The Soul of Asia

There comes a time in every young man's life when he must say goodbye. Sometimes the goodbyes are easy. When you really don't care for someone, it doesn't take much energy to brush them off your life's shoulder forevermore. When they swindle their way into your black little heart and nuzzle up to it, sometimes scraping it with their stubble, it becomes an entirely different operation to say goodbye.

Thus, I went to Seoul this weekend to grant a fare thee well to several friends who live in the Seoul area. They will be moving on to greener pastures as they say (not the same they, a different they from the subject they). This blog post will weave the rather uninteresting story of my journey there.

I came up on Friday in a pack of four, saving 40% of my ticket price. We immediately went to Incheon and found Rio's, the bar hosting my sought company. Things happened there that normally happen in a foreigner bar in Korea, thus they need not be recounted in too great detail.

Saturday and Sunday were the bulk of the trip...obviously. Saturday, we:

saw Dongdaemun (finally...).
saw what feminist fashion looks like.
drank very delicious beer that my friend brewed himself and gave to me for Christmas.
had a nutritionally balanced diet.
went to a club/bar that sold mixed drinks in a bucket. Yes, a bucket. This was, perhaps appropriately, where my sad goodbyes took place.

Sunday saw us make our way to the Korea National Museum. It was shnifty enough that I was museumed out afterward. Here are some highlights:

A gazebo on a frozen lake.
A dragon tapestry.
A suit of armor.
A really tall and intricate pagoda.
An intricate tapestry depicting Buddha doing something.
We then unsuccessfully went to Gyeongbokgung, the same palace I visited maybe 8 months prior. It closed in 15 minutes, so we just got a photo op of the front and slinked over to Insadong for some grub.

We ended up having to wait at Seoul Station for an hour and a half and I discovered two things about Seoul Station. The upstairs is full of shopping and a department store. The upstairs is also full of bums and societal degenerates. We spent the hour and a half waiting up there in their midst, feeling never uneasy. Does that say something about us or does that speak to how safe Korea is? You decide. Choose your own adventure. I'll see you soon.