Love is... Your Smell...
Mom says that "you are better
handsome then Bred Pitt" even
papa smelled of sweat.
Copied from my journal...
May 31, 2009 Sokcho Beach 7:45 AM
I woke up at 6:00 and took a long shower. The smell in the pension* is unpleasant, I needed to leave. I headed to the beach and read on a rock close to the wear we had the fire last night, hear the Army base, where we heard training gunfire. A coupe of guards on duty watched us from the top of the hill, behind the barbed wire, but probably though we were just dumb for building a beach fire with a storm coming, lightening flashing in the sky, the low rumble of thunder and number of Mississippis decreasing between. Mike and Dave got the fire big and hot using driftwood. We had just enough time to drink a bottle of wine, three bottles of beer, a can of makolli**, a few smores (with real north American graham crackers and marshmallows) and set off a few sad roman candles before the rain became to insistent that we seek the shelter of the pension. Some waited a little too long and found themselves quite wet when they finally gave into the storm. We spend the rest of the night playing drinking games*** and Scene It, both of which I lost, leaving me drunk and cranky. I fell asleep first.
Sally wanted to go swimming at some and point, late in the night and Bryan must have gone with her because he climbed into bed actually wanting to cuddle, his skin was cold. Think Sarah went as well. I did not cuddle with her.
The owners of our pension, occupying the two rooms on the main floor, must dislike us. We had to have been loud. Yesterday they wanted extra money, claiming that we only paid for seven people instead of for nine people. Sarah called her Korean friend, who then sorted things out. It is good to have connections.
Being in the Korea, land of late nights, I didn’t expect the beach to be very busy, but I am surprised at the number of people. When I first arrived there was a family, they looked like they were playing in the waves, after watching them for a while, I realized they were collecting seaweed. They looked like they were having fun.
Yesterday morning was far from this sunny calm day. They wind was strong and the sky was grey. Sarah and I were the first two u. We arrived late the night before probably didn’t get to bed until three or later. The clock said 12:00 ish when I woke up in the morning. I was shocked I had slept so late, Sarah and I went out in search of breakfast food; during the excursion Sarah informed me that it was in fact only about 9:15. The clock was wrong.
We found eggs and mild. Once people were actually up, we left on excursion number two: Dave, Sally, Mike, and I. As we left the pension, the man owner asked “Odi gueseyo?” (Where are you going?). “Food”. “Menu?” he asked. “Supermarket?” We replied. He grabbed his keys and led us to his car, a Chairman. He drove us to E-Mart. We collected 112,000 won worth of food and booze. I also bought a new shirtdress. E-Mart is quickly becoming my favourite place to shop. It is like Target or Zellers but in Korea so obviously better. I already have three shirtdresses, on regular dress, a skirt, and one shirt (Kiss me or Bite me Honey). About a week ago, I discovered that they have clothes that fit me.
We took a taxi back to the pension and made pancakes, bacon, and eggs. In waves, we only had one grill. Sarah brought Starbucks coffee. We spend the afternoon on the beach. Sarah, Amber, Mike and Dave went swimming, sort of. The rest of us, less adventurous, decided to stay warm and dry. We ate samgupsal for supper I hope that I can eat seafood today. I want raw fish damnit.
May 31, 2009 Sokcho Beach 4:35 PM
Feeling anxious about time lines and checkouts, I head back to the pension to see if anybody (Sarah) was up yet. Nobody was. I didn’t know if the checkout was at 10:00 or 11:00. I didn’t know if I should be waking people up or not. I waited until Sarah got up and then I started doing the dished and started coffee. Sarah made eggs while I cut up the watermelon. It was my bad idea to buy a whole melon instead of a half melon. They are smaller than at home, typically, and I figured the nine of us would have no problem. (Problem. Later we had to improvise a way to carry the rest of the watermelon to the beach. I ended up cutting off the tops of two juice bottles and filling them with mater melon piece. It worked all right.) Slowly, everybody stared getting up from their floor beds. After breakfast, we did our best to pack everything and clean up, more or less. The amount of garbage we generated was amazing. Also the amount of alcohol consumed. After cleaning and sweeping copious amounts of sand out the pension, we headed to the beach. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. The sun was warm but the wind was chilly.
After beachy shenanigans, I finally got my seafood wish fulfilled. Seafood Stew: claims, crabs, octopus, all sorts of shellfish in a tasty but not too spicy broth, along with an assortment of veggies. It was not raw fish, but I am ok with that. Next beach adventure will include raw fish, a lot of raw fish. We are waiting our bus to take us back to Seoul. So good-bye east coast.
Back in Seoul...
