We Made It!

Hey guys! We landed safely yesterday (Friday the 23rd) around 4:30pm. It was 7:30 by the time we got to our hotel in Jongno (we took the airport bus and Henry made friends with an ahjussi who helped make sure we got off at the right stop, bless his heart, we probably had giant HELP US WE’RE DUMB expressions plastered all over our faces because let’s face it, we can barely manage to find places in our own country!

After we changed clothes, we went for a walk around the area. It was nearly 9 by then and the sidewalks and alleys were full of drunk people and it was so seedy and awesome, hahaha. I was in a jet lag-induced haze and just couldn’t believe we were actually there. It was like walking through a k-drama and I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or not. I can’t believe I’m here!

There was a guy selling 붕어빵 (fish-shaped fried dough filled with sweet red beans) outside of our hotel so that was our first official street food purchase, after I stopped Henry from buying nine of them because he couldn’t read the sign – he wanted three but they came in sets of three so the guy was trying to make him take nine until I stepped in and Henry was so mad because we’re finally in a place where I have an actual life skill so I guess I will be doing all the ordering while we’re here.

Then we walked to Cheonggyecheon Stream for a short stroll where Chooch almost ruined a young couple’s romantic moment by trying to walk across the stream at the same as them, because that’s what Chooch does – inserts himself into other peoples moments!

Once we had enough of the stream, we came back up to street level and realized we were in Dongdaemun! (I have looked at a map of Seoul a million times but that has done little to prepare me for actually being here since I was born without an internal compass). It was really cool to turn a corner from all the modernity and run smack into Heunginjimun Gate. We’ll definitely be going back during the day at some point too but I’m glad we got to see it at night.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked behind four young people and I desperately wished I was part of their group.

I'll try to update again tomorrow! 안녕하세요!