Seoul, Korea!

Finally, Korea! I'm half Korean so I was already familiar with the food because my halmoni (grandma in Korean), and sometimes my mom, cook it for me. I also knew some stuff about the culture, like celebrating the 1st birthday with a big party called a Tol, which I did, and going to the cemetery to see my Great Grandfather's grave on the anniversary of his death. For a while, I even went to Korean school and learned the alphabet, but I forgot all of it. I figured going to Seoul would be a good opportunity to refresh my Korean and see the country for the first time. Seoul, the capital of Korea, is where my family is from, including my mom. Seoul is a large city with a population of just under 10,000,000 people. We spent our first day sightseeing, then walking around the neighborhood of Insadong. We just happened to wander into a random restaurant, where we had the our best meal in Korea. To me, Korean food is the best! Here are some classic Korean dishes that we had that night. This Bulgogi, tender Korean beef, was my favorite.

We also had Haelmul Pajun, which is a  Korean seafood pancake. It was the size of three of my heads.

We also went to the Korean folk village, a fake village based on life in traditional Korean villages. They had all sorts of Korean wooden farmhouses, traditional farming tools, and games. The village puts on shows, and the first one we saw was this traditional farmers dance.

 When we were walking around there I got my life bird 490, this BROWN EARED BULBUL.

I also saw my life bird SPOT BILLED DUCK in the village's river.

My favorite day was the day we hiked up Namsan Mountain. I like that we found nature in the center of Seoul because a lot of the city is just concrete. At the beginning of our hike, I spotted this mystery flycatcher. If you know what this is please let me know.

I spotted this ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE, a bird I have always wanted to see, in a blossoming tree. These blossoms are here only two weeks out of the year, so we were lucky to see them.

At the top of the mountain, I saw a few VINOUS THROATED PARROTBILL. This bird is generally found in open wooded habitats, including scrub and sometimes in hedges, reeds and marshes. This bird has a wide range, stretching as far south as Vietman, and as far north as Russia.

We made our way to the top of the mountain where we had lunch at the best burger joint in Seoul. On our way back down my sister spotted this RING NECKED PHEASANT. This bird is often found in open country, so it was cool to see a few in the middle of a big city.

We woke up early one day, and took a day trip to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. There used to be one Korea, but the northern part wanted to be communist, and the southern part wanted to be democratic. Then the North and South went to war, and after three years of fighting, split off. Since North Korea is a communist country, the supreme leader of the country decides what goes on. The current leader of North Korea is a bad man, and now North Korea is a poor, closed off country. At one point, the North Koreans dug 4 tunnels under the DMZ. They had a plan to go through the tunnels and attack Seoul. Luckily, the South Koreans found the tunnels before the North Koreans crossed the border. We don't know, but there is a good chance there are still tunnels underground that are undiscovered. In North Korea near the border, they built a city. They made it look like a happy and wonderful place to live so the South Koreans think that North Korea is doing well. But again, they are not. Nobody actually lives in that city. My Haraboji (grandpa in Korean) walked from North Korea to South Korea with his family, because they didn't believe in communism. My Haraboji was only eight years old when this happened. The North Korean army would think that his family were traitors and would shoot them if they were caught, so they slept in trenches and walked at night. Unfortunately, my Haraboji's 19 year-old brother was drafted before he could go south and nobody knows where he is now. Hopefully one day there will be one Korea again and I will be able to see what North Korea is like.

On another day we took a day trip to Songdo, a new city that is still in the process of being built. They call it the "city of the future" but I think it is very ugly and extremely underpopulated. They have made it eco-friendly, and there are very few cars and very little pollution. There are no garbage trucks, instead there are tubes connected to your trash bins and all your garbage gets sucked down to a garbage plant, then recycled.

While there, I saw this pipet. Does anyone know what kind it is?

Here is part of Songdo.

On one of our last days, we met up with some family, my mom's cousin Sungsoo, his wife and daughter Katie, his brother, and their parents (my Kanapa Haraboji and Kanoma Halmoni) for lunch. It was so nice to see family! And on our last night in Seoul, Kanapa Haraboji treated us to a great kalbi dinner and told us stories from when he was a boy.

Sungsoo's brother is actually named Isoo (although he spells it Ysu), where I got my name from. Here is a photo of the two Isoos.

It was cool to finally see Korea and where my family is from. It was also very cool to meet the other Isoo, my namesake.


Bird List for Korea                                                                  Life List 495 (6 life birds in Korea)

Brown Eared Bulbul X life bird!
Varied Tit 1 life bird!
Marsh Tit X
Little Egret X
Ring Necked Pheasant 7
Vinous Throated Parrotbill X life bird!
Eastern Spot Billed Duck!
Grey Wagtail 1
Great Tit X
White Backed Woodpecker 1 life bird!
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker1 life bird!
Oriental Turtle Dove X life bird!
Rock Pigeon X
Eurasian Jay 1
Eurasian Magpie X