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
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
posted by LSULiv | 3:39 PM
1 Comments:
I speak to the cabbies in Korean! This one was still a jerk!
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