Laatste blog over Seoul
22 december 2016 - Koh Tao, Thailand
De tijd in Seoul ging zo snel! En inmiddels zit ik alweer in Thailand! De laatste dagen in Seoul bestonden vooral uit de laatste tentamens, inpakken en schoonmaken, en afscheid nemen van iedereen. Ook heb ik nog op mn laatste dag het War Memorial bezocht en een verlaten en vervallen pretpark gezien. Het War Memorial was heel indrukwekkend en ze focussen ook heel erg op hoe andere landen ze geholpen hebben. Voor het gebouw wapperden grote vlaggen van alle landen die geholpen hebben en stond in een steen gegraveerd hoeveel soldaten en boten etc dat land had gestuurd en hoeveel er gewond en omgekomen waren. Ook Nederland stond er tussen. Het verlaten pretpark wordt veel gebruikt voor foto's en videoclips en het leek me wel interessant om daar te kijken. Het was wel apart om te zien dat alles er nog gewoon stond maar wel verroest en kapot was. Het einde van de tentamens hebben we gevierd met de allerlaatste Korean bbq en daarna zijn we met een grote groep uit geweest in Itaewon. Dat was wel een geslaagde afsluiting van het semester. Ook brachten de meiden nog allemaal cadeautjes alvast voor m'n verjaardag. Dit had ik niet zien aankomen haha en het was erg lief van ze dat ze daaraan dachten. Na twee nachtjes in een hostel heb ik het vliegtuig gepakt naar Thailand en inmiddels zit ik hier al 2 dagen. Er waren meer van Sogang univ. die naar Bangkok gingen dus op de eerste avond ben ik naar de bekende backpackers street Khao San Road gegaan en hebben we buckets en cocktails gedronken en om 12 uur mijn verjaardag ingeluid! Het is een hele drukke en gezellige straat met bijna alleen maar toeristen en backpackers. Alle cafés draaien er harde muziek en iedereen probeert je naar binnen te lokken door goedkope drank aan te bieden. Die muziek maakte het wel wat lastig om met elkaar te praten, dus zijn we naar een straat naast de Khao San Road gegaan en die was ietsje rustiger met live muziek en hier hebben we ook nog wat gedronken en gegeten. Het was een erg leuke avond! Die dag erna hebben we weer afgesproken (elkaar onmoeten op de zelfde plaats dezelfde tijd is wel even een dingetje zonder wifi/data haha) en zijn we naar het koninklijk paleis en een tempel geweest. De gebouwen zijn allemaal heel mooi versierd en allemaal anders. De foto's omschrijven het beter en die zal ik ook zo snel mogelijk op Facebook zetten. Ook heb ik samen met een vriend nog een boottocht gemaakt over de rivier. Ik had een soort Amsterdam achtig rustig boottochtje verwacht maar de grote moter ging aan en we schoten weg haha. We voeren langs tempels, grote huizen maar ook veel kleine, half verzakte huisjes en vervallen gebouwen. Het was wel fijn in de boot met de wind want het was bloedheet die dag. Na lekker avondeten gegeten te hebben in een gezellig restaurant heb ik opnieuw afscheid moeten nemen en nu ben al sinds 6 uur vanochtend opweg naar Koh Tao voor een duikcursus!
