Springtime can be cold.

I mentioned that we joined a running group in my last post. We went out and ran today with the group. It was perhaps 58-60 degrees out, and raining. It was fine while we were running. We did our post run stretch in the subway station (where we were approached by not one, but two different Korean families who wanted to convert us), and then waited for the bus back to our neighborhood. It was all fine until we got off the bus about 100m from our apartment, then we were COLD. A few minutes under the covers and one bean burger later and I'm warm enough to take a hot shower.

Anyhow, on the bus on the way back we saw 2 trees that still had cherry blossoms. Carolyn pointed out those might have been the last two cherry blossoms we'll see in Asia. Almost a little sad, right? I'm thinking that's okay. We might have to make a spring trip to Japan one day.

Scratching the Surface in Seoul

This weekend Carolyn and I went on a really fun excursion with our good Canadian friends from Busan, Pete and Brit. Friday night after work Brit took the KTX from Busan to Dongdaegu Station where we met her and led her back across town to our apartment. We all crashed pretty hard, woke up at about 6:00am and went back to Dongdaegu station to hop on the 8:17am KTX train to Seoul, the largest city in Korea and easily the biggest city I've ever been to in my life. With a population of 10.4 million in the city itself and 20 million when you include the surrounding area, you can only imagine how much the place bustles...but we'll get there in a minute.

The KTX is an amazing train, so far as I'm concerned. I know that there's faster ones in other parts of the world, but moving at 305km/h through very mountainous terrain is absolutely breathtaking, no matter how cool you might already be! The trip to Seoul only took about an hour and 40 minutes total. When we arrived in Seoul it was obvious that we had moved into a major league city, because there were people everywhere, and people FROM everywhere. I had no idea how few foreigners there were in Daegu until we got to Seoul!

At any rate, one really cool thing about Seoul is the amazingly cool architecture. There are many unorthodox looking buildings no matter where you look. I believe the city is even some sort of world heritage site for architecture or something, but I'm not sure why I think that. There are also some very ancient sites, like Gyeongbokgung Palace and others that make an amazing contrast to the ultra modern buildings surrounding them. The architecture was certainly one of my most favorite things about the city.

Carolyn, Brit, and I headed downtown to near Gyeongbokgung Palace to catch the Seoul City Tour bus, as it's a huge city and we had limited time. So we caught the bus and picked up Pete at Seoul Station, then made our way down to Itaewon. Itaewon is the international district, so we had some western food and Turkish ice cream. When approached by a group of American baptist church members who wanted me to go to their church I said "Anio, Anio, Anio, No Englishee." The puzzled looks on their faces were priceless. We also ate at Taco Bell. It was amazing. It was the best taco bell meal you can ever imagine eating. It had the same gastrointestinal effects as a Taco Bell meal in the US, but with a better flavor.

Our next stop was a Traditional Village where we viewed a taekwondo performance and had a traditional Korean medical checkup. I was told that I am a cold body type, completely average for weight and general health, and that I'm too damp on the inside (they could tell by looking at my tongue). They even gave me traditional medicine for free, but I'm going to ask my coteacher what it is before I try it :). I don't really want to sip on tea made from squirrel weiners or seahorse bladder linings or anything. This was a super neat experience, but I'll probably stick with the hospital for now.

The next place to see was Namsan Seoul Tower...a space needle like tower (a bit shorter) strategically placed on the top of a mountain. The view was absolutely amazing, and we were lucky enough to get there in time for the sunset. The city lights of Seoul started to glow as soon as the sun went down, and it became obvious how big the city really is, and how much movement there is around town. Some long exposures that I made from the tower really show off how vibrant and active Seoul is at night. I could have stayed there all night and just watched the city sparkle. What a great viewpoint of one of the world's greatest cities.

