On Saturday we went up N Seoul Tower, at Namsan. It's a landmark you can spot all around the city. We took the cable car up and had absolutely mesmerizing views of the city at night time.
Sunday was a great day spent at Yongsan Garrison as the guest of Frank, a pilot friend we met recently. It's a huge U.S. military base in Seoul.
Those of you who know me will know that I have always been obsessed with all things American and being on the base felt like I was in America! Huge amounts of American goods have been shipped over to create a base that feels as much like home as possible for the servicemen. The currency is dollars and everything is the same price as it is in the U.S. There are tonnes of fastfood diners and the shops have practically everything you can buy in America, and will ship in free of charge any goods that are not there. The cinema releases films when they are released in the U.S. and shows them for free! It'll be great to see The Golden Compass a week earlier than the rest of Korea!
What really struck me as strange was the peace and quiet found on the base quite unlike that found in the rest of Seoul. One could walk down a street and not see anyone else around, whereas Seoul's streets are bustling 24/7. A criticism of the garrison is that all buildings spacious and up to 2 floors high, the streets are wide and the buildings are spaced out, whilst the vast majority of Seoul residents live in crampt high rise apartments squashed together.
I really enjoyed being on the base, as even though I've never been to America, being in a totally Western environment was comforting like being at home. I'm looking forwards to making use of the shops to get magazines and PORRIDGE! I miss my morning bowl of porridge immensely :)
Sunday was a great day spent at Yongsan Garrison as the guest of Frank, a pilot friend we met recently. It's a huge U.S. military base in Seoul.
Those of you who know me will know that I have always been obsessed with all things American and being on the base felt like I was in America! Huge amounts of American goods have been shipped over to create a base that feels as much like home as possible for the servicemen. The currency is dollars and everything is the same price as it is in the U.S. There are tonnes of fastfood diners and the shops have practically everything you can buy in America, and will ship in free of charge any goods that are not there. The cinema releases films when they are released in the U.S. and shows them for free! It'll be great to see The Golden Compass a week earlier than the rest of Korea!
What really struck me as strange was the peace and quiet found on the base quite unlike that found in the rest of Seoul. One could walk down a street and not see anyone else around, whereas Seoul's streets are bustling 24/7. A criticism of the garrison is that all buildings spacious and up to 2 floors high, the streets are wide and the buildings are spaced out, whilst the vast majority of Seoul residents live in crampt high rise apartments squashed together.
I really enjoyed being on the base, as even though I've never been to America, being in a totally Western environment was comforting like being at home. I'm looking forwards to making use of the shops to get magazines and PORRIDGE! I miss my morning bowl of porridge immensely :)
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