2 Months

Can you believe it?

Hasn't time just flown?!?!?! Tomorrow is my 2 month anniversary in Korea, and although I keep everyone updated about my general comings and goings, I thought I would do a bit of a reflection of my time here so far. 

  The biggest challenge for me hasn't been the language barrier, or the food, or any of the predictable obstacles, rather it has been living alone. Before I came to Korea, I had always lived at home with mum and sissy so I have always had others around me. Our house in Melbourne is HUGE by Korean standards, and when I first arrived I felt a bit claustrophobic in my 1 room apartment. I mean, I loved it from the moment I walked in, but it is definitely small. And quiet... I have always enjoyed my own company just fine, but I have discovered I am a terribly needy person. I NEED to be connected at all times, and I NEED company during the week. I have made it a priority to keep busy and as a result I actually don't spend many nights at home by myself. I tend to go out for dinner with someone on weeknights, so the only time I really have to myself are the weekends (during the day). And I try to keep Sunday night to myself but that's not a rule. 

  

  I can basically read and write in Korean now. I joined Korean class, which I go to on a Tuesday and a Thursday night, and there has been a big focus on the reading and writing of Hangul (Korean script is very different from ours). I can read signs, and sound them out and can pronounce words much better. The only thing is I have no idea what anything means... So I can read the paper, but I can't understand what I am reading. Kinda stupid, but it's a start! The course runs for 3 months, so it will wrap up around December sometime. Hopefully by then I will have all the basics mastered and then I can wing it from there. The teachers at school are pretty good, one friend in particular is an awesome person and is really helping me learn. I still have my goal of trying to learn as much of the language as possible while I am here.

  I was not a teacher when I left Melbourne, and I won't become one while I am here. But the last 2 months has given me direction for when I come home - I want to do a Dip. Ed and teach early primary/kinder. People have been telling me for years I should have done teaching, but I have always shied away from it... I never saw myself teaching anything, but in saying that when someone says 'teacher' I think of high school. But I really like the kids here, and I am sure they will be just as cute and funny at home. So I will stay clear of high school and stick to the little kids.

  I said as well that i won't become a teacher here...Let me explain this comment. The relationship between my co-teacher and myself is a ridiculous one. I don't teach at school, I basically just stand there while he dictated to the class in Korean. They hardly speak any English, and when they do get the opportunity to practice they are mostly too shy to give it a go. In his defence, Co is always trying to think of new ways to get the kids interested in English. But to me the easiest way to keep them entertained would be to play some games and sing some songs. The kids here (and the adults!) love to sing and dance, but he does not want to deviate from the text book curriculum. So as a result we have 8 classes of bored kids who don't want to speak English. They are sick of the workbook.

So I am not getting any teaching experience, unless he isn't at school for some reason and them I am left to control a heap of ratty children who have no clue what I am saying. 

So school isn't much fun to be honest. Hopefully it will get better, because I still have 10 months of it left. 

  I live for the weekends. Actually, I live for 4:30 on weekdays too. I have been more social since coming here than I have been in my entire life. I have already managed to drunkenly embarrass myself, do all-nighters, meet randoms and become friends with them and much more. The only thing I haven't done is 'hook up' with anyone, much to the disbelief of my friends here and at home. I am having just as much bad luck with boys in Korea as I have with boys in Australia. 

  I have finally figured out the public transport. The system here is amazing and efficient. I have no idea how Melbourne has managed to fuck up Myki so badly, when they use basically the same system here. If it can work for 11 million people in Seoul, I am sure they can figure it out for the 6 million or whatever the number is in Melbourne. Get it together before I come back. Melbourne, you have 10 months. 

The trains/subways are clean and fast, and they arrive on time. Well, sometimes the subway is a little off but thats ok as I am usually a little late. 

  I have said it before, and I will say it again - Korean food is good. Especially the BBQ, I go mental for galbi. In fact we ate it this morning at about 4am after the bar closed... But the lunches at school I am totally over. The smell of the cafeteria makes me want to puke most days. I mean, its ok once you go in but outside it smells gross. 

