Foray into Seoul

Yesterday I met up with my new foreigner friends for my first trip to Seoul!
I met up with one of them at about 4 and we got on the bus to take it to the city, where we could catch the subway to the World Cup stadium to see a soccer/football game of FC Seoul vs. Daegu FC. The bus ride took forEVER because of heavy traffic into Seoul. And for some reason the express bus never came so we had to get on a different one which added more time.

Before we got the bus, Kevin helped me buy a pre-pay bus card, called, to my delight, a 'T-Money' card. This makes it much easier to take the bus and subway. It only costs 1000 won or less for each trip, for the most part, so the 10,000 won I put on it will last me a long time. It's some kind of electronic thing so you just touch the card to the reader when you get on and off the bus, and it will deduct the fare automatically. Buses will also take cash, but if you are riding the subway you have to buy a temporary card because they only have card readers at the turnstiles. So it really just makes more sense to get a T-Money card. Plus it's really convenient and even some taxi drivers accept them as fare.

So anyway, once we got off the extremely long bus ride, we got on the subway for a few stops. In the small amount of experience I've had with subway systems around the world, I have found that they are all pretty dang easy to figure out. Seoul is no exception. There are signs clearly posted everywhere telling you where the train is going. They are also angliczied so you can figure out what they say if you can't read Hangul. I noticed the stations and trains themselves were all remarkably clean. I was impressed. The only negative thing about the subway tunnels is that apparently in Korea it is not considered rude to push and shove your way through the crowd. So an old man pushed me and I was a bit taken aback, until Kevin explained this to me. Another cultural nuance that you can only learn by experience.

The tunnels were extremely crowded so there was a lot of this going on. The other thing that sucked was that there were a lot of stairs. Normally it wouldn't matter but Taekwondo was an extreme workout on Friday and my hamstrings are still pretty sore, so going up stairs was a bit difficult. But it was funny because as I joined the throngs of people going up or down the stairs in a straight and orderly fashion I kept thinking about the opening scenes of Metropolis. Again, I'm a huge nerd.

(in case you aren't familiar with this most famous of German Expressionist films, see clip below)



Anyway we finally made it to the stadium. We were walking up to it just as the game started, so we missed the first 5 minutes or so. But it was Foreigner Appreciation Night, so when we got near the gate some guy came up to us and we paid for our tickets, and he pushed his way to the front of the line and let us through without having to wait. Then we called our other friend Keith who was already there, and he had 2 seats for us so we found him pretty quickly and sat down. They were pretty good seats, on the sideline close to the goal and far enough up to be able to see really well, but far enough back so as not to be rained on.
The tickets came with a free hot dog and beer. We didn't get ours before we sat down so we were going to wait until half, but our group had 2 extra beers so we just had those and passed on the hot dog, since we had plans to go eat afterwards.

So then we watched the game. It was a pretty exciting one. Seoul pretty much dominated. The score ended up being 4-0. I don't know what I had expected, but the stadium seemed kind of small. I guess I've never been to a pro soccer game before so haven't seen a soccer stadium. I only had football stadiums to compare it to, and it was definitely smaller than that. Also it was half empty. Don't ask me to estimate how many people were there. This is impossible for me. But the side we were on, and the one end had a lot of people, and the few people there cheered really loudly.

At one point I looked up on the megatron and there I was!! I was on the megatron at the World Cup stadium in Seoul! It was panned out to see 4 and a half of us from our group so we all waved and cheered. It was really exciting. Unfortunately I didn't have a sign like most people got at the gate so I couldn't wave it, but it was still fun to be there. I don't think I've ever been on the megatron at the Metrodome. And here I was my first time in Seoul, and chosen out of the crowd! lol. It was exciting.

So how about some pictures of the game? Here you go. FC Seoul is in red. Daegu is white.






This was the 'Club Party' half time show...complete with DJ, rapper (seen on the field) and rave music.







