Workin' for the Weekend

Tyler and I work a lot, therefore on the weekends we do our best to seize the day. As we've created this blog a few weeks into the game, we'll be summarizing the previous weekend's adventures as best we can. Hopefully from here on out we can keep up with ourselves.

Our first week or so in Korea was a bit rough with the time change and the stressful inundation of information at work. A sixteen hour difference is nothing to joke about! As soon as our bodies caught up with the change we hit the trail. Our first trip into Seoul brought us to Gyeongbokgung Palace. The palace was constructed in 1394 by the Joseon Dynasty though much was destroyed by the Japanese in 1592. It's enormous, with so many little buildings that it begins to feel like a maze. In the center lies an amazing lotus pond with the cutest bridge I've ever seen!

We also visited the National Korean Folk Museum, which was holding a special exhibit for the 60 year anniversary of the Korean war. For no extra fee we got to see a bit deeper into the Korean culture. I never really realized the deep ramifications of the Korean war and how the separation still defines the peninsula to this day. The exhibit did a great job of putting the viewer into the time period with old records to listen to and journals to read. We even saw the uniforms of American soldiers who fought in the Korean war. Tyler and I look forward to touring the DMZ in August and learning more about the war that never ended.

Gwanghwamun gate opens onto what seems to be Seoul's equivalent of the Champs-Elysees. We were half-lost when we took a stroll down this huge boulevard and stumbled upon a monument commemorating the king of the same name, who invented the Turtle ship. Another monument was erected for Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty who is credited for the creation of Hangul (Korean). We watched children frolic through the gushing fountain and caught a bit of the mist ourselves. This is a very central area of Seoul and the location of many of the foreign embassies, including the American Embassy. Hopefully we won't have to make a visit to that any time soon!

Blog

Hello there! Tyler and Jenny are making a blog about our time in Korea to share with those we love, as well as to remind ourselves of the amazing things we do this year. We've been here for a month and we can already tell, this year is going to go by fast.

Tyler and I have a pretty sweet set-up. We live in Goyang City, which is an extension of Seoul to the North. Most people live out here and commute to Seoul in the morning for work. It's a very nice, green-minded city that never seems to sleep. Tyler lives/works in East Ilsan (the Hwajeong district) and I in West Ilsan, which is known as the "Garden City". Ilsan's claim to fame is Lake Park, which is home to the largest man-made lake in Korea.
There are MANY eateries in Goyang, which makes eating out much cheaper than cooking at home. A typical Korean meal for one person costs anywhere from 4,000 - 6,000 Won, which is about 4-6 dollars. Side dishes are unlimited, so you can really get a bang for your buck. Typical side dishes include pickled radishes, a miso style soup, and the ubiquitous Kimchi. Jen and I weren't sure how we felt about Kimchi at first, but now we wolf it down. Grilling one's own food is really popular, and Jenny has been very opened minded to eating meat here. She even ate two ribs today and fried chicken yesterday (she says over my shoulder =)).

One of the biggest perks is the subway system. Living in Texas, we both had to drive everywhere, and stand-still traffic was something you always factored in to your travel time. Jen and I live about 15 mins apart by subway, my apartment being a bit closer to Seoul (about 30 minutes). Seoul is seriously an amazing city from the little we have seen thus far. There are many areas to explore, so we will be Carpe-ing the Diem on weekends =)
To Be Continued....