Life This Week in South Korea: November 18-24, 2024

(get a snack, this is LONG)

Monday, Nov 18

My weekend of not-studying really hit me this morning as I reviewed for the speaking test with the tutor. I actually contemplated not going to the final cuz…I’ve already failed…if I got a 100 on the speaking test I still wouldn’t pass the class! But…urrgggh…I just couldn’t do it. So I spent the day studying, and went to my test at 3:30.

And it was not so bad! I don’t know that I passed, because I don’t think I used enough Korean 2 grammar, but the teacher giving the test was very sweet and patient and spoke slowly and clearly, which was nice. I mostly understood everything she said…I just couldn’t always think of how to answer with this term’s more advanced grammar.

OH WELL. Either way, it’s OVER. Afterwards I went home, traded my book bag for my camera bag, and toodled on down to the river since there was so much daylight left. It turned cold yesterday and I spent a lot of time sitting, waiting for the light to change. And I was cold!

This (above) is Lotte Tower from sunset, to dusk, to dark. Lotte Tower is the 6th tallest building in the world and the tallest building in Korea, at 123 stories, putting it just above One World Trade Center in NYC, which is the tallest building in the US.

On the day I arrived in Korea, the bus went past Lotte Tower, which I’d seen so many times in kdramas and the internet and I was like wow…I’m really here. 

Tuesday, Nov 19

Got up early and headed out into the COLD, oofah. Had an uneventful bus ride (Go, Me) and got to Deoksugung Palace around 9:30 and headed straight to Sarang Cafe, for a cafe mocha and a raspberry rice cake muffin. It was yum. And the mocha was warm. I sat outside to eat, next to the pond that was looking a little past its peak. The foliage at the palace was really good and I took a lot of pictures. I had to move through a little swiftly cuz I needed to get back to campus in time to pick up my new resident card (student visa extended til March 2005…just one more extension after this) and get to the completion ceremony by 1:30.

Everything moved along quicker than I planned and I had two hours to sit out in the cold (not BRUTAL, but) only to learn that the completion ceremony as we have known it for the past year, was not to be, and we were just doing individual things in our classroom. Had I known that, I would have come home for two hours instead of sitting outside (near the building where the ceremony usually takes place). OH WELL.

Not surprisingly, I did not pass – anything – though I was pleased to have gotten almost a passing grade on the speaking test. It will all be better next time.

After the mini-ceremony, I came home and collapsed on my bed, pulling the blanket up over me and just lay there for about two hours. Ha. VACATION. I’m on VACATION.

Ordered spaghetti and edited the pictures from today. Didn’t Study. Cuz I’m on VACATION.

Wednesday, Nov 20

I tried to sleep late in a very luxurious way…but woke up at 5am and never got back to sleep. I had a little travel anxiety and…and…I was supposed to meet someone this evening for coffee…a man someone…a new man someone…and that was just one anxiety too many. Once I just…pulled the trigger and asked if we could push back til I get home from my trip…I at least had that relief.

I did some remote work…double-checked all my travel and hotel plans…reserved an Uber to take me to the bus terminal…cleaned out all my paperwork from this past term and got all organized for next…got almost all my trash/recycling out….opened all the Russian nesting suitcases to get to the smallest one…deliberated a LOT about what clothes to take. This week has been anywhere from 70 to 20 degrees…and I plan to be outside pretty much the whole time I’m there (unless I’m in a cafe/restaurant/shop) both day and night…BUT it’s only two nights, so…I think I got it sorted out correctly. Fingers crossed it doesn’t go up to 80…or stay below freezing all day. I’m at that point where I can’t finish actually packing the suitcase cuz I like the laptop to go in the middle so it’s cushioned by clothes above and below. I’ll do all that just before I go to sleep tonight…and in the morning can pack the charging cables and converter.

My bus isn’t til 8am but I have the Uber coming at 6:15 because I’m a psycho. An anxious psycho at that. I’m always so afraid of missing something. Bus, plane, connection, etc. I’d rather be at Transportation Land for hours…than at home worrying I won’t get there in time and I’ll miss my whatever and the world will end.

So, my Gyeongju itinerary is insane. There is No Way I will get to all this stuff…

Thursday, Nov 21

I got up early, my Uber was waiting for me, I got to the bus terminal in plenty of time. Got myself a grapefruit juice and settled in to read my book. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man walk past me several times…I tried not to engage but dammit…the next thing I know he’s sitting next to me chatting away. Older Korean man, “Sam.” I know some Koreans just like an opportunity to practice their English. But there are also religious cults and money scammers so you need to be careful. It’s hard for me to be rude and just ignore people, so…20 minutes of chatting with Sam followed. Helped him with his Facebook so he could send me something he’d written about difficult English pronunciations. I finally managed a “I’m going to the hwajangshil before my bus comes, nice chatting with you,” as I put my jacket on. He offered to watch my suitcase but I’M A NEW YORKER so thank you but no thank you. Found a different waiting area closer to my bus platform, sans Sam, and soon I was off and on my way.

