Sunday, December 27, 2009

Boxing Day in Seoul

On our third and final day in the city, we walked a lot. First we went to the Cheongokgung Palace, the imperial seat of the Korean royal house for much of Korea's history. It was a sprawling compound that the literature compared several times to the Forbidden City. I saw many elements of what I've read about in the forbidden city—separate palaces for each member of the royal family, an imposing throne room with a large courtyard leading up to it, a surrounding wall with four ornate gates to match the cardinal directions, and lots and lots of guardian spirit carvings—but I wanted to know more about life there. Was it as insular? Were people not often allowed to leave once they entered? I guess I will have to do more research. All of the structures had been rebuilt at some point, and signs constantly reminded us that we were seeing a piece of what the palace compound used to look like. The official story is that the Japanese burned down the complex in 1910 (I will go into more depth about how the Koreans feel about the Japanese some other time, but there's no love lost there), though I have also read that servants burned down the palace after the royal family fled. I like the latter story better, and I can definitely understand the urge to torch the workplace if you're a palace servant.

While we were at the palace, two English students approached me for a project. They wanted to ask me whether I thought segregation was still a problem in America, and whether it's a problem in Korea. At first I actually tried to give them my opinion—yes, racial segregation is a problem in my area of America, but it gets better with every generation, and I have not detected any racial diversity in Korea, so it would be hard to make a comparison—but I think they got, “Yes, it's a problem in America, Korea is better,” and walked off satisfied. High schoolers everywhere like to simplify the world, I guess. I was a little miffed. Yes, America has a uniquely horrid history of treating non-Euro ethnic groups badly, but we are the only country I've been to that acknowledges and tries to deal with the problem. Yes, you don't have racial strife if you're in a homogenous country, but you lack the diversity of ideas and culture that I find myself missing now. Oh well. I guess everyone thinks they live in the middle kingdom.

After lunch at a porridge restaurant (yes, Korean porridge rocks) we returned to the complex to visit museums. In the palace museum, we saw elaborate seals, record books, some of which were bronze or bamboo, and instruction booklets for putting on the intricate ceremonies of the Joseon royal family. The Joseon dynasty united three warring kingdoms in Korea and brought about an enlightenment in the late 14th century. They established Seoul as the Korean capital. We then went over to the Korean Folk Museum, where I managed to cram a little more information about Joseon farming life into my head. Farming is integral to Korean culture even today, and a lot of the superstitions, traditions, and festivals revolve around the harvest year. Chuseok, the second biggest Korean holiday, is a harvest festival. And, as I may have mentioned before, the produce here is out of this world. We saw a Korean water clock and wood block printing press. Moveable type appeared in Korea almost 100 years before Gutenburg.

We went to Insadong for dinner, which is a traditional Korean shopping street. Now it's mainly souvenir stands, but I had amazing jujube and cinnamon tea at an old wooden tea house and we had a nice Korean meal for dinner.

I leave this morning with mixed impressions of the city. It's even colder here than it is in Daegu, and there are so many people. I have never been in such a jam packed subway, which is saying something because I have been in a lot of subways. There were people who literally couldn't fit in the cars and had to wait on the platform for the next one. There are many more western touches here, and we enjoyed some of the comforts of home (like Indian food and coffee). Seoul is a beautiful city with a rich history, which is apparent in the old temples, statues, walls, and pagodas amidst the modern buildings. It makes me think of Rome. In the end, I'm happy to be going back to Daegu. I like diversity, but I also like not having to travel 45 minutes to get anywhere or shove people out of my way to walk down the street.


The courtyard in front of the throne hall. To get here, you have to go through three gates. The middle walkway is only for the king.











The inside of one of the living quarters. Everyone sits on the floor. Gotta love that ondol heating.















A chimney carved with symbols of longevity for the dowager empress. The king was a bit of a mama's boy.










A pleasure palace in the middle of a lake. The king and his guests would boat around for awhile, then would feast in the open air pavilion. The floor has three levels: the more important you are, the higher you sit.










A Korean water clock.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas from Seoul, Part 2

Yesterday was probably my most memorable Christmas. Well, it's up there with the year I got a gerbil, at least. After breakfasting on Christmas cake and actual coffee, Bobby and I headed downtown. We had planned to see the South Gate, the ornate former main gate to the city. When we emerged from the subway it was raining. We grabbed a hot tea (first of three that day) and an umbrella from street vendors and walked down towards the gate. It was unfortunately undergoing a major renovation. We saw a few bricks through a glass window. We turned around and headed back towards Deoksu palace, one of many in Seoul and the original seat of the Joeson dynasty. Much of the palace compound has been moved or destroyed to make room for the growing city, but we saw an ornate throne room and some residences, as well as a westernized banquet hall with chairs that the king created for his foreign guests. There was a shrine for a murdered queen and some gardens as well. Finally I had had enough of the cold rain, so we went to an art museum.

It was an underwhelming art museum—only two artists' work was displayed--so after another tea we headed back to Itaewon to have dinner. We had booked us two spots at Chef Meili's restaurant for a set Christmas dinner. At chef Meili's we found candles, Christmas music, and the cadence of English, a welcome ambience for foreigners missing home a bit. The food was amazing.

