北京再见 Goodbye Beijing…서울에 오신 것을 환영합니다 Welcome to Seoul!
After the excursion, sadly I got the flu. I had to go to the hospital multiple times to get medicine and whatnot. For that next week and a half I didn’t really do much since I was pretty out of it. After my recovery, we then had midterms week.
During midterms week my Chinese Medicine class took a field trip to a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Hospital. It was so interesting to see how the hospital ran. In TCM hospitals it is very crowded, and not very sanitary. Most people go to the hospital for acupuncture, cupping, moxa, massage treatment, and medicine. We even got to see patients and see them get acupuncture. It was so different from Western hospitals I’ve been in. in the states, you would only be able to go see procedures if you were a medical student. We all just crowded into a room and watched and listen to individual’s medical problems. It was so interesting to see all the patients being treated with such different methods than western methods. We also got to see the hospital pharmacy. That was very cool because they have tons of small drawers filled with dried herbs, nuts, you name it. They would then eyeball with a simple weight balance, then put the dosage in a big pan. All the herbs in one pan would then be sent to another section to be mixed together to create an herbal supplement meant to drink X amount of times a day.
It went pretty well, and the best way to celebrate being done with midterms was to take a flight out of China to Korea! Kaylee, Leia, Brittany and I took a plane to Seoul early Saturday morning. It was so exciting! Once we arrived in Seoul, we took the train to our hostile. The Korean subway system is very different than the Chinese subway. Even though the trains aren’t automated, the technology is great! The subways were super clean and everyone was really polite!
Korean culture is very different than Chinese culture. The first thing that surprised me was how clean the city was. In China there’s garbage around the streets, especially around restaurants, and there’s spit on the ground. In Korea, I never saw anyone spit on the street. Everything is Korea was orderly as well. When going on escalators everyone stayed in a single file line on the right side so people could walk up on the left side without disturbing anyone. No one barged to get onto the train when the doors opened, everyone waited for the passengers to get off the train before they boarded. Little things like that amazed me! In China it’s more of the culture “you’re on your own”. People mind their own business and don’t really go out of their way to help, unless asked. People tend to do things the way they want to, even it if means pushing people or cutting lines, etc. it’s just the culture, which makes sense since there are so many people here in Beijing.
Another interesting thing about the Korean culture that is so different than Beijing culture is that you see a lot more of young parents playing with their children. In Korea we always saw kids with their parents; whereas in China it’s usually the grandparents who are with the children.
The hostile we stayed in was very nice! It was right next to one of the subway stations, and was very comfy. There were couches and tables around, and the bedding wasn’t too bad. We stayed in one of the rooms that had 10 beds arranged like bunk beds. It was pretty comfortable besides it being hot and a little stuffy. We also got free waffle breakfast every morning! Usually we would get up in time to get breakfast (before 10 am), get ready for the day, then explore, walk, eat, walk, and keep on walking! We walked so much in Korea! Korea is also pretty hilly might I add. We went to the 4 major palaces, tourist sites, shopping malls, and more hipster places. One of my favorite places we went to was a graffiti/mural village. Another place we went to that was equally as fun was the famous fish market! It’s famous for its 1 AM fish auction! Sadly, we didn’t stay until then because we went on a weekday, but my friends got to hold a live crab!
Korea was so much fun! I would definitely go again! It was such a fun environment and I went with great people! I would definitely go again, and recommend others to go as well!