I have eater food here that I have never eaten before, like the prawns (which I still don't like) and I eat so much meat its not even funny. In saying this, there are a heap of foods I am missing. This afternoon I could have killed someone for a crumpet. Or macaroni. Or decent cheese. Also i am not super impressed by the milk here... I know there is better milk at the Highway Mart, but its easier to grab milk from 7-11, so as a result I drink sub-par milk (firstworldproblems). 

When I first arrived I lost a heap of weight. I think I dropped 3 kilos in the first week or 2, from stereo and being scared to eat anything. Now the kilos are back on plus extra. Don't worry, November is get fit month...I got a skipping rope and everything :)

Kimbap

Mandoo

  Not being able to understand what they are saying has not stopped me from getting into K-Dramas. I love the t.v dramas here, they are so overacted you can pick up whats going on most of the time anyway. Some of them are on really late though, but luckily for me I have a super cool t.v that lets me replay shows whenever! It craps me off though that I need to pay if I want to re-watch episodes on OCN. 

K-Pop has been a guilty pleasure of mine for a while, and here I can listen without fear of judgement! I usually put the music channel on while I get ready for work, so I can watch clips while I get dressed. 

  I surprised myself with how quickly I have settled into life here. I have my little routine, and have been slowly creating myself a nice little nest here. Its easy to live in Korea, provided you are happy to be completely out of the loop. I pretty much never have any idea what is going on, and so far it has worked pretty well for me. Its clean here, and although the wearer is getting cold now, I like the climate. It is actually pretty similar to home. 

I hardly notice people staring at me anymore. Or maybe it just doesn't bother me... I go about my business, they go about theirs. But its funny, because I have taken to staring at foreigners too haha. I see one, and in my head i'm like "ooo a foreigner!" 

  To sum it up, I like it here. I feel like I have been here longer, especially because I am now meeting people who have just arrived. And then I speak with people that have been here for years, and it blows my mind! You just don't notice where the time is going! I hope the rest of my year is as enjoyable as the first 2 months have been :)

Seoul

In other news...

Sissy is coming! I don't think her flights are booked yet, but she will be in Korea in late December/early January to spend New Year with me. i am so excited! We will stay in Seoul for NYE so hopefully there will be a big party somewhere... Which I am sure there will be :) I am really glad she is coming, plus it has given me something good to look forward to. I have been trying not to think too much about having to spend Christmas alone. Well, hopefully by then I will have my dog so it won't be so bad.

I have been on a shopping frenzy the last couple of days, buying nothing in particular. I hardly have anything to show for it! But once I get my phone that will be it for speeding until next pay. One of my goals was to save money while being in Korea, not spend money. I must remember to save save save! 

Thats about it for now. 

Happy 2 months to me :)

xoxoxo

Shrimp anyone???

Its a miracle!

I have my ARC! Let me translate - while living in South Korea I need to have an Alien Registration Card, which shows my visa status and my address. I always knew the term 'alien' was basically foreigners in a certain country but most of us automatically think of the little green men from Mars or whatever. But it's fun being an alien :)

To get this stupid little card I had to jump through a few hoops. If you are thinking about coming to Korea to teach, or are here and are about to do it heres the down low...

First, make sure you have a few passport sized pics with you. I didn't have any, and it was a bitch to get more. Then, you take your passport, photo, address and school letter down to immigration. My local immigration office is in Suwon, and I think we caught the 200 bus, but I am not sure. Co came with me so I just followed him around like a little lost duck and we got there ok. We filled out a heap of forms which took forever, because I left my address at home and we had to call the school to find out where I lived. They took ages to find it and Co was a bit pissy at me but he never said I needed it! Then we went and took a seat in the other room. It took over 2 hours. It was the most stupid day of my life. Then the lady took the stuff from me, I paid her 10,000won and that was it. She said I can come and pick it up on the 12th October. I was like ok cool no worries. BIG MISTAKE. For everyone out there reading, you can get the card sent to your school within a week. I had to wait aaaggggeeeessssssss because Co is a tight arse. He said, "Oh, Bonnie, you need to pay a lot of money to have it sent over to the school so its better for us to just come back and get it". It would have cost about $4. Geez!
Anyway, he ended up going and picking it up for me because he had business in Suwon anyway, so i didn't need to go back.

On Monday this week I went into Citibank and opened up an account. So I now have a Korean bank account too... It was really strange, because when I looked in my wallet yesterday I had no cards or money from home. Everything in my wallet is Korean.