We hopped back on the subway to go downtown and see the Chrismas lights on Cheongyye Stream, a rustic stream that the mayor uncovered as part of a beautification project. When we emerged from the subway, it was snowing. As a southerner, a white Christmas is a particularly special event for me. The light show was spectacular, made more so by the falling flakes. Many Koreans we passed wished us a Merry Christmas. We stopped for a hot chocolate and went back to the hotel to watch the snow accumulate from the window. I have to add that we finally broke into the Moravian cookies that Bob and Mary Remsburg sent us over with. We were saving them for a special occasion, and it seemed like just the one.


The main ceremonial hall and some gardens













I love the woodwork on the windows. You could walk between many of these buildings without going outside.












This stone is in the middle of the walkway up to the main ceremonial hall
















Christmas lights at Cheongyye Stream

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas from Seoul, Part 1

If you have been following this blog, you are probably aware of my coffee related woes. Well, I'm pleased to report that this morning, for the very first time, I managed to get a large coffee ground from real coffee beans this morning when I woke up. And it only cost me 2000 won. It's December 25, and the man who made me what I wanted most for Christmas bowed and told me, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” as he handed my steaming cup of morning delight, TO GO, so I could take it up to our room and enjoy it in my pajamas.

Here we are in Seoul, and it's a lovely morning. Well, it's gray, but it's above freezing. There are more non-Asians in Seoul than I've seen in awhile. In Daegu, when I encounter a foreigner off base, I want to start a conversation (and often do) because it is such a rarity. In Seoul, after seeing about 10 foreigners, I finally noticed that I was the only one staring.

For Christmas Eve we went to Itaewon for a reading and found Indian food. It was not the Indian food I wistfully remember, but it involved Indian spices, jasmine rice, and coconut milk, and was therefore heavenly to my tikka masala deprived palate. The readings were fun, performed by an expat acting group called the Seoul Players and ranging from the book of Luke to The Santaland Diaries. The bar served eggnog and mulled wine, and I welcomed the comforts of home for awhile.

We bought a Christmas cake at the train station. This appears to be a Korean Christmas tradition, and I saw several Koreans carrying around cakes yesterday. This is a Korean tradition I am happy to adopt. It even came with a present, a cheesy hat that I've seen a lot of people wearing (apparently I wasn't the only one to succumb to the allure of the bear cake at Dunkin Donuts).



Itaewon
















Christmas cake

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Wheels at last!

I am now the proud owner of a 1997 Hyundai Sonata 3. The car has been inspected three times, we visited the auto dealership four times and not once did we drive the car off the lot, and I signed a lot of forms that were written in Korean (and took them elsewhere to be stamped and signed again). I provided more proof of my identity and right to live in this country than I showed to the organization that gave me thousands of dollars in cash to pay for a home. I still can't drive the car on base, since the vehicle ID office keeps odd hours. Nonetheless, I feel sixteen again.

My jubilation at having a new car was cut short when I first tried to drive it around. Korean drivers are impatient and inconsiderate, which I guess could have more to do with living in a big city than Korea. I can't drive slowly or hesitate before making a turn unless I want someone to honk at me. If I want to enter a road, I have to hold my breath and assume the person approaching me will slow down. I may know where I want to go, but I will probably encounter a few turns I can't take or instances where I have to turn rather than go straight. Finally, there are cameras everywhere, and I have been assured that I will receive a ticket or two in the mail with my picture over a large price tag. There is no traffic court in Korea. As a matter of fact, if I'm traveling some distance and I pass through toll gates too quickly, I get a ticket.

I will try to find a road map the next time I go on base, since even Google maps can't help me with Daegu. Friends have assured us that the best way to find our way around is to get lost a few times, which is how we learned Charlotte. Many of the roads don't really have names. Street addresses are new to Korea, and people still give directions by landmark.

For now, we're sticking around Namgu, our neighborhood, and taking the subway if we can. It's still the best way to be sure you get where you want to go. It snowed today, as though Daegu knew that I was missing the snow in North Carolina. Happy snow day, everyone.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Car shopping and big fat wads of cash

Yesterday I paid for the house we are currently occupying. In accordance with USFK policies, we did not pay a down payment with a promise for monthly rent. Instead, we paid the entire two years rent up front. Moreover, we paid it in cash. My jaw dropped when my housing department told me this, but I dutifully made an appointment with my bank to withdraw the staggering amount of money, which had appeared in my account before we moved in. The soonest they could provide me with cash in hand, by the way, was a week afterwards.

So I spoke to our realtor about it, and he arranged for the landlord to meet us at the bank to witness the cash being counted. The bank manager came out and observed as well. I'm not comfortable posting how much cash it was on the internet, but let me assure you that I have never seen anything close to this dollar amount in my bank account before, much less in cash. The teller put stacks of hundreds through the counting machine while everyone observed. Then the realtor asked to flip through the stacks of bills to assure the landlord that they were all benjamins. They then placed the stacks in a huge envelope and handed it to me. I held on to this cash for about 10 minutes while we walked over to housing, at which point I handed it over in front of witnesses from our housing department. We both signed a statement that I had paid my rent, and it was notarized. We now have a place to live for the next two years. That kind of security is a wonderful feeling, though not as thrilling as holding tens of thousands of dollars in cash.

