KOREA Week VII Review

Sun, June 14, 2009 at 9:17pm

The weekend was good. Friday night I met John at the Pirate Bar for a few rounds of darts. Nothing too late, for I had Saturday morning class and wanted a good night's rest. Saturday class was uneventful. Three students showed, including two of my new students from weekday classes. We discussed popular Korean vacation spots (one of my favorite topics), learned some new expressions, and read an article on Seonyudo, a garden isle in the Han River.

After class, I met friend and favorite student B.H. for a pre-arranged trip to Seoul. His daughter, U-Jin, another student of mine, and her boyfriend also joined for the day. This was actually, the first time B.H. and his daughter's boyfriend have met, so it was an important day for them. I believe, my role may have been to help ease any tension or nervousness, or provide some comic relief to the day. Either way, it was good.

We traveled to Beomgye, neighboring town located two subway stops away, for lunch. Lunch was Tofu Jjigae (spicy soup), with sides of char-grilled pork and hamburger meat, and steamed rice with black beans served in individual stone pots. The soup was good, and the hamburger meat tasted fantastic. U-Jin told me they mix a rice cake into the hamburger meat to add flavor and help with the consistency. Seems different from what we are accustomed to in the States, but it worked well. Outside the restaurant there was a crowd gathered watching a pack of B-boys, Korean breakdancers, which was great fun to watch. It's a big thing in Korea, but unfortunately I have yet to see this in Sanbon.

After lunch we continued on the subway toward downtown Seoul and Namsam Mountain. Namsan is referred to as the Heart of Seoul, for it's a large mountain (260 meters) and park located in central Seoul. At the top of the mountain is Seoul Tower (236 meters) with an observation deck and tremendous views of the city. Seoul is an amazingly large city and continues on as far as the eye can see. One of the best features of the tower are the Men's room urinals, which look directly out toward the West. Nothing like a great view as you relieve yourself.. We rode a cable car to reach the top of the mountain and an elevator to the top of the tower. It was a little hazy this day, but still made for good viewing.

After Namsan we traveled by taxi to Cheonggye Stream, another popular Seoul attraction. I read that the stream was restored in 2003 to it's current condition and is a total of 6 kilometers in length. It runs East-West through the center of the city and reminded me very much of Cherry Creek in Denver. There are paved walkways on either side of the stream and fantastic laser light shows at night. It's really cool. Sadly, there were many police in riot gear gathered in the large area above the stream. Apparently, there were political demonstrations earlier in the day; more fallout from the death of former President Roh. There was also a photo exhibition of the Korean War with a small memorial to the fallen Koreans and U.S. servicemen during this conflict. It was sobering to see the photographs, and strangely, made me feel proud to be an American surrounded by so many Koreans. Despite the heavy U.S. presence in South Korea over the past 50+ years, I understand South Koreans are very grateful for U.S. assistance. Obviously, the outcome of their civil war would not be the same without U.S. and U.N. involvement. Interestingly though, B.H. told me the younger generations in South Korea do not share the same resentment toward the North as the older generations. I guess this is to be expected, but it was interesting to hear his views nonetheless.

We had squid dinner in a neighborhood apparently famous for squid dinners? Squid dinner consisted of cooked squid served in a fiery red pepper sauce (most hot), squid pizza with potato, shellfish soup in a clear broth with onions, and steamed rice. It wasn't as bad as it may sound, except for the red pepper sauce, which was among the hottest dishes I have tried in Korea. I am not exaggerating when I say we were all crying at the table from the heat of this dish. Seriously, it was kinda funny to see three Koreans and their American friend all sharing a good cry together over squid dinner.

The subway ride home to Sanbon was just over an hour from our location in central Seoul. We were all very tired from the day, and it was good to arrive home around 10:30pm. For the first time in weeks, I went to bed around 11pm Saturday night and slept hard until 10am Sunday. I also Skype'd with Ben and Danielle and had a three hour nap Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful! Later in the day, I watched a pirated copy of Gran Torino, shopped for groceries at E-Mart, and prepared for this week's classes.

So, in other words, it was a relaxing weekend just like I had intended. Most enjoyable. Korean style..