A Parade In Town (May 19)

• Our day started with coffee, of course :D They we found our way to the Hongikk University area to be a part of the first English tour of the newly opened War and Women's Rights Museum. This museum is based around the "Comfort Women" of World War II and their continued struggle to gain closure and recognition from the Japanese government. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to Google "Comfort Women" and understand a little bit about this issue. The visit was very emotional and the museum is really good (thanks Carlee, for helping me know what to look for!). If you are in Seoul, you should check it out! Especially if you have been to, or plan to go to, the House of Sharing. 

One of the surviving Halmonies, at a weekly protest
in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul.
She can still find things to smile about, which is amazing.

Memorial for the Halmonies that have passed away.

• After the tour, we were walking back towards the subway when we noticed that the name of the street we were on had "World Cup" in it. A quick consultation with my awesome subway app told us that we were just a short subway ride away from the 2002 World Cup Stadium. Ashley plays soccer, Abby is a fan and I like cool things, so we took a detour adventure. Just the subway station and the outside of the stadium were full of life and awesomeness. We explored around the stadium and found that part of it had been converted into a mall and another part into a wedding reception and banquet hall. 

We were pretty determined to at least glimpse the field so, after some helpful interactions with nice ajusshi security guards, we found the World Cup Museum. It was only 1000 Won to go in and looked like it had a great gift shop so we got a ticket and went inside. First thing - we were ambushed by some Japanese tourists who wanted pictures with us. I think they took at least 10. After that we looked at some exhibits of soccer gear and epic pictures of Korean soccer players - and then we saw the light...going into the stadium was part of the museum! We were so excited (Ashley ran).

 We marveled at the huge-ness and then saw some security guards standing at the bottom of the stands, near the field. We decided to use our Foreigner and Feminine Wiles to gain access to that area...but it turns out we didn't have to. Anyone can go down there, though you aren't allowed to actually touch the field. The guards were really nice and even wanted a picture with us.

It was REALLY cool to be where so much excitement had been. You could still feel how exciting it was, even 10 years later. And Ashley was so happy, it was adorbz. We had a bit of a schedule to keep (and also we were starving), so after buying lots of things in the gift shop, we made our way back to the subway station. 

• When we got back to the hostel, I plugged my camera in to charge for the Lantern Parade, we briefly saw Ann and Rachel and then we got dinner to the restaurant that was as close to our hostel without actually being in it as possible (it was 6 pm and we realized that all we'd had today was a scone and coffee, around 9 this morning). In conjunction with a very friendly owner and menu pictures, we managed to order in Korean (woo!)...and then we scarfed everything down. We didn't even talk. We just ate for 20 minutes. It was delicious. After that, I grabbed my camera battery and we headed to the parade. Which was going to happen just outside our hostel – best hostel location ever. 
• When we walked up to the line of parade-watchers, a nicely-dressed ajusshi asked if we were from America and smiled when we said yes. He talked to us off and on for the next few minutes and eventually offered us seats with his family! (The city provided thousands of plastic chairs for anyone to use, at no cost.) It was so cute. (In between, Abby and I also found a fantastic and cheap coffee shop right around the corner. Awesome!) The parade got started and the floats were beautiful. [pictures]

 

There were tons of people in the parade carrying lanterns (we even got some handed to us by Koreans…yay for being foreigners!), including some waygookin (foreign) skate-boarders, a Korean girl talking on her cell phone, and…Bianca, Joe, Alison and Julie! All of a sudden, we recognized people and we were like, “What??? How did you get in the parade?! Awesome!” for the few minutes that they stood in front of us. It was really funny – but we were totes jelly too. However, near the end of the parade, we saw a large group carrying lanterns with the same pattern as the ones we had been handed. So we asked the Koreans around us if we’d be allowed to join – and they said yes! So we jumped up, grabbed our lanterns and started walking down the streets of Seoul with a whole bunch of Koreans!

It was so surreal, because we totally felt famous. This was not like being in a parade in America, where the only people who cheer for you are the people who know you. Nope. The Koreans loved us and loved that we were walking down the street with lanterns. They got excited when we passed, waved frantically, cheered, shouted English, and just looked so happy to see us. And not only that, but other waygooks were totally jealous, waving back, cheering and shouting “How did you get in the parade?” as we passed. (We also saw some TaLK friends!) We were definitely in some professional pictures (I told Abby we should buy all the Korean newspapers tomorrow to see if we made any of them) and on TV – there was a pair of announcers, just like at our parades, and as we passed their stage, they definitely said something about waygooks. And there was this adorable ajumma marching beside us that kept saying, "Everyone! Happy! Together! " and "I love you!" to people on the side - soooooo cute. It was an amazing experience, we were so happy and on such a high – loving every bit of Korea at that moment (and for many afterwards). At the end of the parade, we arrived at temple where there were thousands of lanterns hung for the celebration of Buddha’s birthday (the purpose of this big festival). It was really beautiful.

We also found more TaLK people to say hi to and then joined in this big traditional dance, which was so much fun! I basically just grabbed Abby’s hand and then hand of an ajumma and we were whisked away into a bouncing circle of happiness for about 15 minutes. I didn’t want it to stop! 

• After the dance, we wandered around the temple area and took lots of pictures, and then made our way back towards the hostel. But we were stopped by a big dance party in the street! There was confetti everywhere, people dancing (traditionally, in a train and by following the simple moves of the people on stage) and several singers/bands.

It was amazing and so much fun! It was what I'd imagine the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade combined with New Year's Eve in New York City to be like. Dancing with tons of ajummas was probably my favorite part. And the fact that we were in the middle of the street. In Seoul. And no one was doing it because they were drunk, but simply because it was fun and we were celebrating Buddha's birthday. We danced for a while but got really hot, so we got out of the crowd and went to Lotteria for ice cream. We rested/cooled off for a while - and were also conspicuously checked by a Korean guy. After that, we actually headed towards the hostel - until we got sidetracked by the 24-hr Krispy Kreme (yes, we got a donut...right after we'd had ice cream...that's how we roll) and TaLK friends, Nick, Julian, Michael, Chris and Daniel (whom we saw on the parade route). Eventually, we DID make it back. In time to encounter the Mystery Of The Mattress And The Man: one of the mattresses in our room (which we needed) was missing and there was a guy getting ready for bed in our room (which was supposed to be all-girls). Eventually, the problems were solved (we got another mattress and the guy ended up staying in our room) and, after much flip-flopping, Ashley, Abby and I decided to go out to Hongdae with one of the [guy] hostel managers and a couple other [guy] guests. It was fun! The hostel manager, In Song, really wanted to show us around Hongdae (he was SO nice) so, after pre-gaming at a nearby park (filled with people doing the same), we went to a few different bars/clubs. (I was carded for the first time in Korea!) The 3 we went to weren't fantastic but only one had a small cover and the guys kept paying for our drinks so we barely spent anything. It was also really nice being out with guys, since we could use them to stave off creepers (though I was still asked by a guy if he could speak to me privately...uh NO). We went home around 4, watched some soccer and then crashed.