I did get a little free time while in Seoul, and along with Jim, explored some of the highlights via the subway system. Speaking of which, the subway system was extraordinarily nice - very easy and self explanatory, with just enough English sprinkled around various signs to enable its use by monolingual idiots such as myself. Even so, the local manager we were working with seemed very impressed that Jim and I could use the subway by ourselves — he repeatedly asked if we had a Korean speaker with us.
We went up to the base Seoul Tower via an aerial tram, but unfortunately for us, the tower itself was closed due to renovations. There were still very pretty views of the city and the rocky mountains north of the city. We also stopped by the Dongdaemon market area, where there were all types of merchants. Lots of cheap food stands lined the main the street, and sidestreets were generally devoted to a single type of product — one for shoes, another for clothes, even one for aquariums. There were also some larger department store type establishments, which were divided into floors for women’s clothing, men’s clothing, etc., as is the standard practice. What was unusual was that each floor was made up of hundreds of individually owned and operated stands — there was no centralized checkout.
Also, we walked around the old royal burial shrines at Jongmyo and the old palace at Changyeonggung — both of these sites date to the early 1400’s. The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea from here circa 1400 to 1910. It was they who moved the capital of Korea to Seoul.
For dinner tonight I had hors d’oeuvres at the hotel lounge — lots of good sushi, and the price was right. :) I think the jet-lag is getting to me at last, as sleep is overtaking me quickly.
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