Welcome to our first experience of true culture shock and jet lag. After waiting for several days in Hawaii for a military hop to take us to Seoul, we finally settled for a commercial flight.

Though we initially planned to travel around all of Korea, not spend all our time in Seoul, plans change. We’ve learned that quite a bit already on this trip. Everything that we think is set in stone, truly isn’t.

Our first night in Seoul we were driven to our Airbnb by a driver our landlady set up for us. Our landlady quickly became a major part of our visit to Korea. She helped us in every way imaginable. From translating medicines we needed, telling us where the nearest grocery store is, giving us T-money cards for the subway, and welcoming us into the Airbnb that first night.

At the beginning of our visit, H and Dad went to a baseball game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The LG Twins were playing against the kt Wiz. The energy of the place with the cheer leaders leading soccer-game like chants, songs and drum beats was a lot of fun. Dad yelled out to an American player on the team who turned his head and smiled in appreciation (probably surprised to hear English!).

One of our favorite spots in Seoul was Myeongdong. It was extremely busy, the streets were lined with all sorts of skin care shops handing out free samples, restaurants, tanks with fish, clothing stores and frozen yogurt stands. What initially brought us there was the tourist information center but we came back again the next day to look around the cool area some more.

Karena enjoys frozen yogurt while walking around Myeongdong.

The amazing subway system throughout Seoul is easy to navigate and understand. K loved figuring out the subway stations, where we needed to go and when. Within the subway station there are shops where one could buy clothing, shoes, jewelry, baked goods, and even a basket of groceries.

Learning how to use kiosk to charge T-money cards

Waiting for the subway

Holden and Cora running up the stairs at the subway station

We visited a few palaces including Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung from the Joseon Dynasty. They were gorgeous and full of tourists. We asked someone why so many people were wearing their beautiful traditional attire (Hanbok). We found out that it was only so they could get free entrance to the palace.

On Chuseok, Korean thanksgiving, we went to a Buddhist Temple. The inside was full of people and there were beautiful lanterns hanging from the ceiling of the temple and stacks of produce. The temple itself was surrounded by a place to get something to eat. There were chairs set up in rows facing the temple, rows of lanterns hung in the large trees.

The Alive Museum was a huge hit. It’ll make more sense after you look at the photos, but essentially it’s one giant optical illusion. We had a blast walking around and posing in the painted backdrops.

On one of our last days in Seoul, we took an English bus tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). We learned so much and got to visit many interesting historical sites outside of and inside the DMZ. The Third Tunnel, in which we weren’t allowed to take photos, was a tunnel built by North Korea disguised as a mining tunnel. At another stop we could see North Korea and a propaganda village they built. In one of the photos, you can see the flag from the north and south. One of our favorite parts of the tour was visiting the Dorasan train station. The train station isn’t in use yet, but there are maps on the walls of what the routes will look like after the unification of North and South Korea. It was a powerful thing to see.

Lastly, the food. Everything was spicy. We enjoyed many Korean dishes including bi bim bap, beef bulgogi, dumplings, kimchi, and Korean barbecue.

Next a quick stop in Malaysia!