Day 4 (8.16)- A Well-Deserved Day Indoors

After a whole day of slushing around in Mumbai-during-Monsoon-worthy rain, we were able to spend some well-needed time indoors the following day. First stop was the National Assembly and Library (essentially South Korea’s Congress and Library of Congress). The architecture here is some of the most beautiful and futuristic we have ever seen.

(Shout out to this cool spy movie-esque hallway that leads to different parts of the buildings underground)

Our guide showed us around the grand expanse of the library which is open to the public at their leisure. She made point to stop us at a stand of fact books, one of which relating to the U.S. 2016 Election.

(If you can read Hangul, the characters in black spell out “Teuleompeu.” If you can’t, then sound out that Anglicized version quite fast and it’ll translate to the Korean equivalent of the name of the United States’ current Covfefer and Chief.)

After the Library, we went to the Assembly Hall of the National Assembly, which was quite interesting as well. Here, things are a bit difference than in our Congress. The Speaker does not keep their party affiliation to act as a neutral tie-breaker, and the high-ranking senior officials sit in the back rather than up front because they have earned the right to sit back and watch the rookie officials duke it out like the infantry.

The overhead light uses cutting-edge technology to be best suited for lighting the way for change, even into the middle of the night as some meetings go. Koreans are very efficient in their bill-passing system, and the Assembly has on occasion, passed over 100 bills in one day/late night.

Here a haechi (Korean foo dog/lion guard) watches over the National Assembly as a proud symbol of Seoul.

To continue on the theme of Korean National Pride, we went to the National Museum to explore Korea’s ancient to modern history. The view of North Seoul Tower was stunning.

As well as the view of the rest of Seoul….Boxed in like a diorama, it’s still hard to believe it’s real.

The museum had some extravagant antiquities, like the giant pagoda that sits in the lobby, and an iron Buddha shrouded in mysterious lighting….

And that was the extent of our travels through Korean history. We ended the evening in Itaewon, the expat district known for its American food and goods at shockingly American prices. Needless to say, I spend over $20 on 2 tacos and a margarita the size of my head with very little tequila in it….Sounds about right.