Life without the internet is not as scary as many people think. Just to be clear, I am not saying I was unplugged all hours of the day, just the time I am not at work. The most interesting thing about the whole thing was that I never felt a sense of withdrawal. I did not feel the need to be on chat so much or the need to turn my computer on at all most evenings at home. There were only a few times where I felt it was important to have internet at home, and that involved the time I was leaving for South Korea. That Friday night, it rained in Chicago. The thunderstorm canceled my flight out of O'Hare early that morning and left me a little panicked. I had no way to check my flight, the weather, or to see if my rescheduled flight could be canceled the following day. Luckily, Ping Jing stayed over to hang out and she used her trusty smartphone to check details for me. Once I got to the airport, everything was smooth sailing from there. I think this experiment of staying unplugged for a long period of time each day helped me learn more about my behaviors, what I really want the internet for, and what I can do without. It will be interesting to see what happens when I reintroduce it into my life again. Will I just want to keep chatting, watching tv shows, blasting music? Will it just be a distraction from other things? Time will tell.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea is a pretty amazing country. They are very nationalistic over there. A lot of the people are proud of buying Korean made goods, they seem to work hard and play hard, and it just felt so darn safe that I would never be afraid of wandering the streets late at night through the early hours of the morning. Sometimes it makes me wonder how it is possible for a whole nation to have that kind of mentality to not want to do harm to others, or destroy property, or complain about life.
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| These girls helped us find the street market around midnight in Seoul. After being on a plane for hours, I couldn't resist walking around. |
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| What the underground subway stations look like. Shop! Shop! Shop! |
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| Our first encounter with street food after exiting a subway! |
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| Night market there you are! |
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| Pancakes with gooey brown sugar filling! So hot, I got it all over myself.... |
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| Fried goods! |
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| We couldn't eat everything :( |
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| Kevin thought these were organs in a pot, but I told him it was fishcake! I was right! Yum! |
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| Still bustling early through the morning... |
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| I love fishcake! |
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| Congee like no other place makes it! I usually hate this stuff, but after seeing it on a K-drama, I had to put this on the list of things I wanted to in Korea. |
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| I like pumpkin porridge! |
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| I ate one of those guys... |
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| Fried glass noodles wrapped in seaweed... |
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| Hmmm.... |
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| Guarding the palace... |
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| Better get out of the way! |
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| Mmmmhmm..... live octopus.... |
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| Just smile and swallow o_O! |
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| Chewy.... |
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| I think Kevin makes it look yummier than I do! |
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| It's just a little bit weird... |
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| Hmmm it pinches your cheek and tongue~! |
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| Tornado potato dog~! |
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| A mangosteen donut that tasted more like guava... |
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| Bulgogi! |
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| At the grocery store in the basement of the largest department store in the world so it claims... |
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| Fried pufferfish! |
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| Blowing sand off the shoes by the beach~! |
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| Not afraid to display phallic symbols in Korea... |
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| Rice field~! |
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| Wishing tree... |
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| Grandmother Willow's relatives... |
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| Our tour guide showing us around the village of Andong. |
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| Lunch! |
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| Paper festival! |
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| Paper armor! |
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| Paper fashion! |
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| Applying sunblock like a cat! |
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| How do you eat these guys? |
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| Dead but smiling sting rays... |
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| Sea cucumber... |
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| Sea worm... |
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| Octopus auction... |
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| Crazy teeth close up! |
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| National park hiking! So nice~! |
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| Photo bombed! |
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| Last meal on tour! |
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| No one really ate that. |
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| This eventually became dessert... |
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| Soju made of all shorts of crops like corn and rice... |
I had a pretty good week in Korea. I think the next time I would want to just explore on my own instead of be on a tour. It was too much sleeping and sitting from one major city to the next. The trip was just long enough to be fun! I would recommend visiting South Korea!
