Time flies when you’re having fun! Time went way to fast in Korea, and sadly it is time for me to leave.
For my last day in Korea, Maria and I went to the Namsan Seoul Tower in the morning. The view was amazing, but we decided it would be even better at night. We decided not to go up beacuse we were already running late for lunch with Pastor Kim.
We got to church and Pastor Kim had food waiting for us and he gave me a nice little sermon and then talked about how I need to marry young. He offered me a bunch of free church pens. Paspt Kim is the type of guy to make you feel like you are receiving something really special when he gives you something too. John Kim showed up at church and then after some good conversations we left to go to the Korean war museum.
I love visiting the foriegn history attractions, especially relating to war, because it is always interesting to here the local side the American text books leave out. A great example of this was the Vietnam war attractions I visited in Vietnam. Korea, however, made American sound like total heroes in the Korean war. It turns out the museum was funded partially by America. That’s why it was so pro America, but South Korea and the US do have a good relationship.
After the museum the three of us headed to Namsan Seoul Tower. This time we actually went up and got to see an incredible 360 night view of the city. At every angle you can see giant skyscrappers sprawling out over the landscape. Seoul is particularly beautiful to me because of the mountains intertwining there way through the metropolitan maze of buildings. Most all of these mountains are equipt with parks and hiking trails.
Korea is honestly one of the top countries I have ever been to. I have a habit of visiting a lot of poor underdeveloped countries probably because that’s more of my budget, but Seoul really took my breath away. I’m not much of a city guy, but there is just so much going on and always something to do. I was shocked how clean it was too. I rarely saw trash and almost every public restroom was pleasant. The subway system, maybe because it’s still a novelty to me, was awesome and actually kind of an exciting place to be as you could literally get to anywhere in the city for super cheap.
Growing up in the US, at least in my experience, you are kind of lead to believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world and that no other country comes that close. After visiting Korea I definitely no longer feel that way. Korea is one of the top countries in the world in my opinion. Good economy and great way of live as far as I could tell from my, admittedly, short stay.
Hong Kong on the other hand made me feel differently. I was really surprised by the amount of Western business men everywhere in the city. The city to me did offer nearly as friendly of a feel either. A huge chunk of the people there smoke so if you are on the sidewalk you are sure to get your fair share of second smoke whiffs. The city was nice too, don’t get me wrong, but it was a lot dirtier. Probably as dirty as a standard American city honestly.
The only reason I was in Hong Kong was on a long layover so I didn’t have a ton of time to really get to know it that well. I did manage to get to Victoria Peaks which is a nice high vantage point of the whole city. From what I overheard from a tour guide the largest building is apparently 480 stories. As a farm boy from Pigeon, Michigan this kind of stunned me as I realized how far away this is from anything I ever experienced as a city. This isn’t the farm any more!
After my flight out of Hong Kong I made it back to my apparently and got unpacked and resettled into my apartment. Tomorrow starts a usual day of training. Boy how I missed the road!
Not sure what my next post will have in store, but there might be some Thai Christmas celebrations coming up!