The Seoul Underground

I don't have too much to talk about this week, but I just wanted to go on a little ramble about how much I LOVE the Seoul subway system. And I'm going to have to give some credit to a few of my friends' most recent entries about the New York subway actually hehe.

Let's outline the reasons why it's better:

1) There is RECEPTION underground

Anyone who hasn't taken the New York subway has no idea how annoying it is when a) The subway gets delayed, but you can't tell the friend you're meeting up with that you're going to be late. b) You're trying to call your friend and figure out where he or she is, but you get the phone ringing twice followed by the voicemail--telling you that your friend is underground but NOT where he or she is. Useful tidbit...not. c) You want to meet in the subway, so you have to pick an EXACT spot to meet up at (back car, front car, # of cars from front/back) because you don't want to spend another MetroCard ride and you have to wait at least half an hour--not sure whether your friend has ditched you or is just running really late, because why? Your cell phones don't work underground. It's excellent not having that problem here.

2) The exits are NUMBERED and have NAMES

It's very nice when you get directions like "go out exit 1 (Sogang University), walk two blocks, and make a left at Sogang University's Arrupe Hall to get to where I'm living." EVERY exit in EVERY subway station is numbered and has names--I have no idea why the New York MTA doesn't implement this system. It's only so helpful to get exit names like "Church Street, NW corner," when you don't know what that means because people like to find things by landmarks and not by compass direction, because we're not mechanical like that. It would be so much more helpful for giving directions if New York implemented the number and name system, ESPECIALLY at City Hall, where instead of getting a discussion like:

"Get out at the exit under the arches"
"Which one is that one?"
"You know, the one that's really big with wide stairs"
"How am I going to be able to tell from inside"
"Umm, walk out somewhere in the middle and walk towards where you see a big area"

Yeah not helpful. It would be nice to have actual names--which you get sometimes--like Municipal Building, but people rarely use it. You know why? Probably because it'd be nice if there were numbers too and signs EVERYWHERE showing which way was where--"Exit 1: Municipal Building." "Exit 2: Foley Square"

3) Instead of peering out dangerously over the tracks for the train, there's a screen that shows a cute little image of a train moving along the last few stations as it nears your station

I'm sure this would save many people accidentally falling into the tracks (I hope that doesn't happen often) and the annoying feeling of looking out and seeing no lights at all indicating the arrival of a train. Seeing the little train chugging along the screen is much nicer.

4) Announcements on EVERY train about the current stop and next stop--spoken in Korean and English, written in Korean, English, Chinese, and sometimes Japanese. It's pretty excellent and tourist friendly.

It's pretty annoying when you have to peer out the window in the New York subway to see what the current stop is--and doubly annoying when a) there's no glowing map of the line or any announcements or b) your train car stops such that your window faces a wall and no sign of the station name. It also must be really troublesome for tourists that can't speak or read English and have to prey on New Yorkers who look like they speak their language and hope that the New Yorker doesn't ignore them like many might.

5) Every stop has the current station name written several times and underneath the current station name is always the next stop and the stop before.

It's pretty annoying to have to keep getting up to check the subway map if you're not on one of the trains that give announcements about the current and next stop. Especially if you have to risk losing your seat.

6) The whole announcement system is very constant and clear.

It's nice to have the pleasant female voice saying "이번 역은 ______ 입니다. 다음 역은 ______ 입니다. 내리실 문은 (왼쪽/오른쪽) 입니다." (This stop is ____. Next stop is _____. The door you will exit from is on the (left/right). Granted they don't tell you the next stop in English, but that's a minor problem. It's quite annoying when you're on a crowded train in New York and you stand in front of the door on the wrong side, so you end up being one of the last ones to exit while rude people push their way in while you're trying to get out. It's also even worse when the conductor's voice is so muffled that all you hear is annoying buzzing (this happens way too often). If all the subway lines in New York could have something like the new N trains, it would be much nicer.

7) The stations are very clean, and all have bathrooms

Granted the bathrooms tend to be pretty gross--but gross bathrooms in Seoul are like normal bathrooms in New York. It's pretty great how clean they remain. I can't tell you how annoying it is to suddenly really need to use the bathroom while on the train or in a station and all you can do is stand there squirming uncomfortably hoping to get to your destination as soon as possible. Also, Seoul stations just look pleasant.

8) Rarely (if ever) do subway lines change or do weird things or get delayed

Maybe I haven't been here long enough, but I haven't encountered any of the problems that I ALWAYS encounter on New York subways on the weekends. The most annoying of which is when the 1 line (which is local normally) runs express and the 2/3 (which are express) run local but the 2 runs ONLY to 14th Street and then goes back uptown, so you have to change back to the 1 or the 3 which then both run local down to Chambers Street but not to South Ferry so you have to take a bus. Yeah, it's a system I've got memorized but how's a poor tourist supposed to know this? I haven't encountered any of these problems in Seoul yet.

