one Seoul, please
I won't post boring stories about the reasons for once, bottom lines is - I had to leave Japan for three days, and I went to Seoul! So I made a reservation, packed an umbrella, cause unnie said there was a typhoon coming, and I was ready to go.
The first problem emerged at Narita. The nice lady at the check in desk explained to me that surely, I can leave Japan anytime I want, but since my visa won't be valid anymore by the time I come back, since I would be coming back as a tourist, I NEED to show a valid 'out' ticket. She said the immigration law got even more strict recently, and there were instances when a person was denied entrance for not being able to confirm their leaving plans. So, to be on the safe side, I would have to purchase a one-way ticket from Tokyo to anywhere while in Korea.
I was insanely lucky. I had a postal check on me that my mom has sent me just in case the customs demanded a proof that I can live in Japan for the next three months without working (somehow we didn't think they would demand a ticket), and there was a post office at Narita, with a postal bank window open at the time of my check in. I was able to get the actual money, exchanged it for Won at Incheon, and with unnie's help, got myself that damn ticket, once again to Seoul, in September. We bought it directly at the Airlines so that I could cancel it once back in Tokyo and get most of my money back. However, there was a drawback - a directly bought one-way ticket was insanely EXPENSIVE. I found myself not so rich anymore, and came to regret a few thousand won spent in Myeong Dong before... for just a moment.
I find Seoul great! Of course I can't say much about it, as I have only spent three days there and haven't seen all that much, but I liked the atmosphere a lot. I liked the street vendors calling out at you in Japanese (apparently everybody speaks Japanese in Myeong Dong and Insadong), and... eating outside! In Tokyo, eating while walking is considered super bad manners, and while it's perfectly understandable in over-crowded places like Ginza, the hot weather constantly makes me miss good old Polish ice-cream selling hole-in-the-wall's. In Seoul however, it's not just ice-cream or casseroles sold from a window, you can get all kinds of food from fully outdoor food stalls!
"Now that feels Asian!" I thought while sharing a spicy sausage with unnie, and remembering some Discovery channel documentaries from years ago.
This obviously wasn't bought on the street.
Of course Seoul is not only food (but I loved it! spicy! good!), and limiting my relation to it would be a scary proof of me getting overjapanized (verb copyrighted to yuaelt).Sadly we couldn't enter Royal Palace, we went there on Tuesday, and Tuesday happens to be exactly the day when it's closed. Bad luck I guess. However, we've walked a lot around Insadong, I've seen some gates, and finally a museum of king Sejong. I never knew much about Korean history, and practically all I have ever heard of it was in Japanese context, so it was very refreshing and interesting to have a look from the other side. The king himself left a great impression on me - leaving the museum I was a bit sad none of Polish rulers were such renaissance minds, not to this extent anyway.
random picture I took on the street close to Royal Palace. the lady was covering her face with a kitty-shaped mask and I wanted to catch that, but sadly you can't see it very well on the pic.
In the evening, when we were tired and sleepy and I already resorted to singing Polish children songs on the stairs outside a Culture Center, we were finally joined by T oppa! He's another Korean who used to work with us at ILL. Or should I say, worked with unnie, because I obviously took no part in preparing materials for Korean language learning. Anyway, he specially came to Seoul to see us, even though he lives 2 hours by car away! We went to a monstrous shopping mall, where he ended up buying two pairs of trainers because he couldn't choose between the colors and in the end decided to wear one of each pair, completing with also mismatched shoelaces. Dear friends, Kpop doesn't just limit itself to MVs, it's alive... but you know me, I'm the last person on Earth to have anything against a little crazed out fashion.
And we went to karaoke, of course. I was surprised to find quite a lot of Japanese songs there!
Ssamjigil. There were so many signs on this wall I simply had to add mine. A bit in a suburban delinquent been here.myself style, but it felt right
The third day... it was raining. It had been raining since the night before, but now it got really heavy and effectively kept us inside. But in the evening... jjimjilbang! Yup, unnie has taken me to a local sauna and bath, and I enjoyed it a lot. I like Japanese onsens, even though my experience is limited to the fake ones set up in Tokyo, that actually come with saunas, masseurs (for extra fee), pools of hot and hotter water, and naturally common areas for drinking. Korean jjimjilbang was a little bit different, mainly because it had sauna rooms where you would go while wearing clothes (pajama provided by the place), so both men and women could enter together. Unnie said it's a popular date spot! Well, well, well, isn't it romantic, to lie on the floor together and compare who sweats faster? XD If you want to know more about jjimjilbangs in general, head over to eatyourkimchi.com, as Simon and Martina know better than I do. I can give you a picture though, one that unnie has taken for me on the lowest floor that was stylized to look like an old Korean house. And it had the hottest sauna rooms ever.
I'm very happy to have had the chance to visit Korea! I liked Seoul a lot and I'm sure, given a chance I would go there again. Of course part of the charm was prices - used to living in Japan I felt super rich in Seoul (well, at least for the first evening) - but I would lie shamelessly if I said I was only there for shopping. Seoul is a city with great atmosphere, one that you'd definitely want to experience over and over again!
