Anyways, this morning was nice and relaxing before a long day of trekking around Seoul. I woke up pretty late and laid in bed for a while before going out with the host family. I made breakfast and then watched some little kid animal documentaries where they had narrated the animals voices in a really funny way. I didn't understand any of the jokes, but the animals were way too cute so of course I enjoyed it. Also, "baby" and "family" shows are really popular here, where they follow a family around with cute children and narrate the funny things that kids do. My host mom thinks that those types of shows are really funny so we watch them a lot! I really like watching Korean TV, even though I have no idea what's going on lol.
But after watching tv with the fam I left for Idae with a group of friends, which is like a really girly and stylish shopping district. Today I shopped the most I ever have in Seoul and I don't really regret it. I'm coming home now with about the equivalent of one dollar on me, and I am happy with my purchases. I do make myself pay in cash though, that way I have a method of limiting my spending. Anyways, we were really hungry when we arrived so we went to a rice/fish egg/something else but idk place and it was so delicious! The menu was all in Korean and we had no idea what we were doing so we just all got curry rice, one of the things we could recognize. The waiters and waitresses understood that we had no idea what to do so they brought us things from the SELF SERVE side dish bar. We felt a little embarrassed but then again they were just trying to help. It's just small things like that that make you realize that you really do stick out in Seoul.
Then we went shopping around a little bit. We went into a lot of makeup stores because Korean makeup is the best, and because I had a few things that I was running out of so I picked up some of those as well. We went into one store called "the saem" (or something like that) and we have officially dubbed it the "GD store" because he is EVERYWHERE there. GD is a Korean singer and I guess he signed an advertising deal with this brand, but I don't think he knew what he was getting into. His face is on literally everything, and the products that didn't have his face printed got pieces of printer paper with pictures of him taped on the display. It was so sketch, but we found it extremely hilarious and creepy haha. Also, there was an ad of him wearing lipstick. That basically sums up the difference between masculinity and femininity in Korea and in America. Also, SO MANY CUTE CLOTHES. If you need a place to shop for cute, cheap clothes go to Idae!
(SO MANY SNAPBACKS, they are really in style here!)
After walking around for a but we got ice cream, but not just any ice cream! We got nitrogen frozen ice cream, and we saw it being made. The process was super intense and science-y looking, it made me very happy. Also, the ice cream was delicious since it was made fresh right on the spot!
(Super tiny old Korean lady in the background)
But after all that craziness we went to a cafe to relax awhile before me and another friend had to go back to the subway to meet our supporters! A group of supporters took us to the Han river, which is the big river that runs straight through Seoul. It was absolutely beautiful during the day and during night- the skyline is really cool! It was a bit foggy today, but it still looked so nice! Also, we got to see the sunset and the skyline at night as well, so I was really glad that I came. The area alongside the river is really relaxing as well, filled with groups of families and couples and people coming just to hang out for the day. A lot of tents were set up and people were laying on mats and blankets on the ground with coolers and stuff. There are little man made streams about ankle deep next to the sidewalk that you can walk and play around in, and then there are knee deep pools for kids with fountains and stuff. It looks really nice, and the water is all recycled water from the river! Also, there was a bunch of live music being played and light fountain shows at night. It's a really family/group friendly area of Seoul.
While we were there we ordered chicken (apparently eating fried chicken next to te Han river is a really popular thing to do among Koreans. When you get off the subway stop there are a bunch of people giving you fliers advertising various chicken brands. My supporter said they get paid for each flier they hand out, so we amassed around fifty fliers on the way to the river! We had a lot of places to choose from haha). The chicken was really good, as always, so we completely demolished it. Apparently you eat fried chicken with chopsticks here so it was a really interesting experience haha. Since we are the chicken so fast we had to order two pizzas as well. Korean pizza is pretty different from US pizza, so the types that we ordered were sweet potato and bulgogi (beef, essentially). They were interesting to say the least, but they did not taste like pizza.
Then we walked around after pizza and played a bunch of kid games. It was really fun to play around in the cool night air, and everyone had a great time. We played a Korean game that was kind of like red light green light, and then we played sardines (inverse hide and seek) and we hid with random Korean families since it was an open area (lol). Tonight was a lot of fun and I am really glad I went- it's moments like this that make me not want to leave Korea. Sometimes I feel so at home here with the NSLIY people, just exploring and having fun in Seoul. I've done so much here already, but there is just so much to do. I guess I have to just take it in while I can. I'll leave you here with some beautiful pictures of the Han river.
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