Being a tourist and making kimchi

So today was officially the first day of the spring semester, but since I don't have class on Friday I used the time to explore and play tourist!

I love exploring Seoul with friends! The best part is that I can explore at my own pace. My most recent discoveries was Itewon and Myeong-dong. Both areas are very tourist friendly, being a couple of the top tourist-visited areas in Seoul. The best part is that if anyone were to speak English, here would be the place! There are fake luxury brand goods, imitations of brand-name clothing, tourist trinkets, and virtually anything you can think of. Between Itewon and Myeong-dong I noticed a few distinctions. Itewon is less crowded that Myeong-dong but offers a wider array of ethnic foods. In Itewon you can find Turkish, Pakistanian, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and American food; just to name a few. But if you want to shop, Myeong-dong is by far the winner. The streets are virtually packed with people and there's such a wide variety of stores that it puts the malls back at home to shame. Myeong-dong also has WAY BETTER street food! There are snacks all over the place and you can find way more than just tteokbokki and tempura.

Another exciting thing I've recently experienced was making kimchi! A few days ago I was able to visit Chongga Kimchi World and I got to make kimchi, chopchae, and tteokbokki. It was relatively easy since Chongga provided all the ingredients and pre-mixed the kimchi rub; but it was quite a nuisance to rub each leaf. Also I found out that kimchi isn't ready. After making kimchi you're suppose to let it ferment. So my kimchi is currently outside on my patio fermenting in a dark area. But I did get to try it right after making it and I thought it tasted pretty good already...I guess I'll see how it tastes after a few days.

 My completed kimchi!