Hello Korea!

After an incredible 7 week vacation in the U.S., I am finally back in Korea! I have a new job, new city explore, new people to meet, and more fun to be had in this great country. I arrived a few days early, which gave me some time to explore Seoul by myself before heading south to Daejeon for my EPIK (English Program in Korea) orientation.

Goodbye Colorado :( 

Hello Korea :D

My first full day in Korea was pretty cool. It happened to be Korea's 70th anniversary of independence from Japan so I wandered my way into some of the festivities.

Waking up that first morning was exciting--especially since I didn't have any responsibilities! I had my map of Seoul and I was ready to explore. Just around the corner from my hotel was Namsangol Hanok Village. This is a tourist spot where you can see traditional houses. I do have pictures of said houses but those are on my camera...and the majority of my cell phones pictures are selfies...sorry haha.

One of the hanok houses was set up as a free traditional medicine service site. Apparently Traditional Medical Tourism is a real thing in Korea and this place is part of it. It was definitely interesting--the doctors and nurses were wearing traditional Korean clothing (hanbok). A nurse gave me tea specific to how I was feeling at the time. Then she took my pulse and blood pressure. I waited for a little bit and then went in to see the doctor. She told me what foods and herbs I need to incorporate in my diet more and also to exercise more haha. The last thing she did was put these little acupuncture stickers in my ear.

Can you find the two patches on my ear?

Now can you find the tiiiiny needle that was poking me for two days?

My medicine packet

All of it was free!

Inside was herbal tea and soap because the doctor said my skin was very dry

After my adventure with the traditional doctors, I left the hanok village and wandered towards Seoul's famous tower, Namsan. Before I got there, I saw something that caught my attention:

Elvis memorial museum? Why not!

                                        

I decided to check it out because, hey, who doesn't like Elvis Presley? I was looking forward to a little collection of bizarre Korean memorabilia. I walk down the steps and opened the door. Darkness? I didn't know what was going on but the room was dark. Part of my brain was saying "Abort! Abort!" and another part of my mind was saying "This is weird...I should stay!" Then Korean man walked up to me and led me to a chair. As my eyes adjusted, I looked around me and saw about a dozen other Koreans (mostly older), sitting in front of a projection screen. Seconds later, Elvis Presley was on the screen singing "Love Me Tender" in concert. Throughout the whole thing all I could think was, "Whaaaat. What is happening. This is awesome." After the little screening party, the lights came on and I was invited to sit at a table by a man wearing a shirt with a huge picture of Elvis on it. Next thing I know, I'm being offered peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I had just eaten lunch so I was only kind of picking at it and so were most people. Elvis-shirt man kept saying (in Korean), "Eat like Elvis!" This guy's love for Elvis is REAL. He didn't speak English but I could tell. All he could say to me in English besides "Hello," and "Nice to meet you," was "I am Elvis." There was one guy there with his wife and toddler who spoke English enough to let me know they were celebrating Elvis because it was the anniversary of his death. I just want to point out that this was the same day the rest of Korea was celebrating 70 years of freedom from Japan but hey, I guess some people have different passions, right? I stuck around for a couple hours, looking at the Elvis memorabilia and struggling to communicate with the members of Korea's official Elvis fan club. The owner ("I am Elvis") gave me a stack of Elvis postcards and posters before I left. This is quite possibly the strangest and most wonderful thing I have ever accidentally done in my life.

And that's the story of the time I accidentally crashed an Elvis Presley memorial party in South Korea. Isn't life wild?

After my fun Elvis adventure, I stopped by the Bank of Korea Money Museum. I was actually trying to make it to City Hall and the palace across the street from it. But it started down pouring suddenly so I decided to wait it out in the money museum.

Money!

I can't translate what the cat is saying but I really liked this picture anyway

To be honest, I was not all that impressed with the palace once I made it there. I mean, it was just a bunch of buildings...then again I don't think it was the big popular one everyone goes to. 

But there was a free art museum right outside that was more interesting. They had a Lee Quede exhibit. I had never heard of him but his work is apparently very important to Koreans. He produced art throughout the time of the Japanese occupation as well as the Korean War. 

This was my favorite picture from the exhibition

Apparently this day was my day of perfect timing because as I walked out of the palace, a parade was just starting in the street for Independence Day! It was so much fun to see the floats and performers. I followed the parade down to a stage area where later on there would be musical performances. At one point confetti just fell out of the sky--it was crazy! So many people! I stayed to watch some performances but around 9pm I was feeling pretty exhausted and headed back to my hotel. I had quite a full day! 

The next morning I woke up refreshed and ready for more! It was Sunday so I made my way to church and had a good time bumping into some people I'd met during previous visits to Seoul. After church, I stopped by the National Museum of Korea to expand my limited knowledge on Korean history. It is a beautiful (and free) museum. 

10 story pagoda from Gyeongcheonsa Temple 

This tall pagoda was very impressive

My favorite part of the museum was a room with several Buddha statues. I tried to make it to the nearby War Memorial of Korea but yesterday's activities caught up with me and I was tired after spending a few hours in the museum so I just went back to my hotel for a rest.

The following day was dedicated to traveling to another hotel but this time in Daejeon. I arrived the afternoon before the orientation for my new job so I had a little time to explore the nearby underground mall where I bought an adorable new phone case:

Sully from Monsters Inc.!

Daejeon here I come!

And that is where I will leave you for now!