And today I got paid!!! but not anywhere near as much as I thought... But still, better than nothing! So i am officially a millionaire! (only in Korea haha).

Teacher's dinner

I had been told about the dinners with the co-workers, so I was actually kinda looking forward to this one (which I was told about yesterday) until they said we were having shrimp. Prawns. Gross... I don't eat seafood as a rule. I am terrified of having an allergic reaction, plus I hate the smell. Anyway, first we all got on a bus at about 1.30pm and headed to a temple in some other part of Korea. We left Gyeonggi but I don't know where we went. Its late and I don't care lol. I don't even remember what the temple was called, but it was really beautiful. Not so much the temple, but the forest surrounding it was lovely. 

That's Mrs Lee in the yellow jacket

Then we went for dinner. Shrimp. Eewwwww...

We all sat on the floor Korean style and there were gas cookers in the middle of the tables. They were on and heating up, so the ladies working there simply came past with the live prawns and dumped them into the pan. Then the lid was put on and the poor little things were steamed alive. I was totally grossed out, but then they were cooked, and then the teachers were putting prawns on my plate and pouring me beer and soju. When in Korea....

The male teachers got a bit messy, including Co which was a bit funny. Mrs Lee doesn't really drink so she was sitting next to me and chatting the whole time. She loves practicing her english so we always talk together. 

It was really awkward when one of the men from school (he isn't a teacher, he is a maintenance guy or something) was wasted and kept talking to me on the bus... He kept saying he wanted to be good friends, and asked my age over and over. I was so over him and all the female teachers were feeling bad for me so they made one of the other guy teachers babysit him. But that was the only downside, the rest of the night was actually really fun! 

Live prawns in the tubs, thrown straight into the pot poor little guys

First shrimp, then noodles!

My first prawns EVER

Just steamed over salt

An observation...

Korean men treat foreign women very differently to how they treat Korean women. I don;t know why but they do. And its really obvious when they drink... 

Like coming up and getting right in your face, and staring and acting inappropriately. Now, I get that  look completely different, but its never cool to be acting inappropriately with work people. So for this guy to be asking my age and if I was single and wanting to be 'good friends', thats not cool. And you know when people are being simply curious about your social status and when people are wondering if you could potentially hook up with them. Do they assume that foreign girls are easy pickings and put out for anyone? Because I am sure that men wouldn't speak so bluntly with Korean women. I hate the double standard, and I kinda find it offensive. Its like reverse racism and I have never experienced it before. Because I am blonde and foreign, does that mean I am a slurry? Does it mean I am easy? Does it make me a prostitute? i had been forewarned that being blonde would mean that many men will assume I am Russian, and therefore a hooker. And its stupid that this is actually true. I have been asked my quite a few people if I am Russian, and its always someone shady. Curious people assume I am from America, shady people hope I am from Russia. Its not good.

I am having so many experiences that are making me rethink the way I treat foreigners at home. I know I am guilty of generalising, but I think I am also guilty of racism which is less forgivable. When I get home I will be so much more tolerant of immigrants and their customs. I get now why Asians are such bad drivers... The roads here have no rules! Or there are rules, but no one follows them! And the pushing and bumping through people - its just what you do! No need to say sorry because everyone does it. And sneezing on people... My god, the list is huge. Spitting in public, thats another gross one... I saw one of the first grade teachers telling a little boy to suck back his snot and then spit it out - the kids are being taught to spit! 

So there you go. I am an accidental racist, and I now know how it feels to be a victim of racism. And my experiences have been minor compared to what some foreigners have been faced with. 

There is always something happening in Korea.

Till next time,

xoxoxo

Gangnam Style!

Teacher, you know Psy? 

Yes, student, I sure do... In fact, I think just about everyone in the world now knows Psy. And if you don't, then let me tell you a little bit about this guy and how the Korean's have reacted to him...

Psy

The guy isn't young, he is mid 30's which for Korean rappers and stars that is basically a dinosaur. He also doesn't have the standard look, as in he looks like a middle aged guy (albeit with a nicely puffed out face and very smooth skin) rather than the super skinny girly looking guys that usually grace the K-Pop charts.

nb

At somepoint I will do a blog about K-Pop here, it needs its own blog because it is such a huge thing here. More like a strange cult or religion to be honest...