We went car shopping with Mr. Pan later in the day. This was an unusual and frustrating experience for us. In Korea, there is no test driving, no carfax reports, and no haggling over price. I couldn't even read the specs of the car, since they were all in Korean. I'm fortunate to have Mr. Pan, since he asked questions for us and told us what the car dealers, who spoke no English, were saying. Regular readers of this blog may notice a pattern—Meri is given a sharp reminder that she is in a country where she can't communicate with 90% of the people, and Mr. Pan rescues her from disaster. Living in Korea must be a completely different experience for Americans who lack such a selfless and dedicated friend with a strong grasp of English. I have also been getting to work every day without a car thanks to Mr. Pan. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out a good enough Christmas gift for him.

Tonight we had dinner at our next door restaurant. We paid 20,000 won (about 17 dollars) and got a small plates of several of our favorite Korean dishes. Right now I am looking out at the flashing crosses of Daegu's churches (churches in Daegu resemble casinos in garishness, more so at Christmas) feeling warm and satisfied. As it is below freezing outside, this is a testament to the soup and tea that was a part of our meal.

After a quick inspection from our base mechanic, by the way, we have decided to buy the car. It's a 1997 Hyundai Sonata 3, and our mechanic told us it was a solid car as long as we didn't try to take it too far. Tomorrow we go to the car lot to sign the paperwork, then start what will probably be a harrowing process of getting the car registered with the city of Daegu and the U.S. military.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Our Neighborhood

Now that I've had a few days to explore, I'd like to write about some of highlights of my neighborhood. When we moved, we knew we were entering restaurant row, and we haven't even explored a small percentage of our local restaurants. We're certainly trying to eat our way through our neighborhood, but this project will take at least a month. In the meantime, I took a walk in our “backyard” (a.k.a. Apsan Mountain) today. It's a slog and I still haven't made it all the way to the top, but I have reached some amazing vantage points. The city of Daegu looks like a sea of white buildings with a few green islands (parks). There's a trail up Apsan mountain right across the road from our villa, along with a batrhoom and some exercise equipment. Every park in Daegu has lots of exercise equipment that Daegu's boomer population puts to good use. In America, parks are for children. Here, it seems, they are for adults.

Down the the road—literally, as we have to go down a steep hill—is our Home Plus, which is Tesco in Korea with some housewares and appliances thrown in. As I have misplaced my ration card, we do all of our shopping off base at the moment, and we spent all morning trying to find American foods in the grocery store. We were marginally successful. There doesn't appear to be wheat bread in Korea, but we did get some awesome nut tea they call Jok's tears and some instant coffee. Instant coffee is not really my style, but yesterday I discovered that none of the eight “coffee shops” around my house are open in the morning. I'm not sure I can consider these coffee shops, since they don't resemble what I expect, and I don't have a lot of patience for cultural differences when I am undercaffeinated. I have wandered into two or three hoping to get a cup of coffee to go, only to be invited to sit down, served tons of snacks along with coffee (no cream, no sugar) and charged about 5 bucks. We don't have a coffee maker at the moment, though I'm (kind of) confident that I had the presence of mind to pack our coffee maker in unaccompanied baggage, which gets here next week. If not, I will be heading back to the Home Plus to try and figure out Korean coffee makers. We also bought slippers, quintessential for every Asian home though really hard to find in Bobby's size.

Between the Home Plus and our house is our local sijang (market), where I can buy local produce, rice cakes, meat, fish, and market food. Little stalls sell dumplings, spring rolls, rice cakes in sauce, noodles, sausages, Korean pancakes, and twigim (take something, put it on a stick, fry it, enjoy) and you can sit on a stool in the stall to eat it. We can eat a great lunch for under a dollar here.
Daegu at sunset: the poetic view














Here you get a better glimpse at just how many buildings there are. This is Central Daegu.












The best shot of the sijang I could get in the fading light. It's those lights off in the distance.













A food stall.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Our House (Is A Very Very Very Fine House)

Hello from our fantastic new house. It's very big and empty right now, as we haven't even gotten our unaccompanied baggage yet. Our furniture is not supposed to arrive until January. Nonetheless, it's good to be home.

We had an appointment to meet our realtor at one. It was raining today, and Mr. Yu kindly drove us to the hotel to pick up our copious amounts of luggage. We had excessive luggage when we arrived here, and we've managed to acquire quite a bit more in the past month. Mr. Pan took me to the Emart yesterday, which was something like an Ikea. I was lucky to have a Korean with me, since navigating superstores in America is complex.

Anyways, we packed Mr. Yu's car to the gills and drove down to meet Louis Jang, our realtor and the only Korean I know whom I call by his first name. While we were driving, Mr. Yu told me that rain is auspicious for a moving day. It means we will be rich. Louis lead us to our stunning new home, which astounded Mr. Yu. Louis explained to him (in Korean, so I have to take his word on this) that this is a really good time to rent a home. After unloading our luggage, Louis pasted stickers on all of our appliances with English translations. We had several “classes,” with breaks in between—thermostat, washer/dryer, air conditioner, doors, security system, stove, refrigerator, transformers—we have a lot of gadgets in this house, most of which have more options than we will ever use. Mr. Pan showed up with rice cakes and rice wine. We put one rice cake and glass of wine in the bedroom, and another in the kitchen. This brings good fortune to us. We ate the rest of the rice cakes and drank some wine.

