Seoul: My Take

In about an hour I'm leaving for my Korean language hagwan (school), and then we are leaving immediately for Kyung-Ju, a town four hours away that has many traditional Korean exhibits (maybe structures and museums.) We will be gone all weekend, so I won't be able to write, so before I go, I thought I'd give you a few random takes on my view of Seoul.
Climate: So far, Seoul has been really pleasant. The temp is probably anywhere between seventy and seventy-five degrees every day, with moderate humidity. Usually the mornings and evenings are cloudy with the afternoon bringing some sun, but the past few days it has been really sunny and gorgeous out! However, in a week or two we will enter into Korea's "rainy season", a period where it rains pretty much constantly for two weeks to one month end of June/beginning of July. Then I hear it is really humid and hot the rest of the summer after these rains.

Traffic: One thing I can't NOT mention is the craziness of Seoul-ite driving! Traffic isn't bad here in terms of traffic jams, but it is very aggressive! Drivers are constantly passing, switching lanes, pedestrians are walking in front and around moving cars in the side streets. Omma frequently makes U-Turns (which I guess is perfectly legal if the other lane has a red light... Still a little unnerving the first few times!), and horns are blaring every which way! Also, this was really weird for me, the only people in the car who buckle up are the driver and the passenger to the right of the driver. Those in the back seat don't (don't worry... I wear my seat belt!).

Atmosphere: One thing I love about Seoul is how COOL it is! Back in Winona, we just wear our gym shorts and t-shirts everywhere...out to lunch, shopping, SCHOOL (if permitted! We usually have to pay for a fundraiser or something...) and never feel out of place. In Seoul, everyone looks their best, all the time. The fashion here is really cool, really urban, and really sophisticated. Everyone just looks nice all the time, so pressure's on for me!

Social: This aspect of Korean culture really just dawned on me the other day, even though I remember my Dad mentioning this before I left. In Seoul, males and females seem to have very established roles in society. Males are the "macho" figures, playing sports, working, etc, while the woman seems to be expected to do the laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. Obviously the same is still somewhat true in America, but I feel that the roles at home are much more flexible and aren't as strongly upheld as in Korea. Although, I have to say that on Korean tv there is a reality show that documents stay-at-home-dads! I thought that was pretty cool!!