My Favorite Building in Jongno

Here's a picture of the Samsung Building in Jongno. At the very very top there's a restaurant that I haven't been to, yet. This building really looks great and you can see it for miles and miles around. In fact, if I walk just 10 minutes from my apartment I can see it. My apartment is about an hour walk from the building.


Click on the picture to make it REALLY big.

It used to be the headquarters of Samsung in Korea - but only a few months ago, Samsung moved their headquarters to a nice new building in another district of Seoul called Gangnam. Gangnam is what I like to call "The New Seoul". It's the up-and-coming. It has all of the new businesses and buildings. It's an INCREDIBLY rich area. If you own a business in Gangnam, or a building, you're rich.

I'll show you some pictures of Gangnam in another post, and I'll talk more about that. But this post is just to show you that picture. :) Taken on New Years Night!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2009!

First of all... HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU! Let 2009 be the year that blesses and elevates you immensly!

On New Year's Eve I went to the center of Seoul, South Korea... which happens to be a few blocks from where I work. The area is called Jongno. Across from my favorite building (the Samsung Building) is a big bell that they traditionally ring on the New Year. Supposedly, there are LOTS and LOTS of people there.

So I figured... hey, if I were in New York - I'd have to go to Time Square for New Years just once. Since I'm in Seoul, I'll go to Jongno. And actually, I was in Korea for New Years LAST year, too... but I just can't remember for the life of me what I did - which probably means I did nothing of importance at all. :)

All my students and pretty much everyone I talked to said, "Oh no! Don't go to Jongno for New Years! There's too many people!"

And I said, "There's too many people everywhere in Seoul. There's too many people in Jongno normally."

And they said, "but it's different. There are even MORE people!"

And I said, "oh. So it's like Myongdong." (Myongdong is the most famous and popular district to shop in all of Korea, I'm guessing. It's immensely busy year round.)

And they said, "No... more people than that!"

Sure, when I got there, there were lots of people. But it was just like the mosh pit if you've ever been to a concert. You stand shoulder to shoulder and move with the crowd and follow the flow of it and share the energy. It was fun.

One thing that was funny was that they had police men EVERYWHERE. But they weren't actually police men. I mean, their jobs weren't to police anybody. Their job was to make a wall - a human baracade - so people could only go where there were no "police". It was crowd control, more or less - but there were THOUSANDS of police men, I'm not joking. I wanted to take pictures of them but I only snapped a couple because I felt rude.

I made it pretty close to the bell... perhaps 100 yards away or less. I was told that when they ring it, you can hear the bell in Dongdaemun (which is probably a 30 minute walk or longer. I'm not sure because I never walked there). I found a nice spot to stand and there was a huge building nearby with a large projection on the front that displayed the countdown from 2 minutes.

Okay - up until this point, I had a lot of fun. Now let me tell you about two pretty big dissapointments.

1) When the clock struck midnight... I was utterly shocked at the complete lack of enthusiasm. I was in the middle of a HUGE crowd (pictured below), and nobody started yelling at the top of their lungs and nobody started jumping up and down or such like that. It's like... I felt like everyone was expecting something EXTRAORDINARY to occur at the stroke of midnight. They just stood there, relatively quiet. I'm used to concerts where you go nuts. Otherwise... what's the fun?

2) I didn't hear the bell! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! I have a conspiracy theory that they didn't actually RING the bell. I was told it would be loud! I was maybe less than 100 meters away! And I didn't hear it ring! Man... bummer!

Afterwards, one thing I realized is how meaningul a new year is to people. I passed one young man who had red watery eyes. I thought to myself, "was he crying?" And then as I walked, I started to notice that LOTS of people were teary-eyed. I mean... I guess I understand. There have been years where I have felt like that. I guess I was just surprised because this wasn't one of those years for me and I forgot about that particular reaction.

Okay - now for some pictures! There were lots of people dancing traditional Korean dances, banging drums, and wearing the traditional white costumes. All in all... it was a good, fun night.


Above: a shot of the large crowd in downtown Jongno.

Above: At midnight, they let loose some balloons and stuff into the sky.

Above: In the far back you can see some kind of glowing traditional Korean building... that's where they have the big bell that they supposedly ring.

Above: a shot of the large crowd in downtown Jongno.

Above: a shot of the large crowd in downtown Jongno.

Above: In the back you can see a wall of police men blocking the way.

Above: Traditional Korean drummers and dancers.

Above: You can see on the far left the police men - human wall!

Above: Traditional Korean drummers and dancers.

A Brilliant Idea in Korea

In Korea, they have exercise equipment placed throughout Seoul. Most of the time they're in parks, but they're also on the side of bike paths and on top of mountains... and MANY people use the equipment. It's nice, simple, and weather proof.

What a great idea! One thing I really admire is the Korean's determination to be healthy and get exercise. Actually... I see it more in the elderly than in the youth, here. A LOT more.

The exercise equipment is a really great idea - cheap, and practical. This is the kind of thing that I think we need in the US, where so many people are overweight that it's considered "normal" to be chubby... and everyone who's not overweight is "skinny". It's ridiculous.

Here's an example of what the equipment can look like:

A Romantic Couple

I saw a nice young couple walking along the stream near my house while I was on my way to the PC방 (here). It was a cold night, so the young man took off his jacket and gently placed it on the girl's shoulders. How romantic!

Then the girl pulled it off and pushed it against his chest.

Then the guy gently placed it over her shoulders again.

Then the girl pushed it off her shoulders and let it fall on the street before hocking a giant loogy and spitting it in the gutter.

Then the guy picked up the jacket, brushed it off, and forcefully put it on her shoulders and held on to it so she couldn't take it off again.

LOL

How romantic! LOL - Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one.

Police Officers like Donuts - Even in Korea

Okay okay okay! I could NOT help myself! I was riding the bus home from work today... TODAY... and when the bus was stopped in traffic, I looked out the window and saw this. And this is one of the benefits of carrying your camera around with you everywhere you go!

Even police officers in Korea like donuts!



This is a police officer - this is what the uniforms look like. Of course, they aren't armed with guns. People in Korea don't have guns.

My First Suit and Tie

Here's a picture of me wearing my first suit and tie. Actually... it's NOT the first time I've worn a suit and tie... it's just the first time I've worn a suit and tie that I've bought with my OWN money. My other suit(s) and tie(s) have always been rented/borrowed/handed down.



I wasn't going to buy a tie because I already have one that my dad gave me in high school. :) It's blue, and it's just fine - but when I walked past this tie, I had to buy it. It lured me in.

Cool huh?

My Neighbors

In November, I started an English Discussion group in my neighborhood. The idea was that I wanted to meet people who live near me and who speak English. So I put up some fliers and got some responses. Of the responses I got, I met two people who consistently want to meet and have conversation.

Jay - is a Korean man who has done a lot of traveling. He's lived in the USA and Singapore and probably some other places - and he's visited many more places than that. He married a Chinese woman, and they're both very nice.

Amy - Amy is married with two children. She spends her time taking care of her kids, and has studied English in California for a while.

Both want to practice English so they don't lose it. We discuss anything, and it's quite good. I really enjoy it. We talk about politics, religion, and everyday stuff.

Anyway - here's a picture. :)



As a side note... you'd probably never guess - but we're in a Dunkin Donuts. They're a BIT nicer in Seoul. :)