Anyway, Psy is considrered a rapper, which surprised many of my Australia friends when I told them. He has a heap of songs and is a judge on one of those singing talent shows, like X-Factor. The guy is super famous, but it used to be that older Korean people didn't like him much. He is a little bit vulgar for them, and some of his songs are considered offensive. But since he released Gangnam Style they have come round, and pretty much the whole country has gone nuts for him. 

He has an interesting back story, in terms of his personal life which effected his professional life. Now, don't quote me on this because it was a story told to me by one of my co-workers and things may have been lost in translation, but Psy has done 2 separate stints in the military. He served first as a technical of some sort, but did not fill certain requirement. He would have gotten away with it if he wasn't famous, but when people realised that he has skipped out a little bit, his fans were really mad. So he deliberately re-inrolled himself and went back and did another 2 years or something with the Army. So now his fans love him because he is super patriotic. This is a big deal here by the way, if you don't love RoK then you suck and no one likes you.

He is a rich guy and always has been, he grew up in Gangnam and his father was a big shot company man, I think maybe for Hyundai or something...

Anyway, he is signed with YG Entertainment which is one of the 2 biggest music studios in Korea. Others who are with this company are 2NE1 and BIGBANG. There are a heap of other really big names signed with YG.

Gangnam

Gangnam is a very affluent district to the south of the Han River in Seoul. It is the 'Beverly Hills' of Seoul with a lot of 'new money' in the district. All the kids are spoilt and rich, and go to private schools.  It has upmarket clubs and bars and heaps of plastic surgery clinics. I haven't been to Gangnam yet but when I do i will post photos :)

Gangnam is also where many celebrities live and work - the big music studios/produces are here as well as film and t.v. studios. 

The Song

So here is the deal with the song...

Psy is basically poking fun at all the beautiful people who live in this super trendy area. He is saying yes they are rich and beautiful, but they are just like everyone else. Read the song lyrics here

The clip went viral. I was totally shocked when Georgia told me it was something like no. 30 on the I Tunes countdown about a week after I came to Korea. So i was blown away when i heard it was number 1 in Australia, and also in America. WTF! This is K-Pop! And people absolutely love it!!! Psy has been everywhere, all over t.v. in different countries. The video has had millions of views. He is now signed with Justin Beiber's manager in the U.S or something... And I hear he might be performing at Future Music Festival in Australia!

The guy is amazing! And he is super funny too, and is very humble in interviews.

Something that I read on the internet made me laugh... I have been trying to keep up with news from home, and read on some tabloid sight about American's only liking this song because they were mocking it and the poor Korean's don't realise they are being made fun of. For starters, the song is meant to be tongue in cheek anyway, so it is already mocking itself. And Psy meant for it to be funny! The Koreans also know it is a stupid song! Thats why they love it. And as far as whether or not the Korean people know they are being mocked, well, I don't think they would care anyway. If you see knew how badly they tease other countries including America then you would also find this comment funny. 

The upshot?

The upshot is Gangnam Style is a funny song. It still hasn't gotten old here, it is played in every shop, on every radio station, out of every car that drives past and on every commercial. Psy pony dances to mobile phone ads, refrigerator ads and many others. Everyone knows the dance (myself included) and its not weird to dance to it in the street if you hear it come on. Apparently in Melbourne, clubs are playing the song. My sister was out on the weekend and she said it was played twice at Baroq House in the CBD. I asked her if everyone did the 'pony dance' she said no! This would not be tolerated here. You MUST dance to Psy!

My kids danced to it at their sports day (which I still haven't uploaded the video of I am sorry!!!) and it was one of the first things they asked me when I started teaching. 

And I have now seem him live! Well, I was too far away to actually see him but I have been to a Psy concert! Here are some pics from my awesome night last night:

Looking very Korean 

They were taking photos of me so I took photos of them :)

It was funny too, I dunno if it was because of the pink flashing bow I was wearing, or my crazy dancing or my blonde hair but heaps of people came up after and wanted their photo with me. So I might be all over the internet today lol. I got filmed while I was dancing away too.

Gotta love a free concert with one of the biggest starts n Korea performing! 