Tired and sunburned dispite the not warm weather. I always forget that even if the sun is not hot, it will still burn me. This weekend was for Amber’s birthday. It was mostly a surprise for her. She knew something was happening but she didn’t know where or who was involved. It was a super fun weekend for everybody.
*A pension is just a big hotel room that is big and has a kitchen. Sometimes a pension is a separate building, like a little cottage. This pension was right on the beach and very nice. Everything is Korean style, so they give enough blankets and floor mats for everybody to sleep on the floor.
**Makolli is a carbonated rice wine. Very popular in Korea.
***King’s Cup, which is actually kind of fun. However, I got the kings cup at the end, which was, by then, a mixture of beer, wine, and makolli. I refused to drink it until someone brought me a bottle water to chase it down.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Bloodletting on the Cloven Hoof
This was supposed to be published a while ago, but I got really lazy, sorry. This is an account of the first week or so of Bryan being in Korea. I started it a while ago.
I have been considering for months how to feed Bryan when he first he arrived. I wanted to give him a taste of everything that is delicious in Korea. There is so much good food that it is difficult to get him to eat everything right away. I think I did pretty good though. We have visited all the tiny kimbap restaurants in the area (because mine closed down). We have been to Kimbap Villages and Kimbap Houses and Kimbap Palaces. I also managed to get him some mandu guk, dukkoboggi, sampugsal, hangover stew, mystery seafood, kimchi pajoen (pancakes), and a few other bar snacks. We have sampled Korean versions of pizza and fried chicken as well. And I even cook him a couple of fancy ramyeon meals. I think food the best part of traveling. I am glad that eating in Korea is cheap.
We spend the first week walking around Ssungmun. We didn’t get on a subway until Wednesday, when we visited Sarah for our weekly Wednesday night hangouts. Bryan fell asleep on Sarah’s bed, the jet lag was still affecting him. We also got him on the claw machine, he didn’t win. If he wants to be a good Korean boyfriend, he is going to have to figure out the claw machine. But he has done a good job of carrying my purse at times, so he is almost there. I just have to get him in tighter pants and maybe grow out his hair so that he can get a fashion cut by a “designer” in tight pants and wielding scissors in pink leopard patterned utility belts.
Since Bryan has been here, we have become regulars at the Train hof near our apartment, the one that serves giant towers of beer, 3000 cc’s. “He’s 3000 cc’s of beer, Stat!” They also serve hard boiled eggs as a bar snack and make a mean kimchi pajeon. After a night out on the town, Bryan and sI stopped there for another drink (it was already after 2:00) and while we were there we meet a nice couple who sat with us for drink or two. We drank with them in the Train hof for awhile (referred to us as the Train hof because it is trained themed) and communicated as best we could. For some reason, talking with Koreans who speak very little English becomes much easier when everybody is very drunk. Eventually, the servers told us they wanted to close and asked us to leave. This is where Bryan’s memory ended. We left the train hof and walked down the street to a different bar that was still open. We orderd a piture of beer and then Bryan went to the bathroom and I assumed the boy did too. I sat with the girl (Sunny) and we chatted about her for awhile, when I realized that Bryan had been for long time.
The next afternoon we woke up and the bastard didn’t even have a hang over, and I, who looked after him all night, including sleeping on the floor beside the bathroon for a while, wanted to die a little bit. After moping around and trying to not vomit, I finally recovered enough to feel as though I could keep some eats down. We headed out and walked around for a while to find, because it was appropriate, hangover soup. Hae Jang Guk (해상극) is pork bone soup. It is served with with three bowls, one for the meat you pcik of the bone, one for the delicious mustard like sauce with which it is served and one for the bones. The broth is really delicious as well, with a few spices that I couldn’t identity. Before we left the house, we did some internet research to find out exactly how to order and eat the soup. I had only heard of it and didn’t even know the exact name.
Going into an unfamiliar restaurant for the first time to try out new food for the first time is one the most intimidating things to me. We walked around for a long time before I had the courage to finally step inside a restaurant. The server came over with the menu, which is really just a piece of paper and you check the thing you want. Obviously it is all I Korean and even though I knew what to look for, it still took awhile to find the exact combination of characters. The snowman followed the by the h, finally stood out. Then once the food is finally served there is always that impression that I am eating it incorrectly. The servers here are likely to quickly see how you doing it wrong and correct you as best they can with their Korean and your English. It can be a little embarrassing, as if you don’t know how to eat.
Bryan and I tired to figure out if there were any popular foods in Canada that you would need to learn to eat correctly. We decided that the hardest part for a person unfamiliar with North American cuisine would be all the options. In Korean there are almost never options, you order and that is what you get. In Canada, you have to specify all sorts (scrambled, rye, bacon) there are almost always follow up questions with endless options. Everything else seems straight forward, but then I would suppose to Koreans, all the food they eat would seem straight forward too.
