So last night I decided (admittedly, I was forced because I'd run out of Ramen) to buy something different than what I've been eating. Doing this is more complicated than it sounds, at least for someone who is not used to cooking with Korean ingredients (for instance, you don't just walk up and buy a box of spring greens--they don't have them). So I wandered around the grocery for probably 30 minutes like a chicken with my head cut off, but finally found some new things to cook. The funniest moment came when I decided to buy some beef from the butcher. I walked up to his counter and pointed at a pack of three pieces of beef, implying (I thought) that I wanted to buy them. Here's what then occured:
Him: That beef tandaroon.
Me: What?
Him: Beef tandaroon!
Me: Huh?
Him: You speak Engrish!?
Me: What? (I was confused that he was asking me this--the what was an instinctual reaction)
Him: Engrish!!
Me: Um, a little (sarcastically, which was not received)
Him: Engrish??!
Me: Yes, a little (now he got that I was joking)
Him: This is beef tandaroon!
Me: Beef tandori? **Stupid look on my face** (WTF is he saying???)
Him: Tandaroon!!
Me: Oh, tenderloin! Yes, I'll take it.
That's how things go sometimes. At any rate, I cooked a delicious meal of beef tandaroon, sauteed mushrooms, steamed dumplings (I had to improvise a steaming device and was very proud of my accomplishment) and green salad (which I was dying for--salad isn't really eaten here).
Tonight, I am going out to dinner with several guys from my class, including MR KIM!! I have heard that we may be going for abalone and I've also heard "live octopus" thrown around a few times, so it could get interesting. I'll be sure to report on this meal soon, assuming it is as exotic as it sounds like it might be.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Little Things
This morning, on my commute to school, I had one of those little differences moments. Well, it was kind of a big difference really. I usually sit/stand there with my headphones on and listen to music during my commute. There's no reason to try to hear the infrequent announcements or even listen in on a nearby conversation, because I wouldn't understand them anyhow. On the subway this morning, however, I noticed that the driver was saying quite a lot. I figured that the subway I was on was possibly going to end and I would have to get off and wait for the next train to come. This happened once before and was inconvenient but manageable. Today, however, was more complicated. When the train stopped, everyone got off and marched away. It was a station with a transfer as well, making it more difficult to tell what everyone was doing--were they just going to the other line or was something bigger going on? A couple people stayed--or were at the platform already--so I did as well. I waited for quite some time for the next train to come and while I waited I noticed that the trains arriving on the opposite platform were going in the same direction. This was very odd to me, and made me worry a little more about my ability to figure my way out of this mess. When the next train finally did come it came from the wrong direction! This was really frustrating, so I started looking around for signs and noticed that there were signs for the #2 line (my line) all over the place. Except at this station there were arrows to the 2.1 line and 2.2 line! I was totally confused and not sure what to do. I finally just chose one of the directions and walked, knowing only that standing on the platform I was on would get me nowhere. I totally lucked out and made it to a platform that looked more familiar and had signs I could decipher.
It was ultimately only a 15 minute delay for me, but was totally confusing. It reminded me that, although I'm good at getting to and from school (I can march around with that air of superiority that comes with not needing to look at the signs), it only takes a small hiccup to remind me that I can get out of my element very fast here. And again it reminded me how difficult the language thing can get. I guess the ultimate lesson I should take away is that these little annoyances are ultimately just that--little annoyances--and make the experience all the more...memorable. In some way, now that I've got a little distance from the moment, I guess it is one of the many little things that are ultimately (at least on average) fun about living in a strange place. I just wish I could have that same kind of perspective about my Accounting class.
It was ultimately only a 15 minute delay for me, but was totally confusing. It reminded me that, although I'm good at getting to and from school (I can march around with that air of superiority that comes with not needing to look at the signs), it only takes a small hiccup to remind me that I can get out of my element very fast here. And again it reminded me how difficult the language thing can get. I guess the ultimate lesson I should take away is that these little annoyances are ultimately just that--little annoyances--and make the experience all the more...memorable. In some way, now that I've got a little distance from the moment, I guess it is one of the many little things that are ultimately (at least on average) fun about living in a strange place. I just wish I could have that same kind of perspective about my Accounting class.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Warming Up
I went out to a new area of Seoul today called Insadong, and I have to say that both 
the weather and the people have warmed up (a bit). It was just above freezing today, so nothing spectacular but at least it was warm enough to walk around with my camera in hand and not be in pain. And since I had my camera and was seeing a new area, I tried to get several pics. The best ones are here, although they aren't spectacular (sorry Jake).
The first stop of note was a homemade candy maker (should be the first picture--I really like this pic because nobody seems to either notice or care that I'm taking it, and those are my favorites). As you can see, they were selling (and making--right there) a wide array of treats. I purchased three little cake-ish things that were some kind of dense combination of sesame seeds and honey. Very nice. He had several other things I wanted to buy, but it was my first real stop in the market and I was hungry for lunch, so I held off.
