This doesn’t quite capture how crowded the subways get around rush hour, because I’m too short to get the long view, but we are packed in like sardines.

omg – you really must watch this video! It really is like this at rush hour! Not all the time, but rush hour – especially on line 2, the green inner circle line, is a teeming mass of humanity.

The only time I’m afraid is going down the stairs – I’m paranoid someone will trip and there will be a pile-up.

The trains come about every three minutes, there are up to sixty stops on each line, and there are ten subway lines (and two short express runs near the airport). I’m guessing about half of Seoul’s population of 11 million take the subways. It takes me an hour or more to get to the center of Seoul from where I live at Peyongchon Station.

It’s easy to use:

• Numbers heading towards downtown generally get smaller and vice-versa
• The green line doesn’t follow that generalization, because it is the inner circle line and makes a big loop.
• The lines are color coded, and they have painted stripes on the walls you can follow to get you to the next transfer point.
• You simply swipe your T-money card at the entry turnstiles, and then clear them by swiping again at the exit turnstiles.
• Trains are announced according to their final destination, so you should try and look where the line ends. Some trains only go half way, so if you are going further it’s better to wait than get on.
• You don’t have to go back through the turnstiles when you transfer most of the time. I have had to do this twice though. Not sure if it has anything to do with there being two different companies running different portions of the subways or not.

If  you’re already on a subway platform and not sure if you’re heading the right direction, check on the columns or walls for signs like above.  Check against your map and you’ll see if you’re heading in the right direction or not.

If you’re not, then you’ll have to go up and over to get to the platform going the opposite direction.

It’s a brilliantly laid out system, with excellent way-finding 99% of the time, but I REALLY WISH they had labeled the platforms as A, B, C, or D instead of 1,2,3,4.  Some confusion can result if, for example, you are riding line 1, and the train you want is on platform 2…Therefore, you have to find a second and third way to make sure before you get on the wrong train.

IMG_0317, originally uploaded by Almost-Human.

Gyeongbokgun Palace.

I figured it wasn’t going anywhere soon, so can come back one day.

Of course.

So by this time I decided I should get something to eat before tackling the museum. Only the area surrounding the museum (which is inside the Gyeongbokgung Palace walls) is surrounded with expensive restaurants and art galleries. I got the brilliant idea to buy some ramyeon (ramein – sounds like lamyong) noodles at a convenience store, only they wouldn’t give me any hot water so I could eat it!

So I started to walk around the alleys and stumbled across the place pictured above.

The reason this is such a hidden treasure is because it is in a traditional hanok, the traditional Korean house form.

Given that Jongno is a historic district and there are a lot of hanok, you wouldn’t think it was that special. But with every other art gallery being Manhattan sleek or housed within a replica hanok, finding one that hasn’t gone yuppie is amazing. I wanted to take a picture of the gate and entry sequence, since the doors don’t go to the ground so you have to step over the wall, and the courtyard is packed earth and there are centuries old stepping stones. But an LP gas delivery guy was in my way, so I gave up.

I loved this place also because it was unpretentious, well lived in, and not precious.

Here’s part of the courtyard – that looks like some sort of mill there, and I loved how the water trough and working drains were cut in situ right into the rock.

So here was my brunch:  The main dish, (I took a few bites before taking the photo) was basically rice, covered with a mixture of sauteed carmelized onions, super thin slices of beef marinated in soy sauce, garlic, and sugar, green onions, and shitake mushrooms, and then steamed with an egg cracked over the top so it forms a sort of omelette on top of your rice. The soup was soba in a really great shitake mushroom broth with shitake mushrooms and green onions.  The sides were kind of typical – kimchi, daikon radish, beansprouts in chili sauce, and two kinds of greens.  Cost for eating here?  $6.00!

I loved how the joists are all limbs, how the beams and posts were all hand split, and how the entire building has operable clerestory windows under the eaves. (which is the prime position for summer cooling and cross ventilation)

Then, at the base are blind panels to fill in the wall structure.  As you can see from part of the panel being hidden, modern flooring build-up was added.  But what I really loved was the layers of rice paper (peeling in some places) which reminded me of a flakey croissant.  I loved how they had texture, were made of natural materials, did not have an oily or chemical sheen to them, and how bright they were.

I want white croissant walls and would gladly trade in the beige vinyl textured wallpaper of my officetel.  I don’t care that everyone else things my place is deluxe:  I miss living in a place with character.  From the “music” house with its hand-painted kitchen floor, to my blue bedroom which glowed like an aquarium by the street light, and even the art deco era apartment on first hill, to the boat house with its blackened parquet floor and heavy timbered ceiling and foot thick walls, to the warehouse loft and the steel frame windows that glowed at night like a lantern and the breathtaking view of the city from the roof, and the freight elevator in our living room, to the cabin in the woods with the moss and trees growing on the roof and the franklin stove in the corner.  I simply MUST find a place to live with character.  I think in the next two years I must try and save some key money so I can find my own place to live.  Maybe I can find a broke down old hanok somewhere.  I don’t care if it has roaches and bad plumbing.    Maybe when I relocate to the country that will be easier to find.

IMG_0314, originally uploaded by Almost-Human.

So this is a photo of a nightclub in Idae. Idae is a neighborhood in Seoul which hosts three Universities and is also the location of some of the best clothing shopping. Because it is a university area, the clothing tends to be more relaxed and earthy or fun.

During the day one doesn’t notice a lot of the evening establishments, which seem to appear out of nowhere when the neon comes on. I hear nightclubs are run by the maffia, so maybe that’s why it also looks kind of like a casino? Men can drop in excess of $400 in one evening renting a table, purchasing some expensive imported drinks, and greasing the waiter’s palms so he will grab the most select girls for him. I was actually a little surprised to see this night club there, as they tend to be in the more affluent areas like Gangnam. The girls merely pay for a table, their fee is lower, and split amongst several girls it’s an affordable night out. So I guess the thinking is that if you’re a guy and you can afford it, you might be a good catch financially. OR you might be a loser who’s saved up for two months…Who knows what they’re thinking.

I have also read on the internet that some western men who have managed to get in have been horribly surprised by the final bill and been roughed up by maffia when they couldn’t pay afterward.

The neighboring area, Sinchon, also has more nightlife. Sinchon by day has a really great scale and feel to it: Artsy, small boutiques, colorful people. By night it turns into a mecca for clubs. Last Friday of the month they have a joint cover for some of them, though the ones that participate in that sound like a lot of techno & bad hip hop. There are also a few nice chill-out bars but they lose their ambiance once totally packed. Some live music bars as well: jazz and 80’s revival rock or imitation indie. Been out a few times w/ fellow English teachers, but have yet to see anything of artistic merit, and it’s hard to enjoy the company you’re with at these places.

I’m sure I can find some on my own somewhere, but I would have to go alone, since I don’t think anyone has any faith in the idea that I know how to have a good time. Which is all for the best since a lot of the best things happen when you’re looking for something else anyway.

What am I looking for? I guess the kind of people who make something out of nothing. I guess that kind of sums it all up.

Makes me want to go make something. Wish I had my sewing machine and tools here with me! Did get a cheap music stand today…
Might take a traditional Korean doll making class soon as I can afford it.

as told to me by three separate people:

You look like one of the students.

I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  I only know people feel the need to tell me these things and it makes me feel like shit.