#getting a little tired of streaming services canceling things just because they don't break every record known to man

[party-lemon]

i haven't brought myself to watch ofmd yet, but i had planned to, and i just gotta say, i am very pissed for you all

[neijayah]

Seoul, day 7 - expensive shopping and screw you, luck. 😑😔

Again, I slept really late. It's a bad idea to write the diary not the same day and then having to keep up and remember, what you actually did two days ago. I'm happy if I can remember what I did yesterday. Don't even ask for two or three days ago. But when you are out all day, there's no other way.

Plan for this day was to get the rest of my book series we use at home for studying Korean. Already have 4 of them, 2 at least were still missing. And I found the books being used in EF classes are pretty good as well. They also provide a CD, so you can listen to conversations and examples. Though, actually, who still uses CD? They could at least come up with MP3 downloads. But who cares. The books we use at EF school were created by the Seoul National University, so they're at least accurate. And they have a bit of English in them, so you actually know, what they're asking for.

The best place for buying books is no other than Kyobo Bookstore (교보문고). They have several branches, but the biggest one is at Gwanghwamun (광화문), where I was two days ago. I already have been there the last time I was in Seoul, but I couldn't remember how I got there. Thankfully there is this website visitkorea.com that gives you all necessary information where to find the stores, what to expect of it, entry prices, the opening hours and how you can get there with the exact exit. It's the source for all my trips, next to two guide books.

The cool thing about Kyobo is, that they are connected to one subway exit. There is no easier way to get there. Though it means taking stairs after stairs after stairs. You will hate them throughout your stay. But this way, you won't need an extra fitness program. Unfortunately, on the way to Kyobo I had decided to take the steps one time, as the escalator was packed and a line had already formed. But after I took the first flight of steps, I knew why. 😭 It was like going up to the 5th floor in an apartment complex. But as you can see, I survived.

Kyobo offers more than just books. You can find room humidifier, accessories for smartphones, magazines, CD's and DVD's (K-Pop and Non-K-Pop related, though just in small amounts) and a lot of other stuff. If you are looking for a particular book, there are terminals you can search if they actually have them and where to find them. I went for the foreign language section, where you can find books about Korean language. I quickly found my books

and those from school.

Unfortunately, the books from school have way more books in the series. 12 books as of now, and theoretically even more, if you count in the working books.

I may order them later, when I have finished to go through these ones. In the end it all cost me 149,000 Won. ㅠㅠ And the books were so heavy. I had planned to take a walk at the stream again, but with such a heavy bag I had to postpone it.

A friend of mine informed me about a free concert in Gangnam, which I thought about attending, depending on how full it was. The other option for the night was the International Fireworks Festival somewhere along the Han river.

As the start of entering at the concert was pretty early, I tried this first. If it was to packed, I could still go to the Fireworks Festival, even though I would miss the performances of Spain and maybe Australia.

Finding everything in Seoul is always a challenge. I never know, if I'm on the right way, though I always reach where I want to go.

The concert was on the street in front of the east entry/exit of the COEX Mall. Artist, who were performing that night were EXO-CBX, Red Velvet, Wanna-One, Sunmi, Weki-Meki, (G)I-DLE, OhMyGirl, ONF, Dynamic Duo, Celeb Five and J Black X Mmary. Everyone who is into K-Pop knows the majority of them. I really like Red Velvet, Sunmi and Dynamic Duo. There rest, though well known are not so much my taste.

I took a small walk in the COEX Mall (though just the ground level - found out later that actually everything is in the basement) that night, but couldn't find a lot, as it was so late already and I didn't want to waste time on roaming around if there was still something waiting to be done. So when I arrived, the place in front and all around the stage area was packed. There were waiting lines of visitors even far away from the place itself, as they guided one group after another into the place in front of the stage. I already knew, that I wouldn't see a thing at all. Unfortunately, security was pretty consistent with shooing everyone away at the sides. Only if you were near the food stands, you were able to sit down. So no K-Pop concert obviously for me on this trip.

So I decided to rather go for the fireworks thing. Off I went with the express underground. I didn't know Seoul had this. Pretty cool. This train on line 9 stops only at stations that connect to other lines. So the travel to the small island on the Han river went pretty fast. And there, finding the way was awesomely easy. Just follow all the others. 😅 The fireworks were already going, and you could see glimpses of it between the skyscrapers. I really had to walk a long way to reach the park area along the Han river. It was even more difficult to find a spot were you had a pretty good sight onto the sky, skyline and the fireworks. Probably could have walked another kilometer to get a perfect look on it. But I settled to watch it nearby where there weren't as many people.

If you ever saw the fireworks spectacle being shown in some K-Drama, it is exactly like they portrait there. People on blankets, eating spicy food (usually chicken) and drinking soft drinks, beer or soju. Food is provided by delivery service or food stands along the area. Small children playing around being hype.

The firework was awesome and the music, a mix of classical, regular Pop music and K-Pop, connected via storytelling was beautiful. I recorded all of it, with a little break, as my mobile sometimes decides to turn on the lights, because it's so dark outside. -.-

A really cool thing was, that the biggest Mobile services had trucks with U+ transmission at the place, so no one would go slow on their internet. U+ is 5LTE or whatever they call it, is standard here. And you really don't have to wait long for any website to load. In every public place, there are free Wifi Hotspots, so you save on your own data. Still loving my Wifi-egg though. It just works perfectly and can provide you service throughout the day.

Going back was more of a struggle, though I already waited like half an hour. There must have been at least a million people. And fascinatingly so few police officers.

There was a subway station directly at the park. But the masses pouring into this station was ridiculous. Police officers were redirecting people to other exits/entries so not everyone would take these two, right at sight. Thankfully, my subway line was further away and I hoped, fewer people would use this one. Meeeb...not going to happen. Masses of people were going my direction as well. Everyone was chill, though for a big part of the way, we only had the sidewalks to walk at. Would have been smarter to close the roads around and let people get more space. But I guess, that's what Korean are used to.

By the way, Korean police officer love their whistles. -.- Especially, when they are directing the traffic at intersections for all the visitors of the show. Another downside of Korea, they haven't figured out that it would be cool to have more trains in action at such an event. Especially, when there are two huge ones going on at the same time. But also may be because Koreans don't mind full subways. I really could imagine something better. I got back home late at night, exhausted and tired.

Seoul, day 8 - doing nothing but sleep and write

Sunday wasn't so much to do. I could have gone out, but I was tired and I had to write the diary. Next to that, I was busy talking with my Korean teacher in Germany via KakaoTalk and arranging my meet-up with her twin sister. She canceled out meeting on Tuesday, as she had to work again. On Saturday, there were still 3 spots for the World Friends Music Festival open, which were now - that I knew I had time - gone. Like the title says.....screw you luck.