A Little Overdue
So Korea… It’s been a week since I arrived and it really just kind of feels like New York. That doesn’t mean that there’s not differences, but let’s be honest, there are a lot of Asians in Flushing. It’s almost the same, except that people stare at me in the subway because I am not Asian. There are a lot of foreigners in Seoul nowadays, but I guess we’re still interesting.
Anyway, this week has mostly been basic exploring of Seoul’s popular areas. Yonsei is in Sinchon, which is pretty much a college town situated between two other college neighborhoods (Hongdae and Ehdae (both short for the titles “Hongik Daehakkyo (Hongik University) and Ehwa Daehakyo (Ehwa University.) So that means that there are a lot of places like bars and restaurants and a lot of shopping. Seriously, this place really likes coffee shops, eyeglasses stores, and make up stores. Kind of interesting. I have been looking for a scarf and coat, but a) it’s almost the end of winter b)I’m too tall for most coats here. Kind of annoying when I’m only 5’6”. I also went back to Itaewon and Insadong, which I visited over the summer when I was on Quiz On Korea. Itaewon is the foreigner neighborhood (where the Jewish Center/Chabad is, and where I celebrated Purim. (See the Daily Show clip: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-26-2013/crazy-stupid-dove—the-war-on-purim))
Also, we had to get these really annoying alien resident cards, which took about a hour of waiting to get, although other people told me it takes longer (depending on what time of day you get there.) We have to go back in three weeks to pick them up.
So I wrote that last week and completely forgot about it.
Since then, classes have begun. History class is boring, Korean Communication and Media will hopefully be interesting, and I placed into Level 1 of Korean because I can’t speak. So, hopefully it’ll all be easy A’s.
I went to Chabad (The Jewish Center) to pick up some food and took a picture of their “store.” It’s in their kitchen but it really has a lot to offer. There’s also a vegan restaurant near Yonsei, in Sinchon, that sells a few Kosher items. I got lollipops!
Otherwise… What have I done this week? Not much… I’ve been a bit sick. But now I’m better so hopefully next week will be more fun!
Hi,
We are a couple from Jerusalem stopping for two days in Seoul. And we don’t know anything about it.
If you want to share some tips that would be helpful.
Shavuah tov.
David
Hi,
There’s a lot to see and do in Seoul, but it really matters what you are looking to see. There are several beautiful palaces and museums, as well as unique shopping districts like Insadong where Korean traditional crafts can be found, and Namdaemun which is kind of like the Shuk in Jerusalem. Seoul is a very modern city, with random parts of it holding parts of Korea’s older history. There’s a Seoul city bus tour that takes an entire day but I’ve heard that it’s a good way to see a lot of what the city has to offer. If you’re interested, there are day trips to the DMZ. I did one that began at 7AM and ended at 2PM, so there was still plenty of time to do other things. Is there anything specific that you have an interest in?
If you’re looking for Kosher food, there’s not much of a chance of finding except random things in some stores and the Chabad. Otherwise, there’s a lot of food that my friends tell me is really good and worth trying.