South Korea's got Seoul, South Korea likes to rock n roll

I just got back from a lovely little jaunt to South Korea. Korea Sparkling! I went to Seoul and stayed with my cousin Michael, who has been teaching English there for about three years. I didn't do too much sightseeing, mostly I wandered all around Seoul and ate incredibly delicious and cheap things. The best (and wildest, perhaps) was live octopus.

(just watch it squirm for a little bit)

We also ate raw beef, a few different kinds of Korean bbq, a delicious fried meat thing in a huge rectangle, lots and lots of kimchi, and a ton of really good street food. The best street food came in a tent with lots of old Korean people (who started a fight with each other).

Michael and me and a crazy Korean man. I'll let you figure out who is who.

Aside from eating, I was mostly just in shock the whole time at how Korea is totally not Japan. Compared to Japan, Koreans are real people! They are not robots or ants like Kyoto residents, they look around on the subway and talk on their cell phones on the bus and are loud and gregarious and SO friendly. Also I was in a pretty big shock at the sprawl and magnitude of the city of Seoul.

The north-west expanse of the city from the top of the 63 Building


Seoul is really the city from Blade Runner, the city of the future

One friend asked me, what will I expect from Japan after being in Korea? I realized a few important things. One is, my thoughts are almost completely in Japanese, which I hadn't really realized until being in a place where both the language's sounds and written alphabet are utterly unlike either of the two languages I can speak. Yeah, languages are SO crazy. I also realized, it is really nice to be with your family. I also realized, for the next month, I need to enjoy Japan as much as possible. Spring has pretty much arrived, and springtime is the season! The good things don't last, and there is no use complaining when I have it so easy.