SEOULed Out!

Although my exhaustion has reached a level of delerium, I am choosing to write about our 4-day trip to Seoul while it is still fresh on my mind. The trip was a lot of fun, but boy did we cram a lot into those four days?! Monday we departed the
University around 10 AM and headed to Everland, Korea's largest theme park...which is owned and operated by Samsung. The park was a reminiscent of Disney World or similar places like that in the U.S. There were many of rides and attractions
to keep our interest but at the end I think everyone was more than ready to leave. After a long day of travel and a theme park we arrived at the International Youth Hostel in Seoul. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the hostel was. I have
never stayed in a hostel yet I had built up this horrible image in my head from what I have heard and seen on TV. I think I slept better at the hostel than I have slept since I arrived in Korea. Tuesday was a day of museums and tours. We visited the National Museum of Korea and also the ASAN Medical Complex where many medical students from the University of Ulsan study. The Dongdaemun Market is where we spent Tuesday evening shopping before attending a B-boy performance at Hongik
University. Our last full day in Seoul was Wednesday and we had even MORE tours. Wednesday was exceptionally hot and sunny so both the tours were very uncomfortable as unluckily for us- BOTH were outdoors. The first was a walking tour of the Blue House...I am not sure if the President of South Korea lives in the Blue House but I do know that he conducts a lot of business there.
Although it was so very hot, the gardens and buildings were amazingly beautiful and students were able to take great photos. After the Blue House we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and then went shopping again in the Insa-dong area. The Insa-dong district was a really neat place to shop because there were more traditional Korean shops there. I was able to buy really nice, unique gifts for my family and friends back home rather than the cheesy souvenirs sold in most other areas. Today (Thursday) was the day we left Seoul to return to Ulsan. I think today was the most anticipated day because we were scheduled to visit the border of North/South Korea and tour the De-Militarized Zone. The rain kept us from experiencing the full tour but we were still able to see the border and the JSA (38th Parallel). It was really interesting to see how things operate at the border. A lot of trees, bodies of water, and buildings at the border are shared between both Koreas and others are designated to each according to color. South Korean buildings are painted bright blue and North Korean properties are gray. I also learned that North Korea has sort of an obession with displaying their self-proclaimed greatness over their southern neighbors. For instance, when South Korea constructed their 100m tall flagpole, North Korean fired back with building a flagpole 150m so it would tower over South Korea's. Anyway...after the tour we changed buses and headed home to Ulsan. Because I am homesick I did not really think that I would miss Ulsan while in Seoul but I did! My dorm has officially become comfortable and my "home" away from home, I guess. The trip to Seoul was a culture cram for sure but I really appreciate the fact that we DID get to see so much in such a short amount of time. Tomorrow we have class and then leave for our homestays with Korean families so my next blog should come shortly after my return...