I'm sitting on the plane headed to Shanghai and all I can think about is cham chi kimbap (tuna Korean roll) and soon doo boo jjigae (spicy tofu soup). Luckily I had enough time last night, my last night on Seoul, to get a tuna kimbap from my favourite restaurant near the academy I used to work at in Junggye. Unfortunately, I was unable to get my favourite Korean soup at the hole-in-the-wall place that sold it for 3,000 won because it's now a 7-11. This trip to Seoul is like these two experiences - I got to do some things and not others; I got to see some people and not others.
On Friday, we arrived at the best airport that I've been to in the world - Incheon International Airport in Seoul. I've been to nearly 30 countries, so you can take my word for it. Once past immigration, we immediately went to the GS25 convenience store and picked up sangak kimbaps (triangle shaped). We boarded the oh so convenient airport limousine, or charter bus to Itaewon, the foreign district of Seoul where my good friend Christie lived. We go way back, all the way back to Chungdahm training where we were roommates at the Coatel Hotel. We moved to Nowon area, and had the best time getting to know Korean, the 5,000 won barbecue place and all our neighbours who didn't speak a lick of English. When we arrived at Christie's, we found that her and her roommates were already at work. We set out for Junggye to reunite with our 'family'.
We arrived at the very intersection that defined being a Chungdahm instructor in Junggye. This was the place we ate lunch at everyday before class, bought contacts and glasses for more than half the price back home and ate barbecue with other teachers after class so we could vent about shitty kids who don't deserve to go to academy after a full day of class. Dave and I did all the things we needed to including ordering contacts and visiting our friends still working at Junggye a year after we left. Peeking through the locker room in the main building while everyone was at class, we hardly recognised any of the faculty names. It seemed as though all of our friends, now veterans were in the new building teaching all of our former students now in much higher levels and in middle school! We watched a few minutes of their classes and couldn't imagine going in and teaching again. Eesh!
After surprising our friends, we agreed to meet them after work at 10pm to go to Hongdae, where my best girlfriend in Seoul, Juliann was having her going away party. Until then, we wandered through Nowon feeling familiarity coupled with the feeling that this was no longer our home as it once was for nearly two years.
Off to Hongdae, Seoul's biggest going out area for young people, the typical party crew including Ben, Norma and John took the train as if it were any other Friday night out in Seoul. We took in the 45 minute train ride to not talk about what was happening now, but what everyone was doing next. However, there's always a bit of time reserved for gossip and drama. Seems like nothing has changed about being a teacher at Junggye - unfair treatment of teachers and changing friendships.
We arrived to an already bustling Hongdae to find a new airport line and Taco Bell around from the corner of Ho Bar III, our local watering hole, which was now a very loud club-like bar where we were carded at the door and what seemed like 15 year-olds taking over any open space. There I met with Juliann and Sylvia, the two girls I would meet up with for weekend brunch and confide things I couldn't with my co-workers eg. work, living in Korea and love. We caught up as much as we could against the blaring speakers until the rest of the Junggye crew arrived, where Eugene, the new FM (faculty manager) arrived and bought us a bottle of vodka - just like old times. Even Team Rok (Elliott, Tolani, Rachel, Jered, and Joe) showed up, my good training buddies from week 1 in Korea. From there we went to club Naked, where no one was naked surprise surprise. Love how Koreans name things. The night ended at 430am as any night in Hongdae should.
We took a cab to Christie's in Hae Bang Chon, a heavily concentrated foreigner area, to find Christie's Irish flatmate sitting on the couch eating McDonald's with his pants at his ankles. He questioned our presence and then realised after a few demands for us to leave, that Christie had told him about us. Awkward, but forgivable because this is the image of a typical foreigner hammered at 5am in Korea giving us much to laugh about during breakfast the next morning.
The next day I met up with a very hangover Juliann and Sylvia in Hyewha over lunch where we talked like old times speaking of our relationships, current frustrations and future plans. Although we've been apart for nearly a year, it was like catching up like it was yesterday - true sign of friendship. We cut our get together short because Juliann had to pack because she was leaving Korea for good the next day. It's hard to believe someone who says they are leaving Korea because so many people end up coming back. The money, lifestyle and 3% tax is hard to leave, but when you do, you realise there is so much more for you to pursue outside of Korea.
