Seoul + Myeongdong

It's been a long day! We were up and out the door by 7:30. Big thanks to our awesome friend Vanessa for giving us a ride to the train station. We took the train from Pyeongtaek to Seoul station, about an hour away, then got on the subway two stops to Myeongdong. Kasey loved the six weeks he spent in Seoul last summer so he was excited to show me around.

Let's start with the train ride. I bought our tickets a few days ago online to assure we'd have seats once we got on. They don't stop selling tickets. Once they fill all the seats people will just cram in there and sit on the floor, stand in the corner, stand RIGHT next to your seat. Koreans don't really have a sense of personal space, when it's not awkward and you realize it's just a cultural norm for them it can be quite funny. They also use the trains to sleep so everybody is super quiet. Except for 1 1/2 year olds. We tried to keep her quiet with Sesame Street.

Check out that scowl. 

She's been doing that since day one.

ANYWAY

The train stations here (at least on weekends) are nuts. Besides the lack of personal space, Koreans always just seem to be on a mission and in a hurry to get there. There is a fast and slow lane on the escalator and everyone is in the fast lane. When an elevator (or train, subway, bus) door opens there is no waiting for the riders to exit first, its just a cluster of people trying to get on and off. The elderly will cut in front of a line to be the first on. A lady pushed me out of the way today to exit the subway and I'm not even mad about it. It's their culture, how they were brought up, and it's actually interesting to watch. 

Myeongdong was pretty quiet when we first got there around 10:00 but by afternoon it was just a sea of people. It was a really fun day and Kasey spoiled me with some Zara and H&M goodies and a delicious lunch for Mother's Day. He sure is the bees knees in my book.

Seoul station

Streets of Myeongdong before things got real.

All the money of the world.

Korean fashion is interesting sometimes.

Street food everywhere. I'm too chicken to try it because I haven't had my Hep A booster haha.

Kimchi ^ and I liked it! The dry salty seaweed..not so much.

Bulgogi

Hot bibimbop is my favorite so far. And that radish kimchi ^ was delicious! 

This picture doesn't do the crowd justice. It was pretty cramped but so fun. You know you're deep in Korea when it catches you off guard to hear English and you whip your head around to find the person. That only happened once today.

She was such a good little traveler today. I only had to change her on a bathroom sink and park bench once because I could NOT find a changing table anywhere. Oh and nurse her in a bathroom stall because yes I'm still nursing for nap time and no I couldn't find anywhere that there wasn't a million people. Neither of us really minded though. Plus, her dad spoiled her with a new pair of shoes too ;) 

Tomorrow will be our first day in our new ward here and we're excited to meet people. Happy Mother's Day weekend!