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I want to go to New Zealand first...

I think North Korea is better. Never been there though

OMG Korea has fiber topsites and starcraftTV !!!!!!!!!!!!

Although I've never been to Korea I recognize the reaction, I felt the same after visiting China this summer: Lot's of things to see, lot's of variation (one day you're in megacities like Beijing and Xian and the next day you're horse riding in the Himalayas), very friendly people, great food, etc.

dodke, it was :)

South Korea? Seoul IS south korea.

I just wonder why there are so many koreans in the US who never want to go back?

Perhaps it means there is a very big flaw in your understanding of basic reality.
I don't know really, uh ?! Just guessing... :D

Nono..

its true. S. Korea may be interesting to you as a tourist. But fact is that wages suck and you work like a slave.

Oh ? Really ? :)

ORLY

Seoul suck i prefer Pusan :)

Amitari: Well, it was a pretty secluded country until the korean war, but ever since then progress has been massive. The comsumption of electrical power has gone up 768% from ...eh....the 60s, I think, until this day. In the same period, denmark has dropped 10%! Ok, ok - I know that koreans probably started at a very low, close to rock bottom, more likely, but it's just amazing. I tell you, it's really high tech over there and ultra-modern, but all nicely mixed with this kongfucianism, which seems to make it all look reasonable and not far-out-there, if you know what I mean.



Shifter: Started with 6 days in Seoul, where we stayed at Hotel Hamilton in Itaewon, a quite americanized zone in Seoul, but very lively with around-the-clock action. We visited the Kyongbok palace, Nam Dae Mun market, Dong Dae Mun market (horrible for a man, since it's all about fabrics and clothes...), Koreak Folk Village just south of Seoul and ended with a visit to the DMZ at Panmunjom (A really sad story. I tell you, it's nations behaving like children on 24 hour display up there, massively!!!).
Then we flew down to "the hawaii of korea", meaning Cheju island. Nice, volcanic island where it was warm enough to take a dip in the ocean. Went to a karaoke bar. Massive fun.
Flew to Busan a couple of days later. Stayed at the Novotel Ambassador right at Haeundae beach (best beach in korea, they say...), went to a fish market, ate live octopus and washed it down with Soju.
After 2 days, we continued north to Kyoungju, which really IS a museum with no walls. The entire city and the surroundings are like stepping back in time - it just oozes there, you know? We saw tonnes of royal tombs, met the governor of the Kyoungju province (he trew us a dinner party, where we where entertained by drumming dancers - we were told we could join them, so I did, naturally - funny funny funny!), saw the Yangdong village, went up in the mountains and saw what they call "the most perfect Buddha worldwide" in a cave called the Sokkuram grotto. The funny thing about this Buddha statue is that it's been carved from granite, which does not exist in korea at all - where did it come from? Who brought it there?
Visited Bulguksa palace (awesome place, but too crowded) which is quite close to the grotto. Awesome autumn scenery, I tell you. One should really visit korea this late, where all the trees are displaying all kinds of colours.
Drove from Kyongju past the Haeinsa temple where more than 80000 carved plates containing buddhist inscriptions are stored. They're more than 800 years old and still in prime condition due to the ingenious store facility from back then. Oh, this collection is called the "Tripitaka" and is one of koreas most valued treasures. Imagine having carved chinese letters on 80000 plates mirrored! That must have taken some time....Ended up back in Seoul where we visited Korea House for a last night of korean old-style entertaiment and great food. Awesome journey!

Oh, I forgot to mention one small thing: In Korea, the japanese are hated quite like the germans are hated throughout europe. JSYK.

"kongfucianism"
you sound like a real expert who is experienced enough to write a travel report for hugi.

xeNusion: You could be right. However, I just can't be bothered. Copy'n'paste what I wrote above, if you like... ;)

germans are hated throughout europe?

dodke: Not so much anymore, I must admit. At least not among young people. However, in the southern parts of denmark, in alsace and other parts of europe, there used to be rather strong feelings towards germany and the germans. I guess that's quite normal when it comes to aggressors.... the south koreans are not hating the japanese THAT much these days, but they remember history and are quite cautious when dealing with the japanese. And the japanese know this and somewhat apologize for the harm they have inflicted on the koreans, so whenever a japanese visits korea, you will see this persons acting very humble and respectful - almost borderline obnoxious.

oh well as for alsace goes, don't bother, french are hated there as well ;) and in other places through europe too.. germans no longer have the status of black sheep of europe..

Let's hate someone else, for a change. I'm so tired of hating USA. We need fresh blood - how about hating antarctica?

Fuck polarbears!

I think that's the Arctic region, you're referring to....

I don't feel very atracted by korea, maybe it's because I never had a real interest about it, and the only korean movie I've seen is kinda spooky (oldboy). And I've seen a documentary about starcraft players there... that... uhh. Scares me a lot...
Europe is the more balanced of the continents.

[quite]Europe is the more balanced of the continents.[/quite]

LOL.

Ok, hehe...just MUST have been joking, right?

Yes, a lot of true things about korea has been uttered here. Yes, it's true that they work quite hard and yes, it's true that they only have 7 days of vacation every year (unless you're a CEO or something like that, where you can afford taking more time off and go play golf, or something...).

Seriously, the people thinking that the west is more balanced than the east should save money for a trip there. You WILL be educated, I promise you.

[quite][/quite]??????????

c'mon, xernobyl is like 16 or something, he has no idea how the world really works yet :)