Hangang Park

What better way to spend a cool autumn Saturday morning than walking along a river. This morning we ventured out to the Hangang, "gang" for river and "han" the name of the river.  The hangang divides the city, Old Seoul to the north and New Seoul to the south. We live about 3/4 of mile from an entrance.  In addition to walking paths there are bike paths on both sides of the river going 40 km in both directions.  The expressway and rail system run above the paths so there is a bit of road noise but it is the city and you just have to go with it. 

Dongjak Bridge

Looking across the river, south to "new" Seoul

Mountains

Any guesses on the meaning of this sign?!

Badminton courts!

 

Flower Market

A lot of people

Anyone who knows me will know my excitement at going to the flower market in the Express Bus Station. I know, "why is a flower market in a bus station?" I don't have the answer to that but I do know that most of the florist in the city get their flowers here everyday. It opens at 4 am, we were not there at 4 am, and closes at 1:00 pm. We arrived at 9 and it was still pretty crowded but I'm pretty sure it is packed at 5 am. Anyway, there are rows and rows and boxes on boxes of flowers from everywhere. 

In addition to the fresh flowers there is an even larger section for silk flowers, baskets, wedding decorations and anything you could want to use to decorate your home. If you are the crafty type, this is Michael's on steroids!

Row after row, overwhelming

Plastic fruit or veggie anyone!

I can however sort-of arrange flowers so I bought several things, all for the great price of 7000 won ($6.80). In the end I had too many daisies and only one large vase so I gave some to a neighbor. The next time I will spend my time looking at the decoration side. You really can not process all the fresh flowers then attempt to process the decoration side, it is sensory overload.

Flowers

Dinner and a Movie

I should have posted this last week but I have surprisingly become very busy.  This is a good thing, I am settling into a routine and I am beginning to feel more at ease here.  

This past weekend we went to a Korean barbecue place followed by a movie. First there are more than a few movie theaters that show first run movies in English with Korean subtitles.  That was a great surprise.  I had assumed wrongly that we wouldn't be able to see movies in the theater unless there were subtitles.  The cost of a ticket is cheaper when compared to the CA prices, 8000 won or $7.80 for a Saturday night ticket.  The theaters are big with comfortable seating and good sound.  The only obstacle is buying the ticket.  Our cashier didn't really understand English or us Korean so she held up her fingers over her eyes like a mask and we all nodded and smiled with a "yes", we want to see Batman!

Dinner was no less of a challenge.  The "menu" was a ticket-sized piece of paper in Korean with no pictures.  We had to ask for a picture menu!  Korean barbecue is as varied here as it is in America.  Some meat is marinated with hot chili paste, there is beef and pork (no chicken), various cuts and bone-in or out.  The only constant is the method of cooking.  The very small table has a hole in the middle and when you order someone brings a bucket of red hot coals, puts them in the hole and covers it with a grill.  The waiter then bring plates of raw meat, along with all the common side dishes, and you then cook your food.  It is a little hot but good company and a cool glass of beer make it fun.

Our meal was beef and pork (resembling large cuts of bacon) and our sides were rice (as always), kimchi, spring onions in beef broth, scrambled eggs (a little odd), potato salad (also a little odd) and a tofu and onion soup (I have no idea what else was in the soup).  Everything was really good, the atmosphere was great and for obvious reasons the service was quick.  

Very small "table", there were 3 of us!

Quick tidbit of trivia, you do not tip in Korea.  Table service is less attentive but still good.  

Typhoon Bolaven & Sanba

So we have experienced 2 typhoons in the past 2 weeks, Typhoon Bolaven and Typhoon Sanba.  I wasn't sure what to expect but so far we have come through without any issues.  There were a few trees blown over, some flooding and power outages.  Both typhoons impacted the coast more than Seoul, we had rain and wind gusts only.  Because of Seoul's inland location the impact is not as great however it does give some idea of the immensity of a typhoon system.  Typhoon Bolaven was as big as the entire Korean peninsula!  I am thankful I don't live closer to the coast.  

I suppose I can now add typhoons to my life experience list. 

Preparing the trees for the wind

Flooded sidewalk

Some wind damage, nothing
compared to the coast

It's Official

So I am officially allowed to stay in the Republic of Korea for 2 years.  Yesterday I went to the Sejongno Immigration Office and got my visa.  I will admit that it is a little strange to know that I can live in another country for 2 years.  The experience was uneventful, exactly like going to the DMV; get a number, wait for an hour for your number to be called, hand your paperwork to a tired, overworked person who checks off the the paper, stamps your passport and sends you away after 3 minutes.  Good to know that some things stay the same across country borders.  

In other random observations, I walked by a park while out that rehabilitated birds injured in the city.  One cage had 5 black vultures, 3' tall.  They are huge birds.  I also saw hawks, owls, doves and magpies.  It was interesting, the cages were in a playground off to the side and you could walk right up the cages and stick your fingers in if you wanted to.  I am sure the posted signs said "do not stick fingers in cages!" but since they were in Korean I will only have to speculate.  

 

Books

Wanted to share this photo I took at the Itaewon Foreign Bookstore.  This used bookstore is chock-a-block of books from ceiling to floor.  This is the children's book section and I love the vibrant colors and the green step stools to crawl up and lose yourself in books.  

Bibimbap, 비빔밥

Thursday I had the wonderful privilege of eating lunch with 2 Korean women I met at BSF.  They took me to a place called Korea Traditional Restaurant in the Myeongdong district.

They took the lead and ordered lunch, asking if I was brave and did I like spicy food.  They ordered bibimbap, mixed vegetable rice bowl.  Bibimbap is a common dish and there are many, many variations.  My lunch was served in a hot (very hot) bowl and made up of rice, thinly sliced vegetables, beef, mushrooms, and a raw egg yolk. You stir this together along with gochujang, chili paste, and the egg and vegetables are "cooked" along the sides of the bowl.  

The presentation of the bowl is really beautiful and each of the ingredients are arranged carefully in the bowl.  I almost hated to stir everything together but I wasnt' really up on eating raw egg.  It was a delicious meal.  I think I could easily make this at home although I don't have the proper clay bowl so I might pass on the raw egg.  Just like all the meals I've had so far it also included various sides such as kimchi (red and white), mung bean sprout soup, seaweed chips and raw squid in chili paste.  I tried the squid; it wasn't awful but a little too fishy for me.  

As a side note, Koreans eat with metal chopsticks and a long soup spoon.  They eat rice and soups (obviously) with the spoon and use the chopsticks for everything else.  Eating rice with chopsticks has always been a challenge, very happy that it is culturally acceptable to use the spoon.

The meal was finished off with a spicy cinnamon cold tea.  The ladies were unsure how to translate what was in the tea, other than the cinnamon, but it is "very good for you."  Next week they have invited me to lunch again, what a gift.