I had a bus mishap on the way home from Daegu a while ago. (I took the wrong bus and wound up riding the public transportation for about two hours.) So my host family, and especially my host mom, was very worried about me going to Seoul. She spoke with my friend, Juyoung, several times on the phone about the transfer I would take in Hayang on the way back and about the other arrangements. But on Saturday morning, they graciously greeted me with a plate full of sushi for breakfast and a ride to KyungSan Station, where I would take the subway to Seoul.
It was so surreal and dream-like to be in the capital city of South Korea with people I'd seen and spent time with in the United States. I found Juyoung with about three more inches of pony tail and dressed in a mini stirrup-skirt, a style which seems to be popular in Korea. Jackson, or Jea Jun Yoo, met us in the bus station as well. He left the U.S. only days after I did.
First, we went to Insadong--a tourist shopping spot with plenty of Asian-style fans, flutes, and traditional garb. I paid 3,000 won ($3) to try on a traditional Korean dress for ten minutes. (Gotta live it up sometimes.) For lunch, we ate a cold noodle soup with pear slices called nayng mo mil. The shopping was OK, but what I really enjoyed was chatting about my "firsts" in Korea, voicing my impressions to welcoming Korean ears who remember what first times can be like in a foreign country. They wanted to know what foods I'd tried and liked or disliked. They wanted to know what I thought of the showers and how classes were going. They were curious about my host family. I had a new curiosity and sensitivity about their firsts in the United States.
Most of the afternoon was spent walking around one of the most famous land marks in Seoul--Gyeong Bok Gong palace. The history was great, especially the king's throne room, but again the company trumped the learning experience. I enjoyed taking pictures around the palace and joking with Ju and Jackson about Ju's desire to live in the palace as a princess.
As we left the palace courtyard, we thought of other people in Korea I might know, and we arranged to meet them in Myeong Dong. According to Ju, Myeong Dong is the hip, cool place, where young people hang out in Seoul. So true. Myeong Dong was hopping at about 7 p.m. on Saturday. Kiosks filled the narrowish streets between strip malls of boutiques, department stores, coffee shops and bars. Pedestrians had to dodge each other like football players in order to make it from one block to the next. I bought a couple pairs of cheap earrings at a cheap earring stand, and we escaped the crowd in a Tous Les Jours. For the first time, I tried a popular Asian treat that I cringed at before--Red bean and ice. (It's so unusual in the U.S. to use beans for a sweet treat. It's pretty normal in Korea.)Our dish was topped with green tea ice cream and almonds. It looked like an ice cream dish at first, but a sloshy ice burg rested underneath the mint-colored scoops. When Jackson mixed all the parts together, it was like a glorious dessert soup with beans, cream, nuts and cold, ice water. Delicious! I will request it for my birthday.
We met Bill (or Jungho, a Korean friend) and James Combs-lay (a UNI student whose student teaching in Seoul) at a nice-ish place for beer and hors d'ouerves. Like the U.S., drinking is kind of taboo among Christians. So I didn't figure my host family would offer me any chances to sample Korean beer. Truth be told: it pretty much tasted like any old beer.
Again, it was such a joy to be with my friends in their home country. After the small meal, Bill led the way to a No-Rae-Bang or singing room for some karaoke. No need to mention the songs we performed in that little room, I'll leave it for the acoustic walls to tell. The first forty minutes was pretty fun and entertaining, but after too many dramatic ballads, my eyes began to feel heavy and my legs hungered for a permanent resting place. We said goodnight, and Ju and I took the subway back to her apartment for the night.
On Sunday, we slept in and adjusted our afternoon plans to attend a 12 o'clock English service at the "Church of Love" in Seoul. Denise told me on Monday that the church is famous and one of the biggest in South Korea. We met Hong after church in Upga-Jong for another cold noodle lunch and a walk in the park. Being with Hong and Ju reminds me why it's fun to travel, even if it's sometimes lonely and difficult.
Ju helped me board the train for Jilyang at 6:30 p.m., and I read "The Kite Runner" the whole way back. It was a wonderful weekend!
I can see you're "diving in." Stephen Curtis Chapman would be proud. I can relate to the unfamiliarity and challenge associated with the simplest of tasks that we take for granted when we're home. Beans for dessert? Yuk! You know I can eat almost anything but that just doesn't do it for me. Glad you liked it. I love you!
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