Korea (the one without nukes)

Greetings! Long time, no post. This is because of a variety of factors, the two most prominent being periodically forgetting and then getting fed up with blogger's upload picture function when I did remember. At this point I am so woefully behind on posting pictures, I will never catch up. And I just took another hundred or so the day before yesterday at Mt. Sakurajima. But that is an entirely separate upcoming post, and has nothing at all to do with this one. I'm rambling...

At the end of June/beginning of July, my friend Lynn and I went to South Korea for a long weekend. Seoul is only an hour and a half direct flight from Fukuoka, and there's no time change, so it's actually quite easy to get to. We had a lovely time. I thought Korea was great. I couldn't quite figure out exactly why Japanese people feel Japan is so superior to Korea. Seoul was a clean, high-tech city with great public transit and delicious food. Although the climate was the same horrible mugginess (is that a word?) as Japan, places were generally better air-conditioned than in Japan.

Another thing both Lynn and I observed was that Korean people are significantly bigger than Japanese people. Many women were around my height (I'm 5'6"/168cm), whereas in Japan I generally feel like She-Hulk. In particular, we could tell a difference with the school children. Like in Japan, Korean students wear emblazoned school uniforms, which makes it pretty easy to pick them out and determine an approximate age. The high schoolers looked to be about 4 inches taller/10 cms and 30 lbs/13.6 kgs heavier than my students. Pretty substantial difference. It was refreshing. All of my students are short and skinny skinny skinny. (See previous comment about being the She-Hulk.) Any ideas why there's such a difference between countries with such similar profiles? Genetics? Diet?

Whimsical observations that don't fit elsewhere in my post aside, on with the travel log:

The first place we visited was Gyeongbokgung, the Palace of Shining Happiness. One of the best palaces/castles I've seen in Asia. Gorgeous.







Later that afternoon we hit Namdaemun, a traditional market intermixed with newer stores. This would have been a good place to purchase omiyage (Japanese custom of obligatory gifts for coworkers), except that I have truly caught on the Japanese way of doing things and now order my omiyage online before leaving the country -- less to carry and no hassel at customs.


Here's a shot of the marketplace.


This was grilled aloe. It looks sort of like some sort of tentacles, doesn't it? I wouldn't have believed it was a plant if I hadn't watched the guy cooking it.


Here's Sungnyemun, the Great South Gate. It's the historic city gate. Today it marks the entrance the Namdaemun market.


Our lust for shopping not yet satisfied, we then went to Insadong. There were tons of small shops selling things like pottery and antiques, as well as dozens of small art galleries. This was my favorite shopping area in Seoul. Unfortunately, it wasn't too photogenic -- just a nondescript street with lots of stores, so I didn't upload many photos.

One interesting thing I did photograph: eggs on a bicycle. I got some laughs from locals for taking a picture of this, but am I the only one that thinks this seems like a very bad idea?


Still in Insadong, across the street from Tapgol park, this crazy (drunk?) old man was literally knocking people out of his way with his cart.


The next morning, specifically to make our parents worry, we toured the DMZ. We had originally planned to go to Korea about 2 weeks later than we did because there was a nationl holiday in Japan so we had a day off work. That week was when the tensions between Japan and North Korea were really high, so it's probably just as well. I'm not sure we would have been able to see the DMZ. Most places in the DMZ strictly prohibitted photography, and though I'm generally the sort of person who will take pictures anyway until someone catches me, I got the feeling that the guys with M16's meant business, so I restrained myself.

One of the few photos: Lynn and me in front of the Freedom Bridge, the only road that links the south and north around Imjingak, which was the jumping off point for our tour.


Also in Imjingak, lest you get too comfortable.


Then came the highlight of the tour: we walked along the 3rd infiltration tunnel. Really cool. Discovered in 1978 and running about 73 meters below ground, the tunnel itself was dark, narrow, cold, and damp. All in all, fairly creepy. Especially when you consider that the tunnel was built to move hundreds of troops an hour to launch an attack on Seoul. Note: despite overwhelming evidence, the North Korean government still denies any involvement in the creation of this tunnel.

Next was Dora observatory, where we were allowed to take pictures of the DMZ itself, just from really, really far away. As in, 10 meters from the railing. Basically, you can take pictures of the backs of other tourists' heads. Anyway, here's the outside of the building.


After a morning at the DMZ, we caught a bus (an adventure in itself) to a reconstructed folk village outside of Seoul.


The folk village was interesting and very well presented, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time, and it was raining on and off, so it wasn't quite as enriching as it could have been.

These totem poles cropped up at quite a few places we visited in Korea. I never could get a good explanation about them, other than that they come in male and female pairs, and they're pretty similar in function to Native American totem poles, which I don't understand either.





The area immediately around our hotel didn't have much in the way of eating, so on the way back from the folk village, we got off the subway at what looked to be a pretty major stop, assuming we'd be able to find something there. Apparently this was not a place tourists ever venture. We could tell, because there was nothing at all written in English, and the area had much more of a local flavor. Still having lived for an extended time in Japan, Lynn and I are both used to the point-and-rub-belly method of ordering food, so we decided to chance it. (Note: Of course I'm beyond that now in Japanese, but when I first got here it was a different story.)

Finally we settled on a smallish but moderately busy place that had pictures of things that were recognizably food in the window. So we walked in, took off our shoes, stood awkwardly for a minute until we realized we were supposed to seat ourselves, and sat down. The waitress then brought us a menu, which being written in Korea, was entirely useless to us. Then the fun began. The waitress was assuming that Lynn (who is Japanese-American) was Korean, so everytime we began our food-obtaining gesticulating, she snapped something in Korean and directed Lynn's attention to the menu. After a minute or two of this, I stood up and grabbed her hand, pulled her outside to the pictures, randomly pointed at one of them, and held up two fingers. This seemed to work, as a few minutes later food arrived. It was quite tasty, too. However, Lynn and I both had some trouble with Korean chopsticks. They are made of metal, so after being in contact with hot food, they heat up and can burn your mouth. Also, they are much more slippery than wooden or bamboo chopsticks. Furthermore, compared to Japanese chopsticks, the Korean chopticks were very long and skinny, making then overall kind of tricky to use. But the food was good, and all's well that end's well.


The next morning before we caught our plane back to Japan, we spent the last of our won in fashionable Itaewon. (Shopping again -- sensing a theme here?) Itaewon is more modern than either Namdaemun or Insadong, filled mostly with clothing stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, and the typical fare that you'd find in a mall at home. However, we did run across one store that sold these traditional Korean masks that we'd seen in a bunch of places on our trip. I bought some refrigerator magnet size. Oh, for the day when my souvenirs are not dictated by their weight and the size of my apartment...


The place next door had some laquerware stuff that I just thought was pretty.


Then, won gone and slightly sunburned (at least I was) we collected our bags from the hotel and caught our flight back to Fukuoka. It was a good trip. Sorry it took me forever to post about. Blame blogger for irritating me.

Coming soon: Lynn and Melissa venture to the south of Kyushu island in Melissa's glorified golf cart of a car. Do they get lost? What about the approching typhoon? And what do tanuki have to do with anything. Stay tuned...