I’m struggling a bit with all the things I’m doing now. There are many of them I want to write about in dedicated posts so I can go into more depth and share more pictures, without overwhelming these Week in Review posts. So my first attempt is keeping the WIR details more to the…personal bits? And save the “trip tik” stuff for dedicated posts. I’m hoping to attract more “Korean/travel types” who might want the deets on a place or attraction but don’t want to hear about a stranger’s anxiety or what I had for breakfast. So bear with me while I get this sorted out.

The bus ride was fine, I love riding in cars and looking out the window. One of my favorite things. “Looking.” Watching. Sitting and watching people/the world go by. Highly underrated. Got to Gyeongju in 3.5 hours…easily got an uber to the hotel…was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. I usually go the airbnb route to get a cheaper place, but there’s always a trade-off. And this place had a BATHTUB. It was in the “city center” as advertised, but what I didn’t realize til I got there, is that all the things I wanted to do/see were in the historic district, not the city center. Not a big problem just something to be mindful of in the future.

I dropped my suitcase off and headed out to lunch at a cute place I’d seen on IG. Not realizing it was closed on Thursdays, of all things! So, because I was starving and didn’t really know where things were, I just ended up at a Paris Baguette (I THINK they have these in some states, but they’re reallt popular in Korea)…a chain bakery/cafe with some sandwiches and salads. Meh. Ha. Some of you might remember the Paris Baguette Birthday Cake Food Poisoning (or whatever) Debaucle of February 2024. I’ve only recently ventured back in, but always have a nails-on-the-blackboard feeling when I eat anything there.

Back to the hotel to check in and go up to my room for a little lie down til it was time to go back out to a rooftop cafe for sunset. My timing was all off, the bed was So Nice, I was So Tired, it was So Hard to Get Up…and I really pretty much missed the sunset. Not to mention, rooftop. Rooftop, stairs. Stairs with no handrail. Rooftop, stairs with no handrail, carrying a tray with an iced coffee and a dessert. In the near dark. With a bad knee. Guess where this is going. I ALMOST made it. Up the stairs. Through the door I had to push open and step up two steps. Saw the table with my name on it…but not the step-up to get to it. I managed to not fall but I lost my whole drink and made a big mess on tray and floor. Witnessed by a cute couple two tables down (who did not offer to help the old clumsy woman, 2 demerits for them). Sigh. By the time I got settled and wiped up a bit, poured the remaining coffee from the tray into a planter box at the edge of the roof, it was almost dark with just barely any sunset left in the sky.

Sigh.

The tiramasu was excellent. Highly recommend. I wouldn’t know about the vanilla latte.

Then I ubered over to dinner at a bagel place…which was a little disappointing just cuz nighttime, I was practically the only there, and the sandwiches all looked like they’d been sitting there awhile, but I was hungry and wanted something with meat on it. In Korea you don’t reallt get fresh-made sandwiches anywhere. There’s no “deli” sandwiches. Well, they might be SOMEWHERE but I have yet to find them and I have been looking. So I sat in a dining room by myself and ate my sort of old sandwich. Ha.

The next destination was the big grass mound tombs of some Korean kings. Remember the setting of Telletubbies?? They look like that. On paper they looked quite near the bagel place. And they weren’t FAR, they were just a little far for *me.* They’re nicely lit up at night, very dramatic looking…and I planned to return the next day to see them in the daylight.

Then to a place I’ve seen a million times online, the Cheomseongdae Observatory. I was surprised to see in person how small it was! Was it 15′ tall?? How was anyone observing anything more from there than I was from the ground?? Someone told me that it’s more of a sundial than a “look at the sky” observatory. I need to do more research. Anyway it’s very very old – like around 640. Things in Asia are really old. Oh, it’s 9 meters tall…that’s 30′. Okay, I was off by 50% but still. I took some pictures then sat on a bench and watched people taking pictures. Took pictures for a group of young people who were trying to all jump for the photo…but they wanted the observatory behind them…but then they were so backlit that you could only see their silhouettes in front of the stone structure…and not in a good, artistic way. I kept trying to ask her where her flash was but…language. Or, she just didn’t want to use flash. Which I get, I usually don’t want to either, but sometimes…

By this point I was exhausted…and probably headed the wrong way out of the historical grounds cuz it took forever to get to a street where I had some landmark to order an uber with.