Speaking of lunch, I had a DELICIOUS meal at a restaurant in an alley (this neighborhood is full of little alleys, which aren't at all intimidating and so are fun for exploring). Anyhow, I walked up to one restaurant door and peered inside (probably looking like a lost puppy). A cute Korean grandmother came to the door and basically pulled me inside. She then sent me to a table and dropped a menu in front of me. The restaurant was wonderful--small, quaint, local, and full of 3-4 Korean women (as well as others in the kitchen--the only guy here was an old man working the cash register) who were constantly yelling things across the place. It was a mixture of saying hello, goodbye, pointing people to tables, and shouting food orders, and it really made the place fun. I must have still looked lost while I was reviewing the menu (although the descriptions were in English and I knew what I wanted) because another patron stopped next to me and offered to help. I gladly accepted, and showed her what I wanted. She then grabbed one of the Korean women and gave her my order. My order was a seafood and leek pancake (called haemul pajeon) and a marinated beef dish. This also came with plenty of panchan, rice, and noodles. When it all arrived I realized I didn't
need to have ordered both dishes and had about twice as much food as I could handle. But, it was all very tasty, so I ate until stuffed. I then looked up at one of the Korean grandmothers (which are called hajimas--I'm probably misspelling it, but that's how it sounds) and tried to tell her I was stuffed. She clearly spoke no English and said something back at me (or should I say yelled something back at me), which I think was "keep eating, white boy, you have too much food there to stop now." It made a Korean family watching laugh a bit, and I enjoyed it as well (if they were laughing at me, I'm totally cool with it--you can't be mad at a hajima). 
After finishing my delicious meal and heading back out into the street, I ran into a little old Korean man selling oranges (well, I guess they were actually some kind of Korean derivative of a clementine). He saw me and immediately called me over. His English wasn't great, but good enough to bring me over, ask me what I'm doing here, and force me to eat one of his clementines. He then made me take a bag and of course charged me for it. After chatting a little more, he saw my camera and had me take a picture of him holding a handful of his clementines. This is clearly the best picture of the day. I saw him later and he had me take another picture of him with his water bottle, then tried to get me to give him some money. Given that I'd already paid
way too much for clementines that I didn't really want, I politely declined and took off.
My next (and final major) stop was at what I've been looking for since I arrived--a really good tea store and cafe. Here, I bought a few tins of amazing pu-erh and jasmine teas, and also stopped in to have a cup of tea and read my New Yorker (one that I brought over with me--I like keeping something to read when I go out on my own so I don't have to just sit there like a dork when I'm eating by myself. I figure it is better to read so I am at least distracted by a David Sedaris essay while I look like a dork). I also picked up a new teacup and strainer so I can make my teas, and then headed back to the subway. Now it's getting dark, and I think I'm going to end the day by relaxing with a movie and making some light dinner. A relaxing evening sounds nice, since my second set of class (marking my final two weeks of classes!) starts tomorrow, as well as my photo shoot (ha) for the Yonsei brochure. I'm sure that will provide some laughs for a future blog post.
the weather and the people have warmed up (a bit). It was just above freezing today, so nothing spectacular but at least it was warm enough to walk around with my camera in hand and not be in pain. And since I had my camera and was seeing a new area, I tried to get several pics. The best ones are here, although they aren't spectacular (sorry Jake). The first stop of note was a homemade candy maker (should be the first picture--I really like this pic because nobody seems to either notice or care that I'm taking it, and those are my favorites). As you can see, they were selling (and making--right there) a wide array of treats. I purchased three little cake-ish things that were some kind of dense combination of sesame seeds and honey. Very nice. He had several other things I wanted to buy, but it was my first real stop in the market and I was hungry for lunch, so I held off.
Speaking of lunch, I had a DELICIOUS meal at a restaurant in an alley (this neighborhood is full of little alleys, which aren't at all intimidating and so are fun for exploring). Anyhow, I walked up to one restaurant door and peered inside (probably looking like a lost puppy). A cute Korean grandmother came to the door and basically pulled me inside. She then sent me to a table and dropped a menu in front of me. The restaurant was wonderful--small, quaint, local, and full of 3-4 Korean women (as well as others in the kitchen--the only guy here was an old man working the cash register) who were constantly yelling things across the place. It was a mixture of saying hello, goodbye, pointing people to tables, and shouting food orders, and it really made the place fun. I must have still looked lost while I was reviewing the menu (although the descriptions were in English and I knew what I wanted) because another patron stopped next to me and offered to help. I gladly accepted, and showed her what I wanted. She then grabbed one of the Korean women and gave her my order. My order was a seafood and leek pancake (called haemul pajeon) and a marinated beef dish. This also came with plenty of panchan, rice, and noodles. When it all arrived I realized I didn't
need to have ordered both dishes and had about twice as much food as I could handle. But, it was all very tasty, so I ate until stuffed. I then looked up at one of the Korean grandmothers (which are called hajimas--I'm probably misspelling it, but that's how it sounds) and tried to tell her I was stuffed. She clearly spoke no English and said something back at me (or should I say yelled something back at me), which I think was "keep eating, white boy, you have too much food there to stop now." It made a Korean family watching laugh a bit, and I enjoyed it as well (if they were laughing at me, I'm totally cool with it--you can't be mad at a hajima). 
