Of the Infinite Kindness of Korean People
or
The Art of Being Drunk Dialed by a Student
or
The Art of Being Drunk Dialed by a Student
So, there we were, relaxing at home at about 10:30 Saturday night when John's phone rings. Its one of his students offering to take us out Monday for sightseeing. This was really cool, even if it was a little strange to get a call so late. It left us wondering what the cut off time here is, and if it even existed for people who are not married. So we went to sleep pretty happy that night. Sunday morning John got another call where the student wanted to know what they had talked about cause he was pretty drunk... "I believe we have an appointment?" Well I was afraid at that point that he didn't intend on offering such a nice opportunity to us, but it is now Tuesday morning and I'm certain this student wanted to hang!
So, John's friend, Wonook, brought along two of his friends as well, a girl, HaeJin, and a guy Sae...(cant remember the rest of his name~.~) and we piled into Wonook's car and got driving. First he took us to the Korean Traditional Village right in the middle of Seoul. For those of you familiar with Genesee country museum, or any other mock folk village, this place is essentially the same thing. People are walking around in costumes, they have games you can play, you can get your fortune told for $2 or you can get a Chinese calligraphy sign for $1 (it was beautiful, but the line was really long, I want to go back). Of course there are also traditional style houses for you to walk around and look in. They are really cool. There were a lot of tourists there, mostly Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. Very few westerners and almost no Koreans. This nice Chinese guy was trying to explain to us a Chinese sign that was on an old building. He spoke pretty good English, but it was still difficult for him to translate this old meaning... but basically it meant peace. This is the place that many Korean Dramas (their word for a serious TV show) are filmed when it must take place in the past.
Wanook's friend Sae had used many of the old style tools we found when he was a boy since he lived out in the country. Wanook and HaeJin had lived their entire life in Seoul, so they didn't have any experience with these things. All of our Korean guides had also never been to these touristy places, so it was a great experience for all of us.
Then we went to one of the Korean Palaces. The really big palace is currently going through a huge renovation... apparently is was turned into a zoo under the Japanese occupation of the country during WWII, and the Korean government just decided to return it to its natural state. They say it will take about 2 years, so I wont get a chance to see it :( The palace we did see was still pretty big. It was made of several large buildings and an enormous throne building. It was all painted in really vibrant colors except for a few buildings. There was also a huge statue of King SaeJong, who was responsible for devising the current Korean writing system ,Hangile, back in the 1500's. He was also cool cause he wanted equal opportunities for people of all income levels especially where education is concerned. They have a holiday later in the year just for him too, Korean's are pretty proud of him, and is was a pretty decent guy.
After that we went to lunch at a nice little place. I had Dolsit BiBimBap (my fav) and John had Bulgogi soup with rice, he said it was good. Our guides had a really spicey tofu (or dubu as they say it) mix with rice and veggies... it was the first time I had ever heard a Korean person complain that something was too hot! Anyway, it was really good! After that we went to Insadong.
Insadong street is this road that no cars are supposed to drive on, just people walking. But of course this is Korea so there was one car that drove down it. It is filled with really cool little shops. There are a lot of traditional Korean shops, and general art shops, pottery shops, food shops, restaurants, tea houses, and street vendors. Its a really nice place, similar to Greenwhich village in NYC, just a bit more traditional. Starbucks wanted to put a store on that street, and a lot of people protested, so Starbucks made a deal and put their sign in Hangil (The Korean letters) so it wouldn't look so western... I don't think people are happy with it, but at least there was a compromise... Red Mango did the same thing.
After that we went to a traditional tea house and didn't have tea. well I mean, they were calling it tea, but it was more like a traditional drink than a tea. John and I got a sweet rice drink which actually had bits of rice in it, and it had a very mild sweetness to it, pretty good. Two of our guides had a cinnamon drink which was awesome. The fifth drink was a cereal drink... it was kinda grainy and tasted like brown rice, it was actually quite good. These were all cold drinks. They cost $5 but came with 1 free refill, so re refilled them and switched them around the table so we could have different drinks. It was a really cool place, totally worth a return visit.
