Continuing with the trip progress:
- Seoul (April 24-26)
- Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29)
- Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1)
- Seoul sightseeing (May 2)
I pretty much had the day to myself to explore places in Seoul. First stop, Sinchon, the neighborhood near Yonsei University, where I lived during my 3 months in Korea back in 2004.
I mentioned earlier the twisted sense of nostalgia that brought me back here, so I won’t cover that again. Instead, here’s a little before-and-after fun:
First, the neighborhood:
2004:
2008:
This little plaza area was still there, as were many of the restaurants and cafes that I remember from 4 years ago. This was something of a surprise to me; I had seen so many little cafes come and go during 3 months that I assumed that almost everything would have turned over after 4 years. Not the case!
On to the boarding house where I lived:
2004:
2008:
I half expected the building to not be there, but sure enough, those ugly green windows were staring back at me as I crossed the footbridge to get my pictures. But notice something different? Not on the building, but on the footbridge. There are flowers were there once was an ugly railing. This was one of several beautification efforts I noticed in the area. Perhaps there was a city-wide effort to green things up a bit, a la the Chungyechun restoration project? Anyway, a pleasant surprise.
Lastly, no visit to Yonsei was complete without a picture of their famous main building, covered with plentiful ivy:
If you click on the image for the full size version, you’ll notice some guy in a ridiculous looking blue costume, and a gaggle of kids in neon blue ties behind him. A closer shot:
It’s not what first comes to mind when you picture Korea’s equivalent of Harvard Yard or Old Campus at Yale, but at least it provided for some interesting pictures. If you have any idea what’s going on in these pictures, please leave a comment!
Next, I got on the subway and hit tourist jackpot at Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace in Seoul…
