A Trip to Han River

by Riveka Thevendran (New Zealand)

A leap into the unknown Korea South

I turned to look at my best friend, L, as she practically vibrated where she stood while we navigated our way alongside the thick groups of crowd forming all around us by the exit to Yeouinaru Station, painfully slowly. It was our very first vacation together in Seoul! Everyone we had ever talked to about Seoul stressed two words: Han River! HAN RIVER! As soon as we stepped out of the exit, I took in a sharp breath of air. For some reason, I was expecting to see the river just stretched out as far as the eye could see right before us. Instead, the first thing I heard was BTS’s “Dionysus” blasting out of stereos somewhere close by. We looked at each other before rushing towards where the sound was coming from. We finally found the source of it, blocked off by a tight ring of people gleefully watching the performers. When I finally managed to push a few people apart and sneak in, I was shocked to see bright lights set up all around the group while they pushed props about the inside of the circle and proceeded to climb on top to mimic the actual choreography. There was a dance instructor guiding them on positioning before the music started up again and professional dancers took their places on and around the props. We stood there for a while just watching the agile and almost erotic movements of the artists before us, decked out in costume and makeup as though they were shooting a music video for their original debut song! “We should probably go chill by the river now…” L trailed off and I nodded absentmindedly, forcing my eyes to look away and turn to my right. We walked briskly towards the river before stopping again. A huge sign was erected right in front of us, spelling out the words ‘I ❤️ Seoul’, behind which was another sea of people. The next twenty or so minutes was spent finding the ideal picnic spot. Finally, we settled down further away from the crowd and on top of concrete road as opposed to soft, prickly grass which barely had any space left. We were sitting right by the river and yet, we had barely spared a glance its way as our attention was now grabbed by teens in roller skates, throwing frisbees all around us while dogs were yanking their owners every which way. I winced as another Frisbee flew a little closer to our spot and a roller skater whizzed past, trying not to crash into anybody. “This is so cool!” I couldn’t agree more with you, L! After another ‘almost-hit’, we finally turned towards the fabled Han River and … forgot how to breathe. The combination of a gentle evening breeze cooling us down and the bright lights from the streets far ahead of us reflecting on the black waters of the calm river was not what took our breath away. It was a magnificent cruise ship that glowed bright gold and lit up the river as it trailed gently past us that did the trick. We watched the ship go before looking at each other and letting out soft giggles. “Seoul!” L whispered. “Seoul!” I whisper-shouted in excitement. We laid down on our backs after eating up the most delicious take-out pizza in our lives and watched the glittering silver orbs filling the night sky above us. “You notice something?” L suddenly asked. “It’s so quiet here!” Indeed, the sounds of movement, elation and activity was almost gone. I sat up and looked around to see that the crowd has thinned considerably. I checked the time before I felt the blood drain from my face. “We are going to miss the last train!” I laughed quietly to myself as we sprang to our feet and packed our belongings in record time before rushing to the subway, knowing we are going to explore Seoul a bit more than what we had planned tonight as the train had already left and we had little to no idea of how to get back. “Well, shit!” L exclaimed, before turning towards me and laughing. “Man, we’re in Seoul!”