So there is obviously a giant back log of material for this blog. I have up to 10 additional posts already written and ready to go, with no real outlet for them (Thank you Wuxi South Ocean College for being too cheap to purchase internet that I can use with an Apple Computer! Seriously! Duo xie!). Anyway, its been a busy time for me. I'm attempting to apply to law school, which is going horribly. We'll see where I wind up with that one. On top of that, I have douchebag students who continually find new ways to piss me off. Yesterday I was compared to Iron Man. In that we're both boring. Awesome. That class is never watching a movie again... Anyway, we're going to continue the series of Korean posts. This is part two of a very special four part series, where, once again I'm hopelessly lost in Seoul, with no aid or ability to find my way.
Ok so we last left off at the end of my first day in Korea, so now we shall proceed in logical order to the second day. Of course I woke up late, as I’m prone to do almost every day of my life. I’d wanted to wake up around 8, get a quick breakfast, then get to the National Museum of Korea as soon as it opened. I didn’t move until 10. The only advantage in sleeping that late was that it gave me about 16 hours of sleep in less than 24 hours, which officially got me over my jet lag within a day of being in Asia (huzzah for messed up sleeping schedules!). I quickly showered and left the hotel, getting to the National Museum a little before 1130 after a pleasant subway ride (I became the master of the Korean subway while I was there. In only 3.5 days I rode more than half the lines and could easily navigate the city). Now, the National Museum is freaking massive. It has two wings, the normal wing, and a special exhibition hall and children’s museum on the other side, with an open air atrium in the middle that has a picturesque view of the Seoul Tower in the middle. It’s also a history nerd’s dream building.
Anyway, I decided against the special exhibit (on the kingdom of persia) because of time constraints, so it was off to the normal Asian stuff for me! I started on the 3rd (of 3) floor which was Asian arts. Half the floor was Korean stuff, the other half Vietnam, China, India, Central Asia, and Japan. Alot of the exhibit was really cool, I really liked the Vietnam section; (nerd alert!) I took a class on Vietnamese History/Culture freshman year and it was my first chance to see real Vietnamese art and stuff kinda tied in to what I learned. Anyway, the Japanese part was the last section of the 3rd floor and I could see my camera battery dying. I walk into the room and see a sweet scroll (this room had the only things of worth Japan has ever produced) and of course my camera died as soon as I pushed the photo button. So my plan to make it through the museum on my battery and replace it afterward had officially failed.
I looked in the museum shop on the 3rd floor and there was no camera stuff in there (of course) so I proceeded to the 2nd floor which was even cooler than the 3rd. There was some awesome calligraphy and paintings, and on the other half they had galleries of stuff from private collectors mostly Korean guys but there were some Japanese in there as well (in an attempt to foster good relations between the two countries because, you know, nothing like donating some rare artwork to make up for around 50 years of brutal colonization. I’d say they’re even now). One guy had donated a ton of stuff from Myanmar, which was really cool looking; everything had a reddish tinge. I'd never seen Myanmar art before (or, for that matter, anything from Myanmar [also, I always forget, between Burma and Myanmar, which is the British slave name and which is the indigenous name? I used to know this and now can’t remember...]) and was really disappointed about the camera. I went to the 1st floor, and in the shop there, also no camera stuff, so I had to go through that floor cameraless. (At this point I should also mention that I was starving. It was around 1230 and I had yet to eat anything that day. The museum had a cafe which served weird sandwiches [Korea is obsessed with sandwiches and coffee. You can’t walk half a block without seeing a coffee shop or a sandwich shop. Quizno’s abound!] and a cafeteria whose menu I couldn’t read). Half of the floor had an exhibit on Korean civilization from the Paleolithic Age until the Joseon Dynasty that ended in 1910. I rushed through that section (and most of the museum) because I didn't have a camera, and I was running out of time to see the whole museum and get across the city to my 2nd museum. That section was also full of kids who kept walking in my way (I swear Koreans pay no heed to anything or anyone while they're walking. They don't jaywalk. Ever. It's weird; they will wait with no cars coming until the walk sign comes on, but everyone will walk into you if you're in their way). The other half was even tougher to not take pictures of: they had an exhibit on Korean script from its inception through bookmaking, up to today, then they had a section on mapmaking, then they had a section on the origins of the Korean flag. I was legitimately dying and so pissed I couldn't take a single picture.
