Riding the rails

Our first experience with the Seoul subway was way back at the start of December. Jonathan and I took Seoul subway Line 1 from Cheonan to Hoegi station in Seoul where we met our friend Renee. She gave us a lovely first taste of Seoul. But that evening, instead of taking the two and a half hour subway ride back to Cheonan we opted for the KTX for our return trip.

Our next subway experience took place while we were visiting Busan. We didn't realize it at the time, but Busan was actually a great place to learn how to use the Korean subway system. Busan currently only has four subway lines and we quite quickly learned how to navigate our way through the city.

Busan subway map

 At the end of our Christmas break we headed back to Seoul to begin our new jobs. And we were very glad we'd had the learner course in Busan. Seoul subway system has more than 10 lines and, many times, countless routes to get wherever you're headed. It can get a little confusing. (Especially when you happen upon a subway station that doesn't have a single subway map outside the turnstiles...a situation that happened to us in mid-January. We ended up just guessing which line would be best to take and didn't make too bad of a choice. We just had to make one transfer to make it back to our familiar Hoegi station.) Anyway, we've since acquired English subway maps from generous coworkers and have been improving our subway-smarts ever since.

Seoul subway map

So when my friend Renee, who is now back home in the U.S., posted the following video on Facebook, I immediately knew it would make it on our blog. The song in the video is based on the Seoul subway transfer song. Every time the subway gets to a station where travelers can transfer to another subway line, that song plays as a reminder to get off if that is your transfer. It's quite a handy feature and the tune is pretty catchy. It can get stuck in your head for hours... Enjoy! (Warning, the video showcases a remix version of the song, so beware. Not all audiences might appreciate it.)

Subway maps from exploringkorea.com.

Seoul Trip

On Sunday the 4th of December, we went to Seoul to visit a friend of ours, who is working at the main institute, before she leaves back to the US in a couple weeks. Here are some pictures of what we did there!

Getting on the subway in Cheonan (In hindsight, we should have taken another mode of transportation to get to Seoul.
This stop-and-go subway took us upwards of two hours...)

Visiting a Korean traditional village in Seoul

Soldier Alison

Soldier Jonathan - which one is more intimidating?

Happy Korean couple :)

Old-style architecture

The doors are so short!

Inside a room with some really well-preserved Koreans

A moving chair

A bed?

Kitchen

A traditional game, behind a fire pit/oven/stove?

Jonathan trying out the top game

It's all in the wrist

But you have to wrap it the right way

Moonroof

Dinner!

Not sure exactly what this is

The floors were heated by fires under the houses - modern architecture uses hot water pipes

A pleasant pond

Nice railings. Also note the height of the floors, for the heating to fit underneath

A bed

Antique furniture

Mountains in the distance

The ornate information booth

This is outside an Italian restaurant

Couldn't resist the photo op!

Finally after walking for a while trying to find this, we found it!

On the way up the Namsan (South Mountain) cable car

A tree in a wood

At N Seoul Tower

Christmas tree at the base of the tower
(In Korea Christmas is mostly a holiday for lovers, hence the heart on top...)

One view from the top

Seoul

Seoul in the other direction... this city is endless

A paper model

Yet another view of Seoul

Cars

There was a small post office at the top of the tower where you could mail postcards or letters

Interesting heart-shaped oranges in the gift shop

Night lights

We took the KTX (bullet train) back to Cheonan

It goes pretty fast...

The engine - very quiet!

Near the Cheonan/Asan station - KTX tracks over the road