Korean History Lesson

Korean War Memorial & Museum


Map of Korean War Memorial & Museum

I've lived in Korea over a year and I'm still unsure about Korean history. It constantly comes up in class leaving me speechless because of the student-teacher role-reversal--the kids end up teaching me! Furthermore, it is reflected in Korean opinion, thus creating stereotypes specifically about Japan --who took over Korea for 35 years (1910-1945)! History is so important. It teaches us a lot about a place and more importantly about why people are the way they are. To give me a real history lesson, I went to the Korea War Memorial & Museum in Itaewon (foreigner district).

Itaewon Lunch & Rock Concert at the War Museum

Peace Plaza

The Korean War Monument & Steps

Korean Soldier Statues & K-1 Tank Experience Area

Struggling Korean Soldiers & The Statue of Brothers



Drum of National Defense in Central Hall & Historical Battle Clubs



Great War Displays
Korean War Incheon Invasion & The Great Victory at the Slasu River




Impressive Statues in the Korean War Room
Korean Soldiers & Three Human Bombs at White Horse Hill




Historical War Clubs & Turtle Shaped Battle Ship

Realistic Battle Scenes

Korean War & Joseon Dynasty



Former North & South Korean Divide & Painting of South Korean Victory over North Korea

38th Parallel & South Korean/UN Victory over North Korean Communist Invasion

After 3 hours of wandering two out of the three floors of this massive museum, I felt a Korean history lesson overload. I am so glad I went even though I was so full after my club sandwich & mojito meal in Itaewon. Not only were there many displays of battle relics, battle paintings and displays, but there were short 5 minute documentaries about various parts of the Korean War. This experience has been one of the best museum visits I've ever had. It was informational in more ways than just reading a history book and it kept me interested. If you have to go to one museum in Korea, go to the Korean War Memorial & Museum!

*Side note. I was interviewed by two college education majors during my lunch. They videotaped a 5 minute interview between me and one of them about my life in Korea and in America. My interviewer asked questions like "Why did you come to Korea" (money, experience, & more traveling) and "Where would you recommend me to visit in your country" (New York City!). They gave us Korean souvenirs and took our emails. One of them actually visited my blog and commented about how interesting it is. Very cool. Also, when we arrived at the museum, a massive fist-pumping rock concert was in full-swing with acts that parallel American pop punk rock bands like My Chemical Romance & AFI. Random things always happen here!

Nike Plus Human Race

Nike's Human Race: Seoul

Today, I ran my first team run. You must be wondering, "What team run?" Inspired by a recent conversation with my co-workers Mierie, Hannah, Jenn & Dave, we started our "team". One year ago, Mierie ran Nike's Human Race in Los Angeles. It is a world-wide 10 kilometer race sponsored by Nike. It will take place on October 24th in various places around the world including Seoul! At dinner, Mierie was telling us about her experience and that she was going to run this year's, just on a different continent. Invigorated by talks of training, determination, and the finish line, I immediately signed up.

Always the cheerleader for finding new activities in Seoul--especially physically challenging ones, and of course, branch-bonding activities, I sent out an e-mail to all of my co-workers that included sign-up instructions and 5-week training guide. It was a daily break-down consisting of gradual running distances, cross-training, strength training, and best of all--rest.

In high school, I would run 2 miles a day around my neighborhood plus play soccer. In college, I would run 5 miles a day--on a treadmill. Now that I'm in Korea, I'm lucky to run 2 km once a week. Determined to actually make our talk reality, I sent out another email announcing our first "team run". Luckily, I had 3 people respond. Since middle schoolers are away for the exams, we have been getting off at 7pm. Right then, we set off for the river in Nowon (reference Ajuma Aerobics). We began our jog and Dave ran ahead. Oh, well. Girls unite! I decreased my pace to keep with Jenn and Mierie. This was, however, not about speed, but achieving a distance. Following the training schedule, we ran 2 miles. It was tough on all of us since we hadn't ran in so long. Although it was rewarding to finish the exercise, it was more rewarding to support each other when we could all feel the hard pavement, our tiring muscles, and heavy breaths. Desperately trying to sprint the last 50 meters of the run, we kept our spirits high with cheers of "We're almost there." and "Come on. Let's go!"

