Out and About in Seoul

After a busy and exhausting first week of school, and a long shopping trip at E-mart last night, I was about ready to throw in the towel and spend my Saturday sleeping in and lounging around. In Spokane, this choice would have been a no-brainer. Thankfully, I am not in Spokane and so I set the alarm for 7 am and was ready to board the bus by 8 for a tour of Seoul. Our tour guides for today were Jack and Edie Moon, both of whom have grown up overseas and lived in Seoul for longer than I have been alive. Edie looks like a typical American drama teacher, but one quickly discovers that she is probably more Korean than many of my Korean-American students, much to our benefit. Edie and Jack are both filled with information, stories, history, and a love for Korea...it doesn't hurt that Edie also speaks Korean fluently.

After a short stop at a Starbucks, the group was ready to roll! Jack and Edie pointed out palaces, city gates, markets, and other landmarks. As I listened intently to their wealth of knowledge, my list of places to visit and things to do grew exponentially. This took us to our major stop of the morning. I have visited the Space Needle in Seattle, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris...I can now add Seoul Tower to my list.

Namsan Tower (A.K.A. Seoul Tower)

When you approach the tower the first thing you notice, other than the tower itself, are the mesh sculptures of suspended people. The sculptures were just cool!

You also cannot miss the fences and metal trees covered in "love locks"Apparently, this is what people do to profess their love for one another--I can imagine it now, "Oh honey, I love you. Let's put a lock on this fence."?! Check it out...

Love Locks

Close up of the locks and tags

The view from the top of Seoul tower is pretty amazing and we were lucky to go up on a fairly clear day. Each window pane lists cities of the world located in that direction and tells you how far away they are. As I looked at each one I realized exactly how far away from home I am!

One of the many views

It's a long way down!

Paris, London? I'll take either!

More of Seoul

Okay, so this sign refers to Washington D.C., but I'm cool with that!

Before we went up the tower we were told specifically where to look for the best view. Here it is folks...

Yes, that's the ladies room entrance

Not a bad view, right? Apparently the men's room has the primo view, but I wasn't about to barge in and find out!

From Seoul Tower, the bus took us to Itaewon. In the last week I learned that many of my students live in this area and it's very close to the military base. This is where the foreigners go to hang out and shop--and there are plenty of opportunities for both. We visited a Korean furniture shop, frame shop, and ate at a fun little restaurant called the Flying Pan Blue. The menu is filled with delicious pancakes, sandwiches, and other desserts. Never being one to pass up an opportunity for ice cream (plus it was a VERY warm day), I happily ordered the house special. Yum! I will definitely be visiting Itaewon many times in the future and I'll be sure to stop into the Flying Pan for a tasty treat!

Definitely not traditional Korean food.