April brought spring, cherry blossoms, and a guest! Two weeks ago my friend Christy arrived in Seoul. I hadn't seen her for almost two years. It was a wonderful reunion and though she was exhausted, we talked almost the entire four hours back to my place, where we both soon crashed.
The next day we hit the ground running and didn't stop. We spent the first five days of her trip in and around Jeonju. We went to my school, toured the city, had BBQ with the Hongs (my Korean parents), went to Yeosu (a city on the coast), and did a temple stay at Geumsansa. During those five days we settled into a comfortable routine of toast and coffee for breakfast and chocolate and Downton Abbey to wind down the day. I'm proud to say I got Christy hooked.^^ My favorite part of those first few days was just sharing my life and introducing someone to Korea. The highlight of the trip for me though was the next stop, Kyoto, Japan!
I can't speak for Japan, but I fell a little bit in love with Kyoto. Kyoto is the historical capital of Japan and the major city of culture. It's beautiful on it's own, but when the cherry blossoms are blooming (as it was while we were there) it's picturesque. The quaint streets, river paths, European style cafes, Japanese attention to aesthetics, all combine to make a lovely place to get lost just walking through the streets. In fact, Christy and I both agreed that our first day in Kyoto was one of our favorite days ever. That might sound like a bit much, but it was just a perfect, peaceful day.
That perfect first day, we rented bikes and road up to the "Path of Philosophy". The Path of Philosophy is a quiet walking street along a stream that is lined with cafes, shops, and cherry trees. I think about 1/3 of my photos were from this path (I went a bit overboard with the cherry blossoms). About midway through the morning we stopped for a coffee and sweets, which we did every day :) After coffee we worked our way to lunch and some shopping and then went to a temple or a shrine or maybe both? Kyoto is littered with temples, shrines, castles, palaces, some in the most unexpected of places, like the middle of a shopping mall. We saw a great number of them in the four days we were there and learned a decent amount about Japanese culture and history, but I don't know the names, the order, or many other details. Mostly we just enjoyed the beauty of the buildings and gardens and soaked it all in. At the end of that first day, we had some not so cheap cheap-tasting wine on the roof of our hostel, watched the sunset, and then went out to dinner. After dinner, we settled into our new evening routine of a couple beers in a random bar. Having excellent beer choices every where we went was a nice change from Korea!
For the other two days in Kyoto we saw, as I've mentioned, a lot temples, shrines, etc., drank coffee, ate sweets, and drank beer. The other highlight of our time there though was our walking tour of the Gion district. The geisha culture began in Gion and as a result, it is the the most famous geisha district in Japan. Some of you might wonder what exactly a Geisha is, right? Well, I actually wondered the same thing. We learned a wealth of information on tour, but the long and short of it is, is that they are professional entertainers that also have now come to preserve traditional Japanese culture. They have to go through at least four years of training and can not lead "normal" modern lives, at least not outside of their houses. No cell phones, Starbucks, shopping, nothing. No, they are not prostitutes, they merely entertain, but it is for a very selective crowd. Geishas entertain in "tea houses" for private parties. You cannot simply decide you want to go. You must know someone and/or have a lot of money. A party in a tea house with a geisha in this area costs thousands and thousands of dollars. So you can't just see a Geisha. The best way to catch a glimpse is to walk around the Gion area between 6-8pm and hope to catch one dashing between tea houses. Real geishas do not like to be photographed, it's a bit like paparazzi. In some ways I felt rude, but we saw two (actually women in training, not full geishas yet) and I had to take advantage of the opportunity...check the photos.
Overall, we really enjoyed Kyoto. I particularly appreciated the Japanese style, their care and attention to aesthetics (which I find Koreans lack), all of the peaceful areas, European cafes, and abundance of good beer and sushi. However, we were sooo happy to return to Korean food! Japanese food was ok, but a bit bland and frankly, no one does food like Korea :)
So last Friday we flew back to Seoul and jumped into some street food and a makgeolli restaurant. The next day we toured the DMZ, including the Joint Security Area (JSA), which is where the two countries meet. We actually walked into North Korea and saw the North Korean soldiers from about fifty meters away. Going back to Seoul after visiting the DMZ is always a strange experience. After a short siesta, we met up with some friends and headed out to Hongdae to enjoy the party scene. Finally, for the last two days we took it pretty easy. We saw a palace, ate quite a bit, did some shopping, and visited a few cafes. Basically, we just enjoyed the wonderfulness of Korea.
It was a whirlwind of a couple weeks and we soaked up every moment of it . It was great to have Christy here, to share this place with her (though I hope she didn't get too annoyed with all of my talking :p), and to have a last blast in Asia! But now it's back to reality and I've got to get lesson planning. The next few months promise to be filled with work and preparation. I can't believe it, just three quick months and I'll be settling into my new American home. Crazy...
.jpg)
