Another day of Seoul: Saturday October 20

Time is flying by in Korea; we have now been here for 7 weeks! This past Tuesday, after work we met up with our Korean friend Steve and a few other foreign teachers to enjoy another game of baseball. Our home team in Incheon, the SK Wyverns was playing the Lotte Giants from Busan. We thought the fans at the last game were wild, but they didn’t even compare to the crowd at this game. It was a semi final game, and we won! Unfortunately, I brought my camera but realized at the game that I left the batteries charging in our apartment… At least we had our phones to try and capture the night. It was a lot of fun, and we will definitely be going to more baseball games when the season starts up again in the spring.

Saturday, we decided to head to Seoul again and stay the night in Hongdae, a popular area among the younger and foreign crowd. We first headed to the War Memorial Museum. It was a massive, beautiful building surrounded by many statues dedicated to the war. There were also plane, tank and boat replicas. It was a great way to spend part of our day. Another plus was that the admission was free. We walked around the whole museum, and learned a lot about Korean military history. The museum was very modern and each room had cool designs. Ian particularly enjoyed the visit being a history major.

After the museum, we went to look at Seoul City Hall and we stumbled upon yet another festival. Street festivals seem to be very popular in Korea.  The weather started to take a turn for the worse, so we ended up meeting some friends for dinner in Hongdae early. We had very delicious Indian food, followed by a fun night out in Hongdae.

Statue at the front entrance to the War Memorial of Korea. It is a statue of two brothers, one from South Korea and one from North Korea that meet on the battle field and embrace. They are standing on a dome that has a giant crack down the middle that represents the division of families during the War,

A statue representing the drive into battle and the family and friends left behind.

Ian in front of the Memorial. There was a stage set up and a band was playing. 

The Memorial is surrounded by water with bridges going over. There were boat, plane and tank replicas around the whole building.

Plane replica with the Namsan Tower in the background. 

We got this photo of a matching couple. We see them everywhere, and sometimes they are completely matching from head to toe...

It was very interesting walking around each room in the museum. The exhibits were nicely put together. 

This is the main lobby.

In the UN room, this shows the flags of the countries that helped Korea during the war.

Information on the Canadian involvement.

Parachute in the main lobby.

A shooting game in one of the exhibits,

This is apparently the "Future Warrior" of Korea.

The war boat in the main lobby. 

City Hall consists of the older building and the more modern glass one behind. 

Another festival in front of City Hall. 

A man making rice cake. He makes rice and then uses the hammer to pound it together to make a smooth consistency. 

A view of the modern section of City Hall.