Cozy but strange - Seoul Trip Day 3
22/5
Left my airbnb in a very simple get up, brush teeth, change, pack, go-rhythm. I had two hours before my second and long-stay room was available but I contacted the host and she agreed to let me put my luggage in the kitchen and come back later to check-in. I found the place with relative ease which I guess was the universe making up for yesterday. Oh, and the host had made a video of how to get there so there was a comprehensive guide as opposed to the previous airbnb.
It was so freeing to only have my backpack with me! I walked around just looking at the stores and different places, smelling the smells and feeling the air. I was super thirsty so I stepped into a convenience store and picked out some peach ice tea and my favourite snacks: honey butter almonds. A bigger bag of these is 7 pounds in Edinburgh. I got a wee bag for 1,000 won which is about 70p. I walked about a bit more and found a long walkway in the middle of the area that had lots of little benches. I sat down to rest and have a drink. It felt really peaceful to finally pause, and in a city where no one knows me. There was a sweet moment with some birds that I noted down with my phone:
"I'm sitting on a bench in the middle of a space I don't know, reading a book. A couple walks past, pauses, say something to each other. I look up, they're watching the birds scattered in front of me. I look up again and they've given some of their bread to the birds. Before I realise it there are children on the seats in front and next to me, some happily exclaiming at the birds, the older ones coolly taking a photo or two with their phones. One child comes up and throws a rock on the ground and then shouts in Korean about how the birds aren't eating the rocks."
Look at me quoting myself. Wow. Some of the first impressions I've noted down are how everyone is in a couple. Honestly, seems like everyone in Korea has a significant other by the sheer volume of couples walking down the street. Even saw a bunch with matching outfits right down to the tote bags. That's impressive! I knew couple culture was big in Korea but I guess seeing it is different. Also, there are so many different novelty cafe's and restaurants I'm sure you can find pretty much anything in Seoul. The streets smell a bit salty, with a whiff of seafood at times. It's also very warm and humid today and it started raining later on, so that probably affected the scents as well. It's not a bad smell but definitely doesn't smell like home.
On my way back to check-in I bought some noodles and another drink. At this point the only two things I look for in a drink are that it doesn't contain caffeine and that the bottle looks cool. Today's cool bottle is shaped like a lightbulb and contains apple soda. Tastes like fresh apples in a soda form, I was expecting a fake apple flavour. Back home I'm an obsessive label reader and I check even the things I know I can eat. Not surprisingly everything here is in Korean, except a few choice English words which sometimes don't actually explain what the product is (there's a bunch of flavoured soy-milks in cartons that only have Peanuts quotes on them, if I didn't know the word for soy I'd have no idea). I've now eaten the noodles I bought, the label says "Snack Ramen" and I see no visual indications of any animals so I'm assuming it's vegetables but honestly who knows. I'm at peace with the fact that I will be making some accidental non-vegetarian choices just because I won't always be able to tell with snack foods etc. Luckily I know the words for different meats so buying actual meals with them isn't an issue.
The airbnb is nice, with enough space on the floor for my luggage AND to walk around. Amazing. That sounds sarcastic but it's not. I've even got a wee corner to do my make up in front of the wiggly mirror, you know one of the ones from IKEA. I used to have them in my room back in Finland. Funny how even this far away there's a touch of home. That would be a good IKEA ad, where someone travels and sees the same item across the world. Anyway, the host woman is so sweet and has provided me with some breakfast foods and showed me the recycling system. The room smells nice and the bed is a queen size so I'm not cramped in. What I've noticed about bathrooms so far is that they're usually always a wet-floor bathroom, so if someone showers it floods the whole floor before draining. Basically just means that if someone has showered and I need to pee I gotta wear rubber slippers to the toilet so my socks aren't wet. Oh, and I guess the plumbing is a bit weak because I'm not allowed to even put toilet paper in the toilet. Yeah, it goes in a bin next to the toilet. This is novel.
