Yeouido

Yeouido Island is a business park located on an island in the middle of the Han River. I had heard of the place many months before I ever came here, so I knew I would want to see the Korean version of a skyscraper at some point. With little to do before classes started, I took a subway into the heart of Yeouido (yoh-wei-doh) on Sunday morning.

The Seoul Metro is a polished and airy way to get around the city in no time. I am reluctant to delay so many posts for later on, but like Hongdae and foreigners, I want to wait until I know a bit more. In short, the trip was startling quiet and clean, even by Washington, D.C. Metro standards.

What I found on the island was a bit dissapointing, there was none of the grandeur or immense size of Midtown Manhattan, but it was very spacious. The center of the island is a large public park, where dozens of families took advantage of the Sunday afternoon to rent rollerblades and make their awkward way around the bike paths.
On one side of the park is the headquarters of the Korean Broadcasting System, kind of like NBC in America. The building was unremarkable, but stretched out along the sidewalk was a long banner carrying anti-President Lee Myung-Bak slogans. Nearby were some caricatures of the Presidents and even an angry-looking cow, (i.e. a "mad cow").

Coming out of Yeouido I took some pictures of the local oilbank (gas station, gas here is about $8 a gallon) and some of the more impressive sights from the bridge.
...and the largest church I've ever seen.