A Weekend in Seoul

I went to Seoul with the other teachers this weekend. We took the train up Friday night after school and returned late tonight. We stayed overnight at the bathhouse again. I loved it! It's the only place in Korea where I actually feel warm since my apartment is very drafty.

We spent all day Saturday walking around. We visited Insadong, which is the cultural district of Seoul, and Namdaemun, which is a huge market district, where everything from ginseng to clothing to kitchen utensils is sold.

It is very nice to go to Seoul because it is such a huge city--the largest city in the world by some estimates. People still stare at us, but not as much as they do in the smaller town. We were going to go back this coming weekend, but the railway workers are on strike, and only 34% of the country's passenger trains are currently running, including the subway system in Seoul. So much for that plan.

Below are my photos from Seoul. The photo of the sign is my favorite. There are comical expressions printed in English everywhere. The other teachers and I have been using "Dream in popince love for baby" to mean "sweet dreams." As it turns out, "Popince" is the name of the department store. The red writing in Korean says "Po-Pin-Suh." I'm getting very good at being able to sound out writing that I see, but I still have no idea what most of it means. It's become a game for me to look for words I recognize on signs, church bulletins, food packages, etc.

Without further ado, here are the photos!