After that we went to a toy museum... it was only $1 to get it (so was the palace and the village was free!) It was a small place FILLED with toys from America, Korea, Japan from the 1950s to now. He also had several birds in cages... one of them was a small red headed parrot. The sign above his tiny cage said he could say "Anyonghasayo" which means hello in Korean. We stood there for a while trying to get him to say it and he just stared at us. He was really cute though, and I started to feel really bad for him, his cage looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks and he didn't have any food, the water was dirty and he didn't have any toys. Parrots are really smart animals, they need mental stimulation. So I hung out with him for a while. He kept grabbing my finger and hanging on to it... his nails looked abnormally long, I don't know much about keeping birds as pets, but this didn't look good. Well after a few min of holding my hand he said anyonghaseyo to me and he also started to mimic my voice. He would make little squawking sounds and I would say "What?" in a cute high pitched voice, and he really did a great job matching my intonation (better than some of my students) I was really sad to leave him since I know they live long lives and he wont have a nice one. I noticed he was missing a lot of feathers which I know is a sign of stress in birds... In Korea people love to get pets, but they don'
t like to care for them for a long time... Sadly we left, but John did snap a picture of the bird for me, I just wish more people would care for animals, I think it would make this a happier place.
Anyway there were all kinds of toys there, tons of Godzillas, and Simpsons stuff, and Starwars stuff too. It was pretty interesting. As we were leaving an old man walked in and didn't want to pay for his grand son, he said to the man, why should I have to pay for a child? I thought it was pretty funny since it only cost $1 and the museum is really more for kids than old men. Well he didn't pay for the kid, just walked in with the kid. Anther interesting site when leaving was a stroller tucked away in a small space next to the entrance with a sleeping baby in it... no parents around. You have to go up a flight of stairs to go in the museum and all I can assume is the parents didnt want to wake the baby up to bring their older child upstairs, so they left the kid downstairs... I have no clue if this is correct, but there was no one with the stoller...
After that we were going to try and find a bowling alley, but they were closed due to the ChewSuck holiday. So we decided to go to NamSan Tower instead. Nam is a mountain in the middle of Seoul and on that is a Tower that is over 200 m tall. San means mountain. We parked in a lot at the base of the mountain and hopped on a bus that cost $1 per person. The bus went up the mountain most of the way. It was a scary curvy road that was shared by walkers, runners and bicyclers. I am always shocked that more people are not hit be vehicles in this country. I was also shocked that this bus was able to make it up the hills. Well the bus did not drop us off at the top, that would not be possible. We had to walk the rest of the way and it was extremely steep! It was only a few minutes of walking, but I was dying at the end. Thank god I had John to drag me up. He said he would give me a piggy back ride, but I was actually wearing a skirt and at 145 lbs, I think I would cause him to fall backwards down a rather steep hill... people bowling.
Well, at the top of the mountain there was a lot to do and see. We could go up in the tower for $7 but decided against it. I think I want to return some day and go all the way up, any takers? There is a cafe and ice cream place. There is a big fenced in observation deck were I could see the building I work in... it is about 30-40 min away depending on traffic. The fence was covered in master locks with peoples names written on them. Apparently couples attach locks there with the date to signify they will always be together... awwww. There were also some rude American girls up there. In Korea they walk on the left when going up or down stairs, and these girls were shouting at people "walk on the right" obviously they were completely clueless. We went in the basement of the tower and played some traditional Korean games. OH, I forgot to mention the SeeSaw at the village. There is this really cool seesaw thing where you try and make the other person jump really high with the use of a seesaw, I did it and it was really fun, totally want to do it again! (Next time I will wear pants!)
Well after the mountain we took the bus back down and decided to go for dinner. Wanook's parents own a nice modern Korean restaurant about 20 min from where we work. It was really nice. I had vegetable rice porridge (Yachae Jook) and John had their signature dish yonghyebaeksuk which he said was awesome. We had a really nice time, and Wanook gave us the same two dishes to go so we could eat them for ChewSuck! Amazing! Afterwards he took us back to our street and John and I got out. I really hope we get to hang out with them again, they were really nice people. They are all moving to NJ in a few months to work for the store Against All odds, some kind of internship. I wish we could be there to show them around NYC!
