Since Dragon Hill has a time limit of 12 hours most people checked in before the night rates come in (it's only 1000 won more, or like $1) at 8pm. Meaning most people had to leave before 8am. This early morning period was perfect for me.
But I still had that problem, with my phone having almost no battery. When I left the sleeping room I saw some fans up against the window, up very high, each taking up one outlet of a pair of outlets. Using my height advantage I plugged in there but still mulled around in case some tall thief came by.
Still, I only got up to about 60% or so.
I went to sit in some of the different saunas, I ended up falling asleep in the kiln again. Great way to start the day.
The purpose of staying in Seoul overnight was actually really a logical one. I had a Seoulmate tour today meeting at 12:45. So why spend time and money taking the trains, bus, and probably a few cabs to get home when I could spend that money staying at the spa? I feel good about this choice.
When I checked out of Dragon Hill I needed to meet my most basic need: food. I stopped in at the Lotteria after students had suggested I try a mozzarella hashbrown burger. It was incredible, suspiciously not salty -which is my comment on all non-soup foods in Korea. It must be my North American upbringing.
I also stopped to buy a new bus pass. Looking back on it, that was a good idea. The bus pass I had been using was just left behind from a past teacher, this was me starting fresh, being self-sufficient! Independent! And... discovering it's really easy to just buy one for like, 3000 won.
I caught the train to a more central location in Seoul. Like last week, the stations were packed with protesters. Sadly, I had been wondering last week if this weekend protest would be larger or smaller, does the movement still have momentum. No. We went from 1 million down to 500,000.
I met up with Seoulmates and we started the tour by visiting one of Seoul's largest markets! There was something incredible about how the businesses were arranged. It appeared to be for the convenience of the consumer: you could find a cluster of merchants all selling similar products in the same area. Meaning for the businesses, you would be in direct competition with all the other stalls in your area. I'm not meaning like a food court, I'm meaning like: everyone who sells donuts will be here, pancakes here, tteokppoki here, and so on.
You know me, I like flags
Lots of tasty things being cooked up here.
Before actually getting to try the food, we stopped into the section selling traditional Korean clothes, or hanbok. What we didn't count on was the size of this place, we got lost, totally, and even with directions we couldn't find our way out. We ended up leaving through a separate exit and walking around the outside to return to the market.
A hauntingly beautiful labyrinth.
Our meal consisted of tteokppoki, tiny little kimbap rolls, a drink of maggeolli and some of these delicious pancakes make with meat and seafood:
The only thing it was missing was some damn salt.
From the market, we moved to a shrine, but not just any shrine, we went to the Jongmyo Shrine which is a UNESCO world heritage site! The fall leaves made this place look even more beautiful than its structures make it to be.
The road down the centre is not to be walked on as it is reserved for spirits. The jimjilbang had already got me thinking about Spirited Away, and now this... must watch again and again.
Spirits get the middle, the king is on the right and his son on the left.
Those fall colors!
For such a stunning site it may surprise you to learn its main purpose is for memorial services. Everything from preparing the body, to cooking the food to honour the ashes with.
Nicest funeral home I could ever picture.
There are non-death related things here obviously, and I should clarify that the photo above actually houses tablets containing the teaching of famous Confucian philosophers who ...oh, had their funeral here.
After saying goodbye to the Seoulmates I had to speed off to head back to Ansan. My Korean co-teacher had given me and the other foreign teachers tickets to Christmas Cantata.
I ended up taking the train (and another $3.00 cab) directly to the theatre. I tried calling my co-teacher to discover my phone was dead, totally dead -which is why I took the cab from the trains station even though it was really close. Then I charged my phone in the bathroom enough to call her and find where she and her husband were.
Once we had all met up we sat down just in time for the show. My co-teacher spoken to me just before about how she was hoping to improve her English while working at our school. She then made an effort to the explain to me anything said in Korean. She even got in a little trouble for using a translate app during the performance, I really do admire her tenacity for communication.
The performance way incredible! Very theatrical with a warm message of opening our hearts. South Korea is like the 4th or 5th country that leads charitable donations as a percentage of income. It's no wonder Korean are such generous people when they walk around with a mindset about opening hearts.
I know it's only November, but I was totally warmed with the Christmas spirit. My co-teacher said she had bought the tickets because she want us to have a memorable Christmas in Korea. Her husband even drove us home and we talked about going to a jimjilbang or a noraebang all together sometime! What nice people, I'm happy they opened their hearts and invited us.
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