I have been considering for months how to feed Bryan when he first he arrived. I wanted to give him a taste of everything that is delicious in Korea. There is so much good food that it is difficult to get him to eat everything right away. I think I did pretty good though. We have visited all the tiny kimbap restaurants in the area (because mine closed down). We have been to Kimbap Villages and Kimbap Houses and Kimbap Palaces. I also managed to get him some mandu guk, dukkoboggi, sampugsal, hangover stew, mystery seafood, kimchi pajoen (pancakes), and a few other bar snacks. We have sampled Korean versions of pizza and fried chicken as well. And I even cook him a couple of fancy ramyeon meals. I think food the best part of traveling. I am glad that eating in Korea is cheap.
We spend the first week walking around Ssungmun. We didn’t get on a subway until Wednesday, when we visited Sarah for our weekly Wednesday night hangouts. Bryan fell asleep on Sarah’s bed, the jet lag was still affecting him. We also got him on the claw machine, he didn’t win. If he wants to be a good Korean boyfriend, he is going to have to figure out the claw machine. But he has done a good job of carrying my purse at times, so he is almost there. I just have to get him in tighter pants and maybe grow out his hair so that he can get a fashion cut by a “designer” in tight pants and wielding scissors in pink leopard patterned utility belts.
Since Bryan has been here, we have become regulars at the Train hof near our apartment, the one that serves giant towers of beer, 3000 cc’s. “He’s 3000 cc’s of beer, Stat!” They also serve hard boiled eggs as a bar snack and make a mean kimchi pajeon. After a night out on the town, Bryan and sI stopped there for another drink (it was already after 2:00) and while we were there we meet a nice couple who sat with us for drink or two. We drank with them in the Train hof for awhile (referred to us as the Train hof because it is trained themed) and communicated as best we could. For some reason, talking with Koreans who speak very little English becomes much easier when everybody is very drunk. Eventually, the servers told us they wanted to close and asked us to leave. This is where Bryan’s memory ended. We left the train hof and walked down the street to a different bar that was still open. We orderd a piture of beer and then Bryan went to the bathroom and I assumed the boy did too. I sat with the girl (Sunny) and we chatted about her for awhile, when I realized that Bryan had been for long time.
The next afternoon we woke up and the bastard didn’t even have a hang over, and I, who looked after him all night, including sleeping on the floor beside the bathroon for a while, wanted to die a little bit. After moping around and trying to not vomit, I finally recovered enough to feel as though I could keep some eats down. We headed out and walked around for a while to find, because it was appropriate, hangover soup. Hae Jang Guk (해상극) is pork bone soup. It is served with with three bowls, one for the meat you pcik of the bone, one for the delicious mustard like sauce with which it is served and one for the bones. The broth is really delicious as well, with a few spices that I couldn’t identity. Before we left the house, we did some internet research to find out exactly how to order and eat the soup. I had only heard of it and didn’t even know the exact name.
Going into an unfamiliar restaurant for the first time to try out new food for the first time is one the most intimidating things to me. We walked around for a long time before I had the courage to finally step inside a restaurant. The server came over with the menu, which is really just a piece of paper and you check the thing you want. Obviously it is all I Korean and even though I knew what to look for, it still took awhile to find the exact combination of characters. The snowman followed the by the h, finally stood out. Then once the food is finally served there is always that impression that I am eating it incorrectly. The servers here are likely to quickly see how you doing it wrong and correct you as best they can with their Korean and your English. It can be a little embarrassing, as if you don’t know how to eat.
Bryan and I tired to figure out if there were any popular foods in Canada that you would need to learn to eat correctly. We decided that the hardest part for a person unfamiliar with North American cuisine would be all the options. In Korean there are almost never options, you order and that is what you get. In Canada, you have to specify all sorts (scrambled, rye, bacon) there are almost always follow up questions with endless options. Everything else seems straight forward, but then I would suppose to Koreans, all the food they eat would seem straight forward too.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Do Each Day's Work Each Day
Bryan arrived. He is finally here, making my apartment smell like boy and always bed hogging. I have been spending my nights squished up against the wall. Although, I really shouldn’t complain, in fact I should thank him. His immanent arrival gave me a good reason to spend money on that Hello Kitty toilet seat that I have been coveting for so long. I was considering Bryan and his skinny skinny bum; I thought it would be good girlfriend of me to purchase a toilet seat for him. I know that boys like to take their time pooing and prefer comfortable seats to sitting directly on the rim. The seat is beautiful and little sparkly.
