My sister Liz and her husband Josh recently came to visit us in Korea. They were here for just one week, so we had to make the most of it. I think we managed to fit in a wide range of Korean experiences without going too crazy trying to cram everything in. There is so much to do here, it really was hard to narrow it down, but I would say they got a good taste of what it is like to live here.
So, if you only had a week to spend in Korea, what would you choose to do? Let’s make a list.
1. Buddhist temple with Nature Hike
These two things go hand in hand, since most temples are placed high on a hilltop, surrounded by nature. We visited the Heungryunsa Buddhist Temple that I have posted about before. After walking around the temple, we climbed the stairs to the top of Cheongyangsan Mountain.
2. Poopoo Land in Seoul
Nothing says Korea like a whole play land devoted to poop and poop emojis. I had been to poop cafes and eaten poop emoji-shaped waffles filled with melted chocolate (picture how that looks in your head), and even visited Mr. Toilet House, a museum entirely devoted to the history of the toilets, but Poopoo Land beats all of that, hands down.
We wore poop emoji hats, walked through a digestive tract obstacle course, and crawled inside Ssari’s house (the poopoo land mascot). And, we didn’t bring the kids. This was truly entertaining for just us adults.
3. Go to a K-pop concert
We got lucky on this aspect, since Incheon Global Campus Music Festival happened to coincide with the week they were here. It was free and on campus and mostly attended by college students. There were some headliners: 10cm, Ailee, and Jessi. In between the headliner acts were student dance groups dancing to popular K-pop songs doing the choreography from the actual K-pop music videos.
4. Experience a jimjilbang and partake in other Korean beauty treatments
As I’ve written about before, a jimjilbang is a naked spa where you can get a body scrub or a massage and then sit in different temperature soaking tubs while enjoying the company of other naked women. You can also put the Korean pajamas on and go to the saunas in the co-ed area. There is a level of shyness you have to overcome in order to truly immerse yourself in this aspect of Korean culture, but it is so worth it. Liz and Josh went to a museum at the end of their trip that had mock displays of the inside of a jimjilbang, so I’ll use her photos to illustrate the areas you can’t normally take photos of in a real jimjilbang.
The waterproof massage table
The washing area. You must wash before getting into the hot tubs.
You can see the little locker key around the girl’s ankle.
A mock soaking tub.
In the Ice sauna
In the hot sauna
We also indulged by getting eyelash extensions and doing beauty masks on our face and feet. The Korean beauty market is a huge industry and we have the luxury of getting very good prices on spa treatments here that would be very expensive back in the USA.
New eyelash extensions
5. Play with meerkats in a Zoo Pet Cafe
This is also a very uniquely Korean thing to do. I’ve mentioned this before, in my blog covering Korean Culture 101. Every time we visit this particular Zoo Pet Cafe there are different animals to play with. This time we got to hold chinchillas, snakes, skunks, meerkats, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, prairie dogs, weasels and we also got to pet a monitor lizard and feed the foxes and guinea pigs. (No, we did not feed the guinea pigs to the foxes.)
6. Sing karaoke in a Noraebang
I was never a fan of karaoke in the USA, but since coming here I have learned to LOVE singing at a Noraebang. Liz and Josh are avid fans of singing in karaoke bars in every country and city they visit, so this was a must-do while they were here. The big difference between Korean karaoke and American karaoke is that in Korea you have to come with friends and you get a private room. There is no singing in front of strangers. You rent the room by the hour and sing as much as you want. There were 12 of us there and we all had a total blast!
7. Rent Hanbok and tour a Korean palace
Hanbok is the traditional Korean clothing reserved for holidays like Chuseok and Lunar New Year and major events like weddings. However, a very popular thing to do in Seoul is to rent Hanbok and go around the palaces for the beautiful photo ops and instagram-worthy shots. If you rent Hanbok, you actually get to walk right past the ticket lines at the palaces and go right in, free of charge. We had been to the palace before, but had never rented the Hanbok. This completely changed the experience for us. And no, this is not considered cultural appropriation; the Korean government widely encourages tourists to participate in this activity.
8. Try as many different Korean dishes as you can
We certainly tried to introduce Liz and Josh to as many different Korean dishes as possible. This includes:
1.) 육개장 yukgaejang (a steamy spicy beef soup with a hot red pepper broth),
2. ) 뚝배기 불고기 bulgogi (marinated beef strips in a soup served over rice),
3.) 만두 mandu (steamed and fried dumplings in pork, kimchi, and galbi flavors),
4.) Korean BBQ (do-it-yourself style BBQ of pork and beef),
5.) Korean Fried Chicken (so much better than KFC) ,
6.) 김밥 gimbap (a seaweed wrapped rice roll with vegetables and meat in the center) and
7.) 치즈 찜닭 cheese jjimdak (a Korean chicken stew with melted cheese on top).
They also braved some interesting flavors of potato chips from the 7-Eleven, like Honey Butter chips. Lastly, I couldn’t resist taking them out for real Japanese ramen (tastes nothing like Top Ramen), with karaage (Japanese fried chicken) on the side.
One of the trickier skills to learn, if you only have a week, is how to use Korean chopsticks. They are made of stainless steel and are flattened, not square or round like Chinese or Japanese ones. It may not seem like a big difference, but you might be completely adept at using the wooden chopsticks that come with Chinese takeout and you will still fumble with a flat steel Korean chopstick.
Yukgaejang
Mandu restaurant in Seoul
Inside the mandu restaurant
Bulgogi and Yukgaejang
Gimbap picnic at the playground
Japanese ramen with kaarage on top
At Meat King, the Korean BBQ joint in Bupyeong
The Korean corn dog, the quintessential street food
9. Appreciate modern Korean architecture
Josh is an architect back in the USA so we had to take the time to see the beautiful modern Korean architecture around Seoul. I've noticed that generally speaking the modern designs are gravity-defying, have lots of smooth curves, really play with light and shadows and are always grand in scale.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Sulwhasoo Flagship Store
Ewha Woman's University
Ewha Woman's University
Samsung Jong-ro Tower
The following pictures are of Seoul City Hall. It is so beautiful on the outside, but the big surprise is the living wall on the inside.
I hope this inspires more of you to come visit us. We make really fun tour guides and we know our way around Seoul and Incheon pretty well now! You only need a week to have a real Korean adventure. Who's ready?
