Sights of Seoul in November

Annyong Haseyo!!

When we arrived here in Seoul, it was in the mid 50s with very little wind during the day. Now we're in the low to mid 40s with wind. Let me tell you it's cold out there. I'm so glad to have brought my winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

It's amazing what Koreans are wearing in this type of weather. I'm seeing mini skirts with knee highs and shoes with a thin coat. I'm seeing men with business suits on and no coat over the top of it. I even saw one woman with shorts and a tee-shirt on!! Jeff and I are wondering how can they venture outside with no coats on?? They are definitely daring!!! However we are also seeing folks in winter coats just like us as well.

It hasn't snowed here yet but it feels like it will soon. There are still green leaves on some of the trees. We've seen beautiful yellow and red leaves as well.

When you step into one of the open air type market places it's amazing. The hustle and bustle of the shop keepers and buyers. We've seen plenty of places to buy veggies and fruits along with several butchers, and fish markets as well. There are things for sale in the food part of these markets that we can't even identify. Some of them alive still but most are dead. You might see somebody taking live seafood and eating it raw.

We found kids running through the markets and laughing. They were playing various games. We found some people who wanted to try out their English on us as well. The most we get from them is the occasion 'hi' or 'hello'. We found that to be true mainly with the younger crowd (under 30 years old).

Like any major city, there's the general hustle and bustle to get from Point A to Point B. If you're not careful you'll get hit by the many scooters and motorcycles in the city that don't have the need to obey the traffic laws like nearly everyone else driving. People will honk their horns to get through an intersection even though the light is red. We saw police driving around with their lights on all over the city.

We've walked on many streets in the city. Not once did I feel like we weren't safe at all. We've walked down Wedding street (where you can get your wedding gown, tux, and get your hair done for your wedding) and we've walked down Furniture street (as the name suggests you can get furniture at the multitude of stores here).

It's been hazy here nearly every day. It's only rained once while we were out and that was yesterday. And I think we've seen the sun twice for a little while since we've been here. Some of the people here (old and young alike) wear masks. Seoul is a polluted city (hence the haze we have here).

Oh I should mentioned some of the differences in food here. Chicken sandwich here isn't like getting a chicken sandwich in the US. Here it includes the skin on the thin piece of chicken that they serve you. Also when you order up a lemonade it is either served hot when you order it up with no ice or served carbonated (which may sound weird to most but it isn't that bad and it doesn't taste like Slice, 7Up, or Sprite...it's better than those).

That's about it for now.

Annyong!!!

Jen reporting live from Seoul, South Korea