Last weekend I went to watch a soccer game at the world cup stadium in Seoul. FC Seoul beat another team 3-1. Was an entertaining game, played at high pace and lots of shots at goal. Certainly much more exciting than any soccer I have seen in South Africa. After that we went to eat at Tacobell which was pretty cool. Then we went off to a metal gig in an abandoned building in Hongdae, the club district. Was really low key affair. The place didnt even have its own bar, but since you can buy liquor at 7-11, everyone just went next door to buy and took it inside the "club". A bunch of expats were performing: a death metal outfit with a really odd sense of humor. It was good fun. After that I went to a upmarket club in Apgujejeong, the Beverly hills of Seoul. We were on the vip list so didnt have to pay but the drinks were pretty pricy. About R60 a beer. DJ Sasha was performing there, an international DJ, apparently very popular but not that I would know. I had fun. The next day I went walking around Gangnam, a business area that reminds me a bit of walking in NYC, got a little lost, I got tired of walking and went back home to prepare for the week ahead. This weekend I decided to do the cultural thing. I went with a co-teacher of mine on a tour of Ancient Bekje culture. Bekje was an empire in Korea, part of the Three Kingdoms, and had a lifespan from 18BC-935AD. Its the lesser known of the Three Kingdoms, the more understated of the three but I was interested to go and see this part of Korean history. We went to Maae to see a trinity of Buddhas carved out of granite. As a lecturer was explaining the history of Bekje culture in Korean, all I could do was to do a little people watching. I was thinking to myself, if the audience was a bunch of expats half the group would have been missing, sitting in the bus, looking for a coffee shop, taking a smoke break or scrambling up the rocks in search of more sculptures, but the Koreans were all taking notes as the lecturer was speaking, lol. The statues are famous for the subtle smile of the Buddha which is unique to Bekje culture. I loved the scenery in the mountains. Still winter, but you could see the blossoms are coming out and spring time is only about 3 days away. This is when the country side will be transformed into beautiful color. The next stop was the ruins of an old temple, destroyed by the Joseon dynasty, the empire that tried to stamp out Buddhism from Korea in favor of Confucianism. We then went for a really great lunch near the temple of the open heart, Gaesinsa, made from the freshest veggies. Then we took a tour of the Gaesinsa temple, a temple dating from about the 9th century AD. The tour was running late, probably part to me talking so many photos and arriving last on the bus to go to the next stop, and so we had a very short time at the fortress of Haemieupseong, a huge structure build in defense of Japanese invasion probably round about the 15th century. I scrambled up and down the ramparts and expected the grounds as if I was commanding my own army of humans and elves against an army of orcs outside the walls. My imagination was interrupted by a journalist and a cameraman asking me if they could have a quick interview. Before I could say yes and swallow my bubble gum they were asking me what I thought of the fortress to which I replied "Its amazing" duh. How about giving me a heads up next time! Next stop, another temple with stone carvings of Buddha. I met another foreigner from the UK there, he had hiked up the mountain. Anyway, it was a long but interesting day and I arrived back exhausted from all the scrambling up mountains and fortress walls. Good day!
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