Funny enough the little break to Seoul felt much more like a holiday, than Japan does.
Anyway, I wanted to write a blog while I was there, but was too lazy I guess. Lol.
Seoul was a very mixed experience actually. I have been to Seoul before (attending the Seoul International Youth Film Festival in 2010), but didn't get to see much of the city back then, so wanted to go back and actually see the city this time around.
But I think one of the main reasons it was such a mixed experience, was that I hadn't actually really done any research on what to do in Seoul before going. Stupid! >.<'
Though from asking friends I found a hostel in Hongdae, which was a really good district. The hostel I was staying at was pretty shit though. I mean, the people working there were really cool and it was filled with volunteers, so got to meet a bunch of young people. But for some reason people just couldn't keep quiet in the dorms. My daily rhythm was already pretty fucked before going, so it definitely didn't help me, that the volunteers came into the rooms at 10am and started cleaning. Started vacuuming right under the beds, while listening to loud music and singing/talking really loud.
Seriously, 10am is a biiiit early for that. Especially since they didn't really knock before coming in, which led to a few awkward experiences, when a guy came bursting into the room while I was in underwear. Lol.
I stayed in the same room for 3 nights, but after not being able to sleep, also because a guy was snoring like I've never heard before, I asked to be transferred to another room.
The lack of sleep was really killing my mood too, so I wasn't at all enjoying Seoul. >.<'
The other dorm, a girls dorm, wasn't much better. Okay no one snored like a thunderstorm, but instead a few of them thought turning all the lights on, repacking their bags and singing was perfectly okay at 2am. Urgh....
Anyway, I did a bit of sightseeing ofc. Went to one of the palaces on my first day. I must say the buildings were much prettier than any of the temples here in Tokyo! + I got to see some royal guards, which looked awesome! :'D
Even took a selfie with one :'D
After a few days I was in a super bad mood. Hadn't really talked to anyone except my roommates, who where nice though couldn't speak English very well, so no deep and interesting conversations there...
Except the palace, I really didn't find Seoul very beautiful either... It's just plain... Gray! Ofc it didn't help that the sun seemed more or less absent the whole time. It was hiding behind the clouds :(
So Sunday i moved to a new hostel, or a guesthouse, which at first seemed super creepy. It was basically just a guy who had turned his private apartment into a guesthouse. It was pretty big (had about 4 bedrooms, a big living room, kitchen and 2 bathrooms), but seemed a bit weird being 16 people there... Anyway, I was supposed to meet the owner at 3pm, so after ringing the doorbell for 15 minutes I called him, and apparently he was at a restaurant having lunch, and wanted me to wait for another 10 minutes while he finished his food. Fair enough. But those 10 minutes turned into 40, before he finally showed up, and that's when I found out just how freaking strange the dude was. It's kinda hard to explain, but the way he talked and moved his body while talking, just gave him a really creepy feel. :( I decided to give it one night (had paid for 3), and if it turned out to be as creepy as it seemed it would, I would change hostels.
Came back in the evening and found the place quite full of people. I was still in a bad mood, so my plan was to just go to bed, but ended up talking to one of the guys, an Indian guy from New Zealand (love the mix, hah). After talking for about an hour, we decided to go to the convenience store and buy some beer and soju (korean alcohol, that everyone told me to try, but which btw is freeeeeaking disgusting!!!!), but after drinking that for another hour or so, we decided to go clubbing.... On a Sunday night.
Sounds dull right? Maybe other places, but not in Seoul!
We went to a club called Cocoon in Hongdae (just 2 min walk from the guesthouse). The club was supposed to just be a mediocre club, but when we got inside it was completely packed, and seemed more like a rave party, white it's lazer lights, heavy music and people going crazy on the floor, stage and poles.... Just a normal club in Seoul though. Lol
I ended up going completely crazy, dancing with everyone, steeling all the guys hats (I thought it was funny they were wearing hats at a club), pulling girls to the dance floor, had dance-offs with guys, chased a guard around the club, spilled more or less every single drink on either the floor, myself or someone else. Urgh, I'm never going to be able to show my face there again, oh well. It was worth it! ;D
Sun going down and a guy doing a water-bubble show!
I ended up staying at the guesthouse for 3 nights. The creepy owner only showed up shortly in the morning and the evening, and I didn't talk to him at all, so decided it wouldn't be a problem staying.
The second week of my stay in Seoul was great. Started out with that clubbing experience, and the day after I met up with a friend, whom I had met back at the SIYFF camp. I hadn't actually talked to him for 4 years, so meeting up was a bit of a gamble. I mean, it could have turned out a bit awkward, not having anything to talk about, etc.