After finishing my delicious meal and heading back out into the street, I ran into a little old Korean man selling oranges (well, I guess they were actually some kind of Korean derivative of a clementine). He saw me and immediately called me over. His English wasn't great, but good enough to bring me over, ask me what I'm doing here, and force me to eat one of his clementines. He then made me take a bag and of course charged me for it. After chatting a little more, he saw my camera and had me take a picture of him holding a handful of his clementines. This is clearly the best picture of the day. I saw him later and he had me take another picture of him with his water bottle, then tried to get me to give him some money. Given that I'd already paid
way too much for clementines that I didn't really want, I politely declined and took off. My next (and final major) stop was at what I've been looking for since I arrived--a really good tea store and cafe. Here, I bought a few tins of amazing pu-erh and jasmine teas, and also stopped in to have a cup of tea and read my New Yorker (one that I brought over with me--I like keeping something to read when I go out on my own so I don't have to just sit there like a dork when I'm eating by myself. I figure it is better to read so I am at least distracted by a David Sedaris essay while I look like a dork). I also picked up a new teacup and strainer so I can make my teas, and then headed back to the subway. Now it's getting dark, and I think I'm going to end the day by relaxing with a movie and making some light dinner. A relaxing evening sounds nice, since my second set of class (marking my final two weeks of classes!) starts tomorrow, as well as my photo shoot (ha) for the Yonsei brochure. I'm sure that will provide some laughs for a future blog post.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Korean BBQ...And Flights
Last night I had my first Korean BBQ dinner (in Korea, at least). I went with my roommate, some of her work friends, and a few of their friends. This extended bunch turned out to be a great dinner group. I was sitting next to two Spanish guys--I'm not sure why, but Spanish guys always seem to have a great sense of humor and are very friendly. Throw some beer into the mix and you've got a great conversation. Anyhow, the food was pretty decent, but I actually didn't think the overall meal was as tasty as the Korean BBQ I've had in Chicago (especially at Cho Sun Oak--that place is very solid). Some of the differences I noticed included:
1) The grill didn't work quite as well, which was a bit annoying.
2) They didn't serve panchan (which is the name for the collection of side dishes you often get at Korean restaurants). Instead, were just had a couple side dishes: onions and a kimchee derivative (of which, I'm starting to gather, there are thousands).
3) The portions were much smaller. If we would have ordered the same dishes at Cho Sun Oak, we would have been buried under the food. Here we were all satisfied by the end, but nobody was stuffed.
At any rate, while not quite as tasty as other Korean BBQ I've had, it was still tasty and a good group. After dinner we went to a jazz club nearby, which was an interesting experience. They didn't charge a cover, but instead had very pricey drinks (about $14 a drink, which from what I've seen so far is very expensive). Aside from the pricey drinks, it was a pretty cool place--surprisingly large, dark, and smokey. The band, which was all Koreans, was pretty decent. Although, I got the impression that the female lead singer didn't really know what she was singing about. I think she had just memorized the words and maybe listened to tapes of English-speakers singing the songs so she would know what to do. Maybe I'm wrong on that, and it doesn't really matter either way I guess, but it was the impression I got from her singing. We called it a night after the jazz club and I got home around 12:30, so not too late of a night.
Today has been very relaxed. Somehow, I slept until 11 this morning. I've been exercising a lot this week and not sleeping more than 6 hours a night. I assume this combination made my body want some extra rest. Surprisingly, I've still been very tired all day. So I went to the gym and then did a few things around the apartment. This afternoon, I finalized my flights for the coming big trip. I'll fly from Seoul to Hanoi for a week touring Vietnam (can't wait to take pictures--it looks pretty cool there). I then fly from Hanoi to Koh Samui, to spend a month at a kickboxing camp there. Afterward, I'll fly back to Seoul and then maybe go to Japan and China before flying back to the US in mid-March. I can't wait to see Vietnam and am super-psyched about the kickboxing camp. I wanted to go to a camp like this between work and business school, but couldn't make the schedule work. I assumed that opportunity was gone, but now that I have the chance again I'm jumping at it. I just hope I am in good enough shape when I arrive to take advantage of the full experience. Aside from working out and trying to get my cardio up, I've been hitting my shins with a belt--yes, true--to try and numb them before the camp. I realize that sounds crazy, but it is what happens when you kick pads anyhow. If I'm able to take care of it before I go then it will mean much less pain when I'm there. I wouldn't normally care too much, but when I've only got one month, I don't want to be slowed down by overly-sore shins.
Tonight I think I am going to meet some of my roommates work buddies at a bar in an expat part of town to watch the college football championship. The game has already happened (and I know who wins) but I don't have any other plans, so I can deal with that I guess. Go Alabama!
1) The grill didn't work quite as well, which was a bit annoying.
2) They didn't serve panchan (which is the name for the collection of side dishes you often get at Korean restaurants). Instead, were just had a couple side dishes: onions and a kimchee derivative (of which, I'm starting to gather, there are thousands).
