this got long.. a lot longer than necessary for a 4 day trip... but i have nothing to do at school so i decided on writing a book on it.. sorry!
Korea marked number 15 on my list of countries visited. It actually wasn’t too much of a trip, only a 2 hour flight from Narita Airport. We landed the morning of the 3rd, meeting up with my friend’s friend, Lee, at the bus stop. We first headed to the hotel and met up with our other friend, making the total 5 gaijin and 1 Korean. Our first day, we visited In’cheon, a “traditional” area of Seoul. Even overrun by foreigners, most of which were Japanese, it was a nice spot with plenty of souvenir shopping and deliciously strange food to try. Our first meal was an adventure, as much in the taste as it was in the procedure. Some dishes required spooning rice out of one bowl into another, filling the first bowl with hot water for later consumption, then using a combination of metal chopsticks and spoons to eat a variety of soups, stews, noodles, and the ever present collection of side dishes. By the end we were all nearly sweating from the spiciness, full from over eating the amazing foods, and extremely thankful we had our friend Lee to guide us through Korea.
That night Lee took us to Seoul/Nasam Tower; a tower situated on top of one of the few hills in Seoul. The view was amazing, even though a bit chilly, so we warmed up inside with some convini bought beers and fried chicken snacks. The fence here, and apparently at other spots within Seoul, was covered with locks from couples hoping never to be broken. The “couple culture” in Korea is extremely prevalent and obvious, quite a change from Japan where couples are chaperoned by parents even into their 20s. Everywhere Korean couples were holding hands, wearing matching outfits, going on dates, and, yes, canoodling. Anyways, that night we headed to a Korean style izakaya (bar type thing) and drank over sized beers, soju, umeshu, and ate delicacies such as chicken feet and chicken butt. I didn’t quite enjoy either; the feet were too spicy, and the butt was pretty chewy. After a few rounds of The Game of Death- a great drinking game that I may have to import to Japan/the US, we headed back to the hotel, to fit 6 of us into our 3 small beds.
Zac and I woke up early and took a stroll through the market nearby our hotel. It was packed with dried fish, kimchi, and other foods- some of which we knew, some we didn’t, some we wish we didn’t. By far the most shocking was the cut up dog carcass. I tried my best to give it the benefit of the doubt, and try to convince myself that it may be a large chicken, maybe a pig, but with the long straight tail, the bent hind legs, and half a head it was pretty undoubtedly Fido. After breakfast, we (sans Lee who had to go to Engineering class), took a tour of the DMZ we had booked the night before at 1am. We hit it off with our guide immediately as Zac practiced his Korean phrases he had learned with her. Ok, maybe not hit it off, maybe more like frightened her as he asked if she had a boyfriend. But she warmed up and taught us key phrases such as “how about my moustache?” The DMZ turned out to be really interesting. It was a pretty stark reminder that the country was still at war and how close the two sides have come to intense conflict since the treaty was signed. It also hit home that it wasn’t two different countries, different people, but friends and family separated, each side waiting for unification. On returning, we went out to dinner with Yuri, our guide, to samgyetang (ginseng stuffed chicken soup), and yes, dog stew. The meat turned out to be a bit gamey, but I could only handle a bite of it, as thoughts of a big golden retriever with puppy dog eyes flashed though my brain. That night we went out to a night market, stuffed ourselves with even more mysterious foods and drinks, and headed back for a fairly early night.
Day 3 we went to a massive shopping/clothing/fabric market. The size of it was completely overwhelming. One ginormous building was nearly completely devoted to fabrics, each level for a different genera such as fabrics, knits, lace, etcs. Fashionable young women walked purposely through the areas with design folder with samples of fabrics. Afterwards, I walked towards a Traditional Korean Village. The walk proved to be more interesting than the village itself. One side of the street was completely devoted to motorcycles and scooters, while the other side was all pet stores. The stray motorcycle store next to the puppies in the windows was a particularly interesting sight.
We reconvened and headed to the G??? Palace for a free traditional dance performance. Lee drove us there in his massive white diesel car, complete with a bed in back and a speaker system so you could shout at people on the street. Afterwards we met up with Lee’s friend, Moon, and headed to Korean BBQ. This was truly the culmination of delicious food on the trip. Fat slabs of pork were put on the grill and cut with scissors into smaller pieces. From there you put it in the wrap of your choice- radish, lettuce, mochi, sanchu leaf,- throw on an assortment of garlic, sauces, kimchi, and vegetables and put the whole thing in one bite into your mouth. Aaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiinnnnngggg.
So after stuffing ourselves, drinking and wrestling a bit at the hotel, Lee took us to another typical Korean drinking event- fried chicken and beer. The night ended with 7 of us piling into our 3 beds.
The next morning we fit some last minute shopping in, as well as one last meal before our spice taste buds went dormant for another few months on returning to Japan. We grabbed our omiyage at the airport along with the other Japanese tourists (which all my teachers hated/are afraid to try) and headed back to Japan and a new school year.
my pics.. http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/tajima.laura/AWeekendJauntToKorea
zac's pics..http://picasaweb.google.com/Zactacular
