Life As Canvas

Eleven hours layover in a country you’ve never been to can be looked at two ways. Either you can resign yourself to walking up and down the glossy corridors and occasionally riding the moving walkway from duty-free to duty-free until the lack of sleep catches up, zombifying you, -or- you can get a new stamp in your passport and go out on the town to see the sights and test the kimchi.

Well I only had a few hours once I figured in transit time, customs, orientation, etc. So I strolled over to the tourist info booth where I was handed a brand new shiny guidebook and map. Smiling, the information lady thoroughly explained everything for me and then wrote it all onto little post-its marking the pages that would help me most. After months of chaos, days upon tired days of taxi drivers yelling in my face, people from hostels and guesthouses harassing me at the gate and having no access to anything do-it-yourself such as a map, once I got to Seoul, the ease of it all blew me away.

Though I only had an afternoon, Seoul didn’t awe me with its sights. It’s a large city with plenty of sky scrapers and traffic but for being so big it is relatively clean and everyone I met was patient and friendly with me. In the food court of a large shopping center, I was the only Westerner around, which was unsettling at first. I felt looked-at, which I was, but to me it’s worth it to feel a little uneasy in a place that doesn’t cater to tourists. Seoul may not have wowed me with flashy displays of cultural history but it felt like a place I could stay for a while. I was immersed in Seoul as it is today, the way the people living there like it, and not made up to look a certain way for those who might visit. The best way I can think of to describe it is that it felt real.

My glossy new guidebook described Korea as “old meets new.” While it’s a pretty broad statement, I couldn’t deny it. In Seoul, a very modern city, there are still ancient palaces and old quarters to visit. I went to Deoksugung Palace, right in the center of the city next to city hall. It’s a collection of wooden buildings with huge, sweeping rooftops.

Deoksugung Palace

From the outside, the buildings look simple, painted in a deep red color or left unpainted. But once you approach, you can see colorful detailed paintings under the eaves and inside the rooms.

From the courtyards, over the traditional curved tile rooftops, skyscrapers pierce the clouds and a changing of the guards procession shimmers in their colorful clothes under the city skyline.

Next to the large, impressive front gates sits a Dunkin’ Donuts, and there’s an Outback Steakhouse across the street. Old and new certainly do meet, they’re practically shaking hands, and I like that a large city such a Seoul can advance and keep up with modern times while preserving important cultural sites right in the middle of it all.

Back in Time

In street markets you won’t find too many touristy souvenirs, but shops of shoes, toys, auto parts, clothing, or old Chinese cures, bottles of ginseng, and animal parts you don’t see much in the States. Food isn’t everywhere like it is in Bangkok, but it’s easy enough to find cafes or tea houses (or Starbucks, if you want). Back in the airport, I noticed that the food court is divided into two categories: Korean food and Western food. On one side sits Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway. On the other side you can buy noodle soups and pumpkin taffy. I decided to sample the kimchi noodle soup, and was glad I did. Just spicy enough, I slurped the stuff down happily. Next to me, two Korean men sat at a table chatting. One of them was slurping his soup like me. The other was finishing off a whopper and fries. Old meets new.

Then it was time to take another long plane ride. I’d finished my book and was going a little crazy by about the second hour, knowing I had 9 more to go. I read the tour guide to Korea for a while, looking at the pictures of the mountains in the countryside. I’d like to go back one day to see them.

P.S. If you ever get a chance to fly Korean Air, you are one lucky traveler. We’re talking cushy seats, lots of foot room, snappily-dressed friendly attendants, fresh juice, lots of food, little fuzzy socks. They give you stickers that say “Do not disturb,” “Wake me for meal service,” and “Wake me for duty free,” which you can conveniently stick to your headrest. You’d think you were in business class. What do the business and first-class fliers get, a massage?

P.P.S. I went so crazy in the plane I made a silver-leaf picture of a bird out of a Wrigley Spearmint gum wrapper.

Tags: Travel

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