동대문, 한우, 그리고 긴 밤

I have become a little bit spoiled I suppose. I had Loren in Seoul to hang out with and show me around, introducing me to new people and experiences. Before that, in Tokyo there were the Anzai’s and Fran and Dennis. Now thinking ahead to Misawa, I don’t know what I am going to do. Maybe just go back to old fashioned way of meeting people. I have been fortunate though. It’s pretty cool to have friends all over the world, especially the ones I have. This was my last real weekend in Korea and although a little sad, and despite the torrential rains, I managed to have a great time. After a very wet Friday, I thought it was going to clear up, but after meeting Ann
and Francie for coffee in Myeongdong, the skies started to darken and it was like 6 p.m. at noon. The skies let us wander around for awhile shopping and having fun but when we finally stopped in a tea shop, the bottom fell out and it rained hard. We quick-walked across the street to a café and drank more coffee, stalling there as long as we could. We decided (for some reason) to take a taxi to Dongdaemun and walked in ankle deep water to the street corner. Apparently we were the last three people waiting for the last available taxi in Seoul, because we waited and waited dangling our hands out everytime we saw a taxi coming. Finally, the last available taxi in Seoul showed up, and took us out of what was now a river, formerly a major street, and dropped us off into another river a few miles down the road. We were just glad to have a warm and dry ride. So, umbrellas up and wet from the waist down, we careened and collided with other umbrella-armed citizens for a short eternity until after having not stopped and not spoken a word, Ann finally stopped and said what we were all thinking: “This is ridiculous!” We decided that food was in order so we slushed on in silence and soaking wet. The restaurant we found was a quaint looking place in an alley and on arrival the owner met us at the door stating, “Only beef!” like three times. I was trying to contain my hunger because I was going to dinner with Loren in a couple of hours, but the guy simply didn’t want to allow me to not eat a full meal. I kept saying two and pointing to Ann and Francie and counting them for him. As if he thought I was an idiot and didn’t know how to count myself, he repeated one two, three, emphasizing that I was number three. He even translated it into Korean for me, hana, tul, set, as if that would clear it up. Finally, I gave in, weary of yet another circular conversation. At that point I would have eaten leaves and grass. This is not a sea story but, this is no shit: the servers brought out grass soup, and a pile of leaves. Then assorted other things and a big pile of beef. We looked at each other helplessly because we really had no idea what to do with this stuff. Then the owner person brought a bucket of fiery coals and put them in the middle of the table with a grill on top. We still kind of looked at each other for a minute and the servers, I guess, felt sorry for us and proceeded to show us how to place the beef, mushrooms and garlic on the grill, mix up other stuff, put it on a leaf and then add the cooked meat, wrap it up in a neat little bundle and eat it. It was sooooo good. Feeling empowered by this great knowledge we ate a hot meal and warmed ourselves by the fire. After a hearty meal we decided that slopping along in a foot of water in single file, not speaking a word to eat other and shivering from the cold was not a great way to spend the remaining hours of the day and said our goodbyes. I went to Loren’s house, purged and went out for another steak dinner. Would you believe it was exactly the same meal as I had just eaten? The difference was that the beef was Hanu or Hanwoo beef, raised in Korea and considered a Korean cultural icon, is so tasty, tender and succulent. We ate again and I enjoyed it immensely, but I did confess to Loren about my earlier meal. Apparently in Korean restaurants, you can eat, drink, smoke, burp and fart, but it is not proper to say, “wow this tastes just like Kobe beef (Japanese beef).” Everybody stopped talking and dropped their metal chopsticks with a loud collective crash. Quickly realizing I had created yet another cultural snafu (in a long line of many), I added, “but sooooo much better!” Everyone resumed their meal but kept an eye on me. After dinner and another good purge, we hit the road, met up with Hunter, Sang Yeop, and a gathering entourage for a night on the town with So-Maek, Karaoke, and, yes, another meal at around 2 a.m. Fortunately the ongoing rain drove away many of the sugar plums for fear of melting, so we had the streets to ourselves, finally wrapping it all up at 5 a.m. What a great finale for my Seoul experience! After a few more days of work I pass the torch to a new MFLC and head back to the city for a final night before catching a flight outta here on Monday. Again, I like Korea very much and hope to come back, maybe at Christmas. We shall see. My pictures are Ann and Francie, Sandy and her Happy KORever coffee cup, an Ice Cream Corn stand, and Karma performers in Insadong.

Lanterns, Conversations and Dobongsan

Columbus Day weekend was another good one. A lot of milestones here. I went Saturday to the Jinju Lantern Festival in South South Korea. Loren called me with the idea Friday night and he told me his friend Hunter was coming too. So after my 2 hour commute to Loren’s apartment we got on a bus to travel another 4 ½ hours. The festival had millions of lights and at least a thousand lanterns all along the river banks and floating in the river. All sorts and sizes in so much detail that it was hard to imagine the hours that went into making one. We put paper pieces on a lantern, ate rotisserie chicken from the back of a truck that tasted awesome but would probably not meet USDA and OSHA standards. The lady brought it to our table and proceeded to rip it apart with her hands causing juice and steam to go everywhere, gave us chopsticks and a roll of toilet paper. That and the cigarette hanging out of her mouth and the whooping cough gave me pause but I was starving. After we ate and had a beverage, we shot roman candles off the bridge, walked the city wall, ate some interesting chewy candy and set about finding a place to sleep since it was 11 o’clock and we were homeless in Jinju. Well, nothing was available and after “Bang isoyo”-ing every hotel we could find, we opted to go to another town close-by where, rumor had it, there were rooms available. So at 1230 a.m. we checked in at the charming Diamond Hotel in Sacheon, a real love hotel! For a cheap price we got our room and went out for Soju, beer and the most interesting fruit plate I have ever seen with food I have no idea what they were or how to explain them. There was watermelon and grapes so at least something was recognizable. I learned you can drink Soju from little shot glasses or you can mix it with beer and as it turns out, it will make you sing with conviction at a norebang and dance on a rooftop at 4 in the morning. Who knew? Soju and Maekju (beer) is So-maek. The things I learn. Got up this morning to hike up Dobongsan, a cool granite mountain where you can climb up and stand on the cold, naked and windy peak and see for miles and miles. My cohort Sandy went too making for good conversation on the long and sometimes grueling climb. It had rocks to clamber over, steps built in at some spots, and ropes to pull yourself up on the steep or slick spots. I did obtain a major life threatening injury when my foot slipped while rappelling off the top and cracked into the cliff face. Maybe not life threatening but it did hurt especially since I had a long return to the bottom of the hill ahead, but it looked cool and made people gasp when they saw me slip and then crash into the wall. Through this flooding experience, I think I am cured of my debilitating fear of falling. I felt a little heroic. We got back into town as night fell and were very happy we weren’t still trying to make our way in the dark. So I bought a puffy coat, a couple of gimbaps for dinner and some maekju and came back to the hacienda. The guy at the front desk asked what I did today and I told him and made the awful mistake of adding that my legs felt like rubber bands. He responded, “you broke them?’; “No I just climbed Dobongsan”; “So your legs feel bad?”; “Yes, they are tired”: “Oh really, Why”; I just climbed Dobongsan”; “ So you are feeling tired?” “AAAAAHHHHHH!” I think he was messing with me, but I can’t be sure…damn language barrier has been my downfall in Korea. I feel sad to be leaving, but having a normal conversation will be refreshing.