This chick was POOPED.

When I got home I ran a hot bath and SOAKED for over an hour, continuing to refresh the hot water…I scrolled Instagram, I read my book, I chatted with people…I never wanted to get out. And, believe me, it was a challenge to get out! Tubs are slippery! And this one was super dppe, so really high sides to get over…and my with a funky knee. It was a little terrifying.

But I made it. Showered, washed and dried my hair, then spent an hour redoing my itinerary for the following day now that I had a better sense (ha ha ha) of the lay of the land.

Sleep was GREAT. Bed was GREAT. Window open, cool air coming in, cozy down comforter and squishy pillow…oh how I miss sleeping in comfort. It was a delight.

Friday, Nov 22

Oh my gosh, this is so long already! And it’s only Friday! Maybe I should do today in bullet points, cuz it seems like it was a lot.

• Headed to the bus early in the morning to go to a palace about 45 minutes outside of town.
• The hotel was across-the-streetish from a large traditional market and in the morning the vendors and their wares (fruits, vegetables fish, mystery things, straw brooms, etc) spilled out onto every sidewalk in every direction (it was at a large 4-way interesection). I really wanted to take pictures, it was really interesting, but…I’ve become very mindful of getting people in my pictures here – for one thing, Korea is not a “as long as you’re on public property you’re legally allowed to take pictures of anyone/anything” place like NY is (I don’t know about the rest of the US), plus, these were old people. These were not…social media people. So, I passed on the pictures 🙁
• The bus that was supposed to take me to the palace (according to Naver – Korean Google), never came, so I (yes, me) made a spur-of-the-moment decision to get on a bus that *seemed* to be going in the right direction. ME! *I* did that! Me, who plans out EVERYTHING.
• It was a good call. Forty-five minutes later I was at the palace. Well, I was at the palace parking lot. No sign of the palace. But I did see a HIGH STEEP concrete handrail-less staircase. Is it a staircase when it’s outside? They were steps. A lot of steep steps. I poked my head into the visitor center “are those the steps to the palace?” Yes. What I SHOULD have asked, I learned in hindsight, is “are those steps the *only* way to the palace??”
• Proceeded to go up steps. Slowly. One step at a time. My left leg now does all the heavy lifting on stairs. I’m a little worried about my left knee wearing out. I had to step to rest on each landing. Babies and old people were blowing by me. What is this, a race?? 
• At the top of the steps was a long incline sloped path. Still no sign of the palace. Ooh sorry, temple, not palace.
• Now I know why monks stay at the temples…so they don’t have to go up all these steps and hills!
• Finally, finally…I see the outer gate…and the steps leading up to it, ha.
• And the best sign ever “Wheelchairs and strollers that way <.” That’s me! I was able to take a longer (yay) but stairless way to the actual temple.
• For all my complaining (and near deathness), it was worth it when I got up to the heavens there. The area around the temple was beautiful. All my fall foliage dreams were being fulfilled in this one spot. Blazing orange and red branches leaning gracefully over ponds, stone bridges, grottos…it was really beautiful. I stayed outside for a long time.
• Is bullet points making this any shorter? I don’t think so.
• The temple itself was almost a disappointment. First, the main temple was under renovation, so it was ensconced in a very modern nylon wrap with pictures of what it looks like. Not the same thing.
• I Could Not get up the steps to the see the gold Buddha statue inside. They were steep and had no railings and at this point my thighs were trembling just at the sight of steps. That was disappointing for me. I really wanted to see that.
• The restrooms were top notch 🙂
• I sat and rested often.
  