Well, the night had a perfect closer as the new ColdStone Creamery had just opened a few days ago. We walked it and they all shouted, in English, "Welcome to Cold Stone!" The girl who helped us was super nice and made our treat fast. She even spoke good English! Well it was a difficult walk home since we were both so stuff, but it was all great food and great fun. We took a bunch pictures and I will add them in here later today, and we will put the rest in an album online for you to check out.
Anyway, Happy ChewSuck!
So, John's friend, Wonook, brought along two of his friends as well, a girl, HaeJin, and a guy Sae...(cant remember the rest of his name~.~) and we piled into Wonook's car and got driving. First he took us to the Korean Traditional Village right in the middle of Seoul. For those of you familiar with Genesee country museum, or any other mock folk village, this place is essentially the same thing. People are walking around in costumes, they have games you can play, you can get your fortune told for $2 or you can get a Chinese calligraphy sign for $1 (it was beautiful, but the line was really long, I want to go back). Of course there are also traditional style houses for you to walk around and look in. They are really cool. There were a lot of tourists there, mostly Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. Very few westerners and almost no Koreans. This nice Chinese guy was trying to explain to us a Chinese sign that was on an old building. He spoke pretty good English, but it was still difficult for him to translate this old meaning... but basically it meant peace. This is the place that many Korean Dramas (their word for a serious TV show) are filmed when it must take place in the past.
Wanook's friend Sae had used many of the old style tools we found when he was a boy since he lived out in the country. Wanook and HaeJin had lived their entire life in Seoul, so they didn't have any experience with these things. All of our Korean guides had also never been to these touristy places, so it was a great experience for all of us.
Then we went to one of the Korean Palaces. The really big palace is currently going through a huge renovation... apparently is was turned into a zoo under the Japanese occupation of the country during WWII, and the Korean government just decided to return it to its natural state. They say it will take about 2 years, so I wont get a chance to see it :( The palace we did see was still pretty big. It was made of several large buildings and an enormous throne building. It was all painted in really vibrant colors except for a few buildings. There was also a huge statue of King SaeJong, who was responsible for devising the current Korean writing system ,Hangile, back in the 1500's. He was also cool cause he wanted equal opportunities for people of all income levels especially where education is concerned. They have a holiday later in the year just for him too, Korean's are pretty proud of him, and is was a pretty decent guy.
After that we went to lunch at a nice little place. I had Dolsit BiBimBap (my fav) and John had Bulgogi soup with rice, he said it was good. Our guides had a really spicey tofu (or dubu as they say it) mix with rice and veggies... it was the first time I had ever heard a Korean person complain that something was too hot! Anyway, it was really good! After that we went to Insadong.
Insadong street is this road that no cars are supposed to drive on, just people walking. But of course this is Korea so there was one car that drove down it. It is filled with really cool little shops. There are a lot of traditional Korean shops, and general art shops, pottery shops, food shops, restaurants, tea houses, and street vendors. Its a really nice place, similar to Greenwhich village in NYC, just a bit more traditional. Starbucks wanted to put a store on that street, and a lot of people protested, so Starbucks made a deal and put their sign in Hangil (The Korean letters) so it wouldn't look so western... I don't think people are happy with it, but at least there was a compromise... Red Mango did the same thing.
After that we went to a traditional tea house and didn't have tea. well I mean, they were calling it tea, but it was more like a traditional drink than a tea. John and I got a sweet rice drink which actually had bits of rice in it, and it had a very mild sweetness to it, pretty good. Two of our guides had a cinnamon drink which was awesome. The fifth drink was a cereal drink... it was kinda grainy and tasted like brown rice, it was actually quite good. These were all cold drinks. They cost $5 but came with 1 free refill, so re refilled them and switched them around the table so we could have different drinks. It was a really cool place, totally worth a return visit.