Leaving the museum, I passed through two more shops. No batteries, and even worse, no disposable cameras, so I legitimately had no options for photography. I stopped at a convenience store outside to get a Pepsi (for some reason it costs less than Coke but is twice as delicious!) and a Capri Sun (for the nutritional value). I got stares from kids while I was drinking the Capri Sun.
At this point it's 1 and I haven't eaten anything all day. The museum cafe had no food I could recognize so I wouldn't eat there (as I already mentioned), the convenience store smelled like Spaghetti-O's (because they're obsessed with Italian food here and someone was cooking microwave spaghetti in the oven) and there were no restaurants around the museum (a recurring them of the trip is that there is alot of everything here, but whenever you need something specific, it's nowhere to be found). So I took the subway to Seoul Station and got off to go to the market where I bought a traveler’s adaptor the day before. They didn't sell the specific battery for my camera, or any Sony products for that matter (I originally thought they didn’t sell any Japanese products as a way to slap them in the face. I was wrong, they just didn’t sell Sony stuff). There was another department store across the street. They didn't sell cameras. At this point it's past 2, when I'm supposed to be at the next museum, I'm tired, hungry, and pissed off. All I wanted was McDonald's (good ol’ American comfort food!). There wasn't one in sight. I settle for Burger King, but realize I can't get a Whopper, because I can't tell them no mayo or onions. I wound up settling for chicken sandwich and sucking it up and eating the mayo, since there wasn't another option. The BK was meh. I’ve had better and of course I sat in the corner so people wouldn’t look at me the whole time. There was an old couple that was absolutely devouring this massive sundae they sell there. I wish I could’ve taken a picture of it because they were absolutely going to town on it. Alas.
After I got some food in my system, it was off to Seodaemun Prison! I was pumped for the prison and decided I would look for a camera store around the prison, which wouldn't be a problem because it's a big tourist attraction (it was built by the Japanese in 1908 and was used to house political dissidents. They tortured and killed a bunch of people there. Then after liberation, the South Korean government, back in its oppressive days, used it for the same purposes. Yet another example of my useless knowledge that will get my nowhere in life). I got off the subway, bought my ticket for the prison, and saw no souvenir shops. I didn't consider it a big deal and walked back to the street. It's a crowded street so I didn't think I'd have an issue finding a photo shop. Of course I was wrong. Tons of shops. No film. No disposable cameras. I was fairly close to livid at this point (another them from this Asian trip in general [since I’m writing this whilst in China] is that even when I want to spend money, and am willing to pay a premium price to ensure that I can buy the exact thing I want/need, no one is available to give my money to. It’s unbelievable. In America that would never happen, but here it’s like no one wants my money.). I couldn't believe there was nowhere to buy a camera. I would have gladly paid an exorbinant fee for a disposable just so I could get some pics, but nope. No one wanted my money. I entered the prison cameraless and started to walk around. As is the case with most attractions here, there's Korean script, Chinese script, then a tiny English description on SOME of the placards. Luckily alot of stuff there looked cool, so it didn't matter if I didn't know exactly what things were. Whilst in the main hall, there's set of stairs that go down, and a white woman (I can spot them in a crowd here, they're so rare) was a few steps ahead of me and about to go down. A man stopped her and said something in Korean. She had no clue what he meant. So he looked at me, pointed at her, and said 'pregnant' then something else. I looked at him and repeated 'pregnant?' he said yes and pointed at her. I said I didn't understand. He calls over a young girl who worked there and spoke English (and had previously asked me if I wanted a tour guide, which I politely declined), and she told the woman if she was pregnant, she couldn't go downstairs. She wasn't. I don't think he meant it as an insult, just a warning, but she, like most other women, did not like the suggestion that she was prego. The warning was because downstairs were wax figures acting out various scenes of torture the Japanese did to Koreans. It was kinda weird. Once again, I wish I’d had a camera to document that, because seeing wax figures pluck off finger nails and whip each other is something I would like to share with the world. After a few minutes of awkwardly walking near each other, we eventually struck up a conversation (and by we, I mean she struck up the conversation since I’m socially inept). She was French and with her bf, but he had no interest in the prison so she was alone. It was nice to talk to someone in English (even if she was French, she was a pleasant person). It was the most I'd spoken since I got here and it helped cool me down. Anyway, back to the prison, we got to walk through the actual buildings with cells and even go into some of the cells (both regular and solitary). We saw the quarantine building, the building where they put on mock trials so they could kill people accused of crimes against the state, the actual killing building and trap door the used to take out bodies and carry them away from the grounds. Cool stuff. Anyway, it would up that our hotels were in the same area so we took the subway together to Insadong then said goodbye.
