Yeongdeongpo (Seoul)
I met my friend, Cris, in Seoul this last weekend. It was a fun experiment trying to figure out the ITX and Korail and Seoul subway system...we were extremely lucky that we actually found each other without too much hassle. (She traveled from Chungnam and I traveled from Gangwon...by myself! Be proud of me.)
These tanks are everywhere. Apparently you can catch your own live squid at this restaurant? Cool.
People. Eat. These. (I have, I think...it's hard to tell the difference between octopus and squid when it's chopped up in a rice dish, though...)
Cris and I ate at a "Japanese sushi" restaurant. We just wanted American sushi: you know, the good tempura stuff. But we learned that "crunch" roll in Korea means corn flakes (they were kind of like rice krispies, actually) and almonds. And they put mayo and mustard on the rolls. And, get this: Kraft cheddar cheese in the roll. WHHAAAT?? WHHYY?? Ew. Oh, well. The udon (noodle soup) was good. And the meal way cheaper than sushi in the U.S.
Soo....this is a jjimjilbang. Haha. A public bath house. Um...you just go bathe naked with random strangers. All ages, shapes, and sizes. It is separated by gender, though. Thank goodness.
You throw your stuff in these lockers...and then strip. Like, everything. And you walk naked into the bath/shower room. You shower before getting into any of the pools/jacuzzis. And then you have options for different temperature pools, ranging from ice cold to scalding hot. Some jjimjilbangs have tea baths (you literally bathe in tea). There are a bunch of sauna rooms, too. And weird half-bath rooms. Everything supposedly has a medicinal or health benefit.
Speaking of health, ahem...I learned this night that I am allergic to some part of mangoes (maybe the skin or pit?). We had mango bingsu for dessert, and the fruit was still partially attached to the skin. About the time we arrived at the jjimjilbang, I started feeling the hot itching in my hands and feet (for me, the first sign of an allergic reaction to something--I know I'm allergic to mate, the Argentine drink, for example, haha). Anyway, I was already naked, so I was hoping the reaction would just go away on its own. But, no, I broke out in hives. After an hour or two of bathing (haha, it sounds so weird...and it is...but you just kind of get used to the whole "naked in front of lots of naked Korean women" thing), my hands and face were super swollen and my throat was feeling tight. We got dressed and asked the ladies at the jjimjilbang reception desk where we could find a pharmacy for some antihistamine. The communication barrier is a real B sometimes. My chest started feeling funny and we finally found the Korean words for "it's an emergency." The lady half-walked/half-ran with us outside to help us find a taxi. Lucky for us, a police car was parked up the street. The jjimjilbang lady spoke some hurried Korean and we hopped in the police car and they drove us the two blocks to the emergency room. (I can now say I've been in a Korean police car...if that's a cool thing, I don't know...) The ER doctor didn't speak English, but his nurse did. They took down my name and took my vitals. And then the nurse gave me 2 shots of epinephrine (I'm assuming). They were in my right butt cheek. Oh, and after cleaning the skin with an alcohol wipe, but prior to injecting me, the nurse slapped my butt a few times. Apparently that's a thing in Korea. Or maybe everywhere. I don't know, they were my first butt shots. So I had a needle in my butt and I was actually grinning, because it was so weird and unexpected. I was trying my hardest not to laugh, mid-shot-of-epinephrine.
Strangest situation. The whole thing. But an excellent story, I think.
Paying my ER bill. As you can see, the ER was dark and basically deserted. It was about 2 AM at this point.
What an attractive swollen face.
Cris was so worried for me. But we loved the photo opps once the emergency was over.
If you know what my regular hands look like, this looks pretty bad. Ew. They were so fat. They just dimpled. The skin was stretched so tight, like rubber.
Gaaah! Ew. I'm thinking I will have mango bingsu on Halloween and go as this crazy swollen monster shown here...
Hives. Cris said I looked like I had chicken pox. She probably saw more of the hives than I did. (You know, the jjimjilbang thing...)
We went back to the jjimjilbang, paid the $8 fee a second time, and stayed for the night. They give you little pajama sets. And a mat and a styrofoam block pillow. And then you sleep in a communal sleeping room with everyone: men, women, children. Random people snoring and kicking you in your sleep. It's an experience.
Next day. The swelling was much better today.
Ah! Dunkin Donuts! SOO YUMMY! The most satisfying breakfast, maybe meal, I've had in Korea thus far. The muffin was this amazing buttery cake-like thing. So good.