We all went out after and got messy on soju and beer. It was a super fun night over all... I have had such a good week hanging out with my new friends, learning Korean and just enjoying life. Now all I need is to be paid so I can do the whole thing again for another month! 

I have officially passed my 1 month point (actually I am way over it now but I forgot to blog about it) and I am just hoping that the rest of my time here goes as well as this. Still loving Korea.

xoxoxo 

Mum in Korea - Day 2

To Busan

We left Seoul this morning to head to Busan, which is in the south of the country in the Gyeongsangnam Province. 

We took the KTX fast train into Busan, and the trip took about 2 and a half hours. The time went really quickly, the train was very comfortable and smooth. I would totally recommend anyone travelling across Korea to use the KTX for long trips. Totes worth it. 

Mum was funny this morning when we were leaving the hotel in Seoul... There were 3 stations between Seoul Station and Chungmoro (where the hotel was near) but she wanted to take a taxi as we had heavy bags. There were NO taxis around at all because of Chuseok, so eventually I talked her into the subway. It was super easy, although we did get a little lost on the platform. Lets just say that Seoul Station is freaking huge and we had no idea where we were going... And the signage is not awesome so we were really confused. But we made it in the end. There were plenty of super helpful people around, from the bag porter to the police officer, to the local citizen who had decent English. 

We got of the KTX at Busan Station and asked around for the subway, as the next hotel was apparently very close to Bujeom Station. But no, mum STILL wanted a taxi, so we went and found a taxi. We jumped in, and to mum utter shock and horror the driver spoke no English. By then the bags were already in and he was driving away so we were kinda stuck in the car. My teachers at school would be so impressed - with my VERY limited Hanguel knowledge I managed to write a garbled Korean version of the station we were after and we got there ok. Mum was panicking, neither of us knew for sure where the driver was taking us so we were not relieved when we saw the station we were looking for. We thanked him and off he went. So here is a tip for anyone travelling to Korea - the taxi drivers do not really speak English. So get your hotel to write down where you are staying so that you can pass it to cab drivers. Or better yet, have it prepared before you head off...
We then dragged our bags a few hundred meters down the road to the hotel - there was no way I was going to try and write the name of the hotel down. When we got there, I looked across the street and gestured to mum... We were literally across the road from the subway enterance. It would have taken us 5 minutes or so on the subway and brought us to right in front of the hotel. 

Let this be a lesson to you - if anything is near the subway station, IT IS EASIER TO CATCH THE SUBWAY. I know at home taxi is easier, but honestly, unless you have some degree of Korean then its just not fun trying to get a taxi.

We stayed at the Ibis Ambassador Hotel Busan. I would totally recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to visit Busan. Apart from the fact that is was so close to a good subway line, the staff also speak pretty good English and are super helpful. The food wasn't amazing for dinner but the breakfast was good.

ANOTHER TIP - Don't bother to pay for the breakfasts at the hotel... Seriously just find a Paris Baguette, they are the biggest bakery chain in Korea and the stuff is tasty. And will cost you under 5000won for breakfast rather than the 15-30,000won it will cost at the hotel. Its totally not real bacon.

Haeundae and the aquarium

We were both kinda grumpy by then, and I needed a nap so mum went for a walk and I had a short kip. Then we rallied ourselves for the afternoon. It was probably about wish when we went to the subway (win for me) and ran into some people from the hotel that mum had met earlier. They were an American couple, but the wife was actually born in Korea so she spoke the language but hadn't been back in years. We ended up joining forces and went together to Haeundae Beach for a look, and then to the Busan Aquarium. I LOVE aquariums, and I thought this one was pretty good. They had decent sized sharks, no seals but they did have otters and some finless porpoises which were kinda like dolphins but smaller and without fins (hence the name I guess). Entry was something like 18,000won and they were open from 10am till 10pm or something. Basically you go to Haeundae Station and walk towards the beach and go right. The aquarium is right there... If you ever go to Busan check it out.

www.busanaquarium.com

After that we wandered around and got some dinner, we had chicken and salad and both mum and I thought it was pretty delicious. It cost about 17,000won for the 2 of us, and we got some beers as well so all up dinner was 23,000won for 3 massive plates of chicken and 2 beers. So I thought that was pretty good. 

