Korea Times Reporter Speaks with Avila Students

Suh Young Jun, a reporter for a Korean newspaper, spent time with our class at the beginning of our trip and here at the end, as we celebrated Grace's birthday.  She wanted to know about the students' experiences on their trip.  

Chicken and ice cream

This was unexpected. As I continue my travels in Busan I had to share this menu item with the class.  A mildly spicy chicken on the left and an iceberg lettuce salad on the right which is hard to see since it's topped off with 2 scoops of ice cream! 

Cat cafe

Seoul offers pet lovers a unique experience. Throughout the city are cat and dog cafes where visitors can enjoy some animal affection while sipping a latte. Eric and Addy enjoyed a cat cafe just before they went to the airport. We've been told one of the reasons for the dog and cat cafes centers around the living arrangements in the city.  Often parents, grandparents, and adult children (until married) live together.  Parents don't have room to get their kids pets, so these cafes give young students in the city a chance to hang out with the animals.  I was surprised at how friendly the cats were in this place.  You can see the pictures sof the individual cats with their names and some info on each on the wall behind Eric.

Eric found a furry friend

Addy loved the cats 

The trip is at an end

Well...unfortunately our time in Seoul is ending. Reflecting back on the past week of food, tours and cultural experiences, please post two to three paragraphs sharing your thoughts on the trip: What did you learn about Korean culture? What surprised you? What did you learn about yourself? What had the most impact? etc.

Thanks for being such a great group! It was a pleasure sharing this experience with you all.

Night cruise down Han River

For our last night in Seoul, we took a dinner cruise down the river to see the city lights. It was a night of good food, good scenery and good company.

Banpo bridge fountain.

Live entertainment.

Enjoying the fresh air.

Noryangjin Fish Market - A Paradise of Seafood

Noryangjin is Seoul's largest fish market. The scale of this 66,000 square meter facility is impressive. Over 700 shops offer fresh and dried fish, various shellfish, squid and octopus...both farm raised and wild caught. 

We were thankful to have Daniel Gray from O'ngo Food Communications as our guide. He did a great job of shepherding us through the market and selecting a wealth of fresh seafood for us to sample for lunch.

There are several restaurants alongside the market that will prepare your fresh fish as requested.

The feast began with shashimi and sea squirt followed by chopped baby octopus, grilled mackerel, steamed snapper and fish soup.

YanDa having a tough time picking up a piece of wriggling octopus.

Happy faces, full bellies.

Happy birthday Grace!

A birthday in Seoul...not soon forgotten!

Celebrated with a stop at Ice Berry for some cold treats. Below is patbingsu, a shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings such as chopped fruit, condensed milk and red bean paste. DE LIC IOUS!

Namdaemun Market

After breakfast, we journeyed to Namdaemun market for some traditional Korean commerce and street food. Namdaemun market is located next to the "Great South Gate," which was the main southern gate to the old city. It is the oldest and largest market in Korea.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the vast amount of products available in a congested area. You name it, Namdaemun has it.

Bargains, bargains, bargains.

Seoul is a unique juxtaposition of history and contemporary.

Even the street food is colorful!

Soup for breakfast

Koreans rarely differentiate between breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. For example, today we had soup for breakfast. This particular spicy pork and veggie soup is believed to be good for those who have a hangover. Hangover or not, it was a delicious and hearty way to start the day.

Hongdae

The area around Hongik University is a popular spot for students day and nighr. Shopping, eating, drinking coffee, listening to live music in the streets or public park in front of the university and going clubbing make this a crowded scene in the evenings.  We had dak galbi - a spicy chicken dish, cooked at the table, as you can see below.  These are small restaurants operated by individual owners.  The kleenex box at the table is used for napkins.  Some of the restaurants will hang rolls of toilet paper from the ceiling for the same purpose.  We had two Americans, living in Seoul, who served as guides for the evening - Ryan and Hallie.  Hallie just started her own tour company in Seoul, and I give her big thumbs up - she will be a wonderful guide.  

We ended our night at a Norebang (karaoke). Karaoke in Korea became popular in the 80's and 90's after the Karaoke machine was invented in Japan in the 70's. Norebangs are especially popular in student areas like Hongdae.

Outside of Norebang. Notice the individual karaoke rooms in the window.

Clearly, we had a good time. Some of the students are Norebang naturals! :)

Buddhist temple food

At Baru restaurant we experienced a 10 course vegan meal in the tradition of Korean Buddhism. This restaurant is run by the monks of the Joygesa Temple, which we visited on our walking tour.  Although the tradition is vegan, we understand from speaking with one of the monks, some followers of Korean Buddhism have incorporated meat into their diets because it is so central to the modern Korean diet.  You can see from the photo that we ate at the low table, sitting on the floor, which is also a traditional dining seating.  In many Korean restaurants you will have the choice of eating in the traditional way or at tables and chairs.  Often the traditional dining tables are in separate rooms, as this one was.

Insadong historical arts districit

Though a bit touristy, Insadong is a great spot to find unique, hand-crafted gifts and souvineers.

Watching the guys make dragon's beard candy, a fun performance with a tasty result.

Seoul Walking Tour

A lot of walking today...whew. But the tour was well worth it as we got to see the city from the ground up. You never know what you might come across while walking from stop to stop instead of riding the subway.

On Gwanghwamun Square learning about King Sejong the Great, the fourth and most respected king of the Joseon Dynasty and creator of Hangeul, Korea's alphabet. 

Model of the square and palace as it was centuries ago at the Natural History Museum. It's unfortunate how much of historical Korea has been destroyed by various conflicts and occupations.

Yellow ribbons of prayer to honor those lost in the recent tragic ferry accident. Displays of ribbons can be found throughout the city.

Crossing Cheonggyecheon stream, a personal favorite of mine, a respite from the city hustle and bustle.

Outside of Jogyesa Temple, the center of Zen Buddhism in Korea. Looking good in all that purple!

Not sure what this is

But I love the blues brothers

Planting flower boxes this morning along Soedaemun

On my morning walk I saw that the workers are planting flowers on the street near our hotel

My breakfast donut

Sorry just too cute to pass up

Nighttime shopping in Dongdaemun

This popular area of the city is open until the wee hours of the night. Some of the popular department stores, like Doota, unlike our American equivalent of say a Macy's, contain hundreds of individual designers and merchants.  So each area of the store is operated separately.  Here you can buy fashionable clothes, accessories like hats and jewelry, shoes, eyeglasses that are made in an hour from your prescription, souvenirs. As the evening goes along, it becomes more crowded as people flock to this popular area.  

Dongdaemun Design and Culture Park

Newly opened design park near one of the popular shopping destinations - a design museum, art gallery, shopping space, and architectural wonder.  Here is a view of the outdoor space that we walked into from the subway - it flows around the design buildings and into the surrounding space.  Really amazing building and space - designed by an Israeli woman architect - Zaha Hadid

Day Two - DMZ

We spent most of today on a bus tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone) just north of Seoul. We were accompanied by a woman who defected from North Korea in 2010. 

The tour guests had multiple opportunities to ask questions of the N Korean defector who escaped via China with her sisters, mother and daughter.

Shrine for visitors in the south to pray to their ancestors in the north.

Prayer ribbons for peace tied to the perimeter fence.

View of the North and South on each side of river. Note the lack of trees in the north side. Firewood is their main source of heat.