But I must say, I rarely meet someone I get along with so easily. After spending a few hours drinking coffee and talking he invited me to come play poker with his friends in the evening.
So at 11pm I met up with him and his friends, played poker for a few hours and then went to eat and watch football! :D
The second palace I saw was much more impressive than the first one. The buildings were even bigger and even more beautiful, and ofc it did make it even better that there was a mountain in the background.
With my mood 100 times better now, I set out to have a look at Seoul again! Despite still being rather gray everything was much more interesting. It was still a bit of a struggle eating out, since for some reason most of the restaurants only had menus for 2 or more people, so it turned out quite expensive to eat out, and I always ended up with waaaay too much food!
Korean street food - so god damn good!
Mid week I met up with a girl whom I had also met at Seoul International Youth Film Featival 4 years prior. We walked around the area where the camp had been, saw the old buildings and the park where we had shot our film. Things had changed quite a bit, but it really brought back a lot of great memories!
We went to a more traditional part of Seoul, where we got to try the korean national dress, the Hanbok!
We went to a korean restaurant for dinner and ordered a korean dish called "soondae", which I guess is blood sausage with noodles... Or something! :'D
The cook found out I hadn't had it before, so he brought us two extra dishes for free, so I could try a bit of everything. Naaaaawh ^_^
Om nom nom.... This was before the last dish arrived though, nomnomnom!!!!
I had at this point changes hostel to a place in Itaewon. Itaewon is known as the foreigner town of Seoul. So when I got back to my hostel I (maybe not too) surprisingly met another Danish girl. After talking for an hour or so, we decided to go grab a beer. On our way to the bar, we met a group of people (one of them Danish, the others American and korean), whom she had met a few days earlier. They all own/work at a restaurant together. They had just finished work and were headed for dinner and beer, is we decided to tag along. The restaurant is called Libertine, and serves really good American food (their burgers are seriously good!), so if you're ever in Seoul and need a break from korean food, check it out!
Anyway, we all went to a korean BBQ restaurant, but unfortunately I was still too stuffed from the food earlier to try any :( but it looked good!
Soooo much food!
Instead we ordered a bunch of beers and soju. Urgh, I dunno why I fra soju again. I has already come to the conclusion that that stuff is so bad, so why on earth I had some again, I don't know. And I especially don't know why on earth I started having a soju-drinking-competition with one of the guys. :( worst idea ever!!!!
A few hours and too many beers and shots of soju later, I convinced two of the guys to go clubbing with me. I think we were all quite drunk at this point, 'cause apparently none of us thought having three jägerbombs each was a bad idea.... It was!
The following few ours are a bit blurry. I don't remember much more than puking and crying. Lol :( I had a bit of a fml moment! Fuck soju! Never ever again!!!!! I honestly had a hangover for two days after that... :( but hey, I made a bunch of new friends! ;D
My second last day I Seoul (my first day with a bad hangover), I met up with Gun (my SIYFF friend) again. We rented bikes and rode around the Han River. That was by far one of the coolest things I've done on this trip. The scenery was beautiful (the city skyline and a river), the weather great and the place filled with active people!
Ohhh, seriously if you ever go to Korea, you need to do it. And order chicken afterwards, lol. It's funnnn!!!! :'D
On my last day I went to the Ewha Women's University. I had it written on my list of things to see in Seoul, but hadn't seen it yet, so decided it might as well be the last thing I saw. I'm so happy I went!!!
The place is SO BIG and SO BEAUTIFUL!!!
All the buildings look like castles, except for the underground classrooms (which are seen in the pic above). Everything was green and relaxed. The whole place had such an interesting and relaxed feel to it, and I honestly felt like quitting my trip and starting school. It was so inspiring!
A better picture of the underground classrooms. You can really see how GIANT the place is. Look how small the doors and people are. :O
The place is so big, it actually has it own bus to transport people around. Lol. Whaaaat the fuck. Why don't we have any universities like this?!?
Actually some of the buildings kinda reminded me of some if the universities I saw in Oxford, England.
Seriously... I'm out of words... The CENTRAL library.,. That means there are more libraries than just this one... Wow
I wonder how many books fit in there :'D
After spending a few hours wandering the place, I went back to Itaewon and had the burger at Libertine. Omnomnom. And ended my trip with a beer in the roof of my hostel, with a few people.
Such a beautiful view!
So my trip to Seoul turned out to be quite good, and I had a hard time saying goodbye to the place :(
So long Seoul, looking forwards to next time! - next time I will be more prepared ;D <3
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