We then got back on the subway and came back to the hotel, skipped Georgia and here we are. I am hella tired, I feel like I have been non stop since last weekend so tomorrow is going to be a sleep in day.

View from the room

Haeundae Beach

Haeundae Beach

Because keeping off this bit of grass will totally help the porpoise :s

Giant crab!!!

Some of the cool sharks - mainly grey nurse sharks

Tourist shot!

Something different? Or not?

While we were at the aquarium we were acting the tourist and taking a heap of cheesy photos, as was everyone else. There were 2 young guys that were there having a day out and were taking pics of each other, so mum offered to take their pic together with some sharks in the background. They were super pleased and thanked her a heap. One of the guys then asked if he could have photo with me... I said yes but felt like a big dickhead, like some sort of try hard celebrity. The friend was super jealous so he had to have a photo with me too... I really hope they turned out ok, I would hate for them to be showing ugly pics of me to their pals.

Then when we were on the subway an older Korean guy started talking to me, I said the usual 'hello' and he asked where we were from. I now know enough Korean to understand what he was asking and I was even able to answer him, but the rest of the conversation went straight over my head. Lucky our new American friends were still with us and the wife had a chat to he old bloke and just continued the conversation for us. He ended up not he same train and we chatted on and off through out the trip home. Before we got off the train, the old guy said something else to me in Korea - I have no idea what - and gave me an apple. It was a perfectly good apple, so I will probably eat it tomorrow :)

Anyway, thats about it for tonight. Again, this post will go up after the fact, as I want to add the pics so all this has happened today (being Sunday).

Oh, and Happy Chuseok!!!

xoxoxox

Mum in Korea - Day 1

Mum arrived in Korea on Thursday, and spent Friday exploring around the hotel by herself until I arrived after school on the Friday night.

Here is what we have done so far...

DMZ Tour

Thats right, folks, I have seem North Korea. I have seen North Korean soldiers and their flag - the whole thing. Well, not quite.

Mum booked the tour through the hotel, we are staying at the P&J Hotel which I am pretty sure is in Myeongdong. The hotel is nice, the staff are trying to be helpful but are failing at it. 

We wanted to do a tour that went to the JSA area in Panmunjeom, which is the area in the DMZ where soldiers form both Koreas and also from the UN are in the one place and have meetings. It was where peace talks are held and I think its where the cease fire agreement was made. I was under the impression that we would see all this but when we got there it turned out we were only on the half day tour and it did't go there. So that was disappointing.

We did however go to the Peace Park, the 3rd Tunnel and also to the Observatory. If you ever come to Korea I totally recommend doing some sort of tour to the DMZ.

The Demilitarised Zone 

Just a quick side note for those who have not been reading my blog (in that case welcome, and I hope you enjoy) and those who have not been paying attention I will give a brief run down on the DMZ.

The Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ, is the strip of land separating North and South Korea. The DMZ is 250km long and around 4km wide and is the most heavily militarised boarder in the world. Technically the Koreas are still at war, and the tension between them can totally be felt in this area. It has been this way since 1953 when the Armistice Agreement was signed, and its not changing any time soon.

Anyway, so we started at the Peace Park, which you can see North Korea from but not well. They have a blown up train there and lots of monuments talking about peace. Then we headed off to the 3rd tunnel. These tunnels are both amazing and ridiculous. 

There are 4 tunnels all up that the South have found, which are tunnels dug out by the North to infiltrate and invade the South. They run under the DMZ from the North to South, and were found in different circumstances. 

The first tunnel was found I think by a scout who felt vibrations or something. it is more shallow than the other tunnels. When it was discovered there was a bit of a shoot out and both Korean and American troops were killed. 

Now the guide told us today that the rest of the tunnels were found with the help of spies in North Korea, but Wikipedia has said that the 3rd and 4th ones were found with the help of North Korean defectors... Who knows? Either way the other tunnels were found. They discovered them by pumping water down pipes and when the water flowed through the pipe they knew they found a tunnel. The 3rd tunnel is especially amazing as if it had been completed it would have allowed something like 30,000 troops though per hour plus heavy artillery. Scary though! And here is the ridiculous part - the North deny that they built the tunnels - they say it is propaganda from the South. Yet, all evidence in the tunnels says they were made from the Northern side. So THEN they said that the tunnels were disused coal mines. They even slopped coal all over the inside of the tunnel to prove their point. Yet the whole area is granite and there is no geological way that coal would be present there. 