Mr. Pan hung around and learned about our house so that I can call him if something goes wrong, and he can call our landlord, who doesn't speak any English. While Louis was sticking notes on our appliances, Mr. Pan talked us through some of our delivery menus. In the magic wonderland that is Korea, you can get anything delivered. Louis tested us to make sure we can get into our house and turn on the heat, then rushed off to another appointment. Mr. Pan ferried me back to the library, while Bobby waited around for our loaner furniture to arrive. Right now we have a couch, a kitchen table, a coffee table, a chair, and a bed. Of our eight rooms (not counting laundry room, bathrooms, and walk in closet) we occupy three, which is about how many we used to have.

Tonight we went to our closest restaurant—a tough competition, since we live on a restaurant street—which says uyanjang. It turned out to be a traditional Korean restaurant, so we slipped off our shoes, went into a private room, and sat on the floor. In the spirit of our first day as official Daegu residents, I ordered two uyanjong's. I'm still not sure what this means, but I imagine it's something like “thousands of courses.” We thought we were done, and the hostess brought more! It was all delicious, and cost us something like 18 bucks. By the time we got back, our ondol heating system was kicking, which makes the floor very toasty. We puzzled over our trash bags for a bit. I think I'm going to have to ask Mr. Pan about those.

I am sitting on our loaner couch now sipping (okay inhaling) this plum wine that Mr. Pan's wife made for us. I can see the city of Daegu through our windows, which glitters at night. Bobby keeps running across the house and sliding in his socks. I don't think either of us ever imagined we would have such a nice house. I don't think we need rain or wine in the bedroom to consider ourselves fortunate.

Wine and rice cake for our bedroom














A bigass delivery menu (fortunately, with pictures)













Bobby enjoying the ondol heating system

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Korean Christmas

Yesterday, Mr Pan came in and announced that it was time to decorate for Christmas. This tugs at my emotions a bit, since Bobby and I will probably not be decorating our house for Christmas this year. Anyways, the guys produced boxes of decorations from somewhere, and Mr Pan set about directing Mr. Kim and Mr. Yu in Korean while I stood by and obstinately tried to get involved. These guys are pretty big on keeping the librarian away from manual labor, but eventually Mr. Pan noticed how much I wanted to help and set me to decorating the tree. Meanwhile, Mr. Yu was defiantly giving two Santas four reindeer apiece. I rattled off all of their names to try and convince Mr. Yu that there were in fact eight reindeer and one Santa, but Mr. Kim, the joker, said that there needed to be two Santas to carry so many presents and turned back to his work, singing “Jingle Bells.” By the end of the morning, we had one fully decorated tree, stockings on the circ desk—my idea, as the men wanted to put them on the tree—and two Santas with four reindeer apiece in the children's room. Mr. Kim also strung green tinsel from the ceiling over the circ desk while I pleaded with him to be careful. I got a wreath on my office door, which I have to duck to go in and out.

I know none of my Korean library family reads this blog, but I have to mention how I will remember that morning, with fondness, as my first Christmas in Korea. My Walker library staff is closer to my heart than they can imagine. I guess being in a foreign land can make one sentimental and needy, especially around the holidays. Meri from a month ago would be rolling her eyes at my soft underbelly, but there you have it.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Busan (or was it Pusan?)

Koreans and Americans in Daegu strongly encourage us to get out and see the country. I don't need much encouragement, but we hadn't made any plans for this weekend. So when Mr. Kim asked us where we were going this weekend, I replied “Busan” without much forethought. Busan is Korea's second largest city, weighing in at about 4 million people. It's a port city with several inlets and islands, with a river heading inland on its west side.

So we hopped a train to Busan. We got off to a late start, and we didn't arrive until after 2, hungry for lunch but determined to make it to the famous fish market before we ate anything. On the advice of Mr. Kim (and Mr. Kim), we wanted to eat at one of the fish market restaurants where you buy a fish at the stall and the restaurant cooks it for you. This was well worth the wait. We ended up having a delicious fried flounder. After eyeballing the fish on the frying pan, we were waved into the restaurant by a shopkeeper who said, “Good! Good!” We wandered in, mildly confused whether we had ordered anything, and a group of young men motioned us to their table. We sat there and glanced around nervously for awhile, but soon enough the shopkeeper who had motioned us in brought us the fish on a platter, along with the requisite variety of side dishes. The men at the table next to us ordered another bottle of soju and poured us drinks. I tried to say a few things in Korean to them, but one replied, “No Englishi.” I think my library staff are being polite when they say my Korean is good. We picked the fish apart with chopsticks, pulling out the bones and leaving them on the platter. Our tablemates encouraged us to try their dish, which was good. We encouraged them to do the same, but they were probably deterred by the discarded bones on our platter, many of which we had pulled out of our mouths... The men left, giving us a hearty goodbye and leaving me once again overwhelmed by the welcoming, friendly nature of the people in this country.

