A few firsts....

Fun on the Han River:

The Han River runs through Seoul and divides the city into its northern and southern region. In Korea’s history, the Han river has played an important role in the development of the capital city. This river serves as a place of escape, where people can go to in order to enjoy the weather, have a nice walk and other activities. Along the 41.5 kilometer river, are many parks where people can participate in soccer, volleyball, basketball, swimming, water skiing, yachting, boating, and fishing.

These pictures are my first (of hopefully many) experiences on the Han river. We rode these cute, little swans. (Side story: We lost control of the little swan and the current kept taking us out further away from the dock. The main guy kept calling us back but since we don't know Korean (yet...hehe), we had to use our made-up sign language to signal that he needed to come get us. I don't think he was very happy with us. ) :)

The river is very nice. Sometimes after work I go walk around and take pictures. I hope to go on a boat cruise soon, too.

Some shots of the river...

 The swan rides:

 Riding in the swans....

 Lifejackets are so attractive.

 The little old man had to bring us back!

A picture I took during one of my walks by the river after work.

 Dancing

 I had to document my first time going out dancing in Seoul! I went with Sarah, a friend I made on the subway. It turns out she lives in my neighborhood! This is us at Monkey Beach. The music was okay and I danced a little bit but I mostly did a lot of people watching:) 

Noraebang

Noraebang translates into English as "song room" or "singing room." Unlike Karaoke, Noraebang lets you rent out a singing room for a few hours. The singing room has lots of couches, big screen TVS, microphones, party lights and singing props (such as tamborines) so you can sing your heart out with your family and friends. Now, I had heard a lot about Norebang before coming to Korea and I cannot believe it took me a month and a half to finally do this!  If you know me, then you know I love singing and karaoke and pretending I'm an 80s pop star. I went with Sarah and a few people that we met at Monkey Beach. We sang and danced for about 3.5  hours and it was SO MUCH FUN. I can't wait for my sister to visit as I know she will LOVE this! I plan on doing this many more times and I'm hoping to bring this bit of Korean culture to the Americas...(I know all of my relatives would enjoy it!) .:)

Chuseok Holiday: Part 2

Over the Chuseok Holiday, I also visited the palaces. 

• Built in 1395, Gyeongbokgung Palace is also referred to as the “Northern Palace” because it is located more toward the north, compared to the neighboring palaces of Changdeokgung (Eastern Palace) and Gyeongheegung (Western Palace).\
• The premises were destroyed by fire at the time of the Japan's occupation of Korea during 1592-1598. However, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Heungseondaewongun in the years of King Gojong (1852~1919) .  
• The National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum are also located very close to the palaces.

The entrance:

Performances:

 Beautiful designs:

A mother and daughter wearing Hanbok, traditional Korean clothing (more on this in the future, hopefully after I purchase one) :)

Chuseok Holiday: Part 1

One of the most important holidays in Korea is Chuseok (추석), the Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving. This year, Chuseok fell on September 22nd.  The day before and after Chuseok Day were also included in the holiday and my school gave us an extra day off which meant a 6-day break (including the weekend). This happened a week or so after I got here so it gave me a nice time to be a super-tourist and check out the city.

Facts about Chuseok:

*a time when family members gather to honor their ancestors (paying a visit to ancestors' graves, etc).

*Chuseok falls on the day of the brightest full moon of the year (15th of August according to the lunar calendar).

*On the morning of Chuseok, the ancestral rites table is prepared, including songpyun (or songpyeon)

The Friday before the Chuseok holiday (September 17th), my school had a little celebration for the kids. In each of the classes, we made songpyun (rice cakes in the shape of half-moon). Songpyun rice cakes contain different kinds of sweet fillings such as sesame seeds, honey, sweet red bean paste and chestnut paste.

During my days off, I visited a few different places:

The Children's Grand Park (I live a couple of minutes away from this) We walked around it and took pictures but it was rainy so we didn't go on any of the rides (but I will soon!)

Yes, elephants at the park (and lots of other animals like monkeys, jaguars, etc).

The National Museum of Korea:

Bumping and Grinding (on the subway)

The Seoul Metropolitan Subway (수도권 전철) is one of the most heavily used rapid transit systems in the world, with over 8 million trips daily on the system's thirteen lines.

Before I came here, I was very nervous about using the subway system. I am great with directions with driving but when it comes to subway systems, not so much.
I can handle DC's subway and that's basically the only subway (metro) system that I've used on my own (and somehow I've still managed to end up going the wrong way and making my mom and I get lost, whoops). Any other city, I usually follow the leader (my sister, Leslie, etc). And don't even get me started on the subway system in NYC. For some reason, I get so confused every time I go there (thankfully Annie and Kim know everything about NYC). So yes, I was nervous. I downloaded an app on my phone before I came here and was already overwhelmed just by looking at it!

Thankfully, the subway stops are posted and announced in English, too! (Sometimes, the stops are also announced and posted in Chinese and Japanese).  I started using the subway my second day here. I had (and still have) my awesome, super-tourist, foreigner-stamped-on-my-forehead subway map AND my Seoul subway app with me at all times. They must be working because I haven't gotten lost or gone the wrong direction at all! Go me!

Subway cards:

Also, the subways stations are all very clean and organized. There's almost always a little convenience shop (such as a 7-11 or GS 25) and there's always some sort of shopping to do while waiting for the next train.

Wangsimni station:

Shops at the Myeondong subway station (shoes, bags, leggings and all sorts of other things...)

My subway stop:

Needless to say, these trains are CROWDED. I commute to work and it takes me about 40 minutes or so including transfers. The subway is crowded all the time but nothing compares to my morning and afternoon commute. I almost never get a seat and the trains are stuffed with lots and lots of people. With all of the people and all the trains' turns, you're all over people and they are all over you, bumping and grinding. ;-)

Surprisingly, all the crowding doesn't bother me quite yet. I guess it's just all part of the experience (and I must still be in the "Wow, everything here is so neat," phase) :).