We were able to go into the 3rd tunnel and look around, but we were not allowed to take photos. Even bags are not permitted down in the tunnel. It was a wide tunnel, 2 people could walk side by side but even I had to bend over at some points (I am about 156 centimetres tall - barely 5'2) so it was a squeeze if you were tall. 

Then we went to the observatory and looked at the North through binoculars. I saw the guard tower and it had North Korean troops walking around. they looked like they were just chatting to be honest, and some of the South Korean guys on the gate were joking and fooling around. I hear they are waaaay more alert and focused at the JSA. Looks like I will never know.

We also went to the station. They have built a station that can take passengers all the way to Pyeongyang (capital of North Korea) but it doesn't go anywhere. I found that quite sad. 

Was it worth it? Yes, and this particular tour only cost 46,000won. And the tour guide was pretty good, he was funny and spoke English really well and was pretty cute - very tall for a Korean bloke. The company was VIP Travel. Look them up. But ask to do the JSA tour, it costs more but I think it would be worth seeing the extra area. I did smell a fair bit of propaganda on this tour, I wonder how much is true and all that. But I am unlikely to ever visit the North, especially since I am working here. I'm pretty tight with South Korea.

Another funny thing - South Korea make a heap of money out of these tours, especially the 3rd tunnel visit. North Korea caught wind of the whole thing, and know that tours are run and all that, and said they should get money from the tours too. Apparently the South said "Sure, admit you built the tunnels and you can have a slice of the pie". Lol, sif they will ever do that...

Kinda creepy to think that there are probably a heap of other tunnels out there. And the DMZ is littered with mines, so its hard to go searching.

Anti-Aircraft missile, and some mines

There are live mines still littered through the DMZ

North Korea! Somewhere out there... 

Train to Pyeongyang... Hopefully someday in the future a train will actually come

Gyeongbokgung Palace

I will need to consult a guide book or some of my pamphlets to get the real download on this place, but to sum it up its a palace that was used in Joseon Period but built earlier in the Chosun Period. I think. It has been used on and off since something like 1394 so its pretty old but I think it was in really good condition. In saying that the Korean Government really love their National Treasures so they are preserved really well and are fixed up all the time. 

I really liked this palace - the grounds were huge and the whole place was open to guests. Some of the building you were not able to enter but you could look in from the outside and get a really good look. The old kitchen area was closed off but it is being restored. 

Entrance to this palace cost a whopping 3000won. Basically $3 AUD. 

And right outside the gate is the Korean Folk Museum which is free entry. We wandered in to that, not really knowing what is was, and because of the holiday they had all these cool stalls set up and lots of cultural things going on. There was heaps to see, and it was all FREE! And busy! But Seoul itself is quite... I expected sooo many more people and a heap of traffic. I guess its all because of Chuseok. Suits me!

The palace grounds are huge, there is a wall around the whole thing but a lot of the outside is gardens and lakes. The main buildings are set up like the Forbidden City in China, which seems to be a common trend in Asian palaces. The one I visited in Vietnam was set up the same way but on a much smaller scale. 

This palace had a heap of inner and outer walls and heaps of inner buildings. There were guide books in English and they ran guided tours in English every few hours. They also had tours and books in Chinese and Japanese. It was a really awesome afternoon, made even better by the fact it was so cheap. We then caught the subway back to the hotel and now we are chilling out here waiting to go to dinner. (Note - at the time of writing, we were chilling. As I am waiting to post this until I put pics up too, by the time you read I will be chilling back in Songtan.)

Throne room

This spot was beautiful!

So we have had a great day. Mum was super impressed at me getting her a ticket for the subway and figuring out which line to get on and all that. So maybe I am getting the hang of Korea :)

I have no idea what we are going to eat tonight but I will start taking photos of my food again so you can see some food stuff. And I will add that too. Tomorrow we will head off to Busan on the KTX which is the super fast train... I will be the judge of super fast...

I love being a tourist!

Till later,

xoxoxoxoxo