We ended our work out with squats, lunges, and stretches. The best off all was the 순두부지게 (soon doo boo jigye --tofu soup) meal and feeling of accomplishment knowing that this team run increased our desire to train and finish the race.

Homeward Bound

It's official. Plane tickets have been purchased and confirmed. Mark your calendars. Shady is returning home!--for 2 weeks only & back to Asia for back-packing.

November 29th: Depart Seoul

November 29th: Arrive Toronto

December 4th: Depart Toronto

December 4th: Arrive New York City

December 9th: Depart New York City

December 9th: Arrive Houston

December 13th: Depart Houston

December 15th: Arrive Bangkok

Sports Day: Volleyball, Basketball & Soccer

With Summer ending, and the cool Fall weather creeping into Seoul, we knew there would only be a few Saturdays left for sand volleyball. At the beginning of the Summer, we played at Jamsil as much as we could. We even made friends with some French expats living in Korea. In our last attempt to play, we all talked about playing on Saturday. We constantly reminded each other about playing. When Saturday arrived, only 4 of us arrived. Although discouraged, we had another plan.

Volleyball at Jamsil

Resting & More Volleyball

On the subway ride to meet our friends, who never showed up, I was tapped on the shoulder by a man. I turned around and found a father, mother, and daughter staring back at me. There was also a son hiding behind his mother's leg. "Could you speak with my daughter?" I spent the next 10 minutes on the subway conversing with their daughter asking questions like how her Summer was, what her favorite subject is, what her plans are for today. Luckily, I found out that they were going to a basketball game in Jamsil. Not just any basketball game, but an NBA all-star Asia challenge game against the Korean Basketball League's all-stars. Unsure of where exactly the game was, we knew it had to be in Olympic Stadium Park, the host of the 1988 Olympics. Walking upon the basketball stadium, we knew this was a ticketed event. We attempted to sneak into a back door, but found a guard. However, out came a Korean man in sweats asking in the most broken English if we needed tickets. I held out 4 fingers. He understood and made us wait. He came back and asked for 20,000 won per ticket. Furthermore, the tickets were already disconnected. Finding this situation sketchy, we began to walk away. I knew I would never get another opportunity like this, so I bargained him down to 10,000 per piece. Thankfully, the tickets were for floor seating! Although we were late, we still got to watch an hour of the game. We also got to sit behind Bobby Joo, a famous Korean-American singer/rapper. Even though this was an NBA all-star game, the players were retired. Nevertheless, we got to see Robert Horry, most championship winning player ever (7) with 3 different teams, Dominique Wilkins, one of the best dunkers, Vlade Divac, at 7'1'' one of the first European players and Tim Hardaway, one of the best point guards. The most exciting player to see was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, highest points scored ever, 6 time MVP and championship winner. Funny thing was, I recognized him from his acting debut in a Bruce Lee film.

NBA v KBL at Jamsil

Korean Basketball League All-Stars

Sitting Behind Brian Joo of Fly to the Sky, Famous Korean Singer & 2nd Row View

Robert Horry Directing the NBA Team & View from 2nd Row

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Coaching the NBA Team

After the game, we had to rush to an already planned event after our supposed volleyball game. We met up with my training co-workers for the South Korea v. Australia soccer game. SK scored in the 4th and 20th minute! The game ended in SK winning 2-1 and Park Ji Sung, most famous SK player & forward for Manchester United, receiving MVP for the game. This was my second soccer game. This time, at the end of the game, the SK team came back out and kicked over 100 signed mini-balls into the crowd. Luckily, Dave caught one even though we were sitting in the 2nd tier.

Australia vs. South Korea & Dave and & at the Game

Friends Watching the Game & Me and Maria (Trainee to Trainer)

South Korea Team Bows & Kicks Free Balls to Crowd

This was the most sports-filled day I've ever had. We joked saying that we could have caught a baseball game back in Jamsil before the soccer game to round out the day. This day just proves that randomness in Korea always leads to great fun!

