The last two weekends

So two weekends ago I committed to going to TaeBaek mountain with my co-worker, Kayleen, and her Kiwi-Korean boyfriend, James. Tickets were $55 for a 5.5 hour train ride to the mountain, 3 hours of free time, and a boxed dinner on the 5.5 hour return. Sam arrived late Friday night so that he didn't have to try to travel from his city to Seoul in order to make the 7:20 departure time. This early morning leaving meant waking up around 5am. Woof! Nonetheless, we made it! We met Kayleen and James at Yeongdungpo station, got our buttons (think: old people) that let everyone know what tour group we were with, and hopped on this excessively long and seemingly ancient train. Boy, I thought I knew the meaning of slow-moving (and those of you who know me could probably attest that I should be well-acquainted with it, given my speed), but I hadn't seen anything! I truly think that we could've biked there faster. No complaints, though, plenty of time to get to know one another, read, talk, play with little Korean children who have a more extensive vocabulary than people 10x their age.

After a series of short naps, stops, and some beautiful scenery from the windows of our car, we finally arrived at the buses that would take us the remaining 20minutes to TaeBaek, which is near the East coast of Korea. (You won't find the body of water between Korea and Japan called "the Sea of Japan" on any map in this country, but rather the "Yellow Sea." There's a pretty strong hatred of the Japanese here, and a fiery debate over who owns the islets between the countries!) It had snowed several times the previous week, so the area was sufficiently white! We grabbed lunch at one of the few restaurants that wasn't insanely packed and decided to walk up the mountain. Knowing we couldn't make it to the top, we turned around after about an hour so that we could explore what we'd seen at the bottom and make it back to the bus on time. But not before a snowball fight! James and Kayleen were pretty reserved, calm (and sometimes struggling) hikers, but Sam had been building a monster snowball since the beginning of the hike. I saw it coming, so I scurried to make one comparable. Well, I've seen snow in my home state enough to count it on only one hand, and he went to school in Boston. It was a very amusing play fight we had going, but my snowball-engineering techniques left much to be desired, and that snowball he built wasn't as soft when it hit me as it might've looked! (Pictures have already been emailed). Good times, good times.

We walked around the different snow creations when we reached the foot of the mountain. One of the local universities had students who built these great big snow figures and such, 2-3 times larger than life size! There was what looked like a castle gate at the front of it all, complete with electricity! What country, other than Korea, would have a socket in the middle of snow?! Then there was a large hill we paid $4 to sled down for about half an hour, which was pretty exciting. Doing his duty by carrying the backpack with our food and extra jackets, Sam was hindered about midway nearly every time he attempted to sled to the bottom. I think all four of us wiped out at some point or another, but we were most definitely all pretty wet by the end of our runs. James was wearing corduroy pants, which absorb water like a sponge, so his train ride returning was a bit more soggy. We all mounted the bus, and later the train, to return to Seoul. The dinner served was, not surprisingly, mostly rice with some other strange things I didn't always recognize. There was spam, to boot. We played with this really excitable boy who would run up and down the aisles, looking in to see what each pair of people were doing in each seat. He would run to his mother and then run up to us and say, "Nice to meet you!" We really enjoyed it. A great trip!


This past weekend was also a great mini-vacation. Friends have been planning their arrivals in Korea since November! I met Julie at the airport on Friday night and took her back to my apartment where Sam was waiting, but not before arguing with my cab driver, who was asking me to pay $65 for a ride to my apartment that cost $36 on the way from school to the airport (shorter!). He tried to tell me that because it was an airport taxi, he deserved a 20% tip. I told him he was ripping me off, that he took me the long way home, and that I wasn't giving it to him. He had originally said that he knew how to get to my house, but then I heard him asking directions on his cell phone. He offered me a free ride to the police station to have it settled, and I accepted, knowing that they would just let the white girl slide because of the language barrier. Also knowing that he didn't tell me about the 20% tip when Julie and I got in the car. So instead of taking us to the police station, he gave up and settled for what I offered. Jerk!

