We had an early lunch and spent a little bit of time shopping in Insadong. The shopping was mainly in the stores along the street along with a mulit-level mall area, Ssamjigil. It was a bit on the pricey side, but there were a lot of unique items and foods for sale. The Insadong area is more noticeably more tourist-y, with all kinds of people walking around and many languages floating about. There are traditional hanboks available to buy or just try on and take pictures in booths. At the end of the road, we saw some young looking students doing a traditional type of drum performance. They walked in a circle and changed directions according to the beat of the drum and instructions of one of the people in the middle.
After shopping, we hopped into the subway and headed to Inkigayo, a popular K-pop music show that airs weekly, and features top current artists promoting their respective singles. These shows are generators for Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, that represents the global spread of Korean pop culture, especially in recent years. Shows like these are popular to watch on YouTube for foreign fans, who often can just skip out on some groups and watch their favorites perform. The Korean idol lifestyle is unlike that of an American celebrity. Singers train for years and only hope to debut; even then, they're success is dependent on their popularity. The screaming fangirls and boys reminded me of just how popular these people are.
...No pictures of the show though; we weren't allowed to...
Immediately after the show, we headed back underground and hopped a few trains to get to the Jamsil Sports Complex to watch a baseball game. Here, teams are sponsored by companies and are named accordingly. Today's game was the LG Twins (home) playing the KIA Tigers. The Tigers are actually one of the best teams in the league here, while the Twins are one of the worst. Thankfully, the Twins were able to win! Winning or losing was not even a thing though, what really mattered during the game was the energy. At almost all times, there was cheering, singing, chanting, and dancing. There were more chants and dances here than at a football game in The Big House, and almost all the seats were occupied. I never knew a baseball game could have so much energy (and I've been to a Detroit Tigers game, when they were good). The energy and unity during the game made me forget that I was a foreigner, that I knew none of the players, and had just heard of the two teams. I learned songs and dances, that "anta" means "hit," and that KFC and Burger King can cost up to 18 US dollars.
Both these experiences are just a taste of some of the things that make Seoul unique and special. Every city has its arts and sports, and today we saw some more of Seoul's. The K-pop industry is inescapable, and sports teams give citizens something to rally around.
No comments:
Post a Comment