Quirky Korea
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Albert
19 September 2012 | Zuid-Korea, Gyeongju
Let me start this blog with a confession: if you asked me where Korea was a year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to point it out on a map. I’d probably point to somewhere near Cambodia, or Vietnam. I never thought I would visit this country. Yet here I am!
I’ve been in Korea’s capital, Seoul, for a couple of days now, together with my classmate Jojanne and her friend Temilja. I’m in a constant state of confusion, caused partly by mild jetlag symptoms, partly by Korea’s quirky culture. Here’s some of the weird stuff we’ve been doing during the last days:
1. Animal cafe’s
Seoul has a lot of weird cafes, of which we found two examples already: the cat cafe, and the fish cafe. The first cafe is near our hostel, and is called ‘Hello Cat Cafe’’. The name says it all: it’s a cafe which is filled with cats. For 8000 won (about 5 euros), you can play with the cats, and you get a free drink. Jojanne fell in love with a naked cat in a little dress, Temilja and I preferred a lazy grey specimen. One of the cats tried to escape when we arrived, and we could see why: some of the customers (the cafe appeals to mostly young couples who are out on a date, apparantly) were teasing the cats. I almost felt I should say something to them, but then I remembered that I’m a dog person. Also, I don’t think Koreans can handle direct critique very well.
The second weird cafe is the opposite of the cat cafe: it’s the fish cafe! Our guide who found this gem was Randall, a Euroculture graduate from the States, who had lived in Seoul for a while. He told us about future perspectives, while drinking coffee in the cafe. For only 2000 won (about 1,50 euros) extra, we were allowed to feed the fish… WITH OUR FEET! THEY ATE OUR FEET! Did you ever see a spa where little fish eat the dead cells from peoples feet? This was the same, only the fish were twice as big. It tickled.
2. Extreme weather
I forgot to say: duriing all this fish-feeding, there was a typhoon outside. We survived. Our socks are still wet though.
3. Meeting the locals
When I was in Uppsala, there was a girl from Seoul in my choir. I asked her if she wanted to show us around, and she did. Min took us out to eat traditional Korean food for breakfast, to drink traditional tea in an old bath house and for street food at a big inside market. It was all really, really good, although some things are very spicy here. We’re starting to master eating with chopsticks though! Also, we ate a squid. A friend one, we’re still a bit affraid to try a living octopus tentacle (it squiggles in your mouth). Who knows, we might do it in the next few days. My new favorite kitchen utensil from now on is a common pair of scissors, by the way. Cutting noodles and squid has never been easier!
After saying goodbye to Min, we took a subway (where we met an 85-year old man who said the key to a long and healthy life is “getting medicine from America each month, from my friend Hilary Clinton). We went out at the outskirts of Seoul, where we were invited to a family dinner at the house of the family of our friend and fellow Euroculture student Eunjin, who’s in Uppsala right now. Her sister had arranged a full dinner, which we ate with great pleasure. It was wonderful to meet Eunjin’s sister, her husband and child, her brothers- and sisters –in-law and their children. They told us that for many of them, this was the first time they had met a foreigner. This fact didn’t surprise us, as we haven’t seen many non-Korean people here, even in the most touristic areas. After seeing Eunjin baby pictures and her sister’s wedding video (very special! My personal favourite part of a Korean wedding is when the groom gives his mom and mother-in-law a piggy-back-ride), we went home.
4. Lots of other stuff.
I could go on forever, but this story is quite long already. Other special thigs we did include: visiting an ancient castle, going to Gangnam (Gangnam style!), seeing a white egret (reiger) and lots of big fish in a quiet stream that runs through the busy city, drinking a cappuccino with the foam shaped as a cute bear, etc, etc. Now we are on the bus to Gyeongju, which is further down south, together wth a Brazilian guy, Victor, who we met at our hostel. A fellow bus passenger just sang us a Korean song and read the palms of our future. Jojanne will have two boys, I’ll have a great future in something (?), Temilja will reach the respectable age of 112 years and Victor will die young. You can’t have it all, I guess. Talk to you later guys!
x0x0
Albert
PS. From Sunday on, we’ll be in Japan already!