3) The portions were much smaller. If we would have ordered the same dishes at Cho Sun Oak, we would have been buried under the food. Here we were all satisfied by the end, but nobody was stuffed.
At any rate, while not quite as tasty as other Korean BBQ I've had, it was still tasty and a good group. After dinner we went to a jazz club nearby, which was an interesting experience. They didn't charge a cover, but instead had very pricey drinks (about $14 a drink, which from what I've seen so far is very expensive). Aside from the pricey drinks, it was a pretty cool place--surprisingly large, dark, and smokey. The band, which was all Koreans, was pretty decent. Although, I got the impression that the female lead singer didn't really know what she was singing about. I think she had just memorized the words and maybe listened to tapes of English-speakers singing the songs so she would know what to do. Maybe I'm wrong on that, and it doesn't really matter either way I guess, but it was the impression I got from her singing. We called it a night after the jazz club and I got home around 12:30, so not too late of a night.
Today has been very relaxed. Somehow, I slept until 11 this morning. I've been exercising a lot this week and not sleeping more than 6 hours a night. I assume this combination made my body want some extra rest. Surprisingly, I've still been very tired all day. So I went to the gym and then did a few things around the apartment. This afternoon, I finalized my flights for the coming big trip. I'll fly from Seoul to Hanoi for a week touring Vietnam (can't wait to take pictures--it looks pretty cool there). I then fly from Hanoi to Koh Samui, to spend a month at a kickboxing camp there. Afterward, I'll fly back to Seoul and then maybe go to Japan and China before flying back to the US in mid-March. I can't wait to see Vietnam and am super-psyched about the kickboxing camp. I wanted to go to a camp like this between work and business school, but couldn't make the schedule work. I assumed that opportunity was gone, but now that I have the chance again I'm jumping at it. I just hope I am in good enough shape when I arrive to take advantage of the full experience. Aside from working out and trying to get my cardio up, I've been hitting my shins with a belt--yes, true--to try and numb them before the camp. I realize that sounds crazy, but it is what happens when you kick pads anyhow. If I'm able to take care of it before I go then it will mean much less pain when I'm there. I wouldn't normally care too much, but when I've only got one month, I don't want to be slowed down by overly-sore shins.
Tonight I think I am going to meet some of my roommates work buddies at a bar in an expat part of town to watch the college football championship. The game has already happened (and I know who wins) but I don't have any other plans, so I can deal with that I guess. Go Alabama!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Catching Up
I just realized I have been a little lax about the blog lately--I'm sure that has disappointed all of my followers (sorry Mom) immensely. So here I am, catching up on things.
OK, so first of all, I was told by Mr. Kim that the snow we received was the biggest snow Seoul has gotten since they started keeping a record. I also heard it is the biggest snow since 2003, 1999, 1990, and 1969. Clearly there is only one statistic to trust however, and that is the one given by Mr. Kim. He's just the kind of guy you trust blindly, and so I do. Regardless of the record, this snow has clearly freaked people out. While doing some cardio at the gym last night I watched the news (clearly I just watched, since listening would be an exercise in extreme futility. Wait, can there be anything other than extreme futility? I mean, is there really a difference between futility and extreme futility??) and during the entire 30 min I was watching, the ONLY thing they reported on was the snow. At one point I saw them throwing dead chickens into a bag and was relieved because I thought it had something to do with bird flu--anything other than snow--but sadly realized that the culprit was, of course, the fluffy white stuff. It had come down so heavily that it collapsed the roof on some poor farmer's hen house. During the most egregious part of this newscast, they even did some sort of an update-across-town series, showcasing the snow situation in different parts of the city. I wish I could have been an anchor in that broadcast, because if I were then it would have gone slightly differently:
Diane: "And now let's see what the snow situation is in 15 different parts of the city. Take it away, Ollie--"
Me: "One moment, Diane. Before you go to that oh-so revealing situation report, let me quickly jump in. I'm getting a bit of breaking news at this moment. Apparently, the whole city got dumped on with a sh*tload of snow. Therefore, instead of wasting the next 10 minutes of everyone's life by having reporters stationed in different parts of the city tell us what we already know, let me save everyone the trouble and say this--there's a ton of f*king snow everywhere. Back to you, Diane."
Another way I could tell that they weren't used to this kind of snow is that they weren't actually cleaning the streets. I live on a busy 12-lane street and, when walking home at night from the subway, realized that they hadn't done any kind of plowing or salting at all. So, 10 inches of snow had turned into 10 inches of the most disgusting slush ever. Amazingly, across this mush I witnessed a woman crossing the street in a mini skirt, no tights, and super-high heels. I was ridiculously impressed when she didn't fall, but she did have to walk through snowy goo that was deeper than those black pumps--that had to suck. I suddenly realized I had no room to complain about being cold in the freezing weather (although I guess I could complain about having to share the street with retArds who dress like we're in the Bahamas). On a related note, tonight the low in Chicago is 11. The low in Seoul is 6. You've got to be kidding me. Wasn't experiencing a less painful winter supposed to be one of the best reasons for going on IBEP??
