Shit I love about Seoul by Leah Erica Chung
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떡볶이 + 오뎅 /dduk-bok-ki/
/oh-deng/
Quintessential Korean street food sold in makeshift street establishments called 포장마차 (po-jang-matcha). There are less of these establishments nowadays because of government efforts to ‘clean up the streets’ but you can find this food in small brick and mortar restaurants. This food is the shit in the cold winters.
얼마에요? A stick of oh-deng 700원 (less than $1)
Plate of dduk-bok-ki 2000원 (approx. $2)
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지하철 /ji-ha-chull/ The Seoul Metro is amazing. Trains come every 5 minutes or less and each stop takes about 2 minutes to get to. There are rarely delays between stops or at stations (ehhem, NYC metro). Many don’t drive in Seoul because A) it’s a little scary but B) the clean subway will get you everywhere. The train tracks and platform are separated by automatic doors and walls, making it pretty hard for you to commit suicide or murder someone.
얼마에요? Adults: 1050원 (approx. $1) Minors: 720원 (approx. 65 cents) Elementary School Children: 450원 (approx. 40 cents) 5
Calling strangers 언니, 오빠, or 이모
At restaurants, you often call the wait staff in a much more familial way than ‘garcon.’ To call on a waitress you call them “unnie” (sister) if they’re young and “emo” (aunt) if they’re older (40+), although it’s fine if you call older women with “unnie.” For waiters, if they’re young you say “oppa,” which means brother. At fancier hotel restaurants you don’t really do this but in the world of the average citizen, this is the way it goes. I love it because it’s so friendly and I feel like I’m home.
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Seoul does all cuisine pretty well. I’ve had some of the best garlic naan and tom yum soup in Seoul. It’s crazy how good all types of cuisine is here. I admit, really authentic Mexican is pretty hard to find but besides that, we have a pretty global palate.
Itaewon is a mind fuck because you have Turkish people making the best chicken shawarmas for you for 5000원 (a little under $5) and they speak great Korean as well. And you have a full out baklava shop a few hundred meters down the street run by a Jordanian dude who speaks great Korean as well. And in Myeongdong you have an Indian street vendor selling fresh samosas...what?
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Food Mentions
• Ankara Picnic: Turkish chicken/
lamb kebabs in Itaewon (Halal)
• Thai Garden: Thai restaurant in
Itaewon toward Hangangjin
• Ganga: Indian restaurant in
various locations
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You can drink on the streets.
This is quite freeing especially if you’ve lived in the US where you can only enjoy an expensive drink on a rooftop bar or a dark bar cave. In Seoul, you can get a few beers at a convenience store, stroll over to the Han River and just drink watching the beautiful bridges and starless night sky. Drinking on the streets pairs well with the po-jang-matcha food I mentioned before (refer to page 3).
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치맥 /chi-mehk/ Chi-mehk is a hybrid word combining the Korean words for ‘chicken’ and ‘beer’. The two are an inseparable pair. On a rainy day or on any day where you don’t feel like cooking and want to stay in on a Friday night, this is your shit. Delivered straight to your door, you can get the best fried chicken with Koreanstyle sweet and spicy sauce, along with beer. This combo is also best complemented with pickled radish cubes. Flip on a Korean drama and you’re set for the evening.
얼마에요?
A whole chicken (in pieces) 16,000원 (approx. $14) 13
Everything can be delivered. Even people. Food delivery doesn’t stop at pizza. You can get everything from rice porridge to burritos delivered straight to your door. Besides that, you can get yourself delivered to a testing site if you’re running late. Seriously. When the time comes for the Korean version of SATs (soo-neung / 수능), you can hire ‘quick service’ dudes to deliver you from point A to B on a motorcycle.
얼마에요?
Prices vary based on distance/items. You can do a quick search for “퀵서비스” and get a quote via phone. 14
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The police are like friendly, cuddle bears. In the U.S., I am terrified of the police because of all that Stop-and-Frisk shit and Ferguson. But in Seoul...damn. They drive Hyundai’s and have a cute animal mascot to go with their friendly brand. I should probably fear the police here but I don’t. I want to hug them.
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No tip. Best service ever.
Tipping is not a thing here. It’s amazing. And even without tipping, the service is great. They read your mind. They anticipate your needs. Water is free and filtered. Side dishes keep coming as long as you ask. Nobody really spits in your food if you’re an asshole of a customer. Food comes out fast. Many restaurants have a ‘call’ button you can press to summon the wait staff. They’re so nice you want to tip them. Oh, and you never have to do math when your check comes out.
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Things are open 24/7. There are many cafes and restaurants open until the wee hours of the night/morning. So if you stumble out of a club at 4am and are getting mad munchies, there are many choices of immediate hangover foods to choose from. Or if you need a place to study outside at 1am, you can do so at one of many 24 hour cafes.