  my sweet lil out of focus leaf

• I finally looked at Naver and saw that the “once an hour” bus back to town was arriving in 20 minutes. Could I reach earth from the heavens in only 20 minutes?? I had to try.
• I made it with like two minutes to spare. Sat on the bus stop bench. Watched my number bus pull up across the street, thought, okay, now it will turn around and get me and head to town.
• Nope.
• So I asked two European women if they were headed back towards town (they were), what bus they were waiting for…and I got on it even though it didn’t show up on Naver at all.
• Look at me living on the edge!
• It was a SUPER cushy bus, more like a tour bus than a transit bus. So I had a nice 45-minute rest, then go off who knows where, but I thought I was close to Telletubby land and I didn’t want to overshoot my stop.
• Got an uber…and in a starved and exhausted state, had him take me to McDonalds, of all places. When you’re really tired and hungry and little unsire, you just want familiar food.
• Best Quarter Pounder with Cheese Ever.
• Went back to room to rest up before the evening outing. Napped on the perfect bed. Didn’t want to get up…but learned my lesson about missing the pretty light the night before (I’m sorry this is So Long).
• Also, I’d had like 4 things planned for the morning, not realizing how long it would take to get to/from the temple, or how long it would take me to climb Mt Everest…or how long I’d want to take leaf pictures. Speaking of pictures, you won’t hurt my feelings if you just scroll through and look at the pictures while I’m yapping away over here.
• Had two places/things to see, then dinner at a specific place, then dessert at a specific place all planned.
• You know what they say about plans.
• Got to place #1 (by uber), this bridge that looks beautiful lit up at night. Walked on the bridge and around the area waiting for the light to change. Took pictures of the couple on the bench next to me. A nice woman offered to take my picture with my camera so I’d have a picture of myself at this historic spot. That was so kind of her.
• Took a lot of pictures.
• Once it was dark I tried to get an uber to take me to place #2. But the bridge and the hanok village next to it were sort of out in the middle of nowhere. Well, not NOWHERE, but it was really dark…so when I couldn’t get uber (for 30 minutes) and I started to walk back in the direction I’d come (it was this way, right??), I walked and walked and walked and never saw anything like lights or a busy road ahead. I was tired. I’d already walked to Mount Olympus today, my walking parts were done…and here I was walking more.
• I finally came to a bench (thank goodness!), sat there for awhile while I tried uber again…but it was Friday night around 6pm, outside of the city…no one was responding. There was a car parked ahead on the side of the road. I could see there was a person inside, looked like he was eating. Finally, SURPRISE, he finished eating and turned on his “taxi empty” sign – I hadn’t even realized it was a taxi! I toodled on over humming “please don’t drive away please don’t drive away.”
• He did not drive away. I tapped, he rolled down his window…I managed to get him my address and he said YES.
• Oh, the relief.
• Uber is so nice because my address is already in there, where I’m going. Anytime I have to like flag down a taxi I have to be able to convey my desired location to them and it doesn’t always go smoothly.
• I was so relieved to have a ride, I just had him take me to the hotel, I skipped place #2, dinner, and dessert, and just went to the hotel where I had a protein bar and some beef jerky and a bath.
• And fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Saturday, Nov 23

I’d had several thoughts for this morning. Checkout was noon, my bus was 2:20. I could have gone to one or two nearby attractions, had lunch at a cute safe in the historic dinner, come back to check out and get my luggage, then gone to nearby lunch then to the bus.

OR.

I could stay in bed til I had to get up for checkout then get dropped at the bus terminal and find something to eat near there.

Sigh. Brave Go Get’em Bettye was now exhausted so Burger King Across from the Bus it was.

So, yes, many things got dropped off my itinerary, but…I’m really proud of myself for this trip. I felt…mostly…sorta kinda brave. I went places that I wasn’t exactly sure about, I CLIMBED, I walked a lot more than I planned. I know I’m always hearing “you’re so brave” but I just never feel that. This trip I KINDA felt that. Like…things were kinda hard and intimidating or uncertain…and I did them anyway.

So for that reason alone, it was a good trip.

I mean, it was a good trip anyway, but…personally it felt like a win.

Bus home was uneventful…except once I was back in Seoul and couldn’t get uber (now it was SATURDAY night around 6 IN the city) and the taxi line took FOREVER, and when I was still like 6 people away from the front of the line my stomach started going, uhhh…uhhhh…and I was like I’M NOT GONNA MAKE IT. I ALMOST got out of the line (that I’d been in for at least 30 minutes already) to go back inside to use the bathroom…but then all of a sudden 4 taxis came in quick succession and now I was second in line and was like you can’t leave now. 

And fortunately, in spite of the traffic making the ride taking almost 45 minutes, I MADE IT. Ha ha.

Sunday, Nov 24

Thought about getting up in the morning and going somewhere, there are still leaves! But…just stayed here all day. Did some work, finished a really good book, “Please Look After Mom.” I might start doing book reviews again. This term should not be as hard (since I’ve already been through it) so I’m hoping to have more time for personal endeavors. That’s the plan, anyway.

Oh my gosh, this post is LONG. I’m sorry. Skip the next post and it will all balance out.

I’m so happy on vacation. I can’t wait til I’m ALWAYS on vacation! I don’t want to rush through my time in Korea, but I DO want to get to the end of school!!!

Okay, see ya later love ya bye.