The next thing of note--I was contacted today by the International Programs office at Yonsei because they want to feature me in the new version of the international brochure they are creating. I am both flattered and a little weirded out (the quote Groucho Marx made about never joining a club that would allow someone like him to be a member came to mind for some reason). So, I now have to email them a paragraph about all of my great experiences at Yonsei and setup time for a "photo shoot." I just need to make sure not to mention my blog in the paragraph I guess. I guess I will soon need to update my resume with "Published in an international magazine."
Another recent event of interest is that my roommate and I went to the Buddhist temple across the
street from my apartment this weekend. It was very cool. Buddhist cool. Everything was painted in bright colors and was clearly very well maintained. Hopefully these pictures do it a little bit of justice. I was really interested by how such a peaceful and serene place could be literally right across the street from Asia's biggest indoor mall--hopefully that point is made in one of the pictures. After wandering around the temple for a while, we went for fried chicken and beer, then wandered the city some more, then on to see Sherlock Holmes with Korean subtitles, and then to a place called Kraze 
(pronounced crah-zee) Burger!, which actually turned out to be a delicious meal. I had my first salad since coming to Korea and a garlic burger, which had garlic mayo, sauteed garlic, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion. I have to say, I was very happily surprised by this delicious (yet somehow not greasy--probably because they used a beef patty that was a third the size of what you'd get on a restaurant burger in the US) way to end the evening.
Finally, I have made an interesting discovery: Asian males
are all the same size. How would I know this, you ask? Well, I've done the detective work and put some clues together. Clue one: my gym offers free gym clothes to its members. They just hand you a pair of washed (well, I thought the shirt was washed until I started sweating a little and immediately it reeked of BO that was not mine. Needless to say I bring my own shirts now) gym clothes and off you go to the locker room. Well, I've noticed that they pull from the same pile for everyone (or at least all of the guys). And the clothes seem to fit everyone. And I don't mean these are spandex or something--just regular cotton shirts that fit every guy in there. Clue two: I wandered into a cool Korean boutique clothes shop the other day and really liked a sweater on a mannequin, so asked the employee if they had it in a 
large. His response was that they only have ONE size. (WTF?). I tried it on. It didn't fit. He then said something like 'Well, Korean men not shaped like you. They are smaller.' Fair point, my good man. Fair point indeed. SO, I have concluded, based on these clues and my Ace Ventura-esque investigatory instincts, that Korean men are all the same size (except for you, Lawrence).
OK, I apologize for writing so much but hopefully this catches everyone up a bit on the recent interesting things happening to me in Seoul. Laters.
PS--I was shocked and awed by the fact that people are not only reading my blog, but actually making comments!! Very cool. Jake, as you hopefully noticed I have included pictures in this entry and will make an extra effort to do so in the future. If anyone has other (non-sarcastic) requests, please offer them. Thanks to all those that gave comments!
OK, so first of all, I was told by Mr. Kim that the snow we received was the biggest snow Seoul has gotten since they started keeping a record. I also heard it is the biggest snow since 2003, 1999, 1990, and 1969. Clearly there is only one statistic to trust however, and that is the one given by Mr. Kim. He's just the kind of guy you trust blindly, and so I do. Regardless of the record, this snow has clearly freaked people out. While doing some cardio at the gym last night I watched the news (clearly I just watched, since listening would be an exercise in extreme futility. Wait, can there be anything other than extreme futility? I mean, is there really a difference between futility and extreme futility??) and during the entire 30 min I was watching, the ONLY thing they reported on was the snow. At one point I saw them throwing dead chickens into a bag and was relieved because I thought it had something to do with bird flu--anything other than snow--but sadly realized that the culprit was, of course, the fluffy white stuff. It had come down so heavily that it collapsed the roof on some poor farmer's hen house. During the most egregious part of this newscast, they even did some sort of an update-across-town series, showcasing the snow situation in different parts of the city. I wish I could have been an anchor in that broadcast, because if I were then it would have gone slightly differently:
Diane: "And now let's see what the snow situation is in 15 different parts of the city. Take it away, Ollie--"
Me: "One moment, Diane. Before you go to that oh-so revealing situation report, let me quickly jump in. I'm getting a bit of breaking news at this moment. Apparently, the whole city got dumped on with a sh*tload of snow. Therefore, instead of wasting the next 10 minutes of everyone's life by having reporters stationed in different parts of the city tell us what we already know, let me save everyone the trouble and say this--there's a ton of f*king snow everywhere. Back to you, Diane."
Another way I could tell that they weren't used to this kind of snow is that they weren't actually cleaning the streets. I live on a busy 12-lane street and, when walking home at night from the subway, realized that they hadn't done any kind of plowing or salting at all. So, 10 inches of snow had turned into 10 inches of the most disgusting slush ever. Amazingly, across this mush I witnessed a woman crossing the street in a mini skirt, no tights, and super-high heels. I was ridiculously impressed when she didn't fall, but she did have to walk through snowy goo that was deeper than those black pumps--that had to suck. I suddenly realized I had no room to complain about being cold in the freezing weather (although I guess I could complain about having to share the street with retArds who dress like we're in the Bahamas). On a related note, tonight the low in Chicago is 11. The low in Seoul is 6. You've got to be kidding me. Wasn't experiencing a less painful winter supposed to be one of the best reasons for going on IBEP??