I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of today. I've seen that a lot of places in Korea are open until late, so I still have plenty of time to venture out. However, the last few days have been so hectic I kind of just wanna stay in. It feels counterproductive to stay in your room when you arrive in a new country but I just don't feel like going out right now. I'll probably go get some more snacks from the convenience store and test them out and then just have a night in...
-
23/7 00:17
So I had a nap. Like, a three hour nap. Boy, that felt good. I woke up feeling a bit disoriented because everything smelled different and felt different, and then I realised where I was. Back home I stay in my room a lot, but I'd kill to have someone in this room with me to talk right now. I'm sure I'll get into the groove of my solo trip soon though.
After getting up I got ready and decided to go outside to the convenience store. Honestly, it's so weird to be anxious about going to the store or a restaurant. Just knowing that I don't speak the language and that there'll probably be misunderstandings etc. feels deterring. This is definitely a growing experience for me though, and tomorrow I will go to a cafe or a restaurant and face it!
On another note, Korea is serious about recycling. Every restaurant and other establishment has bags of separated recycling outside and there was a huge mound of bags just in the middle of the street nearby. I read that there's a fine if you don't do it properly. That is another difference to Scotland, that there's no trash on the streets anywhere. At least where I've been so far there's been little to no littering which is nice.
I got some banana flavoured milk from the convenience store, because I've heard so much about it being yummy. It's goddamn delicious. I'm hoping I can manage it a little bit with my semi lactose-intolerance...
To all my friends that have messaged me so far, thank you. I don't mean to be a privileged little white girl who complains after getting to go on a huge trip to a country she's wanted to visit for a while, but my worries and feelings get the best of me sometimes so having you to talk to helps me a lot. Y'all are getting amazing souvenirs! I'm aware the time differences are a bit odd with these but I'm gonna try and post them every night a bit after midnight which will be the middle of the day for most of you. Just think of me as a wee time traveller that's ahead of the game.
Cheers,
Becks
Left my airbnb in a very simple get up, brush teeth, change, pack, go-rhythm. I had two hours before my second and long-stay room was available but I contacted the host and she agreed to let me put my luggage in the kitchen and come back later to check-in. I found the place with relative ease which I guess was the universe making up for yesterday. Oh, and the host had made a video of how to get there so there was a comprehensive guide as opposed to the previous airbnb.
It was so freeing to only have my backpack with me! I walked around just looking at the stores and different places, smelling the smells and feeling the air. I was super thirsty so I stepped into a convenience store and picked out some peach ice tea and my favourite snacks: honey butter almonds. A bigger bag of these is 7 pounds in Edinburgh. I got a wee bag for 1,000 won which is about 70p. I walked about a bit more and found a long walkway in the middle of the area that had lots of little benches. I sat down to rest and have a drink. It felt really peaceful to finally pause, and in a city where no one knows me. There was a sweet moment with some birds that I noted down with my phone:
"I'm sitting on a bench in the middle of a space I don't know, reading a book. A couple walks past, pauses, say something to each other. I look up, they're watching the birds scattered in front of me. I look up again and they've given some of their bread to the birds. Before I realise it there are children on the seats in front and next to me, some happily exclaiming at the birds, the older ones coolly taking a photo or two with their phones. One child comes up and throws a rock on the ground and then shouts in Korean about how the birds aren't eating the rocks."
Look at me quoting myself. Wow. Some of the first impressions I've noted down are how everyone is in a couple. Honestly, seems like everyone in Korea has a significant other by the sheer volume of couples walking down the street. Even saw a bunch with matching outfits right down to the tote bags. That's impressive! I knew couple culture was big in Korea but I guess seeing it is different. Also, there are so many different novelty cafe's and restaurants I'm sure you can find pretty much anything in Seoul. The streets smell a bit salty, with a whiff of seafood at times. It's also very warm and humid today and it started raining later on, so that probably affected the scents as well. It's not a bad smell but definitely doesn't smell like home.
