A Korea recap

What a whirlwind trip that was.  I have to say that we only experienced part of Seoul, and that part involved the subway and shopping.  That was about it.  Oh Yeah and the Humidity!!  Wowzers, it is humid there right now. So where to start.  There was a 14+ hour flight there.  I do not enjoy flying, triggers some major (read MAJOR) anxiety.  Not really sure why, but it does.  Thanks to a prescription I was able to get through the flight.  It certainly helped to have S with me (his hand is recovering).  We left here at 8am, flight was at 1:35pm Sunday and we arrived at about 5pm Monday in Seoul.  It was a little disorienting and I think being sleep deprived didn't help.  We found our way, on the AREX train (grabbed a coke, of course) and away we went.  When we got to Seoul Station (our stop) we had not yet learned the lesson about exits from Korean subways.  That made our walk to the hotel about 20 minutes longer than necessary.  Nonetheless, we made it.  Did I mention it is humid there right now?  Lugging 4 suitcase, I certainly got some exercise in!!

   We got to our room and it smelled like smoke, oh and we couldn't get the lights on.  We figured out that you must insert your key into a slot to turn anything on in the place.  The room was actually an 800sq foot apartment.  So for energy conservation purposes I guess they had that key thing.  Pretty interesting idea.  S went to see about getting a non smoking room only to learn that they don't differentiate, so it is what it is.  Oh well, we were tired.  We didn't even eat dinner.  Stopped at the 7-11 and grabbed a snack and crashed.  S was up at about 4am, I pretended to to sleep longer. 

  Tuesday morning we decided to head out and explore and shop.  We had learned we would be meeting and taking custody of M at 1:30 Wednesday so we wanted to get all our shopping done so we could just stay in and focus on him the rest of the trip.  We headed to the subway and fumbled along.  The subways are amazing.  The important thing to know~?~?  there are many exits and if you don't pick the right one then you end far from where you intended.  We went to an amazing market with huge buildings, wall to wall merchandise.  Like floors upon floors.  It was like a maze.  Shoes and purses...thousands of them.  Each booth appeared to be individually owned, some maned with people who were sleeping or reading the paper, having breakfast.  Some with no one there.  All that merchandise just sitting there and it appeared totally safe.  Very different than here.

The advice we had gotten was don't stop at the first booth, because you may find a better price further in.  So we explored, and explored and explored, until my feet hurt and I was sweaty.  Air conditioning not nearly as readily used in Korea as the US.  We found some souvenirs we had been searching for and gifts for the kind people who were watching over our other cherubs at home.  Then we were in search of Hanboks, traditional Korean formal wear for the munchkins.  We thought M would probably have one in his stuff he brought home, so I wanted to get them for everyone else.  They are beautiful colorful satin outfits traditionally born for formal occasions like the 1st birthday and weddings.  I felt these were true tokens of Korea for the kids to cherish. 
WE COULDN'T FIND THEM....ANYWHERE.  I was pretty bummed.  We decided to head to the COEX which is another, more "mall like" shopping venue in hopes of finding them there.  So back to the subway and stare at the map.  Thankfully a nice woman approached us and told us which train to take and where to go.  At the Coex it was a completely different shopping experience.   Indoor and air conditioned, designer stores.  Crazy clean.  We found a couple little toys for those kiddos at home, but no Hanboks!  Again I was so disappointed, and exhausted.  So we decided to give up for now, head back to the hotel, eat and maybe come go to a different market we had heard of later in the afternoon.  Because we were out of hotel by 6:45am, it was now only a little after lunchtime.    So...back to the subway.  And again while staring cross eyed at the map a middle aged gentlemen asked, in very good English, where we were headed.  We told him and he said after looking at his watch "I will take you, just stay with me."  On the subway ride, the man (never got his name) told us all about how grateful Koreans are for the assistance America gave their country and what it is like to live in Korea.  He had traveled the world and had even been to Virginia!  He was so kind and proud and I really enjoyed all that he shared with us.  I figured he would maybe know about Hanboks, so with renewed determination, I asked him where we might go.  He asked "Do you have a guide to go with you?"  No, I said.  He again looked at his watch and said, ", I havew time, I can take you."  As we exited at the SAME stop we had originally stopped at, he said we needed exit 14.  AHH, the error, we had taken the wrong exit earlier.  On the way through the hallway, he stopped and bought some Korean rice cakes to share with us.  Now, these are NOTHING like what I think of when one says rice cake.  For starters they are not crunchy, or flat, or any of that.  they were green and looked a bit like the end of green pepper that had seen better times.  They were sticky and sweet with a sugary icing in the middle.  Yum, wish we could have brought some home for the little ones here to taste.   He took us up the stairs and pointed to a large building.  He said goodbye and headed back into the subway.  One of the things he shared was that senior citizens can ride the subway for free, what a great thing to offer them. 

And in this building...HANBOKS!!!!!!!  Gorgeous ones, beautiful colors in adult and kids sizes. 

OK, that is all I can fit in today...more soon.  This post has already taken hours to write.