The next thing of note--I was contacted today by the International Programs office at Yonsei because they want to feature me in the new version of the international brochure they are creating. I am both flattered and a little weirded out (the quote Groucho Marx made about never joining a club that would allow someone like him to be a member came to mind for some reason). So, I now have to email them a paragraph about all of my great experiences at Yonsei and setup time for a "photo shoot." I just need to make sure not to mention my blog in the paragraph I guess. I guess I will soon need to update my resume with "Published in an international magazine."
Another recent event of interest is that my roommate and I went to the Buddhist temple across the
street from my apartment this weekend. It was very cool. Buddhist cool. Everything was painted in bright colors and was clearly very well maintained. Hopefully these pictures do it a little bit of justice. I was really interested by how such a peaceful and serene place could be literally right across the street from Asia's biggest indoor mall--hopefully that point is made in one of the pictures. After wandering around the temple for a while, we went for fried chicken and beer, then wandered the city some more, then on to see Sherlock Holmes with Korean subtitles, and then to a place called Kraze 
(pronounced crah-zee) Burger!, which actually turned out to be a delicious meal. I had my first salad since coming to Korea and a garlic burger, which had garlic mayo, sauteed garlic, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion. I have to say, I was very happily surprised by this delicious (yet somehow not greasy--probably because they used a beef patty that was a third the size of what you'd get on a restaurant burger in the US) way to end the evening.Finally, I have made an interesting discovery: Asian males
are all the same size. How would I know this, you ask? Well, I've done the detective work and put some clues together. Clue one: my gym offers free gym clothes to its members. They just hand you a pair of washed (well, I thought the shirt was washed until I started sweating a little and immediately it reeked of BO that was not mine. Needless to say I bring my own shirts now) gym clothes and off you go to the locker room. Well, I've noticed that they pull from the same pile for everyone (or at least all of the guys). And the clothes seem to fit everyone. And I don't mean these are spandex or something--just regular cotton shirts that fit every guy in there. Clue two: I wandered into a cool Korean boutique clothes shop the other day and really liked a sweater on a mannequin, so asked the employee if they had it in a 
large. His response was that they only have ONE size. (WTF?). I tried it on. It didn't fit. He then said something like 'Well, Korean men not shaped like you. They are smaller.' Fair point, my good man. Fair point indeed. SO, I have concluded, based on these clues and my Ace Ventura-esque investigatory instincts, that Korean men are all the same size (except for you, Lawrence).OK, I apologize for writing so much but hopefully this catches everyone up a bit on the recent interesting things happening to me in Seoul. Laters.
PS--I was shocked and awed by the fact that people are not only reading my blog, but actually making comments!! Very cool. Jake, as you hopefully noticed I have included pictures in this entry and will make an extra effort to do so in the future. If anyone has other (non-sarcastic) requests, please offer them. Thanks to all those that gave comments!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Let it Snoooowwwwwww
I raced into class this morning (sort of) to get all the thoughts in my head onto my blog as soon as possible. So, here's a breif(ish) version of my commute:
I woke up to snow, AGAIN, in Seoul. This was clearly the strongest snow since I've been here. I had no idea that Seoul got a lot of snow--I gather this is rare, but it has snowed 3-4 times since I've arrived a little over a week ago. Anyhow, I took off in my new puffy jacket (I couldn't have bought it at a more opportune time) and headed for the subway. Well, in the time it took me to cross two streets (which admittedly is about 5 minutes, as these are busy streets and the lights are timed for maximum pedestrian inconvenience), I had a full coating of snow all over me. I opted to walk through the mall this morning to get to the subway instead of my outdoor 8-10 min walk, which was much preferred (although I almost fell at the top of a two-story flight of stairs, which would have ended it for me).
The train ride itself was longer than usual due to the weather, but fairly uneventful. Then I arrived in Sinchon for my 20 min walk to school and the fun really started. It was snowy Asians everywhere! Almost all of them were using umbrellas which may have been nice, but also meant that each person was carrying the equivalent of 6 daggers poking out in all directions from their umbrella. I almost lost an eye several times. Additionally, they don't do any real street cleaning here so we were all trying to walk in the same line to avoid the mounds of snow on each side. A bit of levity was fortunately provided by some of the women's outfits I was lucky enough to see--the most amazing being a girl in a mini skirt and platform heels (ladies, is a platform heel a large heel that also is lifted on the toe as well, right? This one was about two inches of height in the toe and 4-5 in the heel. Awesome). She looked like she was on her way back from a long night at the Pussycat Lounge, not on her way to school. Although I have to give her some credit--I could barely get by in jeans and heavy-soled boots and here's a girl in heels. I have no idea if she made it to class or not--she surely wouldn't have been able to if she had to climb the hill I went up. That hill was predictably a big mess. Some car couldn't get up it and the fact that they try clearing snow here with brooms doesn't help anything.