After that we went to a toy museum... it was only $1 to get it (so was the palace and the village was free!) It was a small place FILLED with toys from America, Korea, Japan from the 1950s to now. He also had several birds in cages... one of them was a small red headed parrot. The sign above his tiny cage said he could say "Anyonghasayo" which means hello in Korean. We stood there for a while trying to get him to say it and he just stared at us. He was really cute though, and I started to feel really bad for him, his cage looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks and he didn't have any food, the water was dirty and he didn't have any toys. Parrots are really smart animals, they need mental stimulation. So I hung out with him for a while. He kept grabbing my finger and hanging on to it... his nails looked abnormally long, I don't know much about keeping birds as pets, but this didn't look good. Well after a few min of holding my hand he said anyonghaseyo to me and he also started to mimic my voice. He would make little squawking sounds and I would say "What?" in a cute high pitched voice, and he really did a great job matching my intonation (better than some of my students) I was really sad to leave him since I know they live long lives and he wont have a nice one. I noticed he was missing a lot of feathers which I know is a sign of stress in birds... In Korea people love to get pets, but they don'
t like to care for them for a long time... Sadly we left, but John did snap a picture of the bird for me, I just wish more people would care for animals, I think it would make this a happier place.
Anyway there were all kinds of toys there, tons of Godzillas, and Simpsons stuff, and Starwars stuff too. It was pretty interesting. As we were leaving an old man walked in and didn't want to pay for his grand son, he said to the man, why should I have to pay for a child? I thought it was pretty funny since it only cost $1 and the museum is really more for kids than old men. Well he didn't pay for the kid, just walked in with the kid. Anther interesting site when leaving was a stroller tucked away in a small space next to the entrance with a sleeping baby in it... no parents around. You have to go up a flight of stairs to go in the museum and all I can assume is the parents didnt want to wake the baby up to bring their older child upstairs, so they left the kid downstairs... I have no clue if this is correct, but there was no one with the stoller...
After that we were going to try and find a bowling alley, but they were closed due to the ChewSuck holiday. So we decided to go to NamSan Tower instead. Nam is a mountain in the middle of Seoul and on that is a Tower that is over 200 m tall. San means mountain. We parked in a lot at the base of the mountain and hopped on a bus that cost $1 per person. The bus went up the mountain most of the way. It was a scary curvy road that was shared by walkers, runners and bicyclers. I am always shocked that more people are not hit be vehicles in this country. I was also shocked that this bus was able to make it up the hills. Well the bus did not drop us off at the top, that would not be possible. We had to walk the rest of the way and it was extremely steep! It was only a few minutes of walking, but I was dying at the end. Thank god I had John to drag me up. He said he would give me a piggy back ride, but I was actually wearing a skirt and at 145 lbs, I think I would cause him to fall backwards down a rather steep hill... people bowling.
Well, at the top of the mountain there was a lot to do and see. We could go up in the tower for $7 but decided against it. I think I want to return some day and go all the way up, any takers? There is a cafe and ice cream place. There is a big fenced in observation deck were I could see the building I work in... it is about 30-40 min away depending on traffic. The fence was covered in master locks with peoples names written on them. Apparently couples attach locks there with the date to signify they will always be together... awwww. There were also some rude American girls up there. In Korea they walk on the left when going up or down stairs, and these girls were shouting at people "walk on the right" obviously they were completely clueless. We went in the basement of the tower and played some traditional Korean games. OH, I forgot to mention the SeeSaw at the village. There is this really cool seesaw thing where you try and make the other person jump really high with the use of a seesaw, I did it and it was really fun, totally want to do it again! (Next time I will wear pants!)
Well after the mountain we took the bus back down and decided to go for dinner. Wanook's parents own a nice modern Korean restaurant about 20 min from where we work. It was really nice. I had vegetable rice porridge (Yachae Jook) and John had their signature dish yonghyebaeksuk which he said was awesome. We had a really nice time, and Wanook gave us the same two dishes to go so we could eat them for ChewSuck! Amazing! Afterwards he took us back to our street and John and I got out. I really hope we get to hang out with them again, they were really nice people. They are all moving to NJ in a few months to work for the store Against All odds, some kind of internship. I wish we could be there to show them around NYC!
Well, the night had a perfect closer as the new ColdStone Creamery had just opened a few days ago. We walked it and they all shouted, in English, "Welcome to Cold Stone!" The girl who helped us was super nice and made our treat fast. She even spoke good English! Well it was a difficult walk home since we were both so stuff, but it was all great food and great fun. We took a bunch pictures and I will add them in here later today, and we will put the rest in an album online for you to check out.
Anyway, Happy ChewSuck!
1 comment:
Wow, what a full day!! How nice to have someone take you around like that.
Enjoy your days off ...and keep writing!!
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