random bits of korea to remember
- When I searched around Dan's apartment for a convenience store on a hot night while carrying a few bags (of what, I can't remember). I walked along the street behind his apartment; nuttin there. I went over the overpass to the other side of the main road; nothing there. Apparently, when you want a c-store, it's not there. But I found one in an alleyway, ready to find a few rolls of toilet paper, only to find Costco-sized 24-ROLL PACKS. Well. It will last Dan a long time. I picked up a Pocari Sweat while I was at it to replenish the human juice I lost.
- When I was getting on the subway with Rachel to go to Myeong-Dong and, as everyone, including Rachel, squished into the front car with me on the wrong side, the doors closed...the kind of doors that do not reopen because of human interference. I took my arm out of those doors, then realize i was still in the way of another set of doors (nicknamed the Suicide Barrier or something, between the track and platform) and hopped out of that one as Rachel looked at me from behind two layers of glass, hand over her mouth. Those two sets of seemingly life-crushing doors are a bit freaky.
- When Dan's dog Hubble ate my chapstick. That's what happens when you forget to close the door when you go to the bathroom!
- The many times Dan said, "Rob, I wanna punch you in the face," during the Drunken Night with Canadians.
- Whenever Dan called me the Terminator. I'm not sure what I was terminating.
- When two random girls came up to my group (not because of me, but because we had two white guys, huhuh) in Insadong to do an English assignment related to the 4-H Club. An assignment none of us really understood.
- When Soo said, "I want to be your big sister!" and hugged me tightly.
- When Cecilia gave me a handwritten note to say she was happy to meet me. Frighteningly adorable.
- When Dr. Yoon said I looked tired and that she had plenty of energy (she's pretty old, btw..I should figure out just how old). Later when we were gathering for a group photo, she grabbed my hand and held it as the photos were being taken. Something about that felt oddly touching, or maybe she would've grabbed any other random person's hand. Or not.
- When I tried to carefully not get burning hot hotteok filling on my chin and, while eating around the sugary goo, bit into it just so so that ALL THE FILLING SHOT OUT ONTO MY SHIRT. At least it didn't burn my face off, I guess. We went into a nearby Starbucks so I could get a cup of water to wash my shirt off with.
- First smell of bundaegi (silkworm larvae). After that, I thought I could smell that noxious odor everywhere. That night Dan made popcorn seasoned with nutritional yeast and I sweared that it smelled like bundaegi.
- When Rob said I probably wouldn't like McCol (carbonated barley drink) and wanted to capture my reaction on video...and...it didn't actually taste that bad. But I didn't finish my can.
- When we ran into Sue (DJ) at the TBS radio station and she unexpectedly said she read Serious Eats and my blog.
- etc, etc.
SOME RANDOM IMPRESSIONS OF KOREA (as written during my trip)
Fashion: lots of high heels, short skirts and shorts, shapeless dresses, frilly dresses, leggings. Exposed legs are rampant, but tops are conservative.
Transportation: this subway is awesome. I know NYC is at a disadvantage cos the system is so old, but maannnfufuhhrrui I love nice subways and CELL PHONES WORK DOWN THERE, it's the future. And I like the transportation card. And I like that each ride is 900 won (less than a dollar). I see a lot more old people in this subway system than..probably any other I've seen. The elderly might be more active here, or more numerous, or the subway is accessible enough for them (lots of escalators)? I dunno, I'm just saying.
There are cabinets with gas masks in the stations in case there's a fire.
I took taxis more in my first two days here than in all my time in NYC. They're cheap, but I prefer subways.
Other stuff: THERE ARE SO MANY COUPLES HERE, either..there are more than in other cities or they're more noticeable here. It might just be the latter.
I should've brought 50 more business cards with me. BRING LOTS OF BUSINESS CARDS, you'll give them to every person you meet.
At night, loads of drunk people. There's no open container law. Drugs are seemingly nonexistent, but alcohol is cheap and plentiful.
It's super safe here. And quite clean.
WTF is up with the 24/7 department stores? They blow my mind.
- When I was getting on the subway with Rachel to go to Myeong-Dong and, as everyone, including Rachel, squished into the front car with me on the wrong side, the doors closed...the kind of doors that do not reopen because of human interference. I took my arm out of those doors, then realize i was still in the way of another set of doors (nicknamed the Suicide Barrier or something, between the track and platform) and hopped out of that one as Rachel looked at me from behind two layers of glass, hand over her mouth. Those two sets of seemingly life-crushing doors are a bit freaky.
- When Dan's dog Hubble ate my chapstick. That's what happens when you forget to close the door when you go to the bathroom!
- The many times Dan said, "Rob, I wanna punch you in the face," during the Drunken Night with Canadians.
- Whenever Dan called me the Terminator. I'm not sure what I was terminating.
- When two random girls came up to my group (not because of me, but because we had two white guys, huhuh) in Insadong to do an English assignment related to the 4-H Club. An assignment none of us really understood.
- When Soo said, "I want to be your big sister!" and hugged me tightly.
- When Cecilia gave me a handwritten note to say she was happy to meet me. Frighteningly adorable.
- When Dr. Yoon said I looked tired and that she had plenty of energy (she's pretty old, btw..I should figure out just how old). Later when we were gathering for a group photo, she grabbed my hand and held it as the photos were being taken. Something about that felt oddly touching, or maybe she would've grabbed any other random person's hand. Or not.
- When I tried to carefully not get burning hot hotteok filling on my chin and, while eating around the sugary goo, bit into it just so so that ALL THE FILLING SHOT OUT ONTO MY SHIRT. At least it didn't burn my face off, I guess. We went into a nearby Starbucks so I could get a cup of water to wash my shirt off with.
- First smell of bundaegi (silkworm larvae). After that, I thought I could smell that noxious odor everywhere. That night Dan made popcorn seasoned with nutritional yeast and I sweared that it smelled like bundaegi.
- When Rob said I probably wouldn't like McCol (carbonated barley drink) and wanted to capture my reaction on video...and...it didn't actually taste that bad. But I didn't finish my can.
- When we ran into Sue (DJ) at the TBS radio station and she unexpectedly said she read Serious Eats and my blog.
- etc, etc.
SOME RANDOM IMPRESSIONS OF KOREA (as written during my trip)
Fashion: lots of high heels, short skirts and shorts, shapeless dresses, frilly dresses, leggings. Exposed legs are rampant, but tops are conservative.
Transportation: this subway is awesome. I know NYC is at a disadvantage cos the system is so old, but maannnfufuhhrrui I love nice subways and CELL PHONES WORK DOWN THERE, it's the future. And I like the transportation card. And I like that each ride is 900 won (less than a dollar). I see a lot more old people in this subway system than..probably any other I've seen. The elderly might be more active here, or more numerous, or the subway is accessible enough for them (lots of escalators)? I dunno, I'm just saying.
There are cabinets with gas masks in the stations in case there's a fire.
I took taxis more in my first two days here than in all my time in NYC. They're cheap, but I prefer subways.
Other stuff: THERE ARE SO MANY COUPLES HERE, either..there are more than in other cities or they're more noticeable here. It might just be the latter.
I should've brought 50 more business cards with me. BRING LOTS OF BUSINESS CARDS, you'll give them to every person you meet.
At night, loads of drunk people. There's no open container law. Drugs are seemingly nonexistent, but alcohol is cheap and plentiful.
It's super safe here. And quite clean.
WTF is up with the 24/7 department stores? They blow my mind.