Woo hoo! This blog post is going to have a theme! That theme being my experiences at the Han River - 한강

So, basically the Han River runs right through the middle of Seoul and was one of the main reasons for Seoul becoming a strong and important city in days of yore. The location of where Seoul was first being built (north of the river) was really good strategically because there was a river in the south (hard to cross) and mountains in the north (hard to cross). 'Gangnam' literally means 'River-South(of)' because well, that's exactly where the suburb is - on the south side of the river.

Okay enough history - let's get to the good bits.

It's really nice and relaxing just finding a green spot, putting a towel/mat down (or not, your choice - but Koreans seem to be quite averse to sitting directly on the grass) and just letting the noise of the highway (there are highways along both sides of the river -_-) fall to a hum and just breathe. Yesterday after my regular morning hours in Paris Croissant I walked down to the river and did just that - and I made a friend ^_^

The River is one of the few places where it is socially acceptable to exercise IN PUBLIC. To be more clear about what I mean - of course anyone can go jogging or bike riding on any road/footpath in Seoul... it's just that Koreans seem to choose not to. Unlike in Australia, in Seoul you just don't see people in their running shorts, sunglasses and headphones ANYWHERE, except the Han River or one of the streams that leads off the river. I go running in Doosan Park becauase it's very close to my apartment (and litereally across the road from Jellyfish hehe) and even though it's a nice big leafy park and has a spongy running track and some exercise machines and quite a few grassy areas for picnics, it is RARE to see anyone do any kind of high-intensity exercise like running (but seeing as I am the foreigner anyway, I don't mind going out in public and looking hot and tired and makeup-less. Hehe.)

But on the river you see a lot of walkers, runners, cyclists, everyone. Here is my view of the river yesterday (considering I went there on a Monday at 3pm at place not particularly close to any car-parking areas, I had the best choice of shady spots ^_^). The bike track is where the yellow blocks are and the walking track is behind me. 

Lastly, you can't talk about the river and not talk about CHICKEN! Yes, that's right. 

Okay, so there are some large, grassy areas along the river that are like the size of soccer pitches - I'm thinking in particular of Yeouido. These places get PACKED during spring and autumn with families having picnics. The wonderful thing in Korea is that... you can actually get food delivered to where you are sitting in the park. Not even kidding. Fried chicken is probably the most popular take away for river-side picnics, but Chinese food like Jajangmyeong and Tangsuyuk is also common. Now sadly I haven't yet had the experience first hand of recieving chicken to my spot in the park, but I have seen people sitting down, on their phone, directing the chicken delivery guy between picnic rugs to where his particular family is sitting. 

Beautiful.

And to round things off here are some interesting parts of Apgujeong at the moment:

#1 - new coffee shop

#2 seen outside Hyundai Deptartment Store 

Okay, things to be happy about today

1) the weather is perfect, again!

2) having gone grocery shopping and bought food for a few days - kim (small seaweed squares), eggs and soy sauce, which compliement the free rice and kimchi that are always available in the kitchen. Plus bananas (yum) and oreos... hehe

3) having an almost-2-hour-long talk with my friend from home Jiwon the other day. She is so supportive of whatever I choose to do, and she encourages me to take risks where otherwise I would have let my Australian-ness take over and just let things slide. Like for example encouraging me to reply to emails from...

4) Alex (the boy - man - this story was based on) who despite my best efforts to ignore and just write off because a) I didn't completely-100%-headoverheels fall for him on our first real date and b) because he seems to be a nice, agreeable person and what I think I want is someone who is engaging and argumentative has different culture, mother tongue...still sends me occasional emails just to say hello and ask about life in korea and if I will do masters there next year.

The point is, I actually don't know what's good for me in a relationship well... So its not a bad thing to keep lines of communication open, right?

Listening to - Rock n Shine - Super Junior!