July 29th

Hi,

Today I went to 여의도 (yeoeuido) which is more of a business area, which has a lot of the broadcasting studios on it, like KBS for example. When we went to the kyocho chicken place which PMS had operated in/sponsored we saw a lot of office workers having their first round of food + drinks. The chicken tasted really good, but we didn't take it to the riverside since we were kinda lost and it would have been cold if we got there. The owner told us that if we were going to the river we should just call him and he will deliver more chicken there, without any extra transportation cost ^^, but we didn't do it. We had our own snacks anyway ^^.

Apparently views on Seoul differ a lot, so you might disagree with stuff I've written. I was talking to Ahmed and I was saying that I thought Seoul was dirty and didn't have much nature, but when I finished my sentence he looked at me quite shocked. Disagreeing completely. He thought it to be really clean and full of nature, so it probably depends where you go or how your hometown is (I knew Brussels was dirtier than Wommelgem, but that we would have such different opinions about this city I wouldn't have expected), so I guess you just have to find out for yourself ;).

It's like some people think the subways here are dangerous to go in at night and prefer to take the bus, while I feel so comfortable here compared to our subways. At night I don't like going down to our subway stations, I usually avoid it. The bus system is quite convenient here too. Apparently there is a free number 120 which you can call and there is a lady at the other side, who will help you with whatever practical problem you have. The 2 things I've seen her ask where how far bus number **** was and she replied by '2 stops away', and what the phone number was of the nearest pizza delivery service and they gave her the number. So this is quite useful. The only catch is that you have to talk Korean ;)

Little tip to you all. If you go to Korea during raining season and it's really clouded, always carry an umbrella... <_< (Am I pointing out the obvious again?) Anyway. I didn't bring any, since my bag was full and it hadn't rained for days, I thought I'd be okay. Guess not. I ended up waiting beneath the bridge for some time -_-. I had stuff to do, so I was quite okay and I had a friend checking up on me if I was okay (If you read this, know that I appreciate it :)), so I didn't mind it that much. The things I could do, were: Fitness using the local fitness equipment which was standing there to be used (They really have this a lot. While here you have to pay 300-500 euros for a fitness subscription... Even renting a bike is free at some places...), watch some tv on my cellphone (I got it to work^^. I forgot to put the antenna in, that's why it didn't work before...), watch the river, look at people setting off fireworks, look at the lit city across the street, ... The riverside is always crowded, no matter at what time you go out. (Latest I've checked was 3am, so I'm not sure about later, but I've heard about people spending the night there chatting, drinking, so I guess even until the sun rises there is people hanging around there). I'm gonna miss this part about Korea though. No matter what time it is, no matter what weather, you can always go and sit outside in a tshirt and busses start riding again quite early (Yura said 4 am), so that's still a decent hour to go home.