It was a long flight after a long train ride and I'm exhausted, so I'll write a proper post once I've had some sleep. In the meantime, some first impressions:
1. It's so BIG
2. Look at all the little islands!
3. Look at all the windmills! So eco-friendly!
4. Incheon airport feels more confusing than it really is because of the unnecessary barriers everywhere that stop you from seeing (for example) the currency exchange place.
5. Immigration was like a sci-fi movie. Wish I'd had the guts to try the automated immigration. If you try it and it works, let me know!
6. No sign of any pushy ajummas, yet.
7. Ajeossis are the most helpful people on the planet. Especially if you agree with them that "Aigooo! Heavy bag!"
8. TV showing the news, on the bus. SA Greyhound, learn from this and stop showing crap movies from the 70s, please.
9. My hangul-reading is a lot better than I thought it was.
10. Seoul is MUCH bigger in real life than it seems on the map.
11. The Kimchee Guesthouse has stolen the stairs from Hogwarts, and turned them into an infinite loop.
12. Smallest bathtub in the world!
13. Ondol is the most amazing thing ever. My toes want to cuddle the floor.
14. Bibimbap is delicious.
15. People have said in other blogs that Korea has a weird smell. Maybe it smells the same as Mauritius, because I haven't noticed anything yet. It just smells like Asia to me. Europe smells like snow and petrol, and America smells like new barbie dolls and citrus.
16. Even when the sun is shining on the melting snow and everything is bright and clean, it's still terrifying to realise I'm in Seoul.
17. It's not as scary as it (doesn't) look.
18. Zzzzzz....
About the smell... it smells weird in certain places and at certain times. The smell comes and goes. It's like the sewerage is really terrible and when someone flushes a toilet, you know all about it. At least, that's what I remember. But it doesn't seep in everywhere. You will just find that it happens at times. That's in addition to the overly kimchi sweat scent that comes from some people, particularly when you are crowded into the subway.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to your new home!! Skype soon soon!!!
Yeah. Those don't really faze me at all. It's a bit whiffy, sure, but the smell passes quickly. If it really bothers me, I can put a little vicks under my nostrils, or buy some very strong-smelling lip balm to cover the smells. But I haven't needed to yet. Maybe in summer it will be a lot worse...
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