On my way back to check-in I bought some noodles and another drink. At this point the only two things I look for in a drink are that it doesn't contain caffeine and that the bottle looks cool. Today's cool bottle is shaped like a lightbulb and contains apple soda. Tastes like fresh apples in a soda form, I was expecting a fake apple flavour. Back home I'm an obsessive label reader and I check even the things I know I can eat. Not surprisingly everything here is in Korean, except a few choice English words which sometimes don't actually explain what the product is (there's a bunch of flavoured soy-milks in cartons that only have Peanuts quotes on them, if I didn't know the word for soy I'd have no idea). I've now eaten the noodles I bought, the label says "Snack Ramen" and I see no visual indications of any animals so I'm assuming it's vegetables but honestly who knows. I'm at peace with the fact that I will be making some accidental non-vegetarian choices just because I won't always be able to tell with snack foods etc. Luckily I know the words for different meats so buying actual meals with them isn't an issue.
The airbnb is nice, with enough space on the floor for my luggage AND to walk around. Amazing. That sounds sarcastic but it's not. I've even got a wee corner to do my make up in front of the wiggly mirror, you know one of the ones from IKEA. I used to have them in my room back in Finland. Funny how even this far away there's a touch of home. That would be a good IKEA ad, where someone travels and sees the same item across the world. Anyway, the host woman is so sweet and has provided me with some breakfast foods and showed me the recycling system. The room smells nice and the bed is a queen size so I'm not cramped in. What I've noticed about bathrooms so far is that they're usually always a wet-floor bathroom, so if someone showers it floods the whole floor before draining. Basically just means that if someone has showered and I need to pee I gotta wear rubber slippers to the toilet so my socks aren't wet. Oh, and I guess the plumbing is a bit weak because I'm not allowed to even put toilet paper in the toilet. Yeah, it goes in a bin next to the toilet. This is novel.
I'm not sure what I want to do with the rest of today. I've seen that a lot of places in Korea are open until late, so I still have plenty of time to venture out. However, the last few days have been so hectic I kind of just wanna stay in. It feels counterproductive to stay in your room when you arrive in a new country but I just don't feel like going out right now. I'll probably go get some more snacks from the convenience store and test them out and then just have a night in...
-
23/7 00:17
So I had a nap. Like, a three hour nap. Boy, that felt good. I woke up feeling a bit disoriented because everything smelled different and felt different, and then I realised where I was. Back home I stay in my room a lot, but I'd kill to have someone in this room with me to talk right now. I'm sure I'll get into the groove of my solo trip soon though.
After getting up I got ready and decided to go outside to the convenience store. Honestly, it's so weird to be anxious about going to the store or a restaurant. Just knowing that I don't speak the language and that there'll probably be misunderstandings etc. feels deterring. This is definitely a growing experience for me though, and tomorrow I will go to a cafe or a restaurant and face it!
On another note, Korea is serious about recycling. Every restaurant and other establishment has bags of separated recycling outside and there was a huge mound of bags just in the middle of the street nearby. I read that there's a fine if you don't do it properly. That is another difference to Scotland, that there's no trash on the streets anywhere. At least where I've been so far there's been little to no littering which is nice.
I got some banana flavoured milk from the convenience store, because I've heard so much about it being yummy. It's goddamn delicious. I'm hoping I can manage it a little bit with my semi lactose-intolerance...
To all my friends that have messaged me so far, thank you. I don't mean to be a privileged little white girl who complains after getting to go on a huge trip to a country she's wanted to visit for a while, but my worries and feelings get the best of me sometimes so having you to talk to helps me a lot. Y'all are getting amazing souvenirs! I'm aware the time differences are a bit odd with these but I'm gonna try and post them every night a bit after midnight which will be the middle of the day for most of you. Just think of me as a wee time traveller that's ahead of the game.
Cheers,
Becks
Comments
Post a Comment