Day 21: Leaving Seoul ㅜ.ㅜ

We did most of our packing the night before which was suppose to have been an easy task until we tried to overstuff one our luggage bags causing the zipper to tear away from the fabric of the bag. With departments stores closed, our hopes rested on the luggage store in the Yeong-chun Market still being open and having a bag of the right size. My Aunt and I rushed down while my mom tried to repair the torn bag with stitching. Luckily for us, we caught the owner just as he was about to close shop. I got to see my Aunt’s bargaining skills at work as we were able to haggle the price of a large luggage bag from about 80,000W down to about 65,000W. First she lowballed him like at 55,000W using the old “I only have XXX amount of dollars” line and then proceeded to count her money with her back turned to the owner. It was funny to watch. I have to admit that I was skeptical about being able to find a good quality bag being a department store kind of guy (though desperate as we were, we probably would have taken any bag), I was surprised at the quality and price of the bag we got from the market. Problem solved. My mom was actually able to repair the torn bag too so the extra new bag now made it easier for us to pack.

Aside from a few small things I got from the Miffy Store at the Lotte World Shopping Mall and at the Free Market in Hongdae and a mug from Coffee Prince, I personally was leaving Korea with about the same amount of baggage as when I arrived. My most precious souvenirs were the memories in my head and those on my camera. On one of the nights before, my piano teacher cousin came by again and gave me a CD of Korean pianist 이루마’s (Yiruma) “First Love” album as a gift. When we had first met, we discussed our musical tastes and she mentioned that Yiruma was one of her favourites. He has a very light and relaxing piano style that’s nice to listen to when winding down or falling asleep. My favourite song from that album is “Time Forgets…”.

It seems like it’s almost tradition (at least with my parents) that one has to bring back undergarments if coming back from Korea. For most of my child and adolescent years, all the undergarments I wore were from Korea that were stock piled over the years from those initial trips to Korea when I was little and from subsequent trips my dad took. While my friends were wearing S, M, or L sizes, I was wearing 100 or 105s. It took years to finally deplete that stock of crazy coloured underwear! I broke tradition and didn’t bring any Korean underwear home with me this time. What we did pack though was some tasty 김 (kelp), dried pollack and some herbal supplements to take home with us. While they sell these things in Canada that are imported from Korea, the selection and taste just isn’t the same as what you can get while in Korea.

I had no clue whether I’d be able to get all the same toiletries and personal care products there that I used in Canada so just to be on the safe side I packed 3 weeks worth of that stuff (such as soap, shampoo, cream, shaving cream, aftershave and even little packets of travel tissue). When I got to Korea and unpacked my things, my Aunt shook her head at the sight of all that stuff and brought over a whole bag full of travel tissue packets both wet and dry that she accumulated over the years. She said packets of tissues get handed out for free all over the city. As for the other stuff, between the Department Stores and the local grocery store, they carried all the same products as in Canada whether they be from Johnson & Johnson, Proctor and Gamble, Gillette, Unilever, etc. Mental note for next time!

My first trip to Korea in 22 years was a long time coming for me and I truly felt like I had the vacation I had hoped, envisioned and planned for. For the most part, I felt like I didn't hold back on anything I wanted to see or visit. What made the trip special was that it was perfect timing in the sense I was going when I had developed an interest in learning more about "my" country, its culture and people. My interest and curiosity had been brewing and building over the years (admittedly starting with Korean TV and music) and to have it culminate in a trip overseas to see in person the things I had only heard about or seen on TV was fulfilling. I wonder in what context it will be when I visit Korea again…will I have the same anticipation and excitement I had this time? I can only hope and make it so.

My first trips to Korea when I was little don’t even come close to comparing to this trip. It might as well have been a totally different country I visited back then! Back then, it felt like I was dragged here and there all over Korea, visiting places I had little or no personally invested interest in seeing at the time. My standout memories of Korea from when I was little were of the humidity, smog, traffic and arcades. Not exactly the fondest of memories to say the least. Over the last 21 days though, I got to redefine Korea through the exploration of Seoul, as a beautiful country and city. I saw and experienced so many great things over the 3 weeks, most of which found a home on my blog and videos. After editing all my videos, I had a bunch of clips that I wanted to make a home for showing all of the other little moments in between in and around Seoul. Here it is.