From there, I met up with John and Dave to exercise my bargaining skills in Yongsan, a famous area in Seoul to get bargains on electronics. If you want a wicked mouse, look into a Microsoft Arc. Got one for 50,000 won. I could have gotten it cheaper, but John the biggest goof I know kept cracking up when I started negotiating. With nothing left to do on a rainy afternoon, we decided to go somewhere only our good friend John would appreciate - Seven Luck Casino at the COEX mall. Bad idea because we ended up losing 200,000 won while John and Eugene, who only bets big on Black Jack left at least 200,000 won up. We did kill 3 hours getting free drinks and food and shooting the shit like old days.
For the night Dave and John went back up to Nowon to meet up with some Korean friends where they apparently drank too much soju, wrestled on the street and ended up at jimjilbang or sauna. I went off to meet up with Christie finally at the Hae Bang Chon Festival, a street party to celebrate being a foreigner and drinking on the street. Walking through I was spotted by Tosin, a friend I met through Jessie, who I had met through Perry one of my best friends on Semester at Sea. What a small world! She had the perfect seat on a cafe porch to people watch. I caught up with her for 45 minutes and during that time ran into Dan Cunningham, my former colleague. He was my head instructor for high level reading and had real interest in seeing my improvement. No jokes please to all those who know him. Although he wasn't the closest of my Korea friends, he was the most proud of my Australia successes, but then started to educate me in crude British slang I've heard in Australia via an iPhone app. Hasn't changed a bit. I left Tosin and headed closer to Christie and ran into Chris and Jason, both former colleagues at Junggye and also Matt, who I had met in a trip to the Philippines. One little street full of foreigners living in Seoul on a Saturday night and I run into 5 people!
I finally reached Christie and from first glance she rushes over to me and gives me the biggest hug announcing to the crowd of twenty she knows, because she knows everybody, that I've arrived. We depart with her flatmate Meg to eat barbecue - finally my first taste of galbi since arriving. This was swallowed down with swigs of soju, a drink I've sworn off since the epic night that was the last day of winter intensives in January 09. Oh well, when in Korea. The rest of the night was spent catching up with Christie and her comedian friends (actual amateur comedians building the scene in Seoul) on the street and in her house. We went to bed at sunrise.
The next day, Christie in all her clever wisdom, ordered delivery from the best franchise in Korea - Kimbap Chonguk. At home, hangovers are cured by bacon and eggs. In Korea, you get kimchi jjigae, a hearty spicy soup with meat, tofu and vegetables served with rice. Dave came back looking like a train wreck and we both set off for Myeongdong, big name brand shopping area of Seoul. We spent all day catching up on all the good decently priced shopping we were robbed of in Australia including Zara, Forever 21, H&M etc. Ready to head back and unable to reach anyone recovered enough for dinner, we set out to get one last taste of barbecue. Roaming around for a place that served barbecue with gyeran jjim (egg souffle), I heard my name called out through the masses; it was my cousin Christina! She had guests from her old radio DJ job in NYC who were obsessed with Korean culture visiting Korea for the first time. They had tried to get on a SBS music show, Inki Gayo or The Music Trend, but was too far back in line, so they went shopping instead. It was a very bizarre moment because we had tried calling her phone that had died, and she ended up finding us randomly in the streets of Myeongdong. We ate at a place with the egg souffle and devoured enough galbi to satisfy our craving for the rest of the trip.
The next morning would be our last full day in Seoul on this trip and probably for a while since all of our friends were leaving in the next 3 months. We decided to take in the beauty of Seoul by going to Gwanghamun, a historical area of Seoul boasting the Gyeongbokgung Palace and is walking distance to the Cheonggyecheon River and Insadong.
For the afternoon, we caught up with Dave's first friend in Korea - Lee Jin Kwong aka JK. They met in the hostel Dave was living in for the first 3 weeks of his life in Seoul. JK is a very outspoken guy who loves American slang. After our amazing lunch of cheese duk galbi and beer with JK and his girlfriend, I taught him the phrase 'shit hits the fan' - referring to what it would be like if he met his girlfriend's parents.
