Day 39

This past weekend I went to Seoul and was part of a zombie walk!  A zombie walk is exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of people dress up as zombies and walk around town scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting folk.

Here's a few photos I didn't take:

I'm right in the middle in a grey shirt!  (Hint: look for the blonde hair.)  This photo courtesy of Trevla Aban.  

One of the coordinators, dressed to the nines!  (Or equivalent, anyway.)
Photo courtesy of Nuela Rivera Photography.

Another excellent zombie lady!
Photo courtesy of Sean Ian.

And here's a few more photos that I did take:

Well actually, I guess I didn't take this one.  But it's on my camera.

...guess I didn't take this one either.

I owe a big thanks to my new best friend Sarah (in the Jack Daniels shirt) for supplying me with makeup and putting it on for me, because I am terrible at that sort of thing.

The only other blonde person I've met in Korea.

Not sure who she's supposed to be, but she was scary!

Classic.

Zombie ladies!

More zombie ladies!

The woman in the car had a tiny, tiny kitten.  And for some reason, she was kind enough to let the undead hold him!

So cute!!!!

And these aren't zombies, but they are kinda freaky.  I've mentioned matching couples a few times but I feel that I haven't properly conveyed how common this is.  Couples actually buy matching outfits and wear them out.  A lot.  It's cute but also weird.  Mostly weird.

After an excessively long walk, the zombies were literally growling with hunger, so we all got some grub and liquor.  One of the most amazing things in Korea is soju, which costs $1 a bottle, is about 40 proof, and never ever gives me a hangover.  It's beautiful and I am going to miss it greatly when I get back to America.

After a night of dancing, Sarah and I retreated to her flat and promptly passed out.  The next day I went to Yongsan, a shopping area of Seoul--but then again, I don't think there's a non-shopping area in Seoul.  I wanted to return to the shopping center I visited last week with Eric, but I got confused and went to Yongsan instead.

Yongsan's shopping center is perfect... if you are very wealthy and desperately need to buy a new bed, a cello, a computer, a cell phone, and a blender all at once and in one place.

I think the contents of every Sears store in America are crammed into this building.

You must also be prepared to fend off the sellers.  If you enter their 30-foot radius or so much as glance at their goods, you'd better grab a stick.  They're predators and they scare me!

Oh hey, are you a golfer AND an enormous Sesame Street fan?  BINGO.

I don't even want to know what this is advertising.  It makes me uncomfortable.

This place was a maze and I started to get a bit panicked when I couldn't find an exit.  Fortunately I escaped and made it to my real destination: Dongseoul, or "South Seoul."  Exit the Gangbyeon subway station and right across the street is Techno Mart, a fabulous shopping center where hundreds of mini-shops sell everything from printers to purses to food.  Much cheaper and much nicer than Yongsan.

I have never seen so many cell phones in my life.  Each seller has about 30 phones on display, not to mention all the
ones in boxes underneath, and there's easily 100+ sellers... I wager there's about 50 cell phones per square foot here.

So clean!  So many floors!

After a wee bit of shopping I explored the building and found that the roof has a lovely vista of the Han River.

Seoul and the Han River!
Click to make it bigger!

That red dot is where Techno Mart is.

Fun history lesson: the river going through Seoul is the Han River, the fourth largest river in the Korean peninsula.  (That includes North Korea.)  It was once a major navigation and trade route, but because the entrance is located at the border of the two Koreas, civilians are not allowed there anymore.  The Han River has a tributary in North Korean territory called the Bukhan River, and in 1986 the North Korean government began building the Imnam Dam on the Bukhan River.

This caused a bit of a "water panic" in South Korea, due to a fairly legitimate fear that North Korea could use the dam to unleash a flood on South Korea.  Unleashing the dam would flood the Han River and potentially wipe out part of Seoul.  To counter the threat, South Korea began building a dam of their own, the Peace Dam, which is just south of the border and less than 20 miles from Chuncheon.  Construction of the Peace Dam stopped for a while due to the belief that the threat had been greatly exaggerated, but was renewed in 2002 when satellite photos revealed that the Imnam dam had some serious structural faults and everyone realized that a good long rain could compromise the dam.  The Peace Dam was completed in 2005.

So how legitimate was the threat of a flood?  Pretty legit, actually.  In September of 2005, North Korea unexpectedly released a large amount of water from a dam (not the Imnam Dam) and the resulting flood carried away six South Koreans, including an 8-year-old boy.  Maybe that Peace Dam was a good idea after all.

Okay, history/politics lesson is over!  Back to pretty pictures!

You can't see them in this pictures, but there are about three other people (all Koreans) taking selfies next to me.

I want to write on here!

Time to go home.  I love this station because it's so easy to get a bus home to Chuncheon.  The subway is about $2 and the bus is $6, but on the bus I get my own comfy seat and a nice view.  I get neither of those on the subway.  So bus it is.

Lots of snacks are sold in the bus station.  Here we've got fresh squid cooking directly on charcoal.
Don't worry, the seller assured me that it's "mashissoyo!"  (Delicious!)

A nice view of  the Gangdong bridge.  Couldn't have got this shot from the subway!

Pretty area on the outskirts of Seoul.  I love all the mountains and water here!

More mountains!  Excellent topography, right there.  

That's right.  You heard me.  I'm a refined and classy lady who appreciates good topography.

This upcoming weekend is Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving!  I'm going to Gyeongju, a supposedly lovely Korean town full of history!  I love history.  I'll be there for 5 days with my fellow foreign teachers, and I'm really looking forward to a few days of education, hiking, history, photo-taking, and of course, food.  Because I don't get any good food here, you know, I'm practically starving.  (Riiiiiight.)

Until next time!
-애쉬톤 (Ashton)