Seoulmate: Traditional experience in Hongdae - Shrine Tour(Gwangheungdang tour)

Before the tour my understanding of a traditional experience in Hongdae was the image of university students stumbling drunk through the streets.

I arrived to the meeting spot a bit early so I got myself a nice seat by the window and a green tea latte at a cafe nearby. Just when I was about to leave I saw a woman eye'ing the place next to me, she looked up at the sun beaming through the window and then looked higher at the blinds, just out of reach. She turned around to look for other seats. Before getting up I used my height to pulling down the blind so she could sit there without roasting to death. She gave me a 'kamsamnida' and sat down. Good deed done.

Next I met up with the Seoulmates at the meeting spot and the tour began! It is my fourth tour, which means I get a present! But there was some miscommunication and they didn't have anything ready. But, that's kind of a good thing. Next week is exams so the university students who run Seoulmate will all be buried in books -no tours. The weekend after that is the special seasonal tour and there are hardly any details up about it on the site. They told me I would get my present at the next tour, and the next tour is the seasonal tour, which only has space for eight. So in a round-about kind of way it justified me taking on of the limited spots later that night.

We walked along streets packed with art and performers. We also passed one of Seoul's sheep cafes, much like the cat cafe's that have taken off around the word, here you can share a drink and pet a sheep. Apparently there is also a tortoise and sugar glider cafe in Hongdae. Finally we followed some back roads up, up, up. Exhausting. Then we went down a forested trail to the shrine itself.

nice fall colours happening in the background

We played some traditional Korean games here and learned some history about the shrine. The Seoulmates are a very well connected group. The shrine is open to the public, but it's even more open to Seoulmate. We got to go inside the accompanying building and use the calligraphy desks to write out Korean proverbs. 

On the top I have written the proverb which loosely translates to: prepare before someone steals your cow.  Then below is my name, Niki, followed by the name of the shrine, and of course a stolen cow. 

Again the well connected Seoulmates also have access to the dressing room containing the traditional clothing, hanbok. This is typically reserved for ceremonies, but they are more than happy to get foreigners dressed up. Here is yours truly...

later I put on a traditional hat resembling a lamp shade.

After games and photos we walked to a nearby restaurant for another wonderful meal. Many participants were planning to head back to the sheep cafe -and I wish I could've gone.

Instead I made ten trips between the 5th and 3rd floor of my apartment shuttling things to the new room. This new apartment has a lot more stuff -including a full-sized fridge, big bed, couch and even a blender! But most importantly, it has two windows.