I also spent money a few other luxuries, like toothbrush holders and I bought him his own pair of shower sandals. I’m a good girlfriend. I also stocked up on ramyeon, cereal, and other easy eats to keep him happy and feed. I also bought a large bottle of soju, which we have yet to break into, despite his being here a full week. (He finished it off last night.)
I spent the weekend before his arrival trying to keep myself busy. Thankfully, it was the weekend celebrating Buddha’s Birthday.
On Saturday, I forced to Sally walk with me through the rain to the Miasangori station (three stops south of Ssangmun) to the huge E-Mart. I wanted to find the perfect toilet seat and pick up a couple of other things for the boy. E-Mart is a giant store that has everything you could possible need, including a huge grocery store. They didn’t have the Hello Kitty seat I wanted, lame. They did, however, have really nifty dinosaur toothbrush holders. I got a pink one for me and blue one for him. I also bought a Dalki pillow case and another pillow. I will share many things, but I will not share my pillow. I was also going to get another blanket because I hate sharing those, too, but blankets (even non-Dalki blankets) were really expensive. Thus, I have had many restless nights warring over blanket rights. I win some and I lose some.
After the E-Mart adventure, Amber invited us over for pizza, which we had delivered from about three doors down. We ordered in person, but then Amber walked the delivery guy over to where she lives, three doors away, to show him her apartment and he delivered the hot and delicious pizza about half an hour later. She also introduced herself, so that she can order by phone next time.
Sunday (one day to Bryan), I met some of my friends for a breakfast brunch at, get this, Big Rock Brewery. Yes, that is correct, the Canadian Brewery. There is a restaurant and Brewery in Gangnum (south of the Han River). We had a decent breakfast and pint each. The place was crawling with waeguks and even some waeguks hipsters (whom I am pretty sure were a band).
After breakfast, I headed to Insadong while the others headed to church (lame). I thought I was going to meet Dave and Lisa who said they would be there early afternoon. However, they slept in, so I wandered around a very busy Insadong for a couple of hours until they arrived. Shortly after, the church kids showed up too.
Insadong and area was the site of the main celebrations for Buddha’s birthday and the Lotus Lantern Festival. All the streets and parks in the area were lined with lanterns and the near-by temple (a big functioning temple) was completely covered in lanterns. It was beautiful. We wondered around for a while, taking in the festivities and then finally the parade started. It was a fest for the eyes. I have never thought of the traditional Korean clothing as beautiful, but seeing large groups of women in matching hanboks of green and gold, or purple and sliver, was lovely. As was the swishing sound as they walked by carrying lanterns. Also, there were many floats, including fire breathing dragons and adorable Baby Buddha’s hanging out with Pororo . The parade was mostly various universities, schools, and other organizations carrying lanterns. It was cool.
I went home in the evening and actually managed to suppress my excitement and anxiety for the following day enough to sleep. I woke up pretty early though. I had to get groceries for Bryan and I had to buy the toilet seat. I tidied my apartment and then mostly paced nervously. I got to school and could barley concentrate knowing that he would be landing soon. All day I had beeen obsessively checking the flight schedules at Incheon Airport to make sure his flights were on time. I took my cell phone to my class because I knew he would need to call me when he arrived. Which he did, my phone started to vibrate and the ring. I answered it, much to the amazement of my little kids. We kept the conversation quick and to the point, which required a lot of restraint on my part. Of course, my students were super curious and I explained that friend was visiting me from Canada and he just arrived. They made fun of me for having a boyfriend. They are eight.
My classes actually went by pretty quickly, I was very excited and peppy in each class, they couldn’t get me down, even my worst kids. After my last class, I practically ran out of the school, announcing to the teachers that I was going to go find my boyfriend. Their smiles followed me out the door. I kept a count down calander at work, each day colouring in the square, numbers slowly dwindling. All the teachers were aware that my boyfrined was coming today and all the teachers were excited for me.
I took the bus to the subway station in order to get there faster. As I was crossing the street at the subway station to get to the Dunkin Donuts (our agreed upon meeting place), Bryan called me again to tell me he just arrived at the Dunkin Donuts, I told him I was almost there. I crossed the street, and practically running, found him on the street, throwing myself into his arms. I was so excited to finally see him. He looked so good. He was there finally in person. I hope that someone witnessed our reunion and appreciated the fact that we clearly had not seen each other in a long time.
We walked back to my apartment (boy knows how to travel light). I took him out for mandu guk and wondered around Ssungmun for a bit before things got x-rated. During our walk, we actually ran into my director and I had to introduce him to Bryan. He said that Bryan was handsome. I agree.
