#4 : French Bakeries in Seoul

So I think I should talk about how much Korean people like/appreciate/love/dedicate a worship to our beautiful and magnificent sparsely unpopulated country : France ...

French bakeries are actually the most striking and weird thing I saw when I first arrived in Seoul. I mean that's worth that a Starbucks every 5 meters in the USA, here you got like 2 Paris Baguette and 1 Tous Les Jours every 2 meters.

Successful expatriation ... 

Oh and the way that korean people pronounce theses words is obviously funny "pali baguéteuuu" and "tu ley zuull"...

I was really interested about what do these bakeries sell. So I walked through the first Paris Baguette I saw on the street and I have to say that I'm really suprised in a good way.

Here, everything is "home made", I mean every bakery is making the bulk of the proposed pastries, with a bakers armada of approximately 3 or 4 bakers/salesman for only one bakery.

Concerning the stuff proposed, the choice is really amazing : french baguettes, cereal breads, plain croissants, chocolate croissants, raisin swirls, cream puffs, amazing cakes (not french at all). There is also a great choice of french biscuits (with particularly La mère Poulard breton Biscuits)

Also, for lunch, I found many sandwiches ... mhhhh ... and actually the korean Paris Baguette CEO has to know that we do NOT put cranberry marmalade in our chicken sandwich ... 

I mean I was really uspet when I crunched in a lovely chicken/salad/tomato/cereal Bread sandwich tasting something unusually sweety in my mouth .... Yeah, fucking cranberry marmalade...

Whatever, there are also numerous kind of affordable salads, with balsamic sauces. I particularly appreciated finding here tomato/mozzarella salad or chicken salad. There are mostly the same that we can find in a french bakery like Paul or La Brioche dorée.

I also find out that korean brand Paris Baguette has recently openned some bakeries in the USA ... Probably the sign of a company on the top.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

#3 : The JimjilBan

If there is a single piece of culture that I have experienced so far that I want to integrate deeply into my way of living, jimjilBan is it.  I only spent hours in the little slice of heaven on earth, but I can assure you there are many hours of jimjilBan in my future.

I went there at 5 PM, after clubbing. Almost every foreigner student does that once, it's cheaper that coming back home in taxi and quite secure.

I went to a place called (I don't remember actually).  It cost 8,000 won (roughly 5€) to get in.  I was given key bracelets for my wrist and a locker.  I took off my shoes and put them in a shoe locker.  I walked to the women's floor (yeah men & women are not on the same floor). 



Once I reached the women's floor I went to the locker and took off my clothes and put a swimsuit. I went into a main spa area and hopped in a tub that was 41 degrees C. I have no idea what made it healthy but it was cooler than the two next to it so I thought it was a good place to start.  The bath directly next to it was called a hot bath, it was 45 degrees C.  Across from me was a cold spa with three teenage girls playing in it.  The water was 17 degrees C.  The girls were splashing around like they were at the beach, that was really awkward  for me to see that because as a teenager I don't remember ever playing around naked in the water with other girls, apparently I missed out. 

For some reasons which are quite obvious I did not take my camera in. There were a number of massage tables with women lying naked on the tables and other women standing next to them in swim suits.  

Then, I decided to have a rest. I went out the bathroom, put my short & tee shirt and find the relaxation room. That was a small room in the dark, here were already some women who were sleeping deeply. I take a thin mattress, a pillow in a corner a room and I put it on the floor. I fall asleep right after lying on mattress. 
When I woke up, I was totally  relaxed and that was so goooooooood that I hardly recommend that experiment to other people !

Picture of daily life #3

Picture of daily life #2

Picture of daily life #1

Yeouido : view from the appartment

Yeouido : Yoido Full Gospel Church

The Yoido Full Gospel Church is the biggest south korean protestant church. There were about 1 000 000 members in 2007 so that's making the church also the biggest protestant congregation ever in South Korea

#2 : Women in Seoul

Women here are really beautiful. They take care about them and about their beauty and that's quite obvious. Even if they are taking the metro for hours, even if they are walking a long time, even if it's so cold outside, snowy and windy,  most of them are wearing heels and dresses or skirts. They are always wearing a beautiful and sleek make up. They want to be desirable and maybe the most beautiful so they are doing their maximum to reach their objective.

Also women in summer will wear umbrellas, sunglasses, and sun protection. Indeed, in Korea, women have to be white, no question to have a tanned skin. This is not trendy to get tanned actually and the less tan you get, the more beautiful you are.

I will try to take some photos to show you that.

#1 : Couples in Seoul

Yesterday I went to the Coex Mall, a big shopping complex and I was really surprised by how many couples were there. I mean, ALMOST every girl had a guy with her.

The boy is often keeping his girlfriend's handbag and actually guys are real gentlemen with girls.

I mean, I get the impression that every young people is dating with somebody, and I think I have to say that's really cool.

Visa : Check

I finally get my visa ! I sent my passport 8 days ago, so the approximate time required to obtain the visa is a little bit longer than the indicated time  on the embassy website.

I have 3 months to enter the korean territory from now. 

As you can see, no photo is required (whereas a special photo is required for an american visa)

Sartioralist in Seoul

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