We had plans to meet our Junggye friends for a duck barbecue dinner in Nowongu at 10pm, but it was only 4pm. We took the opportunity to buy last minute gifts and my year supply of birth control, because it's only 7,000 won and you don't need a prescription! After stopping off at Skin Food for my favourite nail polish, Missha for my favourite mascara and eyeliner and a few of the local pharmacies so I don't look like a freak buying oral contraceptives in bulk, we set off to meet our friends. We arrived in Junggye with 2 hours to spare. This is where we found our our favourite tofu soup shop had turned into a 7-11. Completely heartbroken, we ate at our favourite Kimbap Chonguk restaurant one last time to eat their well-known cham chi kimbap (tuna roll) before we left Korea for good.
Living in Taerung for my first year in Korea, I got to know everything about my sleepy little district. I knew what gym to go to, where to buy the best milk bread, get the best cheap pork barbecue and where the best duck in the world is. Walking out of the Taerung station, you get wafts of roasted duck because this particular place roasts it outside for the public to salivate. Of course, Christie and I discovered this place and have recommended it to everyone I know. For our last night in Korea, this is where we took our friends. We caught up one last time and ate and drank together like old times, hoping to preserve this memory because this would probably be the last time we would see all these people in the one setting that was common to all of us - Seoul, South Korea.
On the flight over to Seoul, we made a list of all the things we needed to buy, all the food we wanted to eat, and all the people we wanted to see. We got through most of our lists, but there were somethings that we couldn't do or wasn't there anymore. This trip was much like that pursuit to check things off our lists. Although we didn't get to do it all, we got a good helping of what we love about Korea; the food, the culture and our family of friends. I'm very much looking forward to seeing where we all are in the next year or even 5 years. Hopefully one day we all can meet up again for Korean barbecue somewhere in the world - because you know Koreans and their kimchi are taking over!
On Friday, we arrived at the best airport that I've been to in the world - Incheon International Airport in Seoul. I've been to nearly 30 countries, so you can take my word for it. Once past immigration, we immediately went to the GS25 convenience store and picked up sangak kimbaps (triangle shaped). We boarded the oh so convenient airport limousine, or charter bus to Itaewon, the foreign district of Seoul where my good friend Christie lived. We go way back, all the way back to Chungdahm training where we were roommates at the Coatel Hotel. We moved to Nowon area, and had the best time getting to know Korean, the 5,000 won barbecue place and all our neighbours who didn't speak a lick of English. When we arrived at Christie's, we found that her and her roommates were already at work. We set out for Junggye to reunite with our 'family'.
We arrived at the very intersection that defined being a Chungdahm instructor in Junggye. This was the place we ate lunch at everyday before class, bought contacts and glasses for more than half the price back home and ate barbecue with other teachers after class so we could vent about shitty kids who don't deserve to go to academy after a full day of class. Dave and I did all the things we needed to including ordering contacts and visiting our friends still working at Junggye a year after we left. Peeking through the locker room in the main building while everyone was at class, we hardly recognised any of the faculty names. It seemed as though all of our friends, now veterans were in the new building teaching all of our former students now in much higher levels and in middle school! We watched a few minutes of their classes and couldn't imagine going in and teaching again. Eesh!
After surprising our friends, we agreed to meet them after work at 10pm to go to Hongdae, where my best girlfriend in Seoul, Juliann was having her going away party. Until then, we wandered through Nowon feeling familiarity coupled with the feeling that this was no longer our home as it once was for nearly two years.