The first problem emerged at Narita. The nice lady at the check in desk explained to me that surely, I can leave Japan anytime I want, but since my visa won't be valid anymore by the time I come back, since I would be coming back as a tourist, I NEED to show a valid 'out' ticket. She said the immigration law got even more strict recently, and there were instances when a person was denied entrance for not being able to confirm their leaving plans. So, to be on the safe side, I would have to purchase a one-way ticket from Tokyo to anywhere while in Korea.
I was insanely lucky. I had a postal check on me that my mom has sent me just in case the customs demanded a proof that I can live in Japan for the next three months without working (somehow we didn't think they would demand a ticket), and there was a post office at Narita, with a postal bank window open at the time of my check in. I was able to get the actual money, exchanged it for Won at Incheon, and with unnie's help, got myself that damn ticket, once again to Seoul, in September. We bought it directly at the Airlines so that I could cancel it once back in Tokyo and get most of my money back. However, there was a drawback - a directly bought one-way ticket was insanely EXPENSIVE. I found myself not so rich anymore, and came to regret a few thousand won spent in Myeong Dong before... for just a moment.
I find Seoul great! Of course I can't say much about it, as I have only spent three days there and haven't seen all that much, but I liked the atmosphere a lot. I liked the street vendors calling out at you in Japanese (apparently everybody speaks Japanese in Myeong Dong and Insadong), and... eating outside! In Tokyo, eating while walking is considered super bad manners, and while it's perfectly understandable in over-crowded places like Ginza, the hot weather constantly makes me miss good old Polish ice-cream selling hole-in-the-wall's. In Seoul however, it's not just ice-cream or casseroles sold from a window, you can get all kinds of food from fully outdoor food stalls!
"Now that feels Asian!" I thought while sharing a spicy sausage with unnie, and remembering some Discovery channel documentaries from years ago.
This obviously wasn't bought on the street.
Of course Seoul is not only food (but I loved it! spicy! good!), and limiting my relation to it would be a scary proof of me getting overjapanized (verb copyrighted to yuaelt).Sadly we couldn't enter Royal Palace, we went there on Tuesday, and Tuesday happens to be exactly the day when it's closed. Bad luck I guess. However, we've walked a lot around Insadong, I've seen some gates, and finally a museum of king Sejong. I never knew much about Korean history, and practically all I have ever heard of it was in Japanese context, so it was very refreshing and interesting to have a look from the other side. The king himself left a great impression on me - leaving the museum I was a bit sad none of Polish rulers were such renaissance minds, not to this extent anyway.
random picture I took on the street close to Royal Palace. the lady was covering her face with a kitty-shaped mask and I wanted to catch that, but sadly you can't see it very well on the pic.
In the evening, when we were tired and sleepy and I already resorted to singing Polish children songs on the stairs outside a Culture Center, we were finally joined by T oppa! He's another Korean who used to work with us at ILL. Or should I say, worked with unnie, because I obviously took no part in preparing materials for Korean language learning. Anyway, he specially came to Seoul to see us, even though he lives 2 hours by car away! We went to a monstrous shopping mall, where he ended up buying two pairs of trainers because he couldn't choose between the colors and in the end decided to wear one of each pair, completing with also mismatched shoelaces. Dear friends, Kpop doesn't just limit itself to MVs, it's alive... but you know me, I'm the last person on Earth to have anything against a little crazed out fashion.
And we went to karaoke, of course. I was surprised to find quite a lot of Japanese songs there!
Ssamjigil. There were so many signs on this wall I simply had to add mine. A bit in a suburban delinquent been here.myself style, but it felt right
The third day... it was raining. It had been raining since the night before, but now it got really heavy and effectively kept us inside. But in the evening... jjimjilbang! Yup, unnie has taken me to a local sauna and bath, and I enjoyed it a lot. I like Japanese onsens, even though my experience is limited to the fake ones set up in Tokyo, that actually come with saunas, masseurs (for extra fee), pools of hot and hotter water, and naturally common areas for drinking. Korean jjimjilbang was a little bit different, mainly because it had sauna rooms where you would go while wearing clothes (pajama provided by the place), so both men and women could enter together. Unnie said it's a popular date spot! Well, well, well, isn't it romantic, to lie on the floor together and compare who sweats faster? XD If you want to know more about jjimjilbangs in general, head over to eatyourkimchi.com, as Simon and Martina know better than I do. I can give you a picture though, one that unnie has taken for me on the lowest floor that was stylized to look like an old Korean house. And it had the hottest sauna rooms ever.
I'm very happy to have had the chance to visit Korea! I liked Seoul a lot and I'm sure, given a chance I would go there again. Of course part of the charm was prices - used to living in Japan I felt super rich in Seoul (well, at least for the first evening) - but I would lie shamelessly if I said I was only there for shopping. Seoul is a city with great atmosphere, one that you'd definitely want to experience over and over again!