First Steps in Seoul

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my next stop was Seoul, the capital of South Korea. At this point, I had been on the road for 3 months and had figured I would need a change of pace. This is why I allowed myself to spend a full month in this country, which would turn out to be my last stop in Asia.

I found myself a nice little apartment, with three awesome roommates, which was located close to the Mapo-gu Office station. Which was of course a major plus. It was also equipped with everything I could possibly want. This wasn't a touristy neighborhood, with all the advantages and disadvantages this entails. Yes, I was away from the circus, but this also meant my chances of having trouble communicating were higher.

My location also allowed me to reach a canal in 5 minutes by foot. From there, another 10 minutes would take me to the Hangang (Han river). This became a favorite spot of mine as most nights, around midnight, I would set out in my running gear and make my way to the second bridge. There, I found an outdoor workout station, which combined to the stairs leading up to the bridge, proved to provide everything I needed. I would come back afterward in a run as well. You can have a sneak peak at my set-up with this map.

My great location gave me access to many other great things, apart from the river. There were restaurant, a traditional market and almost anything I could need close by. If I felt like walking, Hapjeong was not that far away.

Some Apprehensions about South Korea

I would lie if I pretended I had no apprehensions about South Korea. First, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. In my research, it seems I came across too many reports of racism experienced by foreigners. As I was planning on dropping my bags there for a month, I was really hoping these reports were exaggerated and that I had no reasons to worry.

I am happy and relieved to report I experienced no such problems. Except, perhaps, for the fact that I did sometimes feel some people staring, not the stares I got in South East Asia... it's hard to explain, but it was a different type of stares. I'm not sure if it makes any sense still.
 
Other times I did feel like I was dressed incorrectly. I suspect it mostly had to do with the cuts of my shirts: v-necks that would be considered rather conservative in Canada, but were quite daring for South Korea. This was easily fixed by wearing a scarf.

I did pay heed to the accounts of my fellow travelers who had a hard time adjusting to South Korea. It seemed one common denominator was the corruption. For a developed country, it was surprising to read several accounts of foreigners being assaulted only to be charged for the crime and, for sole way out of being prosecuted, having to compensate their victim in the four digits figures. Which was much more economical than going ahead with a defense that could rise much higher.

Another common theme seemed to revolve around the idea that South Koreans were not fond of Americans. The main explanation I could find for this was the controversial presence of several American military bases in South Korea.

But, as I said, this was not my experience. I found South Koreans to be very welcoming and kind. I have made friends during my month and have seized the opportunity to discuss the preceding points when I voiced on one occasion my pre-arrival apprehensions. I didn't know at the time, and my friends were kind enough to overlook my misstep, but it was a major faux-pas for me to actually speak of this. I suppose I should have known better, I had heard South Koreans are really proud and my questions could have easily been interpreted as criticism of their country.

However, I am glad I did breach the subject. It allowed me to gain insight that would come useful throughout my stay. While racism exists (to be fair, racism can be a problem anywhere really), Westerners might mistake extreme shyness for race bias. I can attest to the shyness of South Koreans. Communication is another issue that can result in locals seeming unfriendly toward foreigners. Communication issues could also explain the unfair nature of the assault investigations.

My roommates did however warn me, saying the assault cases to which I was referring most often happened at the end of the evening in a neighborhood called Itaewon. The explanation made sense. On weekends, many young American soldiers gather in Itaewon for a drink or two or too many. Soon, you find yourself with a melting pot of cultural differences, politics and inebriated minds - an explosive mix.

I was advised to keep out of there on weekend nights. I did. So I can't really comment further on this.

I will go further in depth in some of the elements mentioned here in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

Change Log

2014-10-08 - Pictures were added to the post Our Stay at a Ryokkan and Traveling by Night.

Pictures were added to the post Oh deers...

2014-09-26 - The post Exciting News - A Round the World Trip was renamed to a simpler Kickoff. Small changes were made to the wording used in the post. The post was also added to the Reflexions category to make it easier to access it.

The post Creating a Will – Part 1 was renamed to Creating a Will, since I never wrote a part two and I feel I don't have enough material to write one.

The post Last Meeting with the Board was renamed to Last Board Meeting. The body of the post was modified to increase clarity of content.

I have added the label Health to the post Vaccination.

A picture was added to the post Air Canada's Red Tape Nightmare.

One line was added to the Te Papa comment in the Zealandia post.

A few changes were made throughout the Surfing in Manly Beach post.

End of Journey

This is just a small message to let you know that I have returned home after months on the road and after exploring a total of 20 countries. Of course, my travels did not end in Japan, my loyal pair of sneakers did many more miles after that. However, I just couldn't write fast enough for my retelling of the journey to coincide with my actual pace.

I had started this blog at first to keep friends and family at home informed of my whereabouts. I was surprised by the readership and have decided to maintain my blog and to write the story to the end.

I will take the time now to rework some of the previous posts as I go over them as well as write new ones. Perhaps, add pictures to the ones that lack them. This means that my publishing schedule will change as well. At this point in time, I am aiming at publishing twice a week. I will also keep a post up explaining the changes made to previous posts, if you wish to revisit them.

Time to Say Goodbye

After a lovely visit of Japan with Jason, it was time to part way yet again. He was heading on to Canada on a rather long flight and I was moving on to South Korea. There were quite a few places we didn't manage to see as our visit was quite targeted geographically. Among these locations that we would have wished to see there was the bunny island for Jason and Hokkaido for myself. I don't exclude the possibility of returning in the future to complete our tour of Japan.

As for Jason, it was his first official traveling and I was glad he shared this moment with me. I am confident he had a great time and he seemed eager for more. Perhaps, this trip will open the door to more duo wanderings in the future!

As you can imagine, there was something quite sad when we parted at the airport, but it was tampered with some great plans we had made for after my return. We also had talks of him maybe joining up with me at a further point in one of my other locations.

This being said I had myself mixed feeling about my next destination. I had heard rather scary reports of racism against foreigners in South Korea. Incidents were not all there was to be read about, so despite some apprehensions, I had faith it would go well. Being on my best behavior had helped me so far and I was sure it would keep me out of trouble in the future as well.

Word of the Day - Love Lock

Lock left on bridges, fences and all sorts of structures - actually, it seems any structures will do. The lock bears the initials of the lovers and once they have thrown away the key,  their love should have become unbreakable.

The Love Lock trend has grown worldwide, much to the dismay of municipal authorities who must pay for their removal. In Paris, the Pont des Arts is almost fully covered in these and it has been known to damage the structure.

Floating Gardens of Osaka

When dearest J suggested we go see the Floating Garden Observatory in Osaka, he hadn't realized these “gardens” were located at the very top of the Umeda Sky Building. At about a whooping 50^th floor, it proved to be a test for his willpower. He had thought these would be nice water gardens at ground level, not the nice relaxing walk he thought it would be. The garden itself was not made of beautiful flowers, but was rather made up of the skyscraper jungle spreading out on the horizon. Tiny ants of cars made their ways busily between buildings.

It took a bit of imagination to visualize the garden, but it was still a nice day and provided a gorgeous view of our surroundings.

There was also a small counter where you could order your initials and those of your loved one engraved on a Love Lock. With lock in hand, you would head on up to the observatory and lock it up on a fence to ensure your ever lasting love.

Did we play the game? Of course we did.