Ten Days in South Korea (Part I)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Well first, let be preface this by saying two things:
1. If given the opportunity to travel to another country (*preferably not Canada or Mexico), take it, its the experience of a lifetime.
2. I haven't written in awhile, so expect this to be long.
I'm finally back, and I'm glad about it. Korean foods and smells were starting to bug me, and my funds were running low. Korea may not have been a key spring-break destination, but it was fun nonetheless, we didn't party hardcore, though we did party. The reason I say "not key" is just because getting sloshed is alot more fun on the beach, not because of the drinking age (because we didn't get carded once at the liquor stores, only at the clubs :/).
Anyways, I'll do this sort of systematically.
First off, The Flight:
It was long. The way there was about a day or so, counting layovers and whatnot. The food was less than desirable, conditions were cramped, it was hard to sleep, etc. On the upside, international flights include a "Personal Video System" on the back of the seat in front of you, so we all enjoyed movies like Casino Royale, Happy Feet, and Deja Vu on our way to and from South Korea.
Upon arrival, we went through customs (your shit gets searched, fill out a few forms, get passport stamped, blah blah blah), and were off on our way to our dwelling for the next few days, Dan's Aunt's apartment:
The apartment was located in a somewhat remote area of Seoul. So we had to pay quite a bit to get around sometimes. Taxi and subway are the primary modes of transportation in Korea, and I think its safe to say that each of us spent in the range of $100+ on transportation on our trip. Anyway, the apartment was quaint. A small, cozy little place with no bed. In Korea, everyone sleeps on the floor (Seriously, we went to a five-star hotel, used the keycard to open our room, and found 2 legless chairs, and a blanket, ready to be rolled out onto the floor). Dan's aunt was a very religious woman, in fact at some point in her life she had considered the celibate status of nun. That said, the house was filled with religious icons. She had a statue of Mary, pictures of Jesus, candles, a chalice, robe, communion wafers, bells, and a few other choice instruments of god. We could have said a mass had we wanted to. Needless to say, we fucked with all that shit, and everyone had a few drinks while Jesus was watching.
The next day, we met with Dan's uncle OJ and his friend Wendy, who would be joining us on some sightseeing. But I'm too tired to finish this now, and I have a shitload of homework. More in part 2!
Posted byJoe at 8:32 AM
Labels: break, country, culture, five, flying, foreign, hotel, korea, south, spring, star, travel