I’ve been in Korea’s capital, Seoul, for a couple of days now, together with my classmate Jojanne and her friend Temilja. I’m in a constant state of confusion, caused partly by mild jetlag symptoms, partly by Korea’s quirky culture. Here’s some of the weird stuff we’ve been doing during the last days:
1. Animal cafe’s
Seoul has a lot of weird cafes, of which we found two examples already: the cat cafe, and the fish cafe. The first cafe is near our hostel, and is called ‘Hello Cat Cafe’’. The name says it all: it’s a cafe which is filled with cats. For 8000 won (about 5 euros), you can play with the cats, and you get a free drink. Jojanne fell in love with a naked cat in a little dress, Temilja and I preferred a lazy grey specimen. One of the cats tried to escape when we arrived, and we could see why: some of the customers (the cafe appeals to mostly young couples who are out on a date, apparantly) were teasing the cats. I almost felt I should say something to them, but then I remembered that I’m a dog person. Also, I don’t think Koreans can handle direct critique very well.
The second weird cafe is the opposite of the cat cafe: it’s the fish cafe! Our guide who found this gem was Randall, a Euroculture graduate from the States, who had lived in Seoul for a while. He told us about future perspectives, while drinking coffee in the cafe. For only 2000 won (about 1,50 euros) extra, we were allowed to feed the fish… WITH OUR FEET! THEY ATE OUR FEET! Did you ever see a spa where little fish eat the dead cells from peoples feet? This was the same, only the fish were twice as big. It tickled.
2. Extreme weather
I forgot to say: duriing all this fish-feeding, there was a typhoon outside. We survived. Our socks are still wet though.
3. Meeting the locals
When I was in Uppsala, there was a girl from Seoul in my choir. I asked her if she wanted to show us around, and she did. Min took us out to eat traditional Korean food for breakfast, to drink traditional tea in an old bath house and for street food at a big inside market. It was all really, really good, although some things are very spicy here. We’re starting to master eating with chopsticks though! Also, we ate a squid. A friend one, we’re still a bit affraid to try a living octopus tentacle (it squiggles in your mouth). Who knows, we might do it in the next few days. My new favorite kitchen utensil from now on is a common pair of scissors, by the way. Cutting noodles and squid has never been easier!
After saying goodbye to Min, we took a subway (where we met an 85-year old man who said the key to a long and healthy life is “getting medicine from America each month, from my friend Hilary Clinton). We went out at the outskirts of Seoul, where we were invited to a family dinner at the house of the family of our friend and fellow Euroculture student Eunjin, who’s in Uppsala right now. Her sister had arranged a full dinner, which we ate with great pleasure. It was wonderful to meet Eunjin’s sister, her husband and child, her brothers- and sisters –in-law and their children. They told us that for many of them, this was the first time they had met a foreigner. This fact didn’t surprise us, as we haven’t seen many non-Korean people here, even in the most touristic areas. After seeing Eunjin baby pictures and her sister’s wedding video (very special! My personal favourite part of a Korean wedding is when the groom gives his mom and mother-in-law a piggy-back-ride), we went home.
4. Lots of other stuff.
I could go on forever, but this story is quite long already. Other special thigs we did include: visiting an ancient castle, going to Gangnam (Gangnam style!), seeing a white egret (reiger) and lots of big fish in a quiet stream that runs through the busy city, drinking a cappuccino with the foam shaped as a cute bear, etc, etc. Now we are on the bus to Gyeongju, which is further down south, together wth a Brazilian guy, Victor, who we met at our hostel. A fellow bus passenger just sang us a Korean song and read the palms of our future. Jojanne will have two boys, I’ll have a great future in something (?), Temilja will reach the respectable age of 112 years and Victor will die young. You can’t have it all, I guess. Talk to you later guys!
x0x0
Albert
PS. From Sunday on, we’ll be in Japan already!
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