Our favourite Korean meal
Kimchi mandu (dumplings) & Cham chi kimbap (tuna roll)
We arrived to an already bustling Hongdae to find a new airport line and Taco Bell around from the corner of Ho Bar III, our local watering hole, which was now a very loud club-like bar where we were carded at the door and what seemed like 15 year-olds taking over any open space. There I met with Juliann and Sylvia, the two girls I would meet up with for weekend brunch and confide things I couldn't with my co-workers eg. work, living in Korea and love. We caught up as much as we could against the blaring speakers until the rest of the Junggye crew arrived, where Eugene, the new FM (faculty manager) arrived and bought us a bottle of vodka - just like old times. Even Team Rok (Elliott, Tolani, Rachel, Jered, and Joe) showed up, my good training buddies from week 1 in Korea. From there we went to club Naked, where no one was naked surprise surprise. Love how Koreans name things. The night ended at 430am as any night in Hongdae should.
John and I Reenacting a Scene from Kung Fu Panda
Reuniting with Norma and Rachel
We took a cab to Christie's in Hae Bang Chon, a heavily concentrated foreigner area, to find Christie's Irish flatmate sitting on the couch eating McDonald's with his pants at his ankles. He questioned our presence and then realised after a few demands for us to leave, that Christie had told him about us. Awkward, but forgivable because this is the image of a typical foreigner hammered at 5am in Korea giving us much to laugh about during breakfast the next morning.
The next day I met up with a very hangover Juliann and Sylvia in Hyewha over lunch where we talked like old times speaking of our relationships, current frustrations and future plans. Although we've been apart for nearly a year, it was like catching up like it was yesterday - true sign of friendship. We cut our get together short because Juliann had to pack because she was leaving Korea for good the next day. It's hard to believe someone who says they are leaving Korea because so many people end up coming back. The money, lifestyle and 3% tax is hard to leave, but when you do, you realise there is so much more for you to pursue outside of Korea.
From there, I met up with John and Dave to exercise my bargaining skills in Yongsan, a famous area in Seoul to get bargains on electronics. If you want a wicked mouse, look into a Microsoft Arc. Got one for 50,000 won. I could have gotten it cheaper, but John the biggest goof I know kept cracking up when I started negotiating. With nothing left to do on a rainy afternoon, we decided to go somewhere only our good friend John would appreciate - Seven Luck Casino at the COEX mall. Bad idea because we ended up losing 200,000 won while John and Eugene, who only bets big on Black Jack left at least 200,000 won up. We did kill 3 hours getting free drinks and food and shooting the shit like old days.
For the night Dave and John went back up to Nowon to meet up with some Korean friends where they apparently drank too much soju, wrestled on the street and ended up at jimjilbang or sauna. I went off to meet up with Christie finally at the Hae Bang Chon Festival, a street party to celebrate being a foreigner and drinking on the street. Walking through I was spotted by Tosin, a friend I met through Jessie, who I had met through Perry one of my best friends on Semester at Sea. What a small world! She had the perfect seat on a cafe porch to people watch. I caught up with her for 45 minutes and during that time ran into Dan Cunningham, my former colleague. He was my head instructor for high level reading and had real interest in seeing my improvement. No jokes please to all those who know him. Although he wasn't the closest of my Korea friends, he was the most proud of my Australia successes, but then started to educate me in crude British slang I've heard in Australia via an iPhone app. Hasn't changed a bit. I left Tosin and headed closer to Christie and ran into Chris and Jason, both former colleagues at Junggye and also Matt, who I had met in a trip to the Philippines. One little street full of foreigners living in Seoul on a Saturday night and I run into 5 people!
I finally reached Christie and from first glance she rushes over to me and gives me the biggest hug announcing to the crowd of twenty she knows, because she knows everybody, that I've arrived. We depart with her flatmate Meg to eat barbecue - finally my first taste of galbi since arriving. This was swallowed down with swigs of soju, a drink I've sworn off since the epic night that was the last day of winter intensives in January 09. Oh well, when in Korea. The rest of the night was spent catching up with Christie and her comedian friends (actual amateur comedians building the scene in Seoul) on the street and in her house. We went to bed at sunrise.
