En route

It's easy to forget about chasing adventures when the day-to-day at work makes you so exhausted that you fall into bed each night and there's yet another hot party every weekend.

But hot parties have never really been my thing. So why has it taken me five whole months to venture out of the Seoul metro area? I could make excuses: there's so much going on in Seoul; I'm acclimating to a new country and making myself comfortable with my current surroundings; I'm lazy. But they are all just excuses.

So when I got an invite by my recruiter to see Feed the Boats' last ever concert, I wrote it in on my newly acquired calendar and started making plans to go. But I tend to make these plans for myself and then completely flake by convincing myself that it will be no fun solo or that I haven't done enough research to accomplish my goal.

But then the Sou'Frican asked me what I was doing this weekend and the concert popped out of my mouth, even though it was still a vague idea. And suddenly, her friend wanted to go. And then the Canadian 2.0 wanted to go, too, on this vague, whimsically-planned adventure.

So I got excited. And even though the Sou'Frican's friend canceled last minute, the Candian 2.0 was still in. So we made it an adventure. A fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of adventure.

We arrived at the train station a full twenty minutes before our train was set to leave, still needing to find the actual ticket counter, pay for our tickets and find our train. After ten minutes we got to the right ticket counter, only to hear "There are no seats left." This statement was soon followed up with "There is one seat left, and one Standing Room ticket." Well, why couldn't you lead with that???

So we got the tickets and hopped on our train. As these things go, you're never quite sure if you're getting on the right train. But the Korean train system was much less confusing than the Vietnam bus system, that's for sure. As we were just finding our seats, the train took off. Not much of a wait time, so you better not be late!

Our train whisked us away, through cities that invariably looked the same, giant apartment blocks and suspension bridges. But as the cities gave way to a more rural Korea, I could see more of a story. Terraces of rice paddies cared out if the land, rivers unhindered by cement barriers, solar panels, greenery (at least as green as things can get this time of year). I fell in love with Korea for more than just it's culture of honesty and feeling special in a crowd. I got to see actual beauty, something I've been craving without realizing it. I got a thrill of excitement at traveling into the semi-unknown, if incredibly safe.

I am heading to Gwangju.

Seoul is for Lovers

I had an amazing opportunity today. For $7.00, I enjoyed lunch, shopping, panoramic views of Seoul, and probably the nicest bus ride I've ever experienced.

My coworker, The Canadian, and I decided we wanted to adventure Seoul together. Prior to departure, we had no idea where we were going, what we were going to do once we got there, and very little clue as to how to get back home. But what we did know made all the difference: the 1200 bus. This is a bus that picks up right near our apartments and heads into Seoul for less than $2.50.

Once we got on the bus, we formulated a loose plan: take the bus as far as it would go (Seoul Station), make our way to Namdaemun market and then on to Namsan Tower. We didn't exactly know where these places were, thanks to the highly vague map provided us by Lonely Planet, but we were working with enough information for two college grads to figure it out.

But if you've ever taken a bus to some unknown area before, particularly an area where the working language does not use a mono-phonemic writing system, then you can probably understand the potential for utter confusion. Luckily, we stumbled into the old Seoul Station-turned-public-space-for-art and got to see some very confusing art related to life, generally. One exhibit was a bunch of receipt machines attached to a post. The idea was to write or draw something on the Wacom tablet provided and it would then be printed out on one of the machines while a previously written/drawn message would be severed from its machine for you to read and "interact" with the art. It was pretty sweet.

After exploring the exhibit, The Canadian and I struck out with her Lonely Planet guide, naively assuming we knew where we were going. "Oh, it's just across the street..." turned into us looking at a seven-way intersection perplexed, to say the least. A kind police officer pointed us in the right direction.

Luckily, the "right direction" only diverged six times. Before we knew it, we were at the Namdaemun Market, an open-air market with pretty much every knock-off ever sold, all the greasy treats you could ever hope to desire, and crowds like you wouldn't believe. The Canadian and I each bought some fruit on a (chop)stick for a dollar while eying these beignet-looking deals filled with veggies and meat and pure deliciousness. Another dollar later, we were full and high on life. As I later learned, Namdaemun is the largest market in all of Korea, which explains why the entrances off the main road were labeled very clearly.

