Anne in Korea: Chuseok in Seoul

Happy Chuseok faithful readers! I asked my coteacher how to saw "Happy Chuseok" in Korean. It is "Chuseok chai pu ne seyo" (This is my non official romanization). When I would say that to people they were soo happy and impressed with me! My students laughed and said "Teacher you sound.... funny." Shop owners look at me very confused, then realize what I am trying to say, and then clap. I'm sad it's no longer Chuseok because it was fun to impress people.

I just got back from Seoul! I went with Adri and some friends I've met here and it was a really fun weekend.

Firstly, the Seoul Subway system is the coolest thing ever. It's so amazing. The trains are huge and gorgeous, and it is beyond easy to get around. We were all very impressed.

So a summary of the weekend: We went shopping in the shopping district Myeongdong, saw some Palaces in Insadong, went out for dinner in Gangnam (!!) and finally went to Lotte World (Korean version of DisneyLand!). Very busy weekend, and I am so happy that tomorrow is still a Holiday and I can relax and decompress. We also had an EPIK reunion and I saw a whole bunch of teachers I haven't seen since orientation, included our Korean class leaders. It was really nice to see everyone! The weather could not have been more perfect: beautiful crisp sunny fall days. Seoul is North of Gyeongju, so it was quite a bite cooler there.

Seoul has a very different feel than Gyeongju. It is much more multicultural, so we are way less special there. I was warned about massive crowds, but I think most people spent Chuseok with their families so it was actually less crowded than usual. It definitely seems like a very fun city, and I imagine if I were going to live in Korea for a long period of time I would want to be there. Still, I like the slower pace of Gyeongju as well as the specialness of being foreign here. I think in Seoul teaching would feel more like a job, separate from life, whereas here I feel like I get a more engulfing experience.

Pictures!