The next day, Christie in all her clever wisdom, ordered delivery from the best franchise in Korea - Kimbap Chonguk. At home, hangovers are cured by bacon and eggs. In Korea, you get kimchi jjigae, a hearty spicy soup with meat, tofu and vegetables served with rice. Dave came back looking like a train wreck and we both set off for Myeongdong, big name brand shopping area of Seoul. We spent all day catching up on all the good decently priced shopping we were robbed of in Australia including Zara, Forever 21, H&M etc. Ready to head back and unable to reach anyone recovered enough for dinner, we set out to get one last taste of barbecue. Roaming around for a place that served barbecue with gyeran jjim (egg souffle), I heard my name called out through the masses; it was my cousin Christina! She had guests from her old radio DJ job in NYC who were obsessed with Korean culture visiting Korea for the first time. They had tried to get on a SBS music show, Inki Gayo or The Music Trend, but was too far back in line, so they went shopping instead. It was a very bizarre moment because we had tried calling her phone that had died, and she ended up finding us randomly in the streets of Myeongdong. We ate at a place with the egg souffle and devoured enough galbi to satisfy our craving for the rest of the trip.
The next morning would be our last full day in Seoul on this trip and probably for a while since all of our friends were leaving in the next 3 months. We decided to take in the beauty of Seoul by going to Gwanghamun, a historical area of Seoul boasting the Gyeongbokgung Palace and is walking distance to the Cheonggyecheon River and Insadong.
Me and King Sejong
He Created Hangul, Korean Language
We Were Destined to Move to Sydney
The Cheonggyecheon River in the Middle of Seoul
Walking Through Cheonggyecheon River
This is in the Middle of Seoul!
For the afternoon, we caught up with Dave's first friend in Korea - Lee Jin Kwong aka JK. They met in the hostel Dave was living in for the first 3 weeks of his life in Seoul. JK is a very outspoken guy who loves American slang. After our amazing lunch of cheese duk galbi and beer with JK and his girlfriend, I taught him the phrase 'shit hits the fan' - referring to what it would be like if he met his girlfriend's parents.
Cheechuh Duk Galbi
Cheese, Chicken, Veggies, Spice
JK and his Girlfriend Enjoying Dave's Nintendo 3DS
We had plans to meet our Junggye friends for a duck barbecue dinner in Nowongu at 10pm, but it was only 4pm. We took the opportunity to buy last minute gifts and my year supply of birth control, because it's only 7,000 won and you don't need a prescription! After stopping off at Skin Food for my favourite nail polish, Missha for my favourite mascara and eyeliner and a few of the local pharmacies so I don't look like a freak buying oral contraceptives in bulk, we set off to meet our friends. We arrived in Junggye with 2 hours to spare. This is where we found our our favourite tofu soup shop had turned into a 7-11. Completely heartbroken, we ate at our favourite Kimbap Chonguk restaurant one last time to eat their well-known cham chi kimbap (tuna roll) before we left Korea for good.
Hotteuk Street Food - Korean Pancake Filled with Cinnamon and Sugar
We Live off Tuna Kimbap
Tuna, Mayonnaise, Pickled Radish, Egg, Ham, Carrots, Sesame Leaf, Mushroom
Living in Taerung for my first year in Korea, I got to know everything about my sleepy little district. I knew what gym to go to, where to buy the best milk bread, get the best cheap pork barbecue and where the best duck in the world is. Walking out of the Taerung station, you get wafts of roasted duck because this particular place roasts it outside for the public to salivate. Of course, Christie and I discovered this place and have recommended it to everyone I know. For our last night in Korea, this is where we took our friends. We caught up one last time and ate and drank together like old times, hoping to preserve this memory because this would probably be the last time we would see all these people in the one setting that was common to all of us - Seoul, South Korea.
The Junggye Crew Eating Duck in Taerung
On the flight over to Seoul, we made a list of all the things we needed to buy, all the food we wanted to eat, and all the people we wanted to see. We got through most of our lists, but there were somethings that we couldn't do or wasn't there anymore. This trip was much like that pursuit to check things off our lists. Although we didn't get to do it all, we got a good helping of what we love about Korea; the food, the culture and our family of friends. I'm very much looking forward to seeing where we all are in the next year or even 5 years. Hopefully one day we all can meet up again for Korean barbecue somewhere in the world - because you know Koreans and their kimchi are taking over!
Our Last Memory of Seoul
Row of Ajumas (Older Korean Women) On Their Way to the Airport
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