Itaewon

So it's been a couple weeks since we've posted, mostly because the weeks leading up to this last one were entirely uneventful. But this last week was Chuseok, a holiday you may remember from our blog posts around this same time last year. Chuseok is often compared to an American Thanksgiving holiday as it is a celebration of the harvest when family travels to one member's house for a few days of feasting. For foriegners with no Korean family, however, it is a ten day holiday with no obligations. Yay! We decided, having spent the last year traveling from one city to another, learning Korean and Korean culture, and hitting most of the major landmarks in the country that we would allow ourselves this vacation to indulge in western life.

Gimlet & Caprese

For us, this meant starting by renting a room in the most American apartment in Seoul. The room was in a large apartment owned by a newlywed couple, an American in the military and a Korean. This place ticked a lot of boxes, with their American wall outlets, real bacon in the morning, and English conversation. And, best of all, the apartment was located in Itaewon, which is the foreign neighborhood of Seoul (think little Italy or Chinatown in New York City). The area is split up into regions, with lots of European eateries in one place, and some streets catering largely to a middle eastern crowd. There are Canadian pubs called "Canucks," micro-breweries, Mexican tiendas, and best of all, real, big, western brunch served ALL DAY.

Our plan on arrival was to spend each day rolling between restaurants with naps in between. Seriously, nothing else sounded as heavenly as waffles for breakfast, tacos for lunch, and brewery hopping in the evening. What more could we want after a year of kimchi, rice, and soju (not that we have anything against those thing, but it's a pretty limited palate)? We ate our weight in dark bread from a German bakery, pesto pastas, deep dish pizza, creamy soups, little French pastries, and washed it all down with big bodied red wine. It was heaven. But the pique of the culinary experience for me was a Southern barbeque joint called Linus. That night we split a mound of pulled pork, a full rack of ribs, mac and cheese, coleslaw, onion rings and toasted buns. Even the beer was nostalgic. For anyone who lives on the west coast, we were impressed to find that Lost Coast Brewery has done remarkable well in Seoul and can be found in most pubs in Itaewon. We enjoyed a good bitter IPA and called it a night. If you've lived overseas you know nothing brings you so close to tears as a meal reminiscent of home.

I may have cried

German bakery (same place as pictured above with wine)

when you order a mimosa here, you get a
mini bottle of champagne, and separate
orange juice to mix your own. Cute!

Even the street art was reflective of the diverse population of visitors that Itaewon attracts! Check it out.



multi-language welcome

I don't know what was happening here...

While we didn't arrive in Seoul with many plans beyond simply eating our way through Itaewon, we did in fact find that there were lots of other supportive services and shops for foreigners, including multiple clothing and shoe stores labeled "big and tall" which was a relief after desperately trying to find shoes for Jamie, and even shirts with long enough arms for me. A note on shopping in Korea, though... I've never felt quite so normal when I walk into a boutique as I do here. Usually I walk out with a bag full of mediums. A size that would look like a tent on me in the states! Anyway, it was nice to go into a dressing room or sit down to pull on a shoe and not have it squeeze the life out of us. We also spent a few hours one day in the foreign grocers, picking up such staples as refried beans, crunchy peanut butter, and tortillas, while also picking up treats like black tea, kombucha, dark chocolate and tabasco. It was a relief not only to see familiar brands on the shelves, but to be able to read labels at all!

A sampling of our purchases (there's plenty not pictured)

Finally we found the Powells of Seoul. For those of you unlucky enough to have never spent an afternoon at Powells in Portland, OR, it's an enormous bookstore with a coffee shop attached where you can sip tea and look through your books before you buy. This place in Itaewon, the Book Park, was similarly four stories, and had not one but two coffee shops (one more for drinks, and the other serving sandwiches and soups as well). The English selection was pretty small, but we succeeded in spending a couple hours on the few English books we found, photography books, and of course, just chatting. We didn't buy anything there, because we are trying not to have to buy another suitcase just to get back to the states, but a few hours later we stumbled into yet another English bookstore where we didn't exhibit such self restraint. Four English magazines and a book of world history later, we were home free to pack up and go back to little Goheung.

In total we spent six days in Itaewon, and though we were ready to get back to our own pillows, it was hard to leave such a foreigner friendly piece of Korea behind. Now home, Jamie has one last day of vacation to revel before it's back to work. I've got a yoga class starting again soon, and classes to finish. But we are reenergized, excited to eat rice again, and happy to see through another great year thanks to Itaewon.

Goodbye!

Have a great week, everyone!
-K