BUT, I made it finally. Upon arrival, I looked like the Abominable Snowman. I literally could not see my hair when I went to the bathroom--I'd say I had an inch of accumulation on top (given that their is about 8 inches on the ground outside though, I guess I'm better at cleaning my head than they are at cleaning the streets).
OK, now it's time for class to start so I better post this. My apologies for what surely is a lower than average quality post today--I hope you enjoy it a little.
I woke up to snow, AGAIN, in Seoul. This was clearly the strongest snow since I've been here. I had no idea that Seoul got a lot of snow--I gather this is rare, but it has snowed 3-4 times since I've arrived a little over a week ago. Anyhow, I took off in my new puffy jacket (I couldn't have bought it at a more opportune time) and headed for the subway. Well, in the time it took me to cross two streets (which admittedly is about 5 minutes, as these are busy streets and the lights are timed for maximum pedestrian inconvenience), I had a full coating of snow all over me. I opted to walk through the mall this morning to get to the subway instead of my outdoor 8-10 min walk, which was much preferred (although I almost fell at the top of a two-story flight of stairs, which would have ended it for me).
The train ride itself was longer than usual due to the weather, but fairly uneventful. Then I arrived in Sinchon for my 20 min walk to school and the fun really started. It was snowy Asians everywhere! Almost all of them were using umbrellas which may have been nice, but also meant that each person was carrying the equivalent of 6 daggers poking out in all directions from their umbrella. I almost lost an eye several times. Additionally, they don't do any real street cleaning here so we were all trying to walk in the same line to avoid the mounds of snow on each side. A bit of levity was fortunately provided by some of the women's outfits I was lucky enough to see--the most amazing being a girl in a mini skirt and platform heels (ladies, is a platform heel a large heel that also is lifted on the toe as well, right? This one was about two inches of height in the toe and 4-5 in the heel. Awesome). She looked like she was on her way back from a long night at the Pussycat Lounge, not on her way to school. Although I have to give her some credit--I could barely get by in jeans and heavy-soled boots and here's a girl in heels. I have no idea if she made it to class or not--she surely wouldn't have been able to if she had to climb the hill I went up. That hill was predictably a big mess. Some car couldn't get up it and the fact that they try clearing snow here with brooms doesn't help anything.
BUT, I made it finally. Upon arrival, I looked like the Abominable Snowman. I literally could not see my hair when I went to the bathroom--I'd say I had an inch of accumulation on top (given that their is about 8 inches on the ground outside though, I guess I'm better at cleaning my head than they are at cleaning the streets).
OK, now it's time for class to start so I better post this. My apologies for what surely is a lower than average quality post today--I hope you enjoy it a little.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Street Food!
Yesterday was my first experience with really walking the streets of Seoul. So, I checked the guide I was given and settled on an area called Namdaemun Market. The description in the guide said "Namdaemun Market is filled with all kinds of fun from what to shop, eat, and see. From a wide variety of selling items for different prices and qualities, you never fail to find what you have in mind. Even street vendors offer rare items which give you a pleasant time to look for. Between shopping, you can please your stomach with unique snacks and specialties." Sounds good to me. Also, I love how this was clearly written by someone who has only a passing grasp of the English language.
Incidentally, there are all kinds of fun moments of mistaken English like that here. One of my favorites from yesterday was the sleeve on my cappuccino, which said "Espresso of Street" meaning it was a sleeve for coffee drinks that are to-go. The other I saw recently at my grocery store was a bottle of shampoo that had a completely normal design (aside from being written mostly in Korean, but that is normal), except that under the name it said "Black People" in big letters. I'm imagining a person of African descent walking around the shampoo aisle in a state of total confusion until they see that bottle--"oh, that one must be made just for me!"
OK, back to the story. So, I took the subway to the market and was pretty impressed by what I saw when I arrived. I was expecting a bunch of stalls, but it was actually mostly all full stores setup for the market, with a row of stalls in the middle of the street. More important than all of the fake stuff that was being sold, they had these large-ish tents setup in the streets selling what looked like pretty delicious food. Since I
promised my readers (as if I have a bunch) that I would do something blog-worthy, I decided to step in and see what happened. Well, the picture gives a pretty good sense of the action. They had all sorts of unknown meats/fish/poultry on display as well as noodles, vegetables, kimchi, etc (important note--check out the mini aquarium in the foreground, which was filled with live baby octopus I think). On the other side was this wonderful Korean woman, ready to cook it all for you.