Now the only two downsides/complaints I have about the Seoul Subway system are:

1) No express trains

As efficient as the subway system is--it'd be nice if there were express trains. It's efficient that you can transfer at SO many stops, but that doesn't change the length of the trip. Most commutes are probably on average 30 minutes or more, which is a really long time, especially when it takes me about 45 minutes to get from my home to Flushing, about as far as I ever need to go in New York. But I've gone on quite a few 40 minute to an hour rides here. It definitely feels like there are some big stations that just need to be focused on for express trains.

2) Alas, unlike New York's MTA, Seoul's subway system is NOT 24 hour

It's funny though what the timing is. The subway system opens I believe at 5AM and closes at 1AM on weekdays but MIDNIGHT on weekends. As some of my friends have put it, it's like they're encouraging you to either not party at all on weekends, or to party hard until the morning haha.

All in all though, it's an excellent system. For a subway system that opened in 1974, I think it's done a very good job in serving Seoul's metropolitan area (which by the way is the second most populous in the world, Tokyo being 1, Mexico City being 3, and New York City being 4). And the rate of improvement is just miraculous--there are 8 lines right now but a 9th line is supposed to be finished this year for example, and there are several plans to add more stations and extend lines to other places for more convenience. If only New York's subway system, which opened in 1904, were as nice--though granted it does go to many areas, but it would be nice to make some useful lines--like something connecting Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn to Continental Avenue in Queens would probably be helpful? At least they're building a Second Avenue Line but that's not gonna be done until 2013.

Despite how much I love the Seoul subway system though, there's nothing like home, and despite all the problems that New York's MTA goes through, including fare hikes, subway lines being unpredictable, and sometimes difficulty in navigation--I still love New York's system with all my heart :).

Anyway, one more little commentary :).

So telemarketers and whatnot seem to be much more persistent here--calling cell phones rather than landlines. I've never received a telemarketer call in New York City here, but whoever's calling me is either trying to reach whoever had this number before me or trying to sell me something--but alas my Korean phone skills are not good enough to fully understand them.

I get at least one of these calls a day, and several texts advertising. Pretty much when I get someone I don't recognize the conversation becomes:

"여보세요?" "Hello?"
"여보세요. 뭐뭐뭐..." "Hello. Blahblahblah..."
"죄송한데요, 저는 한국어 배우는 학생인데 한국어 잘 못 해요." "I'm sorry, I'm a student learning Korean, so my Korean is not very good."

I then get either an attempt to continue speaking Korean to me, in which case I just reply "이해 안 해요..." "I don't understand"

Or the nicer response, "알겠습니다" "I understand" followed by their stopping bothering me and hanging up the phone.

Now to photo summary of the week :).
Friday instead of class we had a "picnic," which was really where we just ended up going with students in our level and our teachers to a place to do traditional things. In level 3, we ended up going to a place near Chungmuro, where we had a brief lesson on Samulnori 사물놀이 (Korean drumming) and Hanji 한지, literally "Korean paper."
It was interesting trying out Samulnori after seeing kids in my high school play it, with very nice results. This picture is of one of the drums used (there are four types--Samulnori literally means "Four Things Play." This drum is the janggu 장구 which is supposed to represent rain, and the sun, and the harmony of man and woman--which I learned when I did my powerpoint presentation on Samulnori for Korean class :).
Adel, not one of my classmates but one of my "levelmates" brought her daughter Yumi--adorable :).
Here's a picture of our speaking 말하기 class with both our 말하기 teacher and our 듣기 읽기 (listening and reading) teacher. From top left to bottom right--이혜전 선생님 (Teacher Hye Jeon Lee), Li Yuan 이원 from China, Christina Evelina 크리스티나 from Romania, Battsettseg Sukhbataar 바기 from Mongolia, Saeko 사에코 from Japan, 정영미 선생님 (Teacher Cheong Yeong Mi), He Yi 하이 from China, Reiko Asoh 레이코 from Japan, Zhang Min Jie 장민걸 from China, and Du Wen Kang 두원캉 from China. We were missing Zhao Chen 조신 from China and Jonathan DeForge 조나단 from France (who came later) though.
Once the teacher taught us how to play the Janggu and Gwaenggari, we were pretty awesome once we were all on beat :D. Some tourists from Spain even tried to join us and took pictures with us XD.
Afterwards we went for Hanji, where we basically made these kind of nice-looking paper-plate-like things from Korean paper. Here's Andy and Michael (from Colorado--whose name is pretty great, because there is a Michael Ssi [마이클 씨] in our Korean textbooks haha) helping each other.
Here's 이 선생님 showing off both her plate and mine :).
After finishing our morning of Korean traditionalness we went to eat Korean BBQ with our class and speaking teacher--the food was delicious :D.
Our class then parted and Kang, Jonathan, and I went to play pool 단구 followed by this game 사구, which literally means "four balls." The concept of the game is ridiculously simple, but the actual mechanics of the game are SO hard. So each person takes turns hitting either the yellow ball or the white ball--(you take turns hitting one or the other). The aim of the game is to make it such that the ball you're hitting (whether it be white or yellow) hits BOTH red balls (one after the other or both at the same time), but NOT the other ball. Sounds simple enough right?