Once at the hotel, I checked my email and saw the original DMZ tour I’d arranged for the next day had fallen through. The company was doing tours, but the one that I wanted to go on (the DMZ in addition to the JOint Security Area [which would’ve let me enter North Korea] and the Korean village inside the DMZ [Panjaemum?]) wasn’t being run because apparently there was an incident a few weeks before (and now that South Korea just accused the North of restarting their nuke program, I wonder if any tours are running). Luckily they still had the regular half day DMZ tour so I signed up for that. My original pick up time was supposed to be 745, but the lady called 5 minutes later and asked to switch it to 715, which I said was fine.
After the DMZ business was taken care of, I began to plan my night. In my Lonely Planet guide, it said there is a photo store in Hongik (another neighborhood with no street signs...) that would take care of all my digital photo needs, which I interpreted to mean they'd have batteries, then I was going to an outdoor market where there was supposed to be a good duck restaurant. I took the long way to the subway, hoping to find a photo store, which turned into me wandering for an hour in alleys and underground markets to no avail and just getting frustrated further. Huzzah for wanting to strangle people! I finally hopped on the train at around 7ish. it took me close to 45 mins to get to Hongik because of the line change. When I got there, I realized I had no clue where I was going so I just started walking in a random direction. After 5 mins of wandering, I looked up and saw a Kodak Photo Store, which immediately excited me. Of course, they wanted my memory card to print up pictures for me, they didn't sell batteries. I got annoyed again and started wandering around the area. It was near a college and there were alot of young people around, who were just getting in my way. I wandered around the area for another 45 mins or so, hoping to find another camera store. There was one, and they also didn't sell batteries.
I dejectedly hopped back on the train and went to the other market place, very conspicuously reading my tour book (at that point I'd given up all hope of not looking like a tourist, what with my white skin, non-slanted eyes, and always being lost--- tonight I saw some lady blatantly laugh at me as I stopped in the middle of the road, clearly not knowing where I was going). When I got off the stop, I noticed another white girl, this one around our age. She came up to me, asking how my sightseeing was going. I told her I was miserable. Apparently she's an English teacher here, so we chatted for a bit and she gave me a good suggestion for a battery (though it was already closed). I wanted to ask her to eat dinner with me in exchange for the help, plus she was someone to speak English to, but she was unfortunately meeting a friend.
I then wandered around this market for the next hour. I found a great camera store but my battery was sold out. Then I found a Sony store, but it closed 15 mins before I got there. I gave up on the battery and tried to find the restaurant... and failed... again. The Lonely Planet book can only do so much when there aren’t street names. I went where I thought it was supposed to be, but in reality I had no clue and was just guessing. I finally gave up on finding that restaurant and just walked to the nearest restaurant with people. I wanted dumplings, they didn't sell them, so I had some BBQ beef instead. After the meal, I thought I saw where the restaurant should've been, but it wasn't there. I walked back to the hotel annoyed and tired from all my walking (I walked for close to 3 hours just looking for a battery).
Now before I end this post, I’ll explain the title. If I had been in China and needed a camera battery, around every single tourist spot there would be several stores that would sell camera supplies, and even if they didn’t sell my battery, I’d at least be able to buy an overpriced disposable camera. I even took some pictures to this effect while I was in Beijing. Around Tiananmen Square there are at least 10 stores that sell camera equipment. Inside the Forbidden City there are at least 10 different kiosks/stores that sell camera stuff and that is a communist country. South Korea, which is supposed to be capitalist (and kinda has been for a few decades), had absolutely nothing and little help for tourists. The gift shops in most museums were small and had little to nothing of value. Argh.
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