Travel Blog: Itaewon, Seoul: Rainbow of Colors

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Itaewon, Seoul: Rainbow of Colors

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A shop, a fly, and a man near my hotel in Gangnam.

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Now on to Itaewon!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...: "The attacker was crying and staring at me as I collected myself and walked away."

Sounds like a deranged drunken man with mental problems.; 5:12 AM
Unknown said...: Just when I thought you were perfecting your picture taking, you tell us of this harrowing story but don't show us any pictures :( I would have loved to see the hate in this crazed man's eyes for myself. You gotta snap away in those moments of conflict! Haha. I'm sure all of your blog readers wish they could have saved you, including this one. Good story...; 5:49 AM
MUD said...: Yes, dear one, you need some self defense lessons. A swift kick to the nether regions and this drunken man would have had reason to cry. There is no excuse for assault in almost any society. I once told a street tough in San Antonio to go the hell away and leave me alone. One of the nearby people said I was lucky that he didn't knife me. I told that person that the young man had better not bring a knife to a gun fight and he damn sure needed to be prepared to die if he did. In Korea there were many places you could have learned self defense. Perhaps in your new digs. Love the pictures. Isn't that more precisely a motor scooter not a motor cycle. Real bikes don't go beep (Hold your nose as you say this and you can approximate the sound) OK, it could be a bike now that I take a second look. Vroom. MUD; 7:13 AM
Helena said...: Scary! I'm glad there were people around to help.

I never liked Itaewon either. It just seemed kind of creepy.

I think the gold motorcycle/scooter needs a superhero!; 7:36 AM
Michael said...: I always hated Itaewon, although there was a really good Egyptian place there once upon a time. At least in Roppongi they let the locals inside the bars too...; 7:44 AM
John said...: agreed - itaewon wasn't my favorite place either - but it's gone through a bit of a renaissance since i was really there. it was also the home of my first job - bartending at one of the many upscale "hostess" bars for foreign business men.

in any case, that one pick up the hill, reminds me of the famous "hooker hill" for the GI's. this was all pre-9/11 when yongsan soldiers were still allowed off base until all hours of the night. the change in itaewon could be due, in part, to the now on-base curfews.

i'm glad some bystanders helped you out. i think koreans can be somewhat protective of "non-korean" people in such situations - and in others, simply walk by as a bf/husband abuses their spouse/partner (though, these things have also become much rarer).

best of luck in the h-k.; 8:09 AM
Unknown said...: Hey Eva,

Thought you might appreciate this since you like Korean cooking...

http://www.desertmodernism.com/blog/korea/; 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...: hey edward,

do you mean dessert or desert?; 7:46 PM
Eva Karrin McKinnon said...: Anonymous- I thought maybe I represented America to him or something, but yes he was definitely dealing with his own issues.

Paul, lol. I thought of that afterwards. But he would have grabbed my camera from me and smashed it if I did that.

Actually I work out a lot and consider myself physically strong, but I guess I don't have the fighter instinct. : (

Then again I wasn't on guard at all. Sunny, happy, tons of people around, on that main street where Hamilton hotel is.

Mud - hahaha, motor scooter! you're right you're right.
PS do you own a gun?

Helena- YES! GOLD STAR the superhero.

Micheal - mmm , what's Egyptian food like? Most of the foreign restaurants looked a little expensive

John- I've noticed that... if it's a couple's feud no one wants to get involved, even if has become physical
Thanks for the warm wishes
How are you doing?

Edward- AMAZING SITE! I'm just checking it out now. How did I never find this? Thank you.; 8:36 PM
Unknown said...: I found that web site here:

http://gothamist.com/2007/11/07/cubed_radish_ki.php

... of all places.

I was amazed to know that some white guy living near Las Vegas knew sooooo much about Korean food without ever visiting the country...; 4:30 PM
Anonymous said...: This is kinda bad, but it's probably true.

You are blond, foreign and were in Itaewon...I'm sure that guy thought you were some Russian prostitute. He was probably angry b/c he doesn't like prostitutes, or he really likes them but they don't like him...; 10:51 AM
Unknown said...: One of my girl friends has been teaching in Suwon for over 4 years now. She's still there but is coming home to Montreal for Christmas (yippeee)! Anyway, she said that she's had several encounters with strange men while in Korea. Not the same as you though. She's never had anyone shove her, but she's had a few men jerk off in front of her!!! One guy called her over to his car (she thought he was lost and asking for directions! LOL!) and he started laughing as he 'exposed' himself. She was not impressed.

That sort of stuff happened to me too when I taught in Japan. I guess strange things happen everywhere.; 9:04 PM
George said...: Wow your photos are beautiful! The colors are rendered so crisply :)

What camera do you use?; 11:33 AM
vip minibüs kiralama said...: Thank you very much for writing, I wish success; 4:08 AM
Mr. Don said...: My friend, I lived in Ietaewon from Feb. "74-July '75. One of your shots shows a building I lived in for a time. Really takes me back to my days at AFKN. Loved Korea so much I went back and taught English there until the end of 1980. I miss it to this day.; 12:09 AM