*ENGLISH*
The time in Seoul went by so fast! And right now I'm writing this from Thailand. The things I did during my last days in Seoul were mainly about finals, packing and cleaning, and saying goodbye to everyone. I also visited the War Memorial and an abandoned amusement park. The War Memorial was quite impressive and they had flags in front of the big building from all the countries who participated in helping South Korea. It was written on a stone how many people the country sent and how many got injured and passed away. This was impressive since it were a lot. They also had a short 4D movie about how the VN attacked Incheon and this was quite a realistic view of what happened in the war. And that's why I don't understand that children were allowed to watch it. The abandoned amusement park was also funny and interesting. Everything was still there but damaged and broken. You could take a lot of nice pictures in the park. We celebrated the end of the finals with our last Korean barbecue and went clubbing with a huge group in Itaewon. It was a really nice closure of our semester abroad. The next day we had to pack and clean and all students had to check out, this was quite hectic and we had to say goodbye to everyone in between. I also got birthday presents from the girls I became really close friends with. I didn't expected those presents at all so that was really nice and sweet of them :) After 2 nights in a hostel I took the plane to Bangkok! Since there were more people from the university in Seoul, I met them at the famous backpackers street "Khao San Road". It was a really busy and loud street with a lot of tourists. People were trying to bribe you into the cafes by offering cheap drinks en we bought a bucket with vodka orange or something like that. Since it was 1+1 free everyone had one for themselves haha. Afterwards we went to a less noice place and found a cozy cafe with life music. We drunk some more and cheered for my birthday since I turned 21 that night. It was a really nice night! The next day I met them again, or at least we tried to because since there is hardly wifi, it's very hard to be at the same place at the same time all together. But we managed and went to the King's palace and visited a beautiful temple. They had lots of colours, especially gold, and many decorations and details. With a friend from Sogang I did a boat trip on the river and we saw temples, luxurious houses, but also a lot small houses that almost fell apart. The boat was very fast and the wind was nice and cool since it was so hot that day. After a really nice dinner in a cozy restaurant I had to say goodbye again and right now I'm writing this in a bus to Koh Tao. It already left at 6 o'clock this morning and since I'm quite stupid and forgot to bring food with me I'm pretty hungry right now haha. I have to remember that the next time ;) In Koh Tao I will do a diving course and I'm really looking forward to see the underwater world!!
*ENGLISH*
The time in Seoul went by so fast! And right now I'm writing this from Thailand. The things I did during my last days in Seoul were mainly about finals, packing and cleaning, and saying goodbye to everyone. I also visited the War Memorial and an abandoned amusement park. The War Memorial was quite impressive and they had flags in front of the big building from all the countries who participated in helping South Korea. It was written on a stone how many people the country sent and how many got injured and passed away. This was impressive since it were a lot. They also had a short 4D movie about how the VN attacked Incheon and this was quite a realistic view of what happened in the war. And that's why I don't understand that children were allowed to watch it. The abandoned amusement park was also funny and interesting. Everything was still there but damaged and broken. You could take a lot of nice pictures in the park. We celebrated the end of the finals with our last Korean barbecue and went clubbing with a huge group in Itaewon. It was a really nice closure of our semester abroad. The next day we had to pack and clean and all students had to check out, this was quite hectic and we had to say goodbye to everyone in between. I also got birthday presents from the girls I became really close friends with. I didn't expected those presents at all so that was really nice and sweet of them :) After 2 nights in a hostel I took the plane to Bangkok! Since there were more people from the university in Seoul, I met them at the famous backpackers street "Khao San Road". It was a really busy and loud street with a lot of tourists. People were trying to bribe you into the cafes by offering cheap drinks en we bought a bucket with vodka orange or something like that. Since it was 1+1 free everyone had one for themselves haha. Afterwards we went to a less noice place and found a cozy cafe with life music. We drunk some more and cheered for my birthday since I turned 21 that night. It was a really nice night! The next day I met them again, or at least we tried to because since there is hardly wifi, it's very hard to be at the same place at the same time all together. But we managed and went to the King's palace and visited a beautiful temple. They had lots of colours, especially gold, and many decorations and details. With a friend from Sogang I did a boat trip on the river and we saw temples, luxurious houses, but also a lot small houses that almost fell apart. The boat was very fast and the wind was nice and cool since it was so hot that day. After a really nice dinner in a cozy restaurant I had to say goodbye again and right now I'm writing this in a bus to Koh Tao. It already left at 6 o'clock this morning and since I'm quite stupid and forgot to bring food with me I'm pretty hungry right now haha. I have to remember that the next time ;) In Koh Tao I will do a diving course and I'm really looking forward to see the underwater world!!