We wandered through the fish market for awhile, snapping pictures of squid and octopi. The crush of people in Busan is a bit overwhelming, and we felt pressured to keep walking. They only have a million people on Daegu, but the difference is pretty overwhelming.

We headed towards Busan tower, keeping it in our sights while we wandered through a downtown shopping area similar to Daegu's. On the way, we passed a small temple. We ducked into a parking area to discover an enclave of serenity amidst the crush of weekend shoppers. There was a little lantern garden and a stone pagoda with a little shrine with burning candles. I bowed to a monk sitting on the steps, and he replied.

Back in the streets, we found the park. We were relieved to see a road where cars weren't allowed. In Korea, cars drive right through the masses of people, and we have to step aside frequently. We followed this road up a hill, and emerged at a plaza with a temple, a statue, and the viewing tower. We caught Busan in it's sprawling glory at sunset. The city is massive, spreading up the mountains on three sides, and down to the ocean on the other. We could see two port areas with cargo ships, ferry docks, and several larger ships anchored out at sea. We grabbed a drink—I had (something) tears tea, which turned out to be brewed from peanuts—and watched the sun set. At nightfall, I was surprised to note that Busan has many less colored lights than Daegu. Nonetheless, she put on a show for us, with a few buildings changing colors and a bridge flashing at intervals. A young Korean woman asked to have her picture taken with me. I guess I'm an exotic species here.

On the ground, we discovered that all of the trees in the park had strings of lights on them. On the way back down, we encountered rows of colored lanterns with papers attached to the bottom. My ignorance of eastern religions annoys me, and I was left with the impression that I was looking at something significant. We wandered back through the shopping area until we found a large bookstore. The covers of the Korean books were so enticing, and I wish I could read them. I've always been a sucker for pretty book covers. Instead, we browsed a small English book section, and I bought a book of Korean fairy tales. We found a sushi place for dinner where I tried (cooked) conch, and made our way back to the train station. We grabbed the KTX, Korea's high speed train, for our trip back, only to discover when we arrived that Camp Walker's Gate 6 was closed. We had to walk all the way around the Camp to Gate 4 to get in, an exasperating end to an otherwise memorable day.


The roof of a cafe below the tower















Colored lanterns in a shrine















Part of Busan
















In front of the viewing tower




















A temple downtown













Busan fish market

Friday, November 27, 2009

Our New Home, Thangsgiving, and Samgyetong

I've been kind of busy, so I'm lumping what deserves three posts into one. First, we signed a lease on our home. This is a far more complex process in Korea than it is in America. We met our realtor for an inspection, and he drove us up to the house. I don't know if I've mentioned Louis before, but he's an outstanding realtor: first for finding us the place, and second for driving us to our house twice and talking us through it so we can find it ourselves. So we got there and met the landlord, who showed us the place again. He doesn't speak any English, but he conveyed through Louis that his last tenant stayed for three years and landlord drove tenant to the airport when he left.

Eventually someone from our housing department showed up. He had a clipboard, and performed an inspection on the house. He then handed me the clipboard and told me to do the same. The first thing on the list was bathrooms, and we had to ascertain that the toilets flushed, the shower worked, and there was hot water. We were running the water to test this when the housing guy rushed in and told us the hot water wasn't on yet. I asked how we were supposed to verify this, and he said we were just supposed to check the boxes. Okay... every day I am reminded that there are many things about this place that I will never understand. Anyways, Bobby got all wet and it was pretty funny. I then had to complete a security checklist that the Army mandates verifying that the house is secure. Afterwards, we all drove down to Camp Henry (5 people: Bobby and me, Louis, and the landlord and his son). We had to pile into one car because only Louis has permission to take his vehicle into Henry.

We went to housing, where I had my lease explained to me, initialed it in several places, and signed. They did the same in Korean with the landlord. I got a pamphlet about garbage service in Korea, which is very complicated and punished by a stiff fine if (when?) I mess it up. We all left pretty happy, and we move in December 10. Our furniture won't be here, so we will have to borrow some from housing. Not that we'll be able to fill that house with the furniture we have, anyways.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Of course, there is no Thanksgiving in Korea, so everything was open. We went to my sponsor's house for dinner, where we encountered dozens of Americans and a few Koreans. There was a magnificent spread, including sangria, and we cut loose a bit. Bobby and I are making plenty of friends here, and everyone is willing to help the clueless newbies, for which I am very grateful.

Yesterday was my birthday, and Mr. Pan took us out for samgyetong. This is a remarkable chicken stew, which, like many dishes in Korea, cooked right in front of us. We each received a bowl of simmering soup with a whole tiny chicken (guinea hen?) inside. Mr. Pan showed us how to pick the chicken apart with chopsticks, and it was stuffed with rice, a chestnut, a date, and ginseng. We stirred the contents and ladled some into a smaller bowl and poured in some salt. The salt was particularly to Bobby's liking, as he can't really find any here. There was another bowl for the bones. It was absolutely delicious, and I'm putting it on my list of foods I like in Korea. We plan to go back, though I admit it's nice to have a Korean friend to go with so we're not wandering around clueless. I often find myself wishing Mr. Pan were around.

All in all, another remarkable week in Daegu!

