Liberation Day Adventures!

Today is Liberation Day in Korea -- the 63th anniversary of Korea's independence from Japanese rule -- and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic Korea (an entity separate from North Korea, to be clear). Like the Fourth of July, it's a National Holiday here in Seoul. Unlike the Fourth of July, no fireworks. I should have taken it on myself to establish some new traditions here -- I mean, we've been celebrating for over 200 years!

Political statement aside, I caught up on the morning's email, then decided to take in some sights via the Seoul City Tour Bus. I'm staying in the Jamsil neighborhood of Seoul, to the south of the Han River. Luck would have it that the bus tours are all on the north side of the river. So, Avid Reader, I started the day with an adventure: the Seoul subway! Much like the Tokyo subway system, all the ticket machines were in Korean, but armed with the name of the station I was at (Samseong, rhymes with "Samsung"), as well as where I was going (City Hall, rhymes with "City Hall"), I made it!

I started the day at Deoksugung, the Palace of Virtuous Longevity, an incredible temple in the heart of Seoul. Lucky for me, Liberation Day meant I was liberated from the 1,000 Won admission (~$1). While the entire grounds were impressive, I was secretly pleased with the description of the haetae, the stone mythical creatures in the palace courtyard who are "supposed to protect the palace from fire, but in 1904 they must have fallen asleep because most of the palace burnt down." Tee hee.

Side note: I'm watching the Korean news on TV just now and seeing all kinds of events from the various sites I visited today. Interestingly, I had no idea what was going on, but am thrilled to be able to say I was there today!

I hopped on the City Bus and didn't end up hopping off much as IT WAS POURING today. What started as an "82 degrees; feels like 92" day turned into a liquid hell. However, a breeze kicked in later this afternoon and there was no repeat American WetBack sighting. Sad, I know. What did happen however, was a significant channeling of what I call my 'Inner Mike'...

I did get off the bus at Dongdaemun Market where I was quickly plopped into Seoul's economy. With stalls and malls all over the place, I was in Shopper Heaven. However, Shopper Heaven was CROWDED. Instead of the malls having an assortment of stores in which to wander, each floor had hundreds of stalls with ~4-6 foot paths between them. If one person stopped at a stall, there was only enough room to sneak by, but of course, five or six would try to at any given moment. All this is to say, I got out of there right quick.

I did more wandering down Insadong, a most fascinating shopping street, and got caught in some kind of Liberation Day Parade. Again, not knowing what was going on, I snapped a few shots of the action and kept on my way. On my way meant not getting on the bus and walking the streets of Seoul. It was a treat to see this amazing city -- which very much reminded me of New York City in certain areas. Well, it reminded me of NYC until I would see the hordes of "police" on the streets. Why "police" might you ask? Well, because it was more like Jr.Corps -- it looked like a summer camp of high schoolers, but with POLICE on their t-shirts vs. Camp Snoopy.

A big day ahead tomorrow; I'm excited to have the adventure I have lined up! I'm also already thinking of home and can't believe I've only been here for five days. My best to you, Avid Reader! More adventures to come!

p.s. for the day's photos, I've uploaded them all here.