Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of the world’s largest metro areas. The city itself has over 10 million inhabitants, but including the surrounding area the total population is well over 20 million! The population of South Korea is 50 million, so nearly half of the country lives in the Seoul area. The city is divided into 25 districts, or “gu” in Korean. My school is in a part of Seoul called Songpa-gu. More specifically, the area around the school is known as Jamsil.
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| Seoul is in the northwest corner of South Korea |
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| districts of Seoul; Jamsil is in Songpa-gu |
Although Jamsil is a relatively small area geographically, it is widely known around the city. There are lots of office buildings, supermarkets, convenient stores, and restaurants here (plus residential areas), but the main reason why most people know Jamsil is probably because of Lotte World. Lotte World is a huge hotel, mall, and theme park complex. Both the mall and theme park draw lots of visitors from around the city, and even from outside Seoul. Jamsil is also near the Olympic Park, where many of the events were held when Korea hosted the Olympics in 1988. Plus there is a subway stop that bears the area’s name.
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An aerial view of Lotte World Hotel (top left), mall,
and theme park (which has indoor and outdoor sections) |
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| entrance to Seoul's Olympic Park |
One note on restaurants – they are everywhere! A block away from the school there is a street that has over a hundred restaurants and food stands within a half mile stretch (I’m not inflating the number here, it may in fact be understated)! It is fun to walk there in the evening surrounded by the neon signs and window shop for a place to eat. It has definitely been a challenge eating out so far though. Many Koreans know little English – especially older people and those from outside Seoul (the younger generation is much more proficient).
On several occasions Matt and I have tried to order at a restaurant and the workers know almost no English – not that I would expect them to cater to us, but it can be difficult since we know almost no Korean! We have found that the best strategy is to pick a restaurant that has pictures and prices of the food displayed out front, so we can just point at them if need be (note: I wrote this awhile ago, and it has since gotten easier as we come to recognize types of food and frequent specific restaurants).
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| If the place has pictures, we're good |
Although Jamsil does have a lot to offer, Matt and I have realized that the nightlife here is one area that is lacking. On our first Saturday night we grabbed dinner at a local place near the school, then stopped by a 7/11 for drinks. There are no open container laws in Korea! From what we’ve been told, it is quite common to drink in public. So to save money we each bought a bottle of Soju from the convenient store and drank them at a nearby park. Soju is pretty much Korea’s national drink; traditionally fermented with rice, it has an alcohol content of around 20%. To me it tastes like watered down vodka, but it is super cheap – 1,100 won, or about a dollar, for a 300 ml bottle!
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| Different varieties of Soju... |
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| ....a must for Korean restaurants |
After drinking the Soju we walked through the busy street near our school to find a bar. There were a few, but we didn’t see any that had more than a few patrons. My guess is that that area is a good place to go for dinner and a few drinks earlier on in the evening, but not as great for late night activities. It might be a good spot for the weekdays, but some of the other parts of Seoul are probably better for exciting bars and clubs. Just another good reason to get out and explore the city! Another note: since first writing this, I have found these previous statements to be fairly accurate. Jamsil is a good place to go to start a weekend night, or to go out with a group of friends, but it tends to die down as the night goes on.
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