Our front door

















Our enormous room. That device in the corner is an air conditioner.













Our master bathroom.














The view from our kitchen (yes, the haze is smog)













The view from our living room. The reflection from the window is kind of in the way, but that mountain is Apsan mountain.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Our New (Temporary) Home

Hello from Camp Walker Lodge. It's not the nice digs we just left, but it's got free internet and it's about 200 yards from where I work. It's about 10 feet from where Bobby works (the vet's office, by the way, in case he hasn't kept in touch).

Today we went out to a traditional Korean restaurant and had bulgogi again. We can't get enough of the stuff! We took off our shoes and sat on cushions on the floor. These cushions are everywhere, by the way, and my Korean colleagues have them on their work chairs and in their cars. A very matronly lady served us, and she was thrilled when I pointed out in Korean that I could hear her cat. I really should capture this on camera, but at these kinds of restaurants they cook the food in front of you. So she brought the meat and vegetables, poured broth over them, and placed them on top of a burner that was on the end of our table. She turned on the burner and brought us the countless side dishes that come with every Korean meal. This time we got potatoes, which Bobby devoured. After awhile, she turned off the burner and spooned our soup into bowls. We each got a bowl of rice to mix into our soup, and we served ourselves out of the pot until it was gone. The owner was so pleased we ate so many sides, she brought us seconds! She also brought us a really sweet, tasty juice for dessert. All in all, the entire meal plus drinks was 21000 won, which is about 18 dollars. I'm not sure there's much incentive for me to learn Korean cooking, since I can eat out so cheaply.

When we left the restaurant, we decided to try a magic claw machine. These are also all over Daegu. This one involved making a little piston go into a slot, and winning a mechanical flapping apple. We threw away about 1500 won on that before we gave up.

My libraries both got the highest ratings on their inspections, by the way, thanks to my incomparable staff. Everyone is jealous of me! I will never get used to not understanding any of the office Korean banter, but I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to run my libraries. Mr Pan told me he spent the day making kimchi, which Koreans love. You get kimchi with every meal, including breakfast. He and his wife went to the market, bought cabbage, chopped it up and cured it somehow, and buried it in the ground. He says I'll get some when I move into my new house.

Goodbye, Inter-burgo! This was the view from our breakfast room.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Daegu Pet Expo and Electronics Mart

Today we went to the Exco for the Daegu pet expo. The Exco is a huge exhibition space, and the third floor was crammed with dogs of all sizes, many with dyed hair and clothing. People in Daegu like to dress their dogs up. This is partially practical, as it's very cold here. It's also stylish, and there are a wide variety of pet costumes for sale, well, everywhere. We had thought that no one in Daegu has large dogs, but we were proven wrong at the pet expo. I guess our fellow dog owners live in houses and villas too (one thing the realtor kept stressing was that people with big dogs can't live in the ubiquitous “modern” high rise apartments). We watched some of a dog show, and the Korean Jindo dog took the prize. One of my library assistants already told us about Jindo dogs, so we were rooting for him. There were reptiles and exotic species of all kinds, and Bobby got to hold a snake.

We then went to the electronics mart. While we didn't achieve our goal of finding a new power supply for Bobby's xbox, it was still worth looking at. It was like a gigantic indoor market, with several different retailers of electronics in one space. Korea is the home of Samsung and LG, and there were contraptions beyond a techno-lover's wildest dream. There was an IKEA like section on the second level with Korean beds, which are lovely wooden carved contraptions with heating pads. I drooled over all the intricately patterned china, and would like to return when it is time to furnish our new villa.

Tomorrow we move to our second temporary home. Though the Inter-burgo is a nice five star establishment, I am looking forward to not living across town from my workplace.


The Jindo is the one on the left.













The electronics mart. I don't think the picture quite captures how incredible it was.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thank Heaven for Weekends

Well, I've hit the ground running here. Between racing around around trying to accomplish all the little things I need for my job—access to my computer, ID card, housing, bank account-- in the overly complicated way the Army likes to do them, I have been trying to make plans for my lovely but underutilized libraries. I had a ACOE inspection this week (ACOE=Army Community of Excellence, it's a big deal and Daegu won third place last year. This year we are finalists again). On Monday, the regional librarian is coming in from Seoul to inspect my two branches. Being new, I am off the hook for the status of my branches, but she may pile a lot of work on me depending on what she thinks.

But enough work, I'm boring myself. This weekend we intend to explore a little more of Daegu. First stop: the lovely Dongwha-sa. This is a buddhist temple complex nestled in one of the mountains behind Daegu. The elaborately carved and painted buildings set against the backdrop of the mountains is an inspiring sight, even though I don't understand much about Buddhism. There were a lot of religious tourists who bowed to each icon and prayed in several of the temples. There was a chant going on in one building that reminded me of old American slave songs—soulful and rhythmic. There were several small piles of rock scattered everywhere, and we puzzled over what these could mean. I suppose I will ask the incomparable Mr. Pan, my guide, translator, and best Korean friend.

