Week 9: Seoul Ink

This past weekend for Duan Wu Jie (Dragon Boat Festival Holiday) I was able to experience Seoul, Korea for the first time. Although only two hours away by plane from Beijing, it was a very different culture and an all-around great experience. I feel like my writing doesn't have its best stuff today, so I'll try to scrape through five innings with the help of some junk balling and a pitch-to-contact approach.

• First and foremost, I really appreciated the Korean culture of being polite and courteous. Even though all I said was Kam sa mi da and Anion Haseyo, it was still a nice change of pace from the Chinese people who just ignore you after you make a purchase.

• Apparently I can pass for Korean pretty easily, because a bunch of people came up to me asking for directions (I assume). For the first time this trip, I was a true foreigner who couldn’t fake it. Props to the few shop vendors who called out to me in Chinese from the get go.

• Once when another shop vendor started talking to Vanessa and I in English, I said “No English!” just for kicks, and he switched seamlessly to Chinese.

• Korea is cutesy central. I’ve never seen so many cute socks available for sale on the street, and I’ve never seen couples actually dress the same from head to toe on a normal day basis. All the cafes and eateries also seem to be very “cute date place” oriented. Also, couples have some sort of rule that they must be holding hands or touching at all times.

• Korean guys are very comfortable with their masculinity. They go above and beyond murses and reside safely in the straight up man purses and man clutches zone.

• I’d also say that Koreans on the whole dress more stylishly than Chinese or American people.

• I still don’t get why instead of selling everything for thousands of won, they don’t just simplify everything to one dollar, two dollar etc.

• Korean street food was pretty unique, but I didn’t find a go-to item that I had to get every time I saw it. Shikae on the other hand, I was obsessed with the entire weekend. Also, chilled Makgeolli is delicious.

• It was surreal having Korean BBQ in Korea for the first time. But I guess you shouldn't expect the 8 dollar AYCE to have rice paper or radish.

• I officially like Kimbap better than Japanese sushi. I could have eaten that stuff for every meal. Not such a big fan of the spicy red sauce they lather on everything, nor the extreme-carbohydrate dokba (?). Overall, a big thumbs up to Korean food, even though I didn't even get to have soondubu.

• Other things that will have to wait until next time… authentic Korean Norebang and sleeping overnight at a Jjimjilbang.

• They have these things called Love Motels in Korea apparently, where it’s rather blatant that they’re there for R rated activities. One place I saw had a silouhette of a guy in a top hat and cane plus a heart next to it, with the Chinese character for love on top. Apparently this was also a byproduct of living in Janghanpyeong haha. I digress.

• I was really excited to watch my first international baseball game in Korea, where we saw the Lotte Giants take on the LG Twins. The Lotte pitcher threw 7 1/3rd perfect innings, so it was a fun game to watch and try to see history unfold—there apparently has never been a perfect game in Korean baseball history. We also got to wear orange bags on our heads as fans of Lotte for the day, which was a bizarre but cool sight to see. Unlike American baseball games, fan engagement is most excellent, with support for both the home team and the visiting team roughly 50/50, and the crowd breaking out into songs and cheers constantly throughout the game. The Lotte side sang a version of Glory Glory Hallelujah as their main fight song, while the LG side switched it up between “My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson (in Korean) and Happy Together by The Turtles.

• More funny moments from the baseball game: when the pitcher throws over to first base too much, the crowd antagonizes him, and in unison says something like ‘MAH!” while the other side responds with another monosyllabic shout. In addition, the Twins featured four mascots, a set of boy twins and a set of girl twins. They break danced. Also, there were four cheerleaders on both sides that danced every time their team was at-bat.

• Nanta! Is like a Korean version of Blue Man Group. I recommend it.

• People are out at crazy hours in Korea! And not just young college kids out partying—old dudes and even families with kids are out eating and stuff at like midnight.

• The amount of public drunkenness is ridiculous.

• They have done a really good job with their Olympic Park from 1988. It was a pleasure to bike around.

This post would be amiss if I didn’t mention how appreciative I was to have Vanessa and Tim (if only for an afternoon) as my gracious hosts during my time in Seoul. I realized what a huge difference it makes when you get to travel with old friends instead of by your lonesome; there’s really no contest between the two. While some independence and silent pondering while exploring is okay once in a while, I much prefer the reminiscing and old jokes that naturally play out even amidst a new setting. It confirms my inherent extrovertedness, as well as the value I place in personnel over location. While Seoul the city was a great deal of fun on its own, it became that much better with a few familiar faces, and I’d rather hang out with good company in a thoroughly boring place than be stuck all by yourself in the greatest amusement park there ever was.