ULTIMATE TOURISTS

Last week our school was closed so all the teachers had the week off. Since we recently arrived, this week was the perfect time to begin exploring the city. We spent the week hitting all of the major tourist sights. The following places are some of the stops we made within the week.

Traditional Asian Tea-We went to an old tearoom for traditional afternoon tea in an artsy neighborhood of Seoul. This particular tearoom is known for the live birds that fly around dodging customer’s heads as they drink their tea.   

Seoul Tower-The Seoul Tower (as the name suggests) towers over Seoul providing great views of the city.

Gyeongbokgung Palace-A beautiful palace in the middle of the city that was built in 1395 for the Joseon Dynasty. The traditional Asian architecture is beautiful and so different from what we see in the US.

Namdaemun Market-A huge outdoor market where you can find anything you could ever need or want. You have you bargain with the venders to get the best price. I didn’t make any big purchases but I definitely will be going back once I get my first paycheck!

Fish Market-A HUGE fish market where recently caught fish are laid out on stands all over the warehouse. Each vendor sells their customer the fish and guts it for them right there. You then you take your fresh fish upstairs to a restaurant associated with the market where they cook the fish for you however you like it. We had sashimi, which is thinly cut raw fish that you dip in sauce. Also at the market, they were selling octopus and people were eating it live. Yes…LIVE! We figured; while in Korea do as Koreans do, so we tried some ourselves. Surprisingly it wasn’t all that bad!

Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple-We took a tour of a Buddhist temple where they explained Buddhist ideals, demonstrated a traditional tea ceremony and led us through a short meditation. There were white lanterns all around the temple which represented memories of deceased loved ones. 

Doosan Bears Baseball game- In Korea, baseball teams represent companies instead of cities. We went to a game on a Friday evening, which was awesome. Unfortunately they don’t sell hot dogs at the games, but the beer is really cheap-what I find to be a good trade off. The crowds get really into the game and follow cheers let by the cheerleaders (yes cheerleaders!).