On the bus ride up the mountain, Bobby and I befriended the talkative Dr. Lee. All Koreans take English in grammar school, and many like to practice when they encounter westerners, who are few and far between here. We have had several impromptu conversations with inquisitive Koreans. Dr. Lee talked to Bobby throughout the bus ride, and his questions included, “is your wife a good wife? How much do you like her?” Last night we visited a bar which was advertised as an expat venue but was filled with Korean English students, all of whom wanted to talk to us. I'll admit, I don't mind being popular, and I have met some interesting people.

Koreans as a whole are very friendly and solicitous of foreigners. Every time Bobby and I become confused about something like buying subway tokens or looking for a landmark, someone will step up and try to help us, even if they don't speak English. We had lunch at a Korean restaurant, and the owner's wife chatted at us in Korean a bit. I said, “mien hamnida, hongukmaleul chogon arayo (I'm sorry, I only understand a little Korean)” and she said “Choedoyo (me neither)”

I'll leave you with a description of Daegu apples. Daegu is famous for its apples, and with good reason. They are sweet, crisp, juicy, and grown right outside of the city (like everything else. The area around Daegu is full of farms and greenhouses. I can't imagine why I will ever use the commissary). I tried to buy one apple from a street vendor, but she dumped her entire bowl in my bag for the same price. Now I will have a Daegu apple feast.


Okay, I just thought this guy was cool. I think he's pointing out an ATM (all ATM's have 365 on them)



















Buddha and me. Notice the woman burning incense in the background and the shoes next to the mat. This was one of many places on the grounds where people took their shoes off and performed devotionals.










Yes, this appears to be a swastika. My realtor told me that that is a symbol for divinity on this side of the world.










Bobby and a minor god. I think he identifies.
















These are the trees that Dongwhasa is named for. I will have to come back in the spring when they blossom.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Action-Packed view

I don't know if I can adequately describe the view from my office window. I can see the buildings of Daegu, one of which has a giant golden Buddha on top, mountains in the distance, and a helipad where intimidating looking choppers take off and land all day. Directly below my window is a guard with an M16. I wonder that I'll be able to get any work done with so much to look at.

Last night Bobby and I went questing for a new cord for his Xbox with limited success. We stumbled across what I later discovered was the only gaming store in Daegu with an English speaking staff (according to the web, that is), but the cord we found was on hold for someone else. We walked through an arcade of shops and went into a few with the misguided idea that stores that said PC were electronics shops. In fact, these are PC bangs. Bang is room in Daegu, and PC bangs are where people (mostly teenagers) can rent a room and play with a gaming system. There are also DVD bangs. Apparently Koreans often live with their parents until they marry—and even afterwards, in some cases—so young couples visit DVD bangs to be alone. Once I noticed them, I discovered that there are PC bangs everywhere.

Buildings in Daegu go up rather than out, so we have to climb lots of stairs to get places. Often a store or coffee shop will be on the fifth floor, and there aren't a lot of elevators. I am not shocked that there are no obese people in Daegu. We found a “family restaurant” that had a rabbit on a leash out on the front porch. We puzzled over the bathrooms: one said “Ladies” and the other said “Powder Room”. We have also discovered bulgogi, which is a truly magnificent beef stew that waiters cook on the table for you.






Friday, November 13, 2009

A Nefarious Alarm Clock and Lots of Wandering

A really old earth wall and a temple of some sort


One of many shopping arcades

At 5am while I was failing to sleep, I pushed a button on our alarm clock with a little light on it to illuminate the display. The light in our foyer came on. We have been trying to figure out why some of our outlets randomly fail to work, and I think I've solved the mystery. Our “alarm clock” also controls all of the outlets, lights, and climate control in our room. Knowing this does not fix our inability to make outlets work on our command, but now I know we're not dealing with an electronics imp. Incidentally, our alarm clock appears to also call for a maid or tell them not to disturb me. Who knew such an innocuous device could be a technological overlord.

Today we went to Daelsong Park, which houses the oldest standing piece of earth wall. I imagine it once kept barbarians out (to support this, Bobby and I shook our fists over the side a couple of times, saying "damn you Mongolians.") There we also encountered an animal gulag, to my dismay. I was so excited to tell Bobby that Daegu had a zoo, but it depressed him to see it. We went searching for lunch and stumbled upon a gigantic market, which seemed impossible to get out of. I hope eventually I will be going to the market to find cooking ingredients, but I am definitely not ready yet! I never saw so many dried fish.

While we were wandering, we found a massive underground clothing market and a really tall department store with different levels for every store. We took escalators up to the top while I gripped the handle and tried not to look down.

Daegu seems to be a city with tons of stores. The shops are divided into districts: the one we saw today must have been the clothing district. We also wandered through the tools and industrial implements district and the electronics district. I can see how this may be handy. If I am looking for something in particular, I have plenty of places to look before I find what I want. On the other hand, going to one store for all of my needs seems fairly impossible.

Last night we wandered into a restaurant, and the friendly owner talked to us about his trip to New York and urged me to try the dalseot bip bim bap, which was fantastic. I still haven't encountered the famous Asian sushi conveyor belt, but hopefully it's a matter of time.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Daegu, Day 1

My sponsor told me he would pick us up at the airport, but I had no idea that my entire Camp Walker staff would be there to greet us. A convoy of well mannered Korean men and my boss escorted Bobby and me to our (very nice) hotel. This hotel, by the way, is unreal. Our room overlooks a statue garden, and we have laundry service. I'm not entirely sure how to use laundry service, but I've been encouraged to give it a go (it is also covered by the government).