So this was interesting. In America they check your bags at the entrance and god forbid you bring anything that somewhat resembles something dangerous in (like my mace!) But here you can see the fan section lighting off roman candles after Seoul scored a goal. This happened every time they scored. And why not?





After the fourth goal (not sure why they chose this one, as apparently they usually do it for every one), there were huge fireworks behind the goal line that were set off. The smoke lingered for the rest of the game, which was about 20 minutes. It was rainy and extremely humid so of course it just hung there. It was hard to see the field for a few minutes.

Oh yeah, and they have cheerleaders. Pretty much the same thing as American cheerleaders. Except one of them sometimes got on a platform to dance.



So then the game ended and we headed out to Hangdae to see the nightlife and eat some food. It's the part of Seoul that is near the University so it's just teeming with young people out to go clubbing, bar hopping, to DVD bongs, Noraebongs, etc. We didn't go to any such place. We just went for dinner. A lot of restaurants here have outdoor seating under a canopy/overhang thing so we sat here and had a late supper. We ordered dumplings of meat and kimchi, and a cold spicy noodle soup and a spicy noodle stew. I took a picture of the spread...


It was all really delicious. I even seemed to figure out the chopsticks thing for the most part. Except when it came to the noodles. That tends to be more difficult for me. But I"m getting there!

So after we ate we walked around a bit...it was me, Kevin (American), Keith(Canadian), and 2 french cyclists Keith was hosting as they are traveling around Korea with their tandem bike. At the game we had sat with a Korean friend of Keith's (Angelo) and his girlfriend but they didn't join us for dinner. The people watching in Hangdae was incredible. A lot of Koreans have really impeccable style. And the rest have really interesting style. There were men in fancy tailored suits, women in high heels, men with amazingly killer spiky mullets (not done ironically, either), tight jeans, leather jackets...everything. It's really interesting to see the different clothing styles. I was by far the most casually dressed person I saw. Shorts and t-shirt. I need to go shopping if I want to fit in here. well, clothing-wise.
We also saw a street musician performing Coldplay songs. Unlike in America where people tend to walk on by, there was a big crowd around him as if he were an actual artist performing a concert. So we listened to a song then moved on. We had to get to the bus stop before too long because the buses stop running at about 12:30. Which surprised me, seeing as how it's such a huge city with such vibrant night life. But they start again at 4 so apparently it doesn't usually become a problem.

So on the way back, Kevin Keith and I enjoyed thinking up practical jokes for our friends and inventing a new lexicon. Keith is as excited as I am that I'm moving to a place with an oven. We have plans to bake a lot of muffins and cakes. And Christmas dinner. And Thanksgiving dinner. Roast chicken, pot roast...oh yeah. They were all down for my party idea at the new place. I'm excited for that!

So we got home about 12:45 and called it a night. The French couple were leaving early on their ride to the next stop in Korea. We all were tired, so the night ended there. It was a fun one though.

I am thinking I will join Kevin during Chusok on his plan to do the touristy things in Korea he hasn't had a chance to do yet. Primarily the DMZ. He tells me you need to register a week in advance so I hope to do that. It costs a lot apparently (90,000!) but that includes the guided tour and everything. So I think it's worth it. It's definitely on the top of my list of places to go while in Korea. I've got Taekwondo still during Chusok though so hopefully that will work out ok. I imagine it will if we keep the same time.
Well, we'll see. I'm sure it will all work out.

This afternoon I'm going over to Damien's and he and Seijin will help me learn a bit of Korean. Which is good, so I can get closer to being able to not only order food in a restaurant but talk to Taekwondo. heh. But seriously I do want to learn the language. Many reasons...one, I like learning languages. 2, it will make it easier to navigate in this country. 3, I feel like I almost have an obligation to learn the language if I'm going to be here. I don't like being one of those people who 'expects' everyone else to speak English. I think it's important to try to learn Korean.
So between Damien and Seijin, and Hannah's books, and hopefully becoming language buddies with Taekwondo, maybe i'll become trilingual in just a few months. One can only hope.