Hello Seoul!

My first days at the other side of the world have passed already. Here you can read about my experiences!

Sunday evening Jim and I flew from Frankfurt to Seoul. We arrived well at our apartment in the neighbourhood Sinchon. We are staying in a student house for international students, called: A home in Sinchon. Behind our apartment is the Gyeongui Line Forest Park, along the old railway. Perfect for a run or to enjoy the sun.

Especially the preventive measures for the spread of the coronavirus are standing out in Seoul. There are posters with information on it everywhere, all people are wearing masks, you can find disinfectant gel on every corner of the street and we’re getting emergency notices if someone in Seoul got in quarantine.

The first night we enjoyed a typical South-Korean BBQ with the other students of “A home in Sinchon”.

Last week we also went to a Dog Café. How nice is it to hug dogs while you’re enjoying a cappuccino? 😜 After that we explored the rest of the neighbourhood Hongdae and we walked through the Fashion Street, with a lot of souvenir stores.

We also visited Deoksugung Palace. Also called “The palace of virtue and longevity”, to honor the life of Emperor Gojong. It is the smallest palace of Seoul and it’s between the modern and western style buildings, in the centre of Seoul.

We also had a look at the World Cup Stadium and of course Jim found a way to get in! This stadium was built for the World Championships football in 2002.

Thursday we walked to the top of the mountain in Namsan Park to see the N-Seoul Tower. A lot of people come here to sport or walk. From here you can see how big Seoul is!

On Saturday we visited the Olympic Parc and we got into the Olympic Stadium. It felt amazing to stand in the middle of such a big stadium! The Games of the XXIVTH Olympiad were held in Seoul in 1988. In the Olympic Parc you can see the World Peace Gate. Peace is very important in the philosophy of Olympism. Olympism is the wish to go beyond sport to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport.

At the end of my first week in Seoul I visited Gangnam. We’ve seen Gangnam Style Statue, Starfield Library and a Buddhist Temple called “Bongeunsa”.

Now we have two more weeks left until university starts, because the semester is postponed due to Corona. So there is enough time left to see even more of this big city!