I sat down after being welcomed in loudly--the way the chefs yell at you when you walk into a sushi restaurant--and was quickly greeted with a bowl of some type of clearish broth and mussels soup. I noted someone else eating it (at first I was wondering if I would start eating it and then realize that everyone else was washing their hands with it or something), so I dove right in. I have to say, it was very tasty. I later saw how they prepared it--they took water from the
ENORMOUS kettle in the other pic and filled a huge steel vat with hot water and mussels. So, if you don't like mussels then this is no soup for you. But I do, so it was. The waiter then brought me a menu, which we immediately both laughed at because it was clear I don't speak or read any Korean. So instead, he gave me the universal motion for "go up there and point at whatever you want." I settled on 6 smallish skewers, all of which were some type of meat and green onion--two were duck, two were pork (I think), and two were unknown. I thought they looked like duck as well, but they were much more chewy and had kind of a gamey texture. Maybe they were liver? They weren't my favorite, but they were good enough for me to eat. All of these skewers were cooked with what seemed like a mixture of soy sauce, sesame seeds, and sesame oil (all poured out of repurposed PowerAde bottles, of course). There was a side of tasty hot sauce, which I liked as well. So, the combination of these skewers, mussel soup, and a big Cass beer (the only beer people really seem to drink here, which reminds me of Miller Light), made for a delicious meal. Afterward, I spent another hour or so walking around the market (the only other highlight being that I bought some fried twisty doughnut thingys from a guy who was approximately 125 years old--they were ok but cold). I would have stayed longer, but the market was clearly not in full swing since it was a holiday.
Anyhow, it was fun and made for a good first day of exploring Seoul. Today it is unfortunately snowing and nasty outside, so I am going to do what I have been waiting to do since I got here--hit the gym. I just found one two doors down from my apartment. It isn't full of too much equipment, but should prove enough for a month of exercise before I head out to travel. I really need to spend some time there getting into shape ahead of going to kickboxing camp at the end of the month. That should be pretty amazing, but I know I need to be in better shape before arriving if I want to take full advantage of it.
OK, I hope everyone is having a great start to 2010. See you soon!
Incidentally, there are all kinds of fun moments of mistaken English like that here. One of my favorites from yesterday was the sleeve on my cappuccino, which said "Espresso of Street" meaning it was a sleeve for coffee drinks that are to-go. The other I saw recently at my grocery store was a bottle of shampoo that had a completely normal design (aside from being written mostly in Korean, but that is normal), except that under the name it said "Black People" in big letters. I'm imagining a person of African descent walking around the shampoo aisle in a state of total confusion until they see that bottle--"oh, that one must be made just for me!"
OK, back to the story. So, I took the subway to the market and was pretty impressed by what I saw when I arrived. I was expecting a bunch of stalls, but it was actually mostly all full stores setup for the market, with a row of stalls in the middle of the street. More important than all of the fake stuff that was being sold, they had these large-ish tents setup in the streets selling what looked like pretty delicious food. Since I
promised my readers (as if I have a bunch) that I would do something blog-worthy, I decided to step in and see what happened. Well, the picture gives a pretty good sense of the action. They had all sorts of unknown meats/fish/poultry on display as well as noodles, vegetables, kimchi, etc (important note--check out the mini aquarium in the foreground, which was filled with live baby octopus I think). On the other side was this wonderful Korean woman, ready to cook it all for you.I sat down after being welcomed in loudly--the way the chefs yell at you when you walk into a sushi restaurant--and was quickly greeted with a bowl of some type of clearish broth and mussels soup. I noted someone else eating it (at first I was wondering if I would start eating it and then realize that everyone else was washing their hands with it or something), so I dove right in. I have to say, it was very tasty. I later saw how they prepared it--they took water from the
ENORMOUS kettle in the other pic and filled a huge steel vat with hot water and mussels. So, if you don't like mussels then this is no soup for you. But I do, so it was. The waiter then brought me a menu, which we immediately both laughed at because it was clear I don't speak or read any Korean. So instead, he gave me the universal motion for "go up there and point at whatever you want." I settled on 6 smallish skewers, all of which were some type of meat and green onion--two were duck, two were pork (I think), and two were unknown. I thought they looked like duck as well, but they were much more chewy and had kind of a gamey texture. Maybe they were liver? They weren't my favorite, but they were good enough for me to eat. All of these skewers were cooked with what seemed like a mixture of soy sauce, sesame seeds, and sesame oil (all poured out of repurposed PowerAde bottles, of course). There was a side of tasty hot sauce, which I liked as well. So, the combination of these skewers, mussel soup, and a big Cass beer (the only beer people really seem to drink here, which reminds me of Miller Light), made for a delicious meal. Afterward, I spent another hour or so walking around the market (the only other highlight being that I bought some fried twisty doughnut thingys from a guy who was approximately 125 years old--they were ok but cold). I would have stayed longer, but the market was clearly not in full swing since it was a holiday. Anyhow, it was fun and made for a good first day of exploring Seoul. Today it is unfortunately snowing and nasty outside, so I am going to do what I have been waiting to do since I got here--hit the gym. I just found one two doors down from my apartment. It isn't full of too much equipment, but should prove enough for a month of exercise before I head out to travel. I really need to spend some time there getting into shape ahead of going to kickboxing camp at the end of the month. That should be pretty amazing, but I know I need to be in better shape before arriving if I want to take full advantage of it.
OK, I hope everyone is having a great start to 2010. See you soon!
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