I swear, Dunkin Donuts is better in Korea. Plus, it's self-serve.
Outside a big shopping mall called Times Square.
Odd art.
For Jake and Rebekah...Carhartt exists in Seoul, South Korea, too.
Cris and I traveled to Yongsan next. By subway or Korail? I don't remember.
This was some expo thing outside the station. I have no idea what it was.
From here, we took a taxi to Itaewon. Itaewon is the major tourist district of Seoul. There are tons of foreigners here. Tons of shopping and non-Korean restaurants.
Do you think I can bring them home in a suitcase to add to my monkey collection?
We window shopped for awhile, and probably walked the main food street five times looking for the perfect restaurant. We wanted a burger. Unfortunately, we didn't pick the perfect restaurant and pretty sure the bacon on our bacon cheeseburger was raw...
Next, we traveled to Dongdaemun, which is a huge shopping area in Seoul. We stayed the night in another jjimjilbang. It wasn't nearly as nice as the first one and it was also a lot more crowded.
Some shots of the buildings:
You see old men and women with carts full of cardboard boxes and garbage everywhere in Korea. I think they gather the recycling and sell it for a living. Kind of sad.
The next day, I attempted going to my ward's stake conference in Dongdaemun. I say attempted, because I had a culture shock moment after I got to the building, felt a huge wave of depression and homesickness, and remembered I don't speak Korean (duh). So, after sitting in the hallway for a half hour (I had been late, and there were no seats), I left and took a bus back to where Cris was.
Members are a lot less strict with their kids at church in Korea. This is a picture I took of a kid balancing on a basketball during the meeting. He totally took a huge shpill in front of me, haha.
This is a sad selfie I took a few minutes before I lost it. They sang "I am a Child of God" and the floodgates were opened. And then I left.
Anyway, back to distracting, happy things, haha...
KwangJang Market
It was basically one big crowded restaurant. Except, every stall is selling something different: pancakes, seafood, raw squid, intestine-looking stuff, fruit juices... You just sit down, order, and they prepare your meal in front of you.
Umm...yeah, I think that's a pig snout.
We settled for kimbap, a safe meatless sushi roll.
They were really good. I don't know about addictive, but that's what they were advertised as so we will just go with it...
Sugar cane juice is so sweet and refreshing. We loved it.
I wish I had videoed from the other side, but basically he sticks the sugar cane in and the machine juices it. He doesn't add anything to the drink, it's just pure juice.
Views of Seoul from the ITX home...
It was a fun weekend. And then I started teaching this week. Oh. My. Goodness. It's going to be rough for awhile... I have 18 1st-graders in one class. The second 1st grade class, which will be tomorrow, is also huge with 17 students. Classroom management just went out the window. And my older boys are super wild, too...
So much attitude...
But, actually, this little guy is one of my favorites, even if he has no attention span whatsoever...I think it's the chubby cheeks that get to me.
Oh, and here's a random out-of-place picture of my supermarket from the outside. In case you were wondering what that looks like...
I wish I had pictures from all of today's adventures, but I don't. I'll just list the highlights (or interesting points--they're not all positive, haha), since I'm exhausted and need to go to bed:
1. I had to give a speech at a welcome assembly at school today...wasn't warned about that, haha. So I just said hello. I'm a foreigner, I can get away with it.
2. I was strict with my students today. They still laughed in my face. But it was better than yesterday, at least.
3. A random student (I don't know her name) came and gave me "candy," which was actually a chewable vitamin (VEEtahMeen). What a...sweet gesture. Haha.
4. I participated in my first Korean school staff meeting. I had to introduce myself again. Awkwardly. And then I didn't know when I could leave (because they spoke in Korean), so finally, when I was no longer needed, someone just said, "Uh, Aubree...go." Oh, okay. Haha.
5. I had another official school dinner. I sat at the table of honor with the principal and the new vice principal. They had me make a toast. So I stood up and said something silly, like "Here's to a happy school semester. Cheers!" and everyone laughed and I drank my shot glass of brown-ish water and they got super drunk all night on soju and Korean beer...
6. I went "drinking" with some of the staff after dinner. I watched everyone get even more drunk (especially the vice principal) while my beer glass went untouched, haha. So many funny things happened, though. The VP is a funny drunk.
Ahh, I wish I could share all the details with all of you. Because life here is so interesting. But...I'm going to sleep now. Good night. And good morning for you. :)
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