Hey all,
After a day off, here is the final installment of the Wolfish Winter Vacation posts, with the action moving from Japan back to South Korea.
December 30:
We arrived at the Gimpo airport in Seoul late on Wednesday night and eventually made our way to the newly renamed Ambassador hotel.
December 31:
After exploring one of the more glorious breakfast buffet spreads I've ever seen, we made our way to the subway. An hour and a half later we were in Suwon, ready to head off to my school. Mom, Dad, and Robyn got to meet one of my 4th grade classes, as well as my co-teacher and then we had lunch at school. I'm pretty sure most of my female students will return from winter vacation dressed like Robyn, they absolutely loved her; the same goes for Mom and Dad. It was definitely a worthwile visit, as I'm sure they'll tell you. After show and tell at school we headed back to my apartment, so I could give everyone a better sense of where I live and what everyday life is like. I gave everyone a little tour of my neighborhood area and naturally we ended up at the mall across the street. Unfortunately time was running short and the weather was a little too cold outside to go to Hwaseong Fortress, but maybe we'll go during the next visit. We headed back to Seoul for a little rest before New Year's Eve dinner. After dinner we parted ways (Mom and Dad have never really been the type to stay up past midnight). I went to meet up with friends at Bosingak (the Bell tower, one location in Seoul where New Year's festivities take place). We had a great time celebrating and it was nice to be with friends, I know that was a little tough for Robyn, which I completely understand. The only downside of fully enjoying the New Year's festivities is the lack of sleep, which I made up for the next day.
January 1:
Much thanks to Mom and Dad for allowing me to get all of my beauty sleep, I promise I wouldn't have been much fun to be around had I been awoken from my slumber. While I slept, Mom, Dad and Robyn went to explore Insadong and Gwanghwamun and when I finally woke up, I went to meet up with some friends in Myeongdong, where we all eventually got together for a delicious bulgogi dinner.
January 2:
We started our day off by going to the Yongsan Electronics Market, which is one of the most overwhelming places I have ever been. It's basically floor after floor of electronics, everything you could imagine. My goal was to replace my camera, which I did successfully, and I also found a larger external hard drive. From Yongsan we made our way to Gyeongbokgong, which I had been to in the fall, but in winter time it is a changed place. It's very serene and there is a natural beauty that's different than what you see in different seasons. We had lunch in Insadong and then continued on to Changdeokgong, which is on the opposite side of the are from Gyeongbokgong. Changdeokgong was also gorgeous in the winter time, especially the Secret Garden, which I'm sure is also incredible during spring and summer. Both palaces were enjoyed by all, but after spending most of the day outside in cold weather we were ready to head inside and even though they didn't say anything, I could tell Mom and Robyn were itching to look at some more Korean fashion trends. So, naturally I took them to Dongdaemum. Dad and I lasted a very suprising half an hour, then we parted ways and met up for dinner. Most of us called it an early night to prepare for our early morning wake up.
January 3:
DMZ day. We boarded our bus headed north at 7:40 am, not a time most of us are used to seeing on a Sunday. Our first stop on the DMZ tour was Doraksan, the last train station in South Korea, which they one day hope will connect passenger trains from Pyeongyang in the North to Seoul and further south. Even Dubya made a trip to Doraksan and they have his autographed cement slab in the relatively new Hall of Fame at the station. After Doraksan we went to an observatory that looks out on North Korean mountains and "Propaganda Village," a village that North Korea set up to show off the happy people living the North Korean life, but in actuality no one lives there. Following the observatory we went to Panmujeon, the 3rd tunnel, which was another area I didn't go my first time in Paju. The first thing you do at Panmujeon is watch a movie on the history of the tunnels. Unfortunately Dad's headphones were broken so I lent him mine and watched the movie in Japanese. After the movie we got to go into the tunnel. To get to the bottom you have to take a monorail car, not quite as fun as Paul Bunyan's Log Chute or the Matterhorn, but it worked well. Once we were at the bottom you had to be really careful not to hit your head on the tunnel walls or piping that had been installed. Mom could be heard adjusting her helmet a few times and most people were walking around at a 45 degree angle. To exit the tunnel you could either take the car back up or walk it, which Dad I decided to do, being the menly men that we are. There was only minor weezing at the top, but I'm pretty sure we were both glad that we walked it. We had a bulgogi lunch and then we were on our way home. On the bus ride back to Seoul I finally figured out why buses always keep the heat on: so that everyone on board can go effortlessly into nap mode (I finally get it Dave). We arrived back in Seoul with plenty of daylight left to continue exploring so we headed for Cheonggyecheon (the recently uncovered stream as part of beautification project downtown) after one last shopping excursion. It's too bad we didn't stay later because the whole are is lit up beautifully at night, but that's for another time. We made a large circle down to City Hall, where the winter Haechis were up on display and then headed back to our hotel. For dinner we ended up in Insadong at a delicious restaurant where we had an enormous pot of noodles and clams as well as mandu.
January 4:
Everyone awoke to more snow falling in Seoul and unfortunately that limited our options for exploring. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to the Namsagol Hanok Village, a traditional Korean folk village. There is a stark difference in snow maintenance between Korea and home. We saw men shoveling with planks of wood, cardboard boxes, and dustpans. Instead of shoveling the snow out of the way, many people just sweep it to the side. Needless to say the paths throughout the village were covered in snow but we endured. Mom and Robyn were troopers and they were rewarded with Dunkin Donuts and a movie. Sherlock Holmes was enjoyable, a little ridiculous at different parts in the movie, but entertaining. Following the movie we went to a Vietnamese place for lunch. Robyn got her fill of dim sum and the rest of us shared some good pho and fried rice. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to grab our bags and then we said our goodbyes. Mom, Dad, and Robyn had their own mini-adventure getting to their hotel in Incheon, while I was everyone's biggest fan on the subway with my bags.
The past week was a nice little vacation, it gave me time to decompress from our travels and organize myself for winter camp, which started today. So, it's back to work and the daily grind, I know I'm already looking forward to my next getaway.
iPod A-Z song update: "Raspberry Beret" by Prince
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