character sketches and storyboards and bits of background information about the various artists who worked on respective projects. We got those little headsets for the audio tour but it pretty much just reiterated information that you could already read during the exhibit so unless you're super lazy I'd say just pass on that.

The concept art for some of the movies is amazing and Tangled especially is well represented. There's a huge copy of the work below (this doesn't do it justice) and I don't think I've ever wanted a piece of art hanging on my wall so badly. If they'd been selling enormous posters of this I'd have snatched one up in a heartbeat. So so beautiful.

The exhibit runs through the end of September so I figured better to mention it sooner than later. And if you love it as much as we did then the gift shop sells art books with a lot of the same concept art pieces included. You can find more information on the Seoul Arts Center website here and at the exhibition website here. 

And if you're not in Korea then keep an eye out for the exhibition's next stop. It was first in the US and then went on to Australia so I haven't a clue where it will be heading to after Seoul but if it comes your way be sure to catch it!

Trivia of the Day: Disney Channel Korea (디즈니 채널) is a television channel which is a local version of the Disney Channel for South Korea. It launched on July 1, 2011, replacing Disney Channel Asia (the Southeast Asian franchise), following an agreement between Korean company SK Telecom and The Walt Disney Company to form a joint venture for operating all future Disney-branded channels. SK will own the majority 51% of the new company. 

Sunday promenade

Since my mom only had one full weekend during her visit, I wanted to make the most of those days. During the week we managed to see a lot but when we went into the city I had to scurry back early for work. So Sunday we opted to spend the day somewhere that had lots to see and would be relaxing as well:

The Zoo! Well, technically it's called Seoul Grand Park and the whole area includes the zoo, a botanical garden, an amusement park called SeoulLand, and the Seoul Museum of Modern Art. Brianna and I had come here the weekend before to see a flower festival but by the time we arrived the zoo was closing so we hit up the Museum of Modern Art instead.

I was psyched to come back for the zoo though because it turns out it's a wonderful zoo. Tons of animals and what appear to be pretty good facilities and even though it was a beautiful Sunday the crowds weren't overwhelming. The park is really easy to get to since it has it's own stop on the subway (line 4) and when you go out exit 2 you just walk straight ahead, you can't miss it.

Walking up to the entrance of the park my mom got to experience what, in my probably not singular opinion, is the absolute worst smell in Korea: BUNDAEGI. Basically bundaegi is a snack of silkworm pupae that's cooked in these huge metal bowls in some sort of broth. I've seen bundaegi served at restaurants but when it's are just a spoonful of it on a plate it doesn't bother me much. I won't eat it because I'm not interested but I don't run away from the table screaming either. When it's cooking in those giant steaming hot pots though with that smell literally wafting after you for a mile? It's enough to warrant a gas mask. People who have eaten them say they don't taste as bad as they smell but I honestly don't know how anyone can get past the smell to buy a cup of it.

So anyway as you're walking up to the entrance of the park you pass a lady with a little stand set up, selling things like veggies and fruits and bleh, bundaegi. All the steam coming off the pot sends that smell your way so you have to hurry past her to get out of reach to breathe some non-bundaegi stinking air. Except then there's another bundaegi lady with a big old pot of it, yelling for you to come buy some. You run by her only to see another bundaegi seller is coming up and you'll have to go by her too. I swear it's like a bundaegi gauntlet. There must be at least six or seven ladies serving up big pots of bundaegi along the pathway that leads to Seoul Grand Park. Besides the horrible smell, I can't even fathom how these women make any sort of profit with that kind of competition. I'd have taken a picture of how ridiculous it is but honestly, as soon as I smell that smell I hightail it out of there.

After surviving the walk to the park, we purchased our tickets, which included a ride on the tram up to the zoo, zoo admission, and a ride on the cable car (₩8,000). It was a really nice day. We were there for maybe six hours, grabbed a few snacks from the convenience store in between, and grabbed pizzas on the way home. I tend to go even crazier with pictures when I'm at the zoo, so I'll narrow it down as best as I can.

Fennec Fox.

Korean Magpie, or ggachee (까치).

In the Ape Jungle area there is an actual chimpanzee nursery and it is the cutest thing ever. These ladies were rocking two baby chimps in a crib. One of them was bigger and they took it out to hold it but the other was just a newbie and it was clinging to a stuffed animal. Too too cute. 

The Botanical Gardens.

Um, pretty sure they hired the same designer who gave us the Bible Expo....

This picture is crummy quality but this frog is the best! Look at his little elbow propped up on the edge of the pond. He looks like such a gangster frog, like he's about to call a meeting regarding a hit on somebody. I hope it was about one of the snakes next door, they're gross. 

When we came by the tiger area it was feeding time. It was the weirdest thing because there was an announcer going on and on and of course we didn't understand a word of it and then out of nowhere someone would chuck a whole raw chicken over the wall from above and it would land on the sand with a SPLAT! and then the tigers would come running for it.

Otters! I could watch them swim all day.

Okay so the dolphin show was hilarious. Clearly it's aimed at kids so the storyline for the seal portion was ridiculous but cute. I was pretty impressed at the tricks they were doing and the trainers seemed to really enjoy their jobs. Mostly I enjoyed my mom's reaction to the snack sellers though. Instead of something like cotton candy, it's not uncommon here at some sort of show for someone to walk around selling steamed corn on a stick. And to be honest that's probably the best way to get corn in Korea. They put it on pizza (I always ask for it without) but all they have at the store is canned corn which is just as awful as it is in the US. Stick corn it is then!

We skipped the birds because birds are boring but their aviary was impressive! It reminded me of the pterodactyl cage from Jurassic Park 3. 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is no place that Korean girls will not show up to in heels. Apparently they even wear them to the beach. Also it's not at all unusual to see their boyfriends carrying/wearing their purses for them. I was pleased to capture both of these facts on camera.

Playground area with elephant slide and climber.

Taking the chair lift back down from the zoo.

Unfortunately it was a really hazy day so my pictures couldn't really capture how nice the surrounding area is. I read the next day though that it was the year's worst yellow dust storm so that sort of explains it:

Asian Dust (also yellow dust, yellow sand, yellow wind or China dust storms) is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asia sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia, northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East. Sometimes, the airborne particulates are carried much further, in significant concentrations which affect air quality as far east as the United States.

I was pretty happy that it worked out to be such a nice zoo day. Usually the animals are all passed out or hiding out in cooler areas inside but they were all out and about that day. And active too. We saw a bear taking a huge poop right in front of the spectator area, a male lion randomly start humping a female who was not interested at all, some monkeys wrestling, tigers eating lunch, tortoises actually attempting movement, and lots of other things. I hate when people go to zoos and bang on the glass or something to get an animal's attention but obviously it is more interesting when they're doing something besides just sleeping.

And now I'm off to bed since I'll be waking up at 5:30am tomorrow for a weekend trip to the number one place on my "Things to do in Korea List"! More on that when I get back :)

Trivia of the Day: The Ho-Am Prize is a Korean annual award awarded to "domestic/abroad ethnic Korean who have made outstanding contributions to the development of science and culture and enhancement of the welfare of mankind," often referred to as the Korean equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Awarded since 1991, it is funded by Samsung and named after their former chairman, Lee Byung-chull (Ho-Am is his pen name which means "filling up a space with clear water as lakes do, and being unshakable as a large rock").
The award consists of a 6 oz gold medal, a laureate diploma, and 200 million Korean won (approximately $200,000 US dollars). The prize is currently awarded in five fields: Science, Engineering, Medicine, the Arts, and Community Service.