Bobby and I are seasoned travelers, and we are used to finding our own way around. Imagine my surprise when a car with a uniformed driver came took us to Camp Walker this morning, and we were again surrounded by an entourage of polite Korean men who wanted to know when to pick us up! We had a whirlwind tour of the base, where I saw my new office, which is about as big as our old bedroom. Mr Pan, our senior library assistant, is every bit as polite as I have heard.

We then visited a realtor, who had an apartment for us to look at. I know it's not a good idea to take the first car, house, or apartment you look at, but this apartment is perfect. It's practical—less than a mile from base, pet friendly, easy access to the bus and subway, right across from a park where we can walk Maya—but what won us over was its romantic allure. It's on the side of a mountain, and you can see all of Daegu from one window and the lovely Apsan park from the other. There's a rooftop “balcony” where we can grill. It's actually so large we can fit almost three of our old houses inside. I guess we'll need some new furniture.

So, starry eyed, we said we'd take it. Our new landlord seemed thrilled. I'll bet government funded tenants are some of the best kinds. There's a lot of red tape to go through. There are negotiations on both sides: we give the landlord our conditions, and we both sign off on them. Our really friendly realtor helped us decide what conditions we want, like internet access and transformers so we can plug in our American appliances. He also made sure we knew the places to visit around Daegu, and kept asking if there was anything else we needed to know.

So it's been an eventful day, more so because I was up at 3am. Apparently it can take weeks to get used to the time change. Koreans are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. I am not used to being treated like this! I'm sure part of it is my lavish expense account, but I'm very touched all the same.

Pictures:
Our electric teapot. That tea was pretty gross.















Our safety light: These are in every room and at intervals down the hallway. All I know is that I use it in an emergency. Our room also has coils of rope and matches in our safety box.







Our keycard holder. When we take that sucker out, the lights in our room go out. Electricity in Daegu is incredibly expensive if you use more than your allotment, so people around here are very careful about their usage.

I meant to bring my camera out today, but I forgot it. I also failed to take a picture of the somewhat creepy statue garden outside of our house. More to come.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Here We Are

I know trips halfway around the world aren't the arduous journeys they once were, but this one was still quite a voyage. At 5:00 am Charlotte time, Bobby and I entered airport world, and 24 hours later we are sitting here in Seoul awaiting our final flight. There is something very surreal about spending so much time in airplanes and airports. Maybe it's the recirculated air. Anyways, obstacles we encountered on our journey were many: I got airsick for the first time, we were sent to the customs office in Seoul when I blithely reported that I planned to stay in Daegu for two years, despite my lack of a visa, and we quested for an ATM that would accept our cards once we arrived in Incheon. The fifth one worked, and we were rewarded with coffee and dinner.

I have already encountered a few strange and interesting things. There was a white noise machine in my bathroom stall. We had dinner at a Korean food court, which is nothing like the American variety. Bobby and I placed our orders at the counter and paid for our food. We then helped ourselves to some free appetizers and waited for our number to appear over the food counter. Once it did, Bobby retrieved two huge wooden bowls of food, still steaming, along with additional bowls of soup and rice, while I got our utensils: steel chopsticks and spoons. Our utensils all came from a UV heater, which I guess keeps them sanitary. The food was tasty, though spicy, and Bobby was pleased with his pork.

Next stop, Daegu! I can't wait to take a shower.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

It's Official

My orders are finally here. I accepted my job offer a little over two weeks ago, but I was not to consider it firm until I passed my background check. As of today, I no longer live in the limbo of knowing I'm leaving, but being unable to do many of the things I need to do to prepare. I'm officially going. Success!! Living abroad has been my dream since I studied in Wales as an undergrad and discovered that there's an entire world out there I haven't seen. I can bask in the knowledge that three weeks from now I will be having adventures in an exotic place. That's lovely for a few seconds... and then I remember that between now and then I have to arrange to have our stuff shipped, buy plane tickets, close out our lease, close our bank, cable, power, water, auto insurance, and cellphone accounts, make arrangements for my retirement account and final paychecks, sell my car, give the post office a forwarding address (when I get one, that is), get medical files, stock up on prescriptions....well, you get the idea. In short: AAAAAAAUUUGGHHH!!!

It's going to be a busy few weeks, but at least I won't have time to dwell on the enormity of what I am doing. I've never been to Korea, or even Asia. The semester I spent abroad my junior year in college changed me. Arriving at a train station in a country whose language I didn't know with no place to stay and limited funds, yet managing to feed and shelter myself like a responsible adult, gave me confidence that the myriad of self empowerment lessons I had in grade school failed to provide. I know this experience will be different from traveling as a student: I will actually have responsibilities. I have two libraries to run. I can only imagine the person I will be after I finish this journey. As a future colleague in Yongsan keeps telling me, if I can do this, I can do anything.

Though, of course, this time around I have someone to share the experience with. This blog will be about our experiences in a far off place, the (so I am told) incomparable Land of the Morning Calm.