With all the societal pressures and competition (whether it be with education and grades, appearances, employment…) in Korea, I consider myself fortunate to have grown up and be living in Canada but man if I was rich and didn’t have to work anymore, I would love to divide my time between the two countries. Just like the older ahjussis I saw, I actually pictured my retired self cycling along the Han River, taking walks and using the exercise machines in parks and hiking up the various mountains in Seoul. Sigh. In future trips, I hope to be able to travel and see some of the country side and coastal lines. I would love to spend a winter in Seoul and Korea also as I think the palaces and mountains in the distance would look beautiful with a blanket of white snow. Next time, it would be nice to experience more of the local eats and cafés which there seemed to be a ton of in Seoul. I found experiencing that a little harder travelling alone.

As I prepared and researched for my trip, the sights that were featured in Korean drama’s or shows were the ones I was most excited about seeing before I got to Korea. While I enjoyed visiting those neat places like the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince and Star Café Miss Lee, my favourite place turned out to be of something else. My favourite memory was of spending time in front of the Han River watching the sunset, the Moonlight Rainbow Fountain and then the fireworks later that night on Day 6. It’s hard not to become contemplative when in the presence of and looking out at a calming body of water (or any beautiful scenery for that matter) and in that sense sitting by the Han River felt like a limitless experience. It wasn’t something that you saw and then it was over. The experience was continuous with no definitive beginning or end. It simply ended when it felt like the right time to leave.

Our flight back to Toronto wasn’t until 8:50PM so we had oodles of times to finish our packing and say our goodbyes slowly. All my Aunts and Uncle were over on the final day to wish us well. There are various ways to get to Incheon Airport from Seoul but we decided it was easiest to go by taxi. Instead of getting a regular taxi, we called for a minivan which is more expensive but provides a more comfortable riding experience due to the roominess. We were leaving with one more large luggage bag than we came with so the extra room did come in handy. My maknae aunt and one of her friends who met us at the airport when we arrived accompanied us again to the airport.

The drive to the airport looked unfamiliar as the drive from the airport 21 days ago was under the darkness of night where I couldn’t see a thing. In that sense, it almost felt like I was arriving in Korea and seeing it for the first time rather than departing. The highway was relatively free of cars and I got to see a lot of the construction that was going on. It looked like they were building many bridges and diverting and creating a waterway though I’m not entirely sure. The thought that I was getting further away from Seoul with each passing minute in the cab in addition to passing some familiar sights for the last time was a downer. I felt like I could have easily stayed another couple of weeks as I still felt energized and ready to explore some more. Discovering the beautiful mountains of Seoul on the 2nd last day was regretful but it leaves me something to look forward to for next time. I remember being in the taxi looking out the window and repeatedly thinking to myself “This is it…this is it…”. I hadn’t come to terms yet that my trip was virtually over. I made this video of the ride to the airport.


The trip to Incheon Airport took about an hour and we got to the airport probably 4 hours before our flight. We killed some time doing some eye shopping at the various stores in the airport. Shinsegae has a few boutiques and I spent some time browsing only the 2nd CD/DVD store I came across in Korea. The airport has several food courts and restaurants and we decided to have one final meal in Korea which for me was a Donkatsu.

When it came time to depart, surprisingly, no tears were shed. I think it was because this trip felt like it was the start of many more trips to come in the future. I think my mom realized that having to separate again from her siblings wasn’t as bad as she had built it up to be. That was one of the obstacles that prevented her from visiting Korea sooner. Out of sight out of mind was better than having to go through the range of emotions again of reuniting and then separating. That barrier though feels like it’s gone now when I speak to her about returning again as she seems more open to the idea than before. When she first immigrated to Canada, that departure to a whole new world, leaving behind everything and everyone she knew must have been a hard experience to have her harbour those feelings of not wanting to go through that separation process again. It’s regretful that it took so long for us to return to Korea but at the same time I can’t pinpoint an earlier time and say we should have gone then to have made much of a difference. I think it was just meant to be for us to return after such a long while. I can guarantee though that I won’t let another 22 years go by before I do.

That was my 21 days in Seoul.^^