Walking Tour of Seoul

What an amazing weekend! I still can't believe that I am living in Korea, as a teacher, for an entire year!!! It doesn't seem real yet.

On Saturday afternoon, two of my co-teachers graciously offered to show all the new teachers around Seoul.  The weather was gorgeous. It had to be around 50 degrees for most of the day with bright blue skies.

Big Shopping Area

We did a walking tour of some of the popular sites in Seoul. We didn't spend much time at each place, but now I know how to get around by bus and subway by myself.  Some of the places we visited included: Myeongdong, Insadong, Itaewon, a Buddhist temple and the Palace! For now, I'll post some pictures on Facebook.  When I go back to spend more time at each location I'll tell more about it (=

This is only one wall - it's huge!

I think you will be surprised how heavily influenced Korea is by American culture.  I swear there are more Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and 7 Eleven's in Korea than I've ever seen in the States.  Would you believe that there are Taco Bells, Burger Kings and Pizza Huts as well?  There was a TGI Fridays in the supermarket near my apartment in Suji, for goodness sakes!  Korea is so dynamic I learn something new everyday.  Hopefully I'll stay on top of this blogging thing so I can share it with you all too!

Me in front of King Sejong and the palace in the background!

The city itself seems never ending. Just like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going!  The Seoul metropolitan area has a population of almost 25 MILLION people!  To help put that into perspective, the Twin Cities metro area is home to only 5 MILLION.   Below is a photo a pretty stream that runs through the heart of the city.  One of coolest things about my tour is that I've seen a lot of these sites in Korean dramas before - but now I get to see them up close in person!!

Another fun fact, and don't you know I love to dish those out, the land area of North and South Korea combined is roughly the same size as Minnesota.

Quickly, I just have to say that I am loving the food here.  I'm am really enjoying myself despite my aversion to seafood. I suspect Korean food will do wonders for my figure as well (-; For lunch we stopped to have Dak Kalbi (spicy chicken),a stirfry-like dish.  Its was sooo yummy.  Here are two of my co-teachers Tristan and Rachel:

Next, I promise to share some pics and stories about my apartment !