Next, we made our way to Namsan Tower. This was a bit more of an ordeal. Once we actually saw the tower, we decided that our perfect-working legs would be more than enough to carry us to the top. While not necessarily a mistake (I mean, we're still alive), it was quite the workout. However, it was free and I am allllll about free. After a substantial amount of time, we were at the top, high on endorphins, and bewildered by the miniature city at the top (and all the ladies who did the climb in stilettos). Walking around at the top offered views of Seoul, boxed in by the mountains that surround the city. Gorgeous.

What I hadn't realized was what an utterly romantic place this was. The fences surrounding the actual tower were covered in locks, all placed there by couples in love, as both a symbol of their love and a wish sent into the universe for their future together. Very sweet stuff. It didn't feel cheesy and contrived like it could have--it felt sweet and inspiring, like I was surrounded by the love of these people, like I was actually sharing it with them. Maybe I just devolved into a romantic freakshow.

Anyways, once we got to the bottom (it took only TEN minutes, I felt like such a nerd for complaining the whole way up), we walked back to the station without any hiccups and onto our bus. Not only was it a great day for sightseeing, experiencing Korea, without breaking the bank, it was also a really great time to get to know The Canadian and myself. It was a wonderful day to be alive!

Exploring Hipster Hongdae

Yesterday, I hopped on the subway and headed to the "big city." Seoul is certainly massive and I only explored a tiny corner of it in search of the Hongdae free market. Of course, I never found it.

But I did find some awesomely cheap earrings, an adorable bow, radical street art, about 10 Mexican food restaurants, and some adorable puppies even followed me around for a bit.

But that's not what I am here to talk about. I am here to talk about Korean street fashion! Hongdae is known for being a pretty "hip" place, in terms of the American definition, anyways. If you don't know what the American definition for "hip" is, let me provide a sampling.

1. Hipsters might be those people who blushingly say "I'm not hip, I'm indie/original" while paying through the nose to wear whatever Urban Outfitters is selling this month and looking like every other non-hip indie/original asshole out there.
2. They might spend a lot of time talking about how intellectual they are, without saying anything remotely intellectually stimulating.
3. Every time you play your new favorite band or song, they might mention how "Yeah, I was so into him/her/them/it, like five years ago. But that was back before anyone had heard of him/her/them/it."
4. They might look like this:

Now can you see why we used to play "Hobo or Hipster" in college?

Okay, okay, although I'm being incredibly unfair to hipsters the world over, let it be known I don't loathe all hipsters. I'm even being slightly hypocritical as I type this, considering I own Weezer glasses.  But back to the topic of Korean hipsters in Hongdae--it's home to one of Seoul's art universities and as such, there are so many people making "statements" with their clothes.

Military-inspired: I have never seen so many girls dressed in military-inspired outfits and looking fine at the same time. And I mean fiiiiine! So many girls rocking a forest green, whether that be in the form of a sheer deep green blouse or an oversized military jacket. The shoes drove me wild: junky-looking boots that can survive paint splatters in the studio or tromping around town.

Mad-About-Plaid: I think I can say that grunge is back with fair certainty. Oversized plaid shirts were everywhere, atop ripped and/or skinny jeans. Plaid skirts, plaid shoes, plaid bows, plaid headbands--everyone is mad about plaid. This is something I am totally okay with because it means at least I'll be able to score some cheap looks that might fit me without alterations!

Hippy Prepster: This clean, hip look wasn't nearly as prevalent in Hongdae as I was expecting, but I bet if I came out during Club Day (the last Friday of the month when you gain admission to all clubs for the price of one, getting access to all sorts of indie live shows), there would be prepsters galore. I'm in love with the wingtips, the Weezer glasses, the skinny tailored slacks (for the boys) or the high-waisted pants (for the girls). Breezy blouses complete the look.

Can't wait until fall really hits--then it will be time to break out the scarves hardcore. Hipsters, on your mark.

Weekend Wanderer: Stairwa(lking) to Heaven

Not too far back, the boyfriend and I decided to try one of Los Angeles' activities that is most shrouded in lore. Okay, not really, but stairwalking is real effin' cool.

A little history: It's pretty basic--Los Angeles has hilly suburb-like corners, such as Echo Park and Silverlake, and as such, homes and apartment complexes are built right into the hillside. In order to make these streets even minimally walkable, city planners added stairs to connect the streets for pedestrians. The stairwalks of Silverlake are most notable for the massive amount of graffiti and urban art that accompany them. The Echo Park stairs are more for the views.

Since we went to Echo Park right during Golden Hour, the pictures came out awesomely. Hope you enjoy!