58 - Good Eats

I was late with the post for today, but with good cause, as I went out for dinner with some cool colleagues. We went to a gamjatang and it were delicious. All you can see from the pics is the uncooked sesame leaves, but the soup was really quite lovely. The restaurant we went to is open 24 hours so if you're ever in the area and need a place to stay, order a huge bowl of soup and break out a pillow.

Weekend Report

Saturday:  

The field trip turned out to be a sojourn to Palgongsan ("san" = "mountain" in Korean).  

It seemed like a massive hike up tons of stairs to me, but I'm sure it was a cinch for the little children and old woman who passed me on the way up. 

I bussed down from my neighborhood to DongDaegu station and met up with Ms. Cruise, her friend K, and K's friends H and P.  P's Korean friend Ricky drove us to the mountain and served as our translator as we worked our way up the mountain, taking several rest, er, photo-op breaks along the way.

Two Korean men were chuckling and pointing as they walked past us.

P (to Ricky): "What'd they just say?"

Ricky: "The one guy said to his friend, 'Foreigners.  Can you speak English?  Quick, try!'

A fresh spring with drinking water.  The water is said to have healing properties from the clay.  Truth or fiction: will we ever know? 

That tiny winding trail in the lower right hand quadrant was the path that we took.  For real.

The Buddhist temple with lanterns at the top of the mountain.

Proof that I actually made it up.  

Sunday:

Had brunch w. co workers at The Holy Grill and took some pictures of the blooming cherry blossom trees.  

Then went on a Sunday walk to explore the area around my flat.  I found another, larger park and what looks like a class-A jogging path for my morning jaunt.  

*Note for the record: 

In recent experience, it seems like the best way to get over the "culture shock" is to get out and interact with the new surroundings as much as possible.  My natural inclination is to isolate, so it takes some effort for me to go out and meet people, but it's so definitely worth it.  

 

Consulate and Free Stuff

Interviewed at the Korean Consulate (460 Park Ave. 6th floor. NYC) this afternoon.

It took about 8 minutes and included such questions as "Who is your favorite author?" (I was an English major) "Why do you want to go to Korea?" and "Are you satisfied with the terms and conditions of your contract?" Interesting observation: The interviewer was wearing slippers, his shoes were tucked under his desk. Korea, I dub thee Land of the House Shoe.
I pick up my visa tomorrow @ 2pm.

Right across the hall from the Korean Consulate is is the Korean Cultural Service, a delightful little enclave that features a exhibits of Korean and Korean-American artists, video installations, and a lovely little lending library that doles out free literature like Santa at Christmas. I left bearing a hefty little stash of maps, an airport guide, and a fat little book entitled "The Flavor and Tradition of Korean Restaurants", published by Korean Food Services, Inc. I'm looking forward to using this as my guide to the gastronomic delights that await.