청계천 Cheonggyecheon

The 청계천 Cheonggyecheon is a famous stream here in Seoul. Apparently, hundreds of years ago the stream would overflow during the rainy seasons and flood the area. To fix that, a wall was built around it. In modern times with the growth of cities, a highway was built above the stream. Recently however, it was decided to make the area environmentally friendly, so the highway was removed and the stream restored. Today it is a nice place to walk amidst the tall buildings that surround it.


For more information click on the link:
http://english.sisul.or.kr/grobal/cheonggye/eng/WebContent/sub_history.jsp?page=ceu050101

I was told by a Korean man who came over to me (and wanted me to read a paragraph in English - apparently a common random thing that happens here) that this is a tribute to those who died in the ferry disaster.

The Korean Abbey Road :)

This is a depiction of some sort of royal process. It spans a few blocks.

As I was walking alongside the stream, suddenly a siren went off and something was being repeatedly announced in Korean over a loudspeaker. Then park rangers showed up on bicycles and evacuated everyone. From what I understood it was because there was going to be a big rainstorm and it would not be safe by the stream. There were gates closing off the entrances, so no one could go even if they wanted to.

 

At Ewha Womans University during the rain

Around 신촌 (Sinchon)

Sinchon is the area by my university. There is a small pedestrian area, but a lot of the streets feel like a pedestrian zone because they are filled with many people and the few cars have a hard time driving through. The crowd is mainly a younger crowd, probably because of all the universities in the area. There are also many street performers especially during the night. I have so far seen singers, dancers, and even a magician!

There are also many shops familiar to those in the states. Besides for the numerous Coffee Bean shops, I think the two most common ones are 7 Eleven and Starbucks. You can have one a few stores away from the next one.