Are Chuseok'n To Me???: Episode I

    This past Wednesday, South Korea celebrated the Chuseok (pronounced Choo-sock) holiday, which is roughly similar to the American Thanksgiving. Actually, it looks more like a cross between Mexico's Dia de los Muertos and Thanksgiving, because it is a holiday spent remembering the deceased, honoring your elders, and eating tons of food with your family. For us oegugins, however, it looks just like the perfect opportunity to sight see and enjoy the novelty of being a "fresh-off-the-boat, three-weeks-in, everything-Korean-is-new-and-exciting" expat! As a result, some new friends and I decided to spend our week-long vacation exploring Seoul. Now, as Willy Wonka once said, "So much time and so little to do! Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it." which is very true in this case, so I will be doing a multi-part special, a mini-series if you will, that will include all of the week's adventures in compact, succinct little episodes. Let's get started with Part One, shall we?

    Tuesday was the first day of vacation and we did not intend to waste it, so we geared up for our first adventure. In Jamsil, a suburb of Seoul, there is an amusement park called Lotte World that is supposed to be really great, so we decided to check it out. After doing a little research, I found out that Lotte World is actually the world's largest indoor theme park, and luckily so because it just so happened that thunder, lightning, and torrential downpours would follow us to Jamsil that day. 

    When we got there, after a seemingly endless subway ride, it was around 2pm and they start selling discount tickets to the park at 4, so we decided we'd wait out the time difference. Lotte world is on the third floor of the Jamsil subway station, and on the first floor is an ice skating rink. Naturally, we decided to use our wait time wisely and take this opportunity to practice our Michelle Kwan impressions. We went down to the rink and got in line to rent skates and while we were standing there, we realized that everyone on the ice was wearing brightly colored gloves. So being the fashion-forward bunch that we are, we decided we must have gloves because after all, without the gloves, our group might be in danger of standing out in the crowd or something..... So we headed to the rink's shop to pick up accessories. We each chose a pair of gloves and were immediately caught up in the fun of acting like total cheese balls in a foreign country. 

Keara, Misty, and I..... and our super fly gloves!

And once we got on the ice, the shenanigans only got better! None of us could really claim to be particularly skilled at ice skating, so we spent most of our time denying the fact that our moves were much more reminiscent of Bambi and Thumper than of Kwan and Hamilton.....

I really see no resemblance here

It would be much easier to see my raw talent in this picture if we weren't all distracted by the guy behind me doing a triple axel..... Show off.

    Once 4 o'clock rolled around, we went back upstairs and headed into the park. When you walk inside, you immediately become overwhelmed by the fact that everything around you is eerily similar to another famous theme park that shall remain nameless... Music was playing, lights were shining, parades were passing, and rides were running all beneath the shadow of a beautiful, giant castle that I'm pretty sure Cinderella would easily mistake for her own if it were located on the same street as hers. Also, as you walk through the park, you can see countless pictures of these really cute little foxes, Lotty and Lorry. And if you're really lucky, you might even get to see the celebs themselves because the infamous pair lives at Lotte World with all their little critter friends.

Lotte World! The Happiest [indoor] Place on Earth!

Lotty & Lorry's beautiful (and strangely familiar) castle!

This is Lorry.... Do her red dress and white gloves remind you of anyone else you know?

   As we wandered around the park, we came across various rides including "Sinbad Adventure" in which you take a boat ride adventure through a long and winding tunnel filled with animatronic pirates and skeletons (all speaking Korean), a monorail tour of the entire park, and a Jungle Cruise that takes you on an adventure through the tropics. I think it's safe to say, however, that all of these rides are completely and totally unique ideas. I mean, I've never heard of anything like them, have you????

    

....Stay tuned for the next episode of Are Chuseok'n To Me??? when the girls stay out for an all-night Seoul excursion!