Weekend Time: Insadong

Arriving in Korea around 5:20pm on June 21st was an amazing thing to even experience. When the plane landed at Incheon International Airport I had no idea of what fun that I'd discovering the area of Seoul over the weekend. Over the weekend of June 21st-June 23rd in area just north east of main downtown Seoul, I stayed in a hotel called CenterMark in Insadong.

Saturday,June 22nd, my day started early around 7:00 am to be able to get to breakfast buffet before the first day of CIEE orientation started. The first day there during orientation it was fun to be able to meet the people that I have been talking to via KakaoTalk for the past month and a half. The first day of orientation was breaking down some expectations of us and what we could expect during our time in Korea and with CIEE. This was the day that we (especially I) have been waiting for. We got our itinerary from CIEE! The itinerary was full of fun excursions that CIEE had planned out for us until we moved into our dorm on June 26, 2019. But before we could go and get on the fun excursions we had to figure out some other hands on experiences in Seoul. We got into pre-arranged groups that were named after famous Korean movies. In these groups we were given a scavenger hunt list and a preloaded T-Money Card (a public transportation card) with a goal of learning how to navigate around Seoul. Starting in Insa-dong we began walking around to find different landmarks like the Comfort Woman statue which sits outside the Japanese Embassy, Gyeongbokgung Palace, King Sejong Statue, and many other Seoul landmarkings. Along with looking for these landmarks we also had to use our T-money cards to learn how to use the subways and/or the buses around the different areas of Seoul. It took us some time to figure out to go to Seoul station because we did get a little lost after we found the King Sejong Statue. I thought being lost was part of the process and also gave an opportunity to learn more about how to really navigate ourselves around Seoul. After walking for 20 plus minutes we finally found the entry to Seoul Station! (There are photos and videos attached here from the navigating Seoul scavenger hunt). During the scavenger hunt we just exclusively used the subway system since it would bring us back closer to our hotel. After our scavenger hunt ( I mean after getting lost) we went back to the hotel to finish our orientation.

We all began to discuss our journey with navigating Seoul and what we found interesting during our scavenger hunt. We noticed that Seoul is very very clean and that there are not a lot (if any) trash cans outside on the street. We also noticed that Koreans will push through you to get to where they need to go. The pushing is NOT rude is it NOT in their culture to say excuse me. It's actually called 빨리 빨리 (ppali ppali) culture, which just means to hurry up and go. Seoul is a busy and constantly moving place that they don't have time for any slow moving people. Then the last activity we did involved touring a little bit around Insadong. We went around more of Insa-dong with our "Seoul Mates". The Seoul Mates are made up of 20 native Korean college students. One thing that I found peculiar was that none of the interns go to Yonsei University but they go to surrounding universities in Korea. They are interns with CIEE who help us CIEE students learn more about Korea's culture and language. The Seoul Mates that I was paired with in my group were Jay and Haebin. They were both super nice and super insightful with explaining things and places that we needed to know about the Insadong area that we may need to know more about. After orientation that first day with a couple of friends went exploring a little bit around Insadong before I chilled out for the rest of the night in my hotel room. A nice first full day in Korea finishing it up with a container of Ramen and had a coke (of course it was one of the many BTS themed cokes that I would have throughout this trip).

Sunday June 23rd was day two of orientation. This day of orientation was more of the nitty-gritty. Learning about the rules of CIEE and more expectations of us. How to be able to handle culture shock and how to learn to not be a bystander in a foreign country. This day was more of the important details about safety and communication that we would need to know. This orientation day did not last as long compared to the previous day since it was more focus on powerpoint presentations of housing information, basic Yonsei University information, and emergency contact information. I did not need to attend the phone orientation since I received a sim card at Incheon Airport when I landed. Therefor my free time began at 1pm! I met up with one of my peers from CIEE (her name is Miruna) and we set off to explore more of the inner shopping area of Insadong! As we began walking around there is so much to see. Within 5 minutes away from the hotel the area becomes more bustling with life. There are shops and street venders everywhere! We past a cute little flower shop (one of very many) and an art gallery. We actually went into the art gallery and talked to the artist for a bit. I don't remember her name but her art was absolutely beautiful and stunning. After that we walked around the main street of Insadong. That moment we really got to explore and seeing more of the area that is there. My friend and I went into this really fascinating shopping market called: Insadong Ssamziegil.

Insadong Ssamziegil was a very cool shopping area. There was a lot cute shops full of stationary, homemade jewelry, food vendors, and so many cool art paintings everywhere. The place was set up like a spiral. You could walk up the stairs to one floor and as you walk it would slowly rise up to the the next floor. The shops were super cool. I got a cute hair clip and cute handmade space themed earrings. There was so much art painted on the walls as we walked up and then as we walked down there were even more wall art paintings(see the photos). I really enjoyed the area. Then we ate at this lovely and cheap restaurant that was in that market area. I ordered 김치 볶임밥 (Kimchi Fried Rice) and it was so amazing. The kimchi there was about the best kimchi that I have had so far in Korea.

After a fun time exploring Ssamziegil and eating some really good food we started to head back to the Centermark Hotel. Of course, I stopped at this store called The Poetry. It was adorable jewelry (necklaces, rings, earrings, etc.). They were having a sale on earrings and I bought this cute purple heart earrings and a little moon piercing. The earrings were a wonderful end to a little shopping day.

Overall I give Insadong a 10/10 on the first impression scale. I didn't even get to explore all of Insadong but I really hope to before I leave.