Saturday morning, Sam, Julie and I all woke up about 7am to take showers and head over to meet Dave and Kurt. They lodged at the W hotel (known for fashion and contemporary decor much more than practicality or bargain prices) which was a good hour and a half away from us. We had brunch with the boys before heading to Gyeongbokgung Palace. I'd been there before and wasn't particularly interested in it, but there was a free performance at 3pm that we wanted to see because of it's promise of traditional appeal. And price. It was interesting, entertaining, hard to understand, and funny. Dave and Sam both fell asleep because it lasted more than an hour! My friend Amy was there to translate a lot of it for us, but even with her dry wit, their conversations seemed lackluster. Regardless, we got traditional Korean foods for lunch and everybody's taste buds seemed to approve. Our next stop was Dongdaemun so that our guests could check out some real shopping. There are three high-rise malls here, with small shops crammed into each one. No one has doors, so you just sort of meander through the maze of clothes, accessories, shoes, bedding, or whatever that floor has designated. We found some pretty amusing shirts, especially those with English words on them that make zero sense to those who do and don't know the language. Outside there were yummy foods to try and everyone got their fill of green tea pancakes and pastries. We walked on over to the CheonGyeCheon from here so that they could see one of my favorite parts of the city lit up in all it's freshly uncovered glory. We got some good pictures and walked a good ways along this stream before ducking into a small bar to try soju (the terrible yet popular drink here that tastes like rubbing alcohol smells) and anjoo (appetizers-- this time there were imitation M&Ms, dried squid, peanuts, green tea crackers, and these small, dried fish, complete with heads and eyes). Dave dared to try one of the fish and had to chase it down with a lot of beer because it was that disgusting. We left this place, some of us more easily than others, and went to meet John, a friend of Dave's and Kurt's co-worker, who promised the good Korean BBQ Kurt was dying for! John took us to a ridiculously fancy restaurant whose bill was equal. We had raw beef with strips of Asian pear, tons of appetizers, and finally the beef put over the grill for us to enjoy BBQing with all the different fixin's. It was nearing 10pm and we needed to head out to Hongdae so that we could give everyone a good idea of what it's like to go out in the hot spot of Seoul. We took taxis so that everyone could get a good view of the city. Except that everyone but me in my taxi fell asleep! Nonetheless, we arrived at Harlem (the name of the particular club that John picked), paid our $15 cover, and danced to music we mostly recognized with people we didn't, until 12:30 when we had to leave to get Sam in before Army curfew. Though our day didn't begin until afternoon, it was quite successful!

Sunday morning, Kurt came over, sans Dave (who had decided to get a second dose of what Korea is really like with a woman he met in their hotel bar), and the four of us went to Dunkin Donuts to satisfy Julie's envie, as well as that of many of her Chinese co-workers who don't have this donut shoppe. We walked out of the store with a box you might usually use for moving, filled with goodies to return with her to Beijing. We went into a church with a neon cross on top to entertain Kurt's curiosity about the Christians in this country. Next, we walked over to the Han to enjoy the breathtaking views and get a few more pictures. Then we said our goodbyes and sent them on their way to the airport, this time in a more trustworthy cab. Southern hospitality in Seoul-- woohoo!

Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed

Regrets

My apologies for not posting last week! I will have a write-up about the past two weekends when I publish next, which should be in the next couple of days. Hope you all had a great weekend! I sure did, and that's part of the reason for my delinquency!! Details to come...

