Trip to Korea vol.1

I went to Korea for 6 days from May 5th-10th.

I enjoyed the trip very much and had many precious experiences.

I’m working with a Korean man, who is a web director. He is very kind so I became interested in Korea.

I only payed 10 thousand yen for my flight because I could use mileage.

Korea is very near from Japan, only 2 hours by plane.

I didn’t have enough time to read the Korean guide book so I read it in the plane.

At first I went to Seoul and I stayed there for 2 days.

On the third day,I went to Andong which is a famous traditional city 3 hours by high-speed bus from Seoul.

On the fifth day,I returned to Seoul and stayed there one more night.

Seoul is not so big and I could walk around for sightseeing.

And in Seoul,subway tickets are very cheep,so I only payed 1000 won-1400won per trip on the train.

But I usually walked because I wanted to feel Korea’s authentic culture.

In Korea some shopkeepers can speak Japanese(only shopping vocabulary) but many people can’t speak Japanese or English.

I first spoke to Koreans in Japanese, then I spoke in English. And when they couldn’t understand either language,I used body language.

However it was very a interesting experience in that we could communicate by body language.

I like Korean food and ate many differend foods.

I bought some food from street vendors.

It’s very interesting that both young people and old people buy and eat food on the street.

In Japan, we generally think eating on street is not polite.

These food were very delicious!

I went to some traditional royal palaces.

There were many Korean, some Japanese and Chinese tourists there for sightseeing.

I noticed that many young Koreans had good cameras and they took pictures everywhere.

I heard from my Korean coworker when I came back to Japan that, in Korea many young people have their own blog and they can use graphic software.

There was one more thing I noticed.

In Korea people are very close.Young women walked arm in arm.Young men often touched each other.

In Japan,we distance ourselves from other people.

I didn’t book a package tour when I went to Korea.

I think we can only understand another country’s culture when we adapt ourselves to their everyday lifestyle.

In Dongdaemun Market,I walked around.

I didn’t want to go to famous spots or building, so I looked for local spots.

And I found delicious shops.

In Dongdaemun Market,there are many sections.(for example plants,clothes,used books,cooking appliances)

In one street,there were some shops which grilled fish in front of the shop.

I felt hungry and went to one of those small shops.

The shop’s staff couldn’t speak either Japanese or English,but I used body language and I could order lunch.

To be continued.