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Favorites to Study in for Hours • Itaewon Tom N Toms: 3rd floor with large work table decked out with plugs • Itaewon Marleys Coffee: fancier but great bathroom and window side seats decked out with plugs • Itaewon Starbucks: not the best coffee of the three places but most low-key • Hongdae & Sangsu Cafe Comma: book cafe with Finn Juhl-esque furniture
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Korean cafes are the shit.
The average cafe in Korea is well-equipped for studying or basically living in. Here’s why: • Plenty of outlets • Fast wifi • Clean, usually well-designed interior with Finn Juhl-esque furniture • Clean bathrooms • Good coffee and other snacks • Usually safe to leave your shit to go pee • Some cafes have meeting rooms you can reserve • Plenty are open 24/7
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Recommended Mountain Ranges in Seoul • 북한산 / Buk-hahn-san: highest
mountain in Seoul, great city view
• 남산 / Nam-san for a nice stroll
along a wide, paved trail
• 북악 / Buk-hahk-san: steep hike,
tight security because it’s behind the Blue House, ID required
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Beautiful mountains right in the city. If you go to Gwanghwamun, which is where the President lives and all the historic Choseun era palaces are restored, you will see a horizon of beautifully jagged mountains unlike the brown stubs of California. To see such beautiful mountains within the city is rare, but in Korea it’s a norm. Hiking is huge here and for a good reason.
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Seoul knows how to sort trash.
Every apartment complex you go to has some kind of trash sorting area for its residents. And it’s not just a large bin for all things recyclable ever. No. There is a bin for different kinds of material - one for cans, for plastics, for vinyl, for Styrofoam, for glass, for paper, for newspapers, for light bulbs, for clothes, for food waste, etc. It’s amazing. 26
Every resident abides by these rules and sorts their trash every night. I’m sure there are countries that do sorting a lot better but compared to New York, where I would just dump a crumbled pizza box in the same bin as my leftovers, I think Seoul does it pretty well. Exception: residential houses don’t do the best job as there’s no collective maintenance team that facilitates trash sorting.
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Government-issued trash bags for general waste. You can’t throw away your trash in any old plastic bag. You need to purchase government-issued trash bags (available in any convenience store or supermarket). This allows for people to think twice about how much trash they throw out and encourages people to sort their trash into recyclables.
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Paper or plastic? A question you will not get at the supermarket.
Big supermarkets like E-mart used to have their own plastic bags that they would charge a few cents for. They had used boxes as an alternative for customers to use. But since recently, they started selling the governmentissued trash bags as their sole plastic grocery bag option. This was a genius move as customers could always use the trash bags after using them as grocery bags. Even with this great, smart option, many customers bring their own reusable grocery bags - even if they’re not Whole Foods hippies.
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Cabs are cheap and everywhere.
The standard orange cabs are pretty much everywhere and are cheap compared to major cities in the US. They are there for you in popular club areas at 2am. I really don’t see Uber working that well in Seoul.
얼마에요?
Fare starts at 3000원 (approx. $2.70) 33
Best socks.
Banana socks. Ramyun socks. Hamburger socks. Superman socks. Psy socks. Obama socks. Starbucks socks. Korean flag socks. Panda socks. You name it. The streets of Seoul will fulfil all your sock dreams. I keep telling myself I’m 23 and need to start wearing normal, solid color socks but I just can’t. Life is too short. 34
얼마에요?
One pair of socks 1000원 (approx. $1) 35
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아줌마 /ah-jewm-ma/ Ajummas refer to middle-aged or older Korean women often stereotyped wearing wonderfully tacky clothes, sporting tightly curled Afro-like perms, for being the quickest to shove and make their way into an empty subway seat, and for having the most boisterous laughs when in group settings (probably a hiking group). The reality is, however, that Ajummas run the nation. They are probably the most diligent figures in Korean society, hustling everyday to run the shops, rear the next generation, feed the family, educate the children, revive the economy, and keep the most fundamental units of society intact. The Real Housewives of Atlanta got nothing on the Realest Ajummas of Seoul. 대한민국 아줌마 화이팅! 37
Fun Sheejangs to Visit • 노량진 수산시장 for the freshest
seafood
• 남대문시장 for cheap clothes,
decoration items, trinkets
• 광장시장 for great Korean
pancakes, household items, side dishes, and vintage clothes
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ě‹œěžĽ /shee-jang/ A shee-jang is the Korean version of an outdoor market that sells a wide range of items. Usually located in narrow, winding streets between buildings, vendors have their shops that usually spill out onto the street. They have endless displays of different kinds of side dishes, nuts, fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, grains, steamed snacks like corn, clothes, household items, and a bunch of other things. I love these places as opposed to indoor, corporate markets because you get to interact with the ajummas (refer to page 37) there, haggle if you want, and you get a more authentic feel for Korea.
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b day ook 3-
No. 1