The Best Sunday Date

Being a Chungdahm instructor sometimes leaves you with very little free-time during the weekend. There are often special classes, IBT make-ups or you just get bad luck and get a schedule where you work every Saturday or Sunday. This term, I was blessed or lucky to have weekends off. This past weekend, I took advantage of the fantastic weather and had the best Sunday date ever.

Dave and I first had lunch at the 김밥천국 (Kimbap Chong Guk), the "McDonalds of Korea". It boasts a less than 5000 won menu of Korean favorites such as 라면 ("ramyeon" like ramen), 비빔밥 (bibimbap-rice with vegetables, ground beef and an fried egg on top), 김밥(kimbap-korean style sushi roll), or 더밥(deobap-dish with half rice and half spicy vegetables sauteed with a meat). Living in Korea, Korean food is abound. So sometimes, I go through spells of non-Korean diets. Getting over the pasta and sandwiches diet, I was craving dirty Korean food. We had jeyuk (pork) deobap, soon doo boo jjigye (tofu spicy soup with egg) and of course my favorite, kimchi mandu (steamed dumplings).

Kimbap Chong Guk

Overindulged and feeling increasing heartburn, we walked it off towards the subway stopping at the Krispy Kreme. Can anyone ever really walk past a Krispy Kreme and not want their famous Original Glazed Donuts? Almost tempted to buy two, we only bought one each and continued toward the subway. Going 30 minutes down line 4 to Yongsan, we played Trivial Pursuit on the ITouch. I highly recommend this game. I am personally not much of a gamer after my preteen years of sleepovers playing the Super Nintendo. I love trivia games, and with an ITouch, Trivial Pursuit and is not only fun, but easier with multiple choice. Arriving at Yongsan, I immediately noticed the new Zara store. There I bought a new red knit sweater for only 19,000 won. Still tired from our food coma, we stopped at the Mini Stop to grab some Starbucks Double Shot Espresso coffees to kick up our systems for the what the rest of the day had in store for us.

Yongsan Electronics Market

Walking outside of the Yongsan subway/train terminal is where we found the DVD tents. However, they were closed. We walked up and down peering into the windows wondering why the lights were still on and why old Korean men were sitting outside of them watching us intently. As I walked by again, one man said "TV show? Ten minutes. Police." That was enough English to get the message across. We headed into a warehouse looking building with numerous vendors selling PSPs, Nintendo DS, Wii, flash drives, cameras, computers, speakers, etc. On a mission, we came back after 10 minutes looking for the shady man that had talked to us. We found him and slipped him a piece of paper with "Gossip Girl Season 2", "Nip/Tuck Season 4", and "How I Met Your Mother Season 2" on it. He took it and told us to go in an alley and wait. As we waited, I envisioned snipers aiming at us copyright exploiting globalization pushers in their cross hairs. One of his partners came back and directed us to the now open DVD tents. We browsed through his binders of movie and TV DVD options. Paying only 2000 won per DVD, we left with 3 full seasons of our current favorites for only 28,000 won.

TV Season DVDs I'm Currently Into
Nip/Tuck, How I Met Your Mother & Gossip Girl

Exhausted from the heat and ready to go biking, we jumped into a 6000 won or 10 minute cab for Yeoido, the single island/park in the middle of the Han River that splits the city of Seoul. Seeing many people on bikes, we knew the bike rental place was close. We walked along the river towards the most cyclists. Finally, we asked a couple on a tandem bike taking pictures of themselves (typical). With choppy English, he directed us West. In only 5 minutes we found a tunnel full of bikers and walked in toward a beautiful green park. I mention "green" because actual grass is few and far between in Seoul. I asked a little girl having a difficult time going uphill in the most basic English (exclusion of articles of course), and she directed me "up". Moving forward, we came across a massive setup of bikes and Koreans nearly elbowing each other for them. Turns out that renting a bike for an hour is only 3000 won! We reached for 2 bikes and surprisingly, 2 foreign children (I'm guessing they are N. American) grabbed the bikes and said in the most spoiled voice, "Sorry, those are ours." Nothing could ruin our day. We turned around and took two other red bikes with baskets and set off for the river. We rode West for about 20 minutes until we found the last convenience store. We got drinks and sat by the river with our smashed Krispy Kremes and watched the river admiring our city. After, we went back East and rode 30 minutes until there were hardly any people and decided to go back to the bike rental since our hour was almost up.

