One of my favorite things to do is people watch. I like to grab a drink (preferably a bubbly one), and a snack and sit and watch the world pass me by. A great place to do this in Incheon is called Wolmido. It's a small island with (sketchy at best) amusement rides and Korean style seafood restaurants lining the boardwalk along the ocean. Taking the subway from Yeonsu station, we had to ride just for a short while on Line 1 to arrive at Incheon station (Chinatown).
One of the first things I did when I settled in to my life in Korea was visit Korea's biggest Chinatown and neighboring Wolmido. I was in love with how happy everyone here was- mostly families out to enjoy the day together in matching outfits with giggling children holding hot dogs on a stick, faces sticky with cotton candy. I wasn't bold enough to approach the ticket booths to go on the rides, but I was happy enough watching from the sidelines as people screamed obscenities in a language I didn't understand.
Today, 5 months later, I went back to Wolmido and let me say it was even more joyful than the first time I visited. I still didn't test out the rides but the weather was gorgeous and sitting on the stone steps leading down to the water was just as enjoyable as the rides would have been.
Myself, Jeni, Selina, and her friend Josh were happy to sit down for a while as the crowds passed behind us on the boardwalk. Many people took off their shoes and tiptoed their way down the rocks to get their feet wet, and to my surprise and slight disappointment, nobody fell in.
Today was also the celebration of the importance of the Korean military against Japan in the past, so there were displays where you could learn about the different parts of the military and take pictures with the men in uniform. I smiled when walking by, but didn't quite feel the need to get a picture with them. There was a parade as well and though we didn't see it happening, I caught a video of the cadets training beforehand!
Seeing men in military uniform in Korea is not nearly as frightening as one would expect especially since the tensions between North Korea and well, the rest of the world, are running so high right now. Every male born in Korea has to dedicate two years of his life serving the country in some way or another so seeing men dressed in their army wear is so common I barely even notice it anymore. Today was certainly a nice showing, and people were smiling with soldiers taking pictures next to tanks.
It was a lovely way to spend a sunny Sunday in the middle of September, and we managed to snag half price coupons for Everland, too! Maybe that will be my next blog post :).
Tah tah for now!
--Sasha