I also spent money a few other luxuries, like toothbrush holders and I bought him his own pair of shower sandals. I’m a good girlfriend. I also stocked up on ramyeon, cereal, and other easy eats to keep him happy and feed. I also bought a large bottle of soju, which we have yet to break into, despite his being here a full week. (He finished it off last night.)
I spent the weekend before his arrival trying to keep myself busy. Thankfully, it was the weekend celebrating Buddha’s Birthday.
On Saturday, I forced to Sally walk with me through the rain to the Miasangori station (three stops south of Ssangmun) to the huge E-Mart. I wanted to find the perfect toilet seat and pick up a couple of other things for the boy. E-Mart is a giant store that has everything you could possible need, including a huge grocery store. They didn’t have the Hello Kitty seat I wanted, lame. They did, however, have really nifty dinosaur toothbrush holders. I got a pink one for me and blue one for him. I also bought a Dalki pillow case and another pillow. I will share many things, but I will not share my pillow. I was also going to get another blanket because I hate sharing those, too, but blankets (even non-Dalki blankets) were really expensive. Thus, I have had many restless nights warring over blanket rights. I win some and I lose some.
After the E-Mart adventure, Amber invited us over for pizza, which we had delivered from about three doors down. We ordered in person, but then Amber walked the delivery guy over to where she lives, three doors away, to show him her apartment and he delivered the hot and delicious pizza about half an hour later. She also introduced herself, so that she can order by phone next time.
Sunday (one day to Bryan), I met some of my friends for a breakfast brunch at, get this, Big Rock Brewery. Yes, that is correct, the Canadian Brewery. There is a restaurant and Brewery in Gangnum (south of the Han River). We had a decent breakfast and pint each. The place was crawling with waeguks and even some waeguks hipsters (whom I am pretty sure were a band).
After breakfast, I headed to Insadong while the others headed to church (lame). I thought I was going to meet Dave and Lisa who said they would be there early afternoon. However, they slept in, so I wandered around a very busy Insadong for a couple of hours until they arrived. Shortly after, the church kids showed up too.
Insadong and area was the site of the main celebrations for Buddha’s birthday and the Lotus Lantern Festival. All the streets and parks in the area were lined with lanterns and the near-by temple (a big functioning temple) was completely covered in lanterns. It was beautiful. We wondered around for a while, taking in the festivities and then finally the parade started. It was a fest for the eyes. I have never thought of the traditional Korean clothing as beautiful, but seeing large groups of women in matching hanboks of green and gold, or purple and sliver, was lovely. As was the swishing sound as they walked by carrying lanterns. Also, there were many floats, including fire breathing dragons and adorable Baby Buddha’s hanging out with Pororo . The parade was mostly various universities, schools, and other organizations carrying lanterns. It was cool.
I went home in the evening and actually managed to suppress my excitement and anxiety for the following day enough to sleep. I woke up pretty early though. I had to get groceries for Bryan and I had to buy the toilet seat. I tidied my apartment and then mostly paced nervously. I got to school and could barley concentrate knowing that he would be landing soon. All day I had beeen obsessively checking the flight schedules at Incheon Airport to make sure his flights were on time. I took my cell phone to my class because I knew he would need to call me when he arrived. Which he did, my phone started to vibrate and the ring. I answered it, much to the amazement of my little kids. We kept the conversation quick and to the point, which required a lot of restraint on my part. Of course, my students were super curious and I explained that friend was visiting me from Canada and he just arrived. They made fun of me for having a boyfriend. They are eight.
My classes actually went by pretty quickly, I was very excited and peppy in each class, they couldn’t get me down, even my worst kids. After my last class, I practically ran out of the school, announcing to the teachers that I was going to go find my boyfriend. Their smiles followed me out the door. I kept a count down calander at work, each day colouring in the square, numbers slowly dwindling. All the teachers were aware that my boyfrined was coming today and all the teachers were excited for me.
I took the bus to the subway station in order to get there faster. As I was crossing the street at the subway station to get to the Dunkin Donuts (our agreed upon meeting place), Bryan called me again to tell me he just arrived at the Dunkin Donuts, I told him I was almost there. I crossed the street, and practically running, found him on the street, throwing myself into his arms. I was so excited to finally see him. He looked so good. He was there finally in person. I hope that someone witnessed our reunion and appreciated the fact that we clearly had not seen each other in a long time.
We walked back to my apartment (boy knows how to travel light). I took him out for mandu guk and wondered around Ssungmun for a bit before things got x-rated. During our walk, we actually ran into my director and I had to introduce him to Bryan. He said that Bryan was handsome. I agree.
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