Chuseok—to us uniformed foreigners, we’d say it’s Korean Thanksgiving. And much like American Thanksgiving, it is usually celebrated with your family and involves a lot of places being closed in observance of the long weekend celebration. 

I spent this holiday weekend exploring the Hongdae area of Seoul. It is where Hongik University is located so the area is youthful, artsy, has a lot of nightlife, and a nice variety of bubble tea and cheap food (like all good college towns should!) This is the same area where I previously visited the Meerkat Cafe and would probably have gone again, but it was closed for the holiday. Even though there were quite a few places that were closed for the weekend, I was still able to find plenty of things to see and do. 

One place that was on my wish list and was actually open was Kings Cross, the Harry Potter Cafe. Comparing it to my experience at Universal Studios Harry Potter World, I’d rate this cafe at an 8/10. I had a beer that had cookie crumbles and whipped cream on top which at first seemed disgusting but soon grew on me. In the end I’d actually say I liked it!

As I mentioned, it’s a college town, and there are a lot of affordable food options. First I had good old ‘chicken and beer’ since there were about 20 different places to choose from. Another day I had budae jjigae, or army stew, which is a popular soup typically made with ramen, spam, kimchi, and more. I also had the most delicious boba tea of my life here which was an Okinawan sweet potato black sugar bubble tea—I’ve had dreams about this drink! I also learned about a chain restaurant called Isaac Toast which makes amazing breakfast sandwiches.

Even though it was a holiday weekend, the area was quite busy. At night there were lots of street performers, all looking for their big break to become the next Black Pink or BTS (sadly I don’t think any of the performers that I saw were really bringing their A-game). Another odd thing I noticed while in Hongdae was an abnormal amount of stores and signs relating to cheese….I’m all for it, but it was a bit surprising. 

As far as disappointments, I don’t really think any had to do with the fact that it was Chuseok Holiday. These were things that would have been a let down no matter the time of year. Like going to visit the Hongdae Mural Street which, spoiler—doesn’t have very many murals and definitely not any “good” murals. I saw better street art in other areas around Hongdae, so save yourself the trouble. And sadly, the most disappointing thing was the amount of trash around. It was everywhere, and I wish I could say it was because it was a holiday weekend, but this is a theme I see in a lot of my travels through out Korea. I don’t even think you can blame it on this area being a college town because I once saw an old lady in Seoul (like maybe in her 80’s) carry a small trashcan outside, cross the street, and then pour the trash into a pile on the sidewalk! Then she turned around and went back to her house. Seriously. 

And this is why we can’t use plastic straws…..but Happy Chuseok!