Bike Rental & Biking Along the Han River

Red Bikes with Baskets on the Han River
Me & Dave

Statue of King Sejong & the Waving Korean Flag at Yeoido Park

People Watching at Yeoido Park
Dave & I

Flowers on the Yeoido Park Path & 63 Building Lobby

We then ventured into the Yeoido Park-the green one. It was the loveliest day walking around in the crisp cool air with the sun shining. We walked hand in hand observing the greenery, families, couples, and nappers. We walked upon a stone massage path and attempted to do a couple steps. With shoes in hand determined and on-lookers hearing mostly my screeching and "ouch's", we made it all the way around while another couple was doing the same behind us. Moving along the park, we encountered a huge concrete jungle of people. We sat down on a bench and observed basketball games, in-line skaters jumping boxes, and couples teaching each other how to skate without falling. We sat there eating 1/2 Chicken Sandwich from TGI Fridays I had the night before, and Dave, the adventurous eater eating Peanut Butter Squid. We took in the cool breeze, the sunlight, our delicious food, and the show of people. It was a glorious moment where we were taken away from Seoul's busyness, the constraint of working, and any kind of responsibility. It was a freeze frame of happiness making the most of our one free day of the week and admiring what is truly good.

After our meal and sitting for quite sometime, we ventured on through the park back towards the subway station. We stopped to take pictures at the massive statue of King Sejong, Korea's "George Washington". Finally out of the park with the sun setting, we knew we weren't ready to go back yet. We walked to the 63 Building, Seoul's highest building and 2nd tallest point after Namsan Tower. We had to keep this epic day going by enjoying a beautiful sunset on our city. We paid 12,000 won to go up to the highest point we could, the 60th floor to the Sky Art Museum. Although the museum had beatiful paintings of flowers and gardens, what was more beautiful was watching the red hot sun disappear into the night over the Seoul skyline. The Seoul sky was vibrant with strokes of purples, reds, oranges, and yellows on a blue canvas. It was like the live form of the paintings we saw in the gallery. What was more beautiful was that I was sharing this moment with someone special holding me as we thought about nothing and only admired this expression of love and beauty.

Sunset Overlooking Seoul at 63 Building

On our way out, we stopped at the 63 Building Bakery and ate blueberry cheesecake. With our long subway ride home and content bellies of cheesecake goodness, we knew that this day was still not over. We weren't hungry then, but knew we would be by the time we got home. We decided to make dinner rather than go out. As any couple knows, going out to dinner is very nice, but being able to make dinner together with wine at your side can't be beat. We stopped at Paris Baguette to grab a baguette on the way to the supermarket. Being teachers in a country where it is cheaper to eat out then cook, our fridges had very few select items; one being pesto! I'm not chef, but when I cook, I try to make something better each time I make it. Determined to make pesto pasta, we decided to buy chicken to make it better. Luckily, we bought a whole chicken for 4,500 won! We went up to the butcher and said "chi-kin". With my hand chopping motions and constant head nods and "neh's" (meaning "yes"), he understood exactly what I wanted. Taking less than an hour, we made the best meal ever. For an appetizer: bruschetta (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar) and salad (lettuce, black olives, garlic croutons, green pepper and oriental dressing). For the main course: garlic chicken pesto pasta topped with parmesan and coupled with a glass of red Cabernet-Shiraz. We enjoyed this overloaded meal watching World's Greatest Dad, a new movie with Robin Williams highly recommended by our co-worker Byron who claims it is the most evil dark comedy ever made.

Sunday Date Dinner
Garlic Chicken Pesto Pasta, Salad, Bruschetta, & Wine

It's not often that I can get away from responsibility and just have an enjoyable relaxing day. Furthermore, it's not often that I can spend a full day of activities with someone special. We could have done the typical dinner and movie date or even worst, stay in. Being a young person constantly pressured by my future, I often take for granted the simplest things in life; good weather, good food, and good laughs. This day embraced all of these things and was truly the best Sunday date.