Guess Who’s Back? pt. 1

“…Back again, Shady’s back, tell a friend… ” I still enjoy that Eminem song from time to time. Anyways, I am back in Korea! It is difficult to explain my attraction to this country and my only regret is not having more people from back home visit to show them around my second home. Yes, this is one of those rare ‘personal posts’ so excuse the scatteredbrainessessess…oops.

 

But First… What the Hell Am I Doing Here?

The making of this post!

Blogging, duh! No seriously. For the first time, I entered Korea as a full blown tourist. No cozy apartment awaited me, and I actually stayed in a guesthouse for the first time! I am using the following months prior to THE BIG MOVE (did I mention this already? Get it together Julio) to work on this blog. What started out as nothing more than a hobby 15 months ago is something I really hope to develop long term. I am also trying to study the language more, and hopefully I will lose a kilo or two in the process. Anyways, I will talk more about this in pt. 2.

 

Where are you Now?

This wavy building is pretty cool and just a few minutes walk away.
This wavy building is pretty cool and just a few minutes walk away.

I lived the last three years in Seongbuk on the northern side of Seoul. However, three weeks ago, I had a dream I would like to share (oh god, not another dream story). In this dream, Seoul was divided into two (north and south). I was dropped off in the south and was completely lost. I realized that after all of these years, I knew very little about South Seoul, but was excited to explore more. This dream very accurately describes my time in this city and I knew immediately after waking up what it meant.

Long story…long… that dream did an inception on me and I was hooked on the idea of living in Gangnam (southern Seoul, and also don’t laugh Sidney!) Yeah, much like the terrible song (that song has almost 2 billion views…wow), I am living Gangnam style, in a shoebox of a room that offers unlimited rice, kimchi, water, wifi, and detergent! Wait, maybe that is not what the song had in mind. Nonetheless, it is definitely a Korean Experience everyone should try!

My koshiwon
My koshiwon apartment in Seoul.

 

Simply Overwhelmed

The area where I lived in Seongbuk was explorable mostly in 2 directions. You either went east towards Sungshin Women’s University (yes, you heard correctly guys…WOMEN’S!), or west towards Hyehwa. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fantastic area, but heading north leads to nothing but houses (and uphill at that) and there really wasn’t much to do walking distance in the southern direction.

The area where I am now has stuff happening in all directions. There are restaurants galore to go with a bunch of bars (one two floors directly below me), stores, cafes, and my very own town market that sells delightful ‘Panchan’ / side dishes (maybe I’ll explain this later). I seem to find something else that is amazing every day. In less than a week, I found two clubs (one that claims to be a top 10 in the world… we shall see), the Korean Basketball League headquarters, possibly the best coffee I’ve ever had, and apparently, rode the elevator with a Korean celebrity a few hours ago (who I, of course, did not recognize).

Night in Nonhyeon, Gangnam
Night in Nonhyeon, Gangnam

So far, I am enjoying my new place and area very much. While it is very cramped and sometimes, I do miss that huge home I left behind in California, this, as much as anywhere else, feels like home (Am I allowed to use this many commas? (and parentheses for that matter?)).

 

Did this post seem all over the place? Now you know why I usually do lists!

 

Julio Moreno
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