No...the physics you have to apply to it is pretty ridiculous. It's all about angling correctly and hitting the ball in the right spot. You start with a certain number of points and try to subtract points to get to 0--if you hit both red balls you subtract a point, if you hit the other non-red ball, you add a point. Needless to say, a lot of skill comes with experience too, as I understood the idea of where to hit the ball a bit better by the end of the game, but I don't think I have the patience for this game haha.
That night, some of us Yalies gathered together to go bowling in Kangnam 강남 (literally, south of the river). It's where the rich people live ;). While walking, we hit a red light, so I took the opportunity to put my camera on a mini...pillar-like thing (I have no idea what they're called), lowered the shutter speed to get enough light, and took a snapshot. I think I'll have fun when I take my tripod around Sinchon at night :).
While waiting to bowl, we had some 팥빙수 (Red-bean shaved ice, literally). It was delicious :).
Pretty sweet action shot of Ryan bowling for Yale.

Now Korean bowling balls are a little strange--the holes are oddly placed such that, at least for Americans, your fingers have to twist in a strange fashion. Also, the holes don't go very deep--it's a strange feeling and leads to bizarre bowling o_o.
Adam used a war cry to try to give himself luck with the bowling ball--didn't work for this round though XD.
And of course, the much-needed group picture :).
The next day Ryan and I went to the War Memorial Museum near the US military base in Samgakji 삼각지 (literally, Triangle). It's funny how many Korean names are literal, and how many American names are...not. Here are some pretty cool shots of a military performance they put on for us in front of the museum.
I thought this statement was pretty interesting--and a very sad thought. But Korea has always been under a lot of oppression--and it's a statement that has rung very true for them for centuries.
An old rock with old Chinese characters inscribed on it that's been around since BC. I wonder how they preserved this so well/if it's just a reproduction of it.
Inside the museum--I can't remember anymore exactly what this was--but it was meant to be a little ray of sunshine shining on the tablet below. It was nice capturing that ray :).
So the War Museum is EXTREMELY efficient--just like much of Seoul haha. These signs were EVERYWHERE, and despite the slightly awkward English direction--the signs were a nice guide around the museum, allowing Ryan and me to effectively cover almost the entire museum without having to wonder which way we should walk.
So these are all over Seoul, including in Sogang University, but I decided to take this moment to discuss it. So this is a "paper envelope" for water. Yes, there's a water purifier outside every bathroom (which is nicer than a water fountain), but no paper or plastic cups. Instead you get these paper envelopes to fill up with water. I have to fill it up at least twice and by then the paper gets pretty soggy--it's not too pleasant to drink out of a paper envelope. I'm still dreading that moment that I get a paper cut on my mouth...
It was interesting to see how ancient Korean wartimes are depicted in art.
This was very sad--seeing repeating clips of the pains of war.
Funny enough--I learned more about the Korean War from this timeline than I did in that one day we covered it in US History.
I also learned that South Korea was THIS close to being completely conquered--a pretty scary thought.
Crossing the 38th parallel...
It was pretty interesting to see what countries sent troops to help the UN forces in Korea too--including Colombia, which seems pretty random, especially to send 5,100 forces, one of the largest numbers on the chart actually.
Pretty depressing seeing the models of starving children and families :(.
Ryan and I had fun deciphering this girl's letter to her father--most of which we actually got! Which was pretty awesome.
A little strange to name a cafeteria DMZ with such intimidating letters but...whatever floats your boat.
"The Statue of Brothers," a pretty poignant sculpture of two brothers--one from North Korea and the other from South Korea, embracing each other and apologizing.
On Monday, Ryan, Andy, and I went to meet Ryan's friend from Yale Hayeon, who's from Korea. We got to Kangnam ridiculously early so we checked out the bookstore. Pretty cool seeing Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" in Korean hehe.
And everyone's beloved "Where the Wild Things Are" in Korean! Which I actually ended up buying, along with Charlotte's Web. My goal in life is to be able to read both ;). Maybe I'll even tackle Harry Potter if I can get good enough hahaha.
Hayeon took us to this place called "School Food," named such because the food is apparently food that college students like to eat, but adults are embarrassed to ask for because it's "childish," so they just made a place where everyone can frequent. The 떡볶이 (sticky rice cakes) here were actually really spicy. It's also funny that cheese is actually added to very strange things in Korea, but works out REALLY well. I had cheese ramen for the first time yesterday and it was DELICIOUS. I couldn't help but have it again today hehe.


Before parting with Hayeon, we had patbingsu, just because I insisted ^^. It was delicious, once again, of course :). The top one is fruit patbingsu and the bottom one green tea patbingsu. Yummmm.

Final comment: I used to get annoyed taking the 10 minute walk to Sinchon station, reminding me of my walks to the 6 train to get to school, and I was wishing that subway stations would be nearer to each other like in New York. But then a few days ago, I discovered the amazing "Daeheung: Sogang University" station, literally two blocks from where I'm living. I just never noticed it before because I never bothered to walk in the other direction!

It's cut down my travel time to some places by a good deal :).