Obama's seat, Coex Mall and aquarium

On Sunday I went with Grace to the Coex Mall in the Samseong district. This is a huge mall right next to the Seoul Convention Center where the G20 was held. Grace and I had fun. We went to Coex Aquarium, which is supposed to be the best in Seoul. And I thought it was a nice experience. I later heard from Matt that he was at the mall too to get some G20 souvenirs for his family. He said that he asked some people about it and all they heard and understood was 'G20'. So they kept on sending him somewhere. He didn't know where exactly. But it led him to the G20 meeting area where all the G20 world leaders were sitting. And I was there at the same day. It was only open that day. I felt so bad after hearing that. Matt even sat on president Obama's seat.  -_-

Koreans haven't really done anything with G20 souvenirs. They're new on basic tourism and on promoting their country. Finding a postcard of Seoul or Korea is one of the hardest things to do. Can you imagine that in your country? They really need to learn from other countries. They can really make profit if they do this.

Because I've almost reached my 1gigabyte limit of pictures I've put my pictures on this website. You can check them out on this site:

http://cid-e89c4c4fef58aa47.photos.live.com/browse.aspx/Dutch%20in%20Korea

Jazz bar in Itaewon

Hi everyone,

on Friday I went to a jazz bar with Matt from America and Thijs from the Netherlands. We just wanted to see what it was like. The Jazz bar is called 'All that Jazz' and is located in Itaewon. If you go out exit 1 at the subway station just walk straight ahead on the main street for about 20-30 meters. It's on your right. Even though I think Itaewon is one location one should never go to unless it's going to a foreign restaurant or visiting the larhe Seoul mosque, one can find surprisingly good music over here. To be honest, if you go to Seoul your first intention should not be to seek other foreigners, but sometimes it's nice to experience something that's considered typically 'Western'. When we first went in we could see it was quite crowded. We had to wait for a couple of minutes and then went to the first table just in front of the stage. The waitress didn't mention there was a 5000 KRW (3 euro) entrance fee. We really felt we weren't really in a normal Korean place when we ordered something to drink. We had to pay right away which seemed odd. WELCOME TO ITAEWON. The live jazz bands were extremely good. We had no expectations and eventually were very happy we went to 'All that Jazz'.  There were two bands playing that night. They played old well known jazz songs from America, but also some Brazilian songs. I especially loved it when they improvised. If you come to Seoul, you should def. check this place out. After the jazz bar we went outside to get some food. We got a Moroccan sandwich which was very tasty. Because we went to the jazz bar we kind of forget we were in the infamous area of Itaewon. Soon after we would realize we were. Some foreigners, ahum Americans, were fighting in front of us while we were eating our delicious food. It started between a woman and a man. It was about nothing. They were both just drunk and the woman was looking for a fight. Her boyfriend got in the middle and the drama just continued all the time. I was just enjoying my sandwich from a safe distance. Thijs and Matt were standing quite close and other people as well. Most of them were just recording and making pictures. One moment a guy that came in between hit the woman and then all hell broke loose. Eventually there were about 6 people arguing and fighting. The irony of this was that the police station was just across the street. And no cop showed up. While we were eating some guy behind us said that there's always a fight at that particular spot every week. Me and the guys agreed we wouldn't come here alone at night. Seoul must be one of the safest cities in the world. Seriously. But Itaewon is just crap. Mainly because of the American soldiers and what they attract.

I don't want to make this a sad story or anything. It was one of my best nights in Korea. I took some pictures of the place and of course forget to take some of myself.

Matt

Matt

Matt

Thijs

Thijs

G20 Summit in Seoul

Hi everyone,

I know I have said I would talk about the Hi Seoul Festival and my observations of Korean people in general, but I will talk about that some other time. I'm quite busy now because of the Midterms that are coming up next week. It looks like I'm having fun all the time and not doing anything at the university, but that's not true. Most of the time I'm writing papers, preparing for presentations and doing projects. But who wants to hear about that? =)

There is one thing I would quickly like to say. The G20 Summit 2010 will be held in Seoul. The dates for the world debates are November 11th and 12th.

There is an opportunity to record a video and ask the world leaders something relevant. If you could ask them something, what would you ask? I'm thinking about sending a video soon.

 
To the people who forgot what the G20 Summit is about, here's an introduction for you guys.

Twenty world leaders will come together in Seoul this November to discuss the state of the global economy as it emerges from the financial crisis. Together, they will take the necessary steps to reduce market volatility and move past the crisis, creating sustainable growth going forward. The fall meeting will be the fifth leaders summit and the first in an emerging country, reflecting shifts in the global economic balance and a growing understanding of the interdependence of countries and regions in the international financial system. In addition to heads of government from the twenty member countries, central bankers and finance ministers, the heads of key international institutions, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board, will participate in the  meetings, November 11-12. Member countries include the G8 developed economies along with emerging economies such as the Republic of Korea. Together, the members of the G20 represent over 85% of the world economy.