We spent most of the next day wandering around Gyeongbokgung Palace. The palace is huge. I found myself wondering if The Forbidden City in Beijing was of a similar size. To think that so long ago this palace was the seat of the Korean government is pretty stunning, because government buildings aren't usually so beautiful. After much walking around the wind started to pick up and the air was filled with cherry blossoms. Somehow I managed to catch a petal, and they say that when you catch a cherry blossom petal as it falls you will be with the one you love forever, so Carolynis securely mine for good :).

After touring the palace for quite a while, we headed back to Seoul station for the long (short) ride back to Daegu. We were sad to bid adieu to Seoul, but happy to return home to our comfortable beds for a good night's rest before going to work this morning. This was a trip to remember, and Seoul is a city that I think we will have to visit many times if we wish to ever dig deeper than the surface. What a great place.

Being my own Anthony Bourdain

I have enjoyed Anthony Bourdain's television series "No Reservations" for quite some time. I remember two or three years ago having the flu, and watching his episode about Korea while I was waiting for someone to un-double park my car so I could go to the doctor. I remember seeing him eat some really exotic foods and thinking "if I ever went there I would do the same, because he is too freaking cool." Then his episode on Osaka came on and I found my two favorite episodes of his show, all in one miserable afternoon. I've always wanted to have that kind of experience, but Tony has always had one up on me because he has a local with him everywhere he goes to do the ordering and show him how whatever he's eating is supposed to be consumed. That's what I was missing...until last night.

We went out for a Daegu specialty with my coworkers, makchang. Makchang is basically grilled pork intestine dipped in a really spicy and flavorful sauce. Carolyn and I went to the dinner with a bit of trepidation because well, the concept didn't seem so appealing. Once the grill was on and the butts were on the grill though...well things were a little different. They weren't bad at all! In fact, I kinda liked them! We also had samgyeopsal (which was particularly good at this place) and lamyeon (Korean ramen) and plenty of beer. It was a fun outing and after that I figured we would go settle in at home to get an early start on the weekend resting...but just as in the Korea episode of No Reservations, there was to be no break. We piled into the music teacher's car and headed to Sangin-dong for another...MEAL!? We had seriously eaten about 2 pigs and that apparently was not enough, so it was off to eat a raw cow. Well, not a whole cow. Just the meaty bits.

Here I am throwing a munch on some makchang

Our table at Uncle Jang's Makchang

At the new restaurant plates of marinated and raw beef were served. You apparently dip these in different sauces and eat them...raw. When in Korea, eat as the Koreans do, I always say. So I dug in. It tasted a bit like sushi, but one of the marinated varieties was particularly good. I tried everything. Raw beef, raw beef liver, Korean snails (raw), beondaegi (marinated silkworms), and raw beef stomach lining. Not everything was something I would order again on purpose, but nothing was really too scary. The silkworms were not nearly as gross as I imagined they'd be. They tasted a bit like they looked (kinda like the top of a pecan pie, plus dirt). The snail was not my thing, too sandy. The raw beef liver was a bit too ookie for me, but I choked it down anyway. The raw and marinated beef bits though were pretty yummo. Oh, and the stomach lining, not really my thing.

The spread at the Raw Beef House of Joy

Me, the Irishman, and one of my Co-Teachers

About to dig into some beondaegi

After the majority of eating was done and bottles of soju were nearing their way to emptiness another great idea emerged. Drinking games! Now, I've always thought that drinking too much with coworkers was a bad idea, but these people were lots of fun and the odds of having to drink in their games were a bit lower than in American drinking games, so I didn't have to get hammered to participate and have a good time. Hopefully I earned some credibility and bonded a bit, and I feel like I know quite a few of my coworkers a bit better. I bet I'll get more hellos and such in the hallways at school now for sure :).

The only way last night could have gotten more epic would be if we had gone to a no rae bang (singing room, karaoke) and somehow carried the party all the way into the morning. That would have been the complete Korean Nightlife Megapack. Perhaps next time!

I guess I've learned that maybe I should be a little less of a homebody and join in on the late night fun a bit more. Last night was a complete blast and I can't wait to do it again. I believe I have a date with the English department next Friday.