South Korea part 2

I had two days to explore Seoul itself. Here we go.

Seoul itself is quite hilly, and it has a large variety of buildings. They look very small to western eyes, with short stories, much like Tokyo. But some are built to a larger scale, like Chinese cities.

I spent some time clothes shopping in the Gangnam district, which is pretty famous for this. I found mostly expensive international luxury brands, and then a bunch of shops selling very cheap stuff (usually 10,000-20,000 won, or $10-$20). Goto mall is a giant long corridor of small stalls.

I also went to Namdaemun, which is similar but colder since it's outside... and also has food.

Speaking of food, I went to Itaewon to a vegan restaurant called The Plant Cafe & Kitchen. I listed all my dietary restrictions and they managed to make something for me. It was great. I went twice.

It's in a very hilly district though!

I'm told that Itaewon has a lot of international people, because it's where a US army base is. A lot of people speak English there, and a lot of young people live there as well. It's also where the War Memorial of Korea is, which I visited my second time in the area.

It's amazing to think that North Korea is so close and that the war has never really ended. I spent some time speaking with a young man who spent time in the army (mandatory service) and got some interesting perspectives. The North is a lot more capable than we sometimes think in the west. All North IP addresses are blocked in the South, for fear of hacks, but they still happen.

Standing here, the cold war feels very close. The future of the world could go any way, and Korea has to be flexible to adapt to it. I felt a sense of optimism but also a great weight of history.

The memorial has many soldiers' names. Many Americans. I can see how that bond was forged. Although, the US did kinda invade Korea once, a while ago...

The memorial has a great circular timeline with western and eastern (Chinese) history overlaid.

And lots of paraphernalia.

As I was leaving,

a young Korean woman started talking to me in decent English. I wasn't sure why at first, but I think she just wanted to practice talking. We actually had a great conversation while waiting for transportation. I'll have to try Tteokguk sometime. I was kind of surprised that she was so nice because in general, Koreans seem to not mind swearing at each other or pushing their way through a crowd. But I guess there has to be something to balance this out!

Goodbye, South Korea. I hope I return sometime.