Seoul

October 6, 2008

So we went to Seoul this weekend and it was absolutely amazing after being in Mokpo for a month. Don't get me wrong, I love Mokpo, but there is not very many English restaurants or stores for someone who is any larger than size 12 pants or a medium shirt. In Mokpo we have McDonald's, Dunkin Doughnuts, and Baskin Robins. That's it. The moment we arrived in Seoul there was Cold Stone, Starbucks, The Hard Rock Cafe, Burger King, Quiznos, and on and on. The most exciting part was to be able to eat things I am used to eating again. The first full day there we couldn't stay away from Quiznos, Burger King, and a Mexican restaurant that was a little expensive but so worth it. The last night there we were so excited to go eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. Again, way to expensive, but after not having a decent burger for a month and a half, I think they were the best burgers ever!

Friday I went with Tanya and Kristina to a hair salon in Seoul and spent four hours getting my hair done with red low-lights and blond highlights. It turned out fabulous. I have to say I absolutely LOVE my hair now. After the Salon we hit Burger King and then headed down to meet Cody and the rest at a huge outdoor market. The market was fun because there was a really interesting fashion show going on and there were so many booths to buy from, it was insane. I actually found a pair of warm boots for the winter that fit me, which makes me so excited! I also found some things for my halloween costume, a purple scarf, a new backpack, and a awesome hat (I usually can't find hats that fit/look good, so this is kind of a big deal for me). After the market we took the Subway home, which was kind of cool since we only have the Max at home and it's nothing like the Subway. We the made our way to What the Book, which actually has english books (so exciting) and then went to the Mexican restaurant. I can't tell you how great it was to have mexican food again! Oh, we also went to a foreign foods market near there and got some western necessities. I got some ranch, some Pho soup bouillon cubes, some BBQ Sauce, and some Crisco. I am so excited!

On Saturday we got out of bed fairly early and headed out to meet our DMZ tour group. The DMZ was cool, but kind of crazy because there was a dress code and we had to sign a release form saying we realized that we could die. We headed out on the bus around 10:30 am and the tour lasted until around 5:30 pm. It was the coolest thing ever. We got to see the Freedom Bridge, The Bridge of No Return, and we got to technically be in North Korea for 3 minutes. We got some pretty great pictures while we were there too. At the end they took us to a souvenir shop where I got a korean mask and some magnets. Cody bought us some North Korean Brandy and Blueberry wine. We haven't tried them yet, but it's cool anyway.

After the tour we headed out to the Seoul Electronics Market, which was pretty insane. There are electronics everywhere and your supposed to haggle for them. We didn't end up buying anything so we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe and had the largest, cheesiest hamburgers ever. Afterwards I purchased some new clothes at a store that actually had my size and then we took the five-hour train back to Mokpo. We wanted to take the KTX, which is really fast, but there were none heading from Seoul to Mokpo.

All in all the weekend was awesome, and the food was great. We all spent way too much money, but it was worth it.