When we arrived 5 hours before the fireworks were supposed to start, we were astounded by how many people were already at the festival! Some people even had tents set up, obviously camping out all day for the fireworks.We found an empty patch of grass and set up camp for the day. We spent the hours walking around the booths at the festival, napping in the sun, and taking in the scenic view of the Han River. It was so fun and relaxing!
Finally, it got dark and the fireworks show started! It It was a 1 1/2 hour long show that showcased the best of fireworks from four countries: Canada, Japan, France, and Korea. Although I normally get bored of fireworks pretty quickly, this show kept me entertained the whole time! Since it was like 4 mini-shows, there were enough impressive finales to keep me interested the whole time. It was truly a beautiful show! It got a little awkward when Canada apologized for their fireworks being so bright and loud, though. (Just kidding. That didn't actually happen.)
Although the days following the firework festival were fairly boring, yesterday was tons of fun! I met up with my Korean friend Hanna for a day of fun. Ironically, the subway station we met at happened to have a festival going on! It was Hangul Proclamation Day, which is a national holiday celebrating the establishment of the Korean alphabet, so there were lots of stalls selling goods. That was a cool surprise!
After exploring the festival for a while, we did some classic Korean activities: taking sticker pictures and going to a multi-room! Sticker pictures were super fun. They're somewhat similar to photo booths in the States, but significantly better in every way possible! You go into a booth like in the states, but it's much more roomy. On top of that, you also get to pick from a myriad of different backgrounds, including ones with fake props. For example, Hanna and I chose one in a prison and one with a toilet. You take 8 pictures, and then you get to pick your 4 favorite to actually save. Once you finish taking the pictures, they're electronically sent to another booth where you decorate them. You can draw on them, add stickers, etc. There are so many possibilities! Then you decide how you want them laid out on a page, and they're printed out! You take them home, cut them apart, and stick them to everything you can find. If you want to see the sticker pictures Hanna and I took, you can find them on my facebook! (I'm especially fond of the one where Hanna is coming out of the toilet.)
Next, we wandered over to the multi-room! A multi-room is essentially a place where you rent a "room" to watch tv/movies, eat snacks, play games, etc. However, you have to understand what the rooms actually are. It's not an entire room. It's more like the size of a decent dressing room. You also have to take off your shoes, because the entire floor is like a giant couch. It's squishy and comfy. And if you go out the curtain-door and down the hall, there's a complimentary snack room! You can have your choice of cookies, tea, coffee, crackers, toast, and even gelato! You get access to the room, games, snacks, and TV for 2 1/2 hours for roughly $8. It's a pretty good deal, all things considered! Especially if you split the room with friends. Overall, my day with Hanna was super fantastic!
My stay here in Korea has been so fantastic. I've seen so many things and had so many unique experiences. It's been very... comfortable. However, I'm worried that it's been a little too comfortable. I don't feel like I've made a lot of Korean friends or really connected with the culture as much as I'd like. So I'm going to challenge myself with an America fast! This next week, I've decided to give up all American music and television. (I'm not quite brave enough to cut out all American food yet!) I'm hoping it'll help me connect a little more with Korean culture and maybe even improve my language skills. If all goes well, I'll extend the experiment longer than a week. Wish me luck!
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