Here is my host, Yeseul and her brother. I spent my first 5 nights in Korea at her house. Some things about Korea that I found surprising were 1). the cold (about -8C at the time) 2). street vendors (you can never find these in Japan) 3). the cheap transportation fees (never was more than a 1$ to ride the train around). I guess I've been in Japan too long, because it was really surprising to see people holding hands in public or even talking on the subway. As a whole Korea was a much more open society than Japan and I think that was something that I really enjoyed after these past 4 months.
As far as sights, I never left Seoul, but there was really no reason to. The city is exceptionally large and comparable to Tokyo. Karaoke, Clubs, Castles, Seoul Tower, really good food, and great shopping areas. All-in-all there was so much to do there, but I'll single out a few events with the next few pictures.
First up is Seoul Tokyo. And the view from it. Couple go up to the tower (high on a mountain in the center of the city) and write their names on locks and clip them to the fence up by the tower.
This castle was originally built sometime in the 15th century I believe. It is surrounded by all kinds of art museums and even an Owl museum. The river in this picture is made up entirely of tap water, but I didn't quite understand the story behind it.
We also visited a public bath, which was nice for all the saunas, hot tubs, ice rooms, massage machines, and the best of all, a tub full of fish that eat all the dead skin off your feet (ticklish people beware). Second is a man giving out haircuts in the subway station of all places. And then lastly is a flashy shopping district (though all these buildings are selling fake goods).
Lastly, we have some food (Korean food is generally very spicy and every food is served in a separate dish, so by the end of the meal, 4 people can easily leave a mess of 30+ dishes). Next a view of the airport on my departure day. A shady shopping area that cropped up around the US military base in Seoul (I tearfully witness a cat get run over here!) and finally a view of the city at night.
Perhaps the best part of my visit was that friends from UVa were also in Seoul and we all had the chance to visit (actually I spent my last 5 days at one of their houses there). So in all, even though I was in Korea for the holidays, having all those friends there made it feel much more like home than Tokyo could ever have.