Daejeon and Day-hiking

This past Saturday was spent in Daejeon, where my friend Amy was born and spent the first few years of her life. We took the 1-hour bullet train in the morning and met some friends of her family at the station. If you’ve ever seen an energetic old woman who really just blows you away, that’s exactly what this woman was like! She was no younger than 60 and she was high energy from morning to night. Impressive! We went back to their home where we had lunch that consisted of 30 bowls of different kinds of Korean guest foods. (I’m not kidding about the 30 bowls, either, because I counted and Amy took a picture!) Definitely the best Korean food I’ve had since I’ve been here, but I didn’t touch the fried Spam. Amy talked and translated, and I said a few words and mainly listened. After lunch, we got in the car and headed to find the home Amy’s dad built where she lived when she was a wee one. We saw downtown Daejeon and when we finally found the house (it took a few tries), there was a family living there just like Amy’s! The kids were the same order as Amy and her siblings and we met and talked to the father. I think it was pretty cool, and Amy seemed excited. After that, we went to check out a temple on a mountain. I’m pretty sick of the temples here, not because they aren’t interesting, but because they’re all the exact freaking same! They look alike, smell alike, are all a short hike up the hill, have similar pictures and monks walking around… even though there are tons of them, they’re all alike! Maybe I don’t know enough about them to appreciate it, but if I never see another one while I’m here, I think I’ll be okay with it. Nonetheless, it was some decent exercise, after which we went to see a spa that this couple likes to visit after their hike. She wanted to show us the lobby of this place because it is pretty well known, so we went in and honestly, it looked like the most dreary hospital-type lobby I’ve ever seen. Orange, tan, brown, funky floors, a TV where everyone crowds around to watch as they sit on vinyl benches… I didn’t quite get it, but we only stayed a minute anyway. We had dinner at a restaurant whose door was at just the right angle for everyone in the place to get cold. We sat on the floor and had our food cooked in front of us, though, which kept us pretty warm. And we ate “shabu shabu,” which is like a soup with mushrooms and greens, and when you finish that they put in a big bowl of thick, yummy noodles and cook it in the remaining soup. After the noodles comes the rice (what’s a Korean meal without some “pap”), which is supposed to be one of the tastiest parts of the meal, since it gets stuck to the bottom of the pot and you put water in to loosen it up before eating. It sounds strange, but it’s really pretty good.

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast that consisted of soup, about 10 more bowls of goodies, and then fruit. Fruit here is typically dessert (which is why moist cakes and the sweets I’m used to are few and far between). We then went to the train station, and while Amy returned to Seoul, I headed down to Daegu.

I arrived about lunchtime in “the countryside” and Sam and I decided we’d go for a good hike. We’d already been up the mountain he wanted to visit, but this time he wanted to take me all the way to the top. For a girl from the flatlands of South Louisiana to take this trek with a boy from the hills of Berkeley whose jogs at home consisted of 10-degree slopes, I thought I might be making a mistake! And I managed to forget my tennis shoes, so I had to wear his large and funky sneakers. Walking pants? Those are in the US. So I wore his oversized Army PT uniform. Jacket for extreme temps? He said his was lighter and would be better than my long red coat. So I looked like a little kid in an adult’s clothes, which just made it funnier! We bought some mixed nuts and hydrating drinks for the trek, and Pringles and chocolate for the top. Maybe it’s the Harvard in his past, or maybe it’s that he’s been up this mountain before, but Sam was surely ambitious to get to the top! I, on the other hand, insisted on stopping and enjoying the view, taking pictures, looking at trees and little fat birds. We passed many people who were probably the age of our grandparents and just as spry as you could ever imagine! They had all the hiking clothes and equipment of a professional: backpacks, jackets, boots, and walking sticks. Very cute, and somewhat inspiring. How many overweight people do you know who couldn’t even walk over an anthill? I don’t want to be one of those. I want to be one of these people who passed us up on the trek to the top! And so, we finally made it to the tippy top that had been pointed out to me more than an hour earlier. There was a helipad and a few spots where the Army would retreat to if attacked that Sam knowingly pointed out. We took some more pictures (already emailed out, if you haven’t yet received) and then decided to head down. We came across people who took the cable car up and then wanted to walk down and we smirked at each other and thought, “wusses!” Besides, why do the damage to your knees on the way down and not get the cardio that pulling your big behind up several hundred meters brings? We didn’t fault those who walked up and took the cable car down, though, because we were doing the same! By this time, the oversized sneakers were not my best friends, and my hip was starting to turn against me as well. For $3.50 each, we saved our bodies some wear and tear, and then took the car as far as it would go, and walked the rest of the way. What an afternoon! We decided to celebrate our success with some Indian food (the dot, not the feather) in downtown Daegu. I think anything would’ve been palatable at that point, but the lassi, some kind of red chicken, garlic and cheese nan were especially delicious! And such was yet another great way to spend a weekend in the Far East!

Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed

Filipino Festival, Lunar New Year and Baseball in the cultural part of town

As payment for helping us put the lock-down on Backstreet Boys tickets, Amy and I took Gus to dinner on Wednesday night, his choice. He picked a Czech brewery in the fancy area of town. It was HUGE and right in the middle were large, copper barrels where they brewed their own beer. Amy likes dark beer, I like light, and Gus doesn’t care, so we compromised on a medium-colored brew that was positively deeeelish! It went down smoother than any beer I ever recall having. The food was pretty good—we got some sort of chicken that was doused in hot sauce. And for a Cajun girl, this stuff was H-O-T! Gus was too macho to admit it, but it forced Amy and I to consume more beer than we’d planned.

Amy and I were out shopping for scarves and decided to take a detour around one area in the Northern part of town. We just sort of meandered around and kept seeing Southeast Asians passing us. As we continued walking, we came across a Filipino Festival! They had all sorts of foods, luxury items (Victoria’s Secret Lotion, anyone? Not for $20!), and goodies that I hadn’t ever seen and that I haven’t seen in a while. Once we reached the end of this block-long party, we didn’t want to turn around and walk back through the same crowd, so we figured we’d look for a detour back to the subway. And upon our walk, we happened across an absolutely beautiful campus! I don’t think we were supposed to be walking around where we were since we aren’t paying tuition there, but nonetheless, it was quite exciting to have the sprawl of a rural campus right in the middle of the world’s 5th largest city! There were trees, shady streets, lots of space between buildings, dormitories (ahh—it brought me back!), chapels, etc. It was really cool! Amy didn’t seem as excited about it as me, though she’s from New York and went to school upstate. I thought it was fantastic! When we finally made our way back to the street after exploring the nearby playground and large visitor maps (for parents, not passers-by), we noticed a big sign for the Catholic University of Korea. If I ever am looking to go to school in Asia, it’d be worth checking out!

I took Sam to see Insa-Dong, the cultural part of town I’ve mentioned many times before. He had never been and I just wanted someone from “the country” to see what this area is known for as well as be able to refer back to this place when our friends come in February or if anyone requests cultural gifts to be shipped back home. Shortly after we exited the subway, this former high school pitcher heard the familiar clanking sound of metal against leather and asked to check it out. I figured I might be in for an afternoon of cheerleading, but I doubt he’ll ever see another batting cage in Seoul, so I obliged. $.50 and about 10 minutes later, we were throwing away our hot chocolate cups and exiting the small building. The whole place wasn’t bigger than 40feet by 20 feet. The floor in the center dipped down to a drain-type thing where all the balls would roll in and be put on a conveyer belt that took them to the machine that launched them back out. Hey, you have to be efficient with small spaces!

This past weekend was Lunar New Year, as many Koreans won’t call it “Chinese New Year.” It’s the second biggest holiday in this country behind Chuseok (their Thanksgiving) and one of the few days when workers don’t spent 14 hours at their offices, since most businesses are closed. I decided I would sleep, catch up on email and dinners with local friends, and go to Seoul Land Amusement Park while I had the extra day off. (Pictures already emailed out—let me know if you didn’t receive them and want to).

There’s a rumor that 50Cent is supposed to play in Seoul on March 1st. I’ve seen rap live (for free) and I think it’s terrible. There are normally 40 people on stage, hollering and spitting all over the microphone, while they rap over a track and do the radio or CD version practically no justice. Yes, I like rap. No, I don’t like rap concerts. Would I pay to see “fitee cen,” as his beloved fans call him? Depends on the company who would join me, but I’d consider it. Would I have paid to see the Backstreet Boys in the USA? Doubtful. But in Korea, it’s entertaining, amusing, and a whole different experience. The men in pastels, standing up and getting excited about a boy band was amusement enough, but I can only imagine a bunch of Koreans attempting to keep up with the lyrics of a fast-paced group jamming about $800 grand worth of dental work.
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed