Email about Korea

I'm too lazy to write a post about Seoul, after I have had to keep writing emails about it, so here is a ctrl+c ctrl+v of one email to a girl who is going there in the Spring:

I was only there for a few days but here are some thoughts for you (grossly inorganized, I might add).

Seoul is like what you expect Tokyo to be 20 years ago. The subway is convenient, but slightly difficult to understand. The machines only except coins, and 1,000 won bills, so if you have more, you have to go to the subway ticket counter where they get angry at you for wasting their time (well, during rush hour, at least). Sometimes the tickets don't work, and you will have to do the unthinkable and hop a gate.

There are street vendors EVERYWHERE, and you can talk down their prices with this useful phrase: gak gak jeoseo. Crap, I forgot how to say how much.... Oh well, the pronunciation is difficult, and I can tell you this weekend. I was with a Korean friend he was painstakingly teaching me the "language". She says, however, not to eat at street vendors because they are unsanitary. But then again, she also told us not be out past 8 o'clock. After she said that, it was pretty easy to write her off as a crazy and be done with it.

The East Gate has a traditional marketplace where you can buy cultural goods, although some smack of mass production. It also is home to the only Starbucks that has ever bothered to write it's name in another language. It is a popular place to take photos, and the Koreans are pretty proud of it. Around here is a shopping mall that is worth a visit if your sick of Japan's fashion, prices, and sizes. It's called Doota. Here you can also bargain, but you can't try anything on really. Jackets, and shoes are a yes. Shirts and pants are a no. The building is enormous, the prices varying, and the experience exhausting. The mall is also by Korea first attempt/successas cleaning up the enviroment. There is a pretty river where many people walk just to feel the "purity of it all". So says my friend. She ushered us passed it pretty quickly so, I didn't get to enjoy it very much.

The arts district is super awesome, but I can't remember the name at the moment.
If there is one show you should see, it's the show I didn't get to (so I'll live vicariously through you): The Donkey Show. It sounds somewhat dirty, but what it really is is a drag show about love and betrayal all done to disco music. I WISH I had gone. Oh, do I ever.

Seoul Tower is supposed to be a big place to go, but I didn't have the
courage. Buses in Korea are scary, because you often have to flag them down, and they don't do a great job of announcing their stops so there is a danger you'll miss them. However, since Seoul tower is so big, it seems likely that bus will stop there for some other tourists anyways. I'm sad I missed it.

There is supposed to be another market by the South Gate, but we didn't get to see it.

There is also a massive underground mall that is worth seeing if you want to buy pop culture goods. Also, there's a Pizza Hut (something I didn't know I missed until I saw it). There's an aquarium, a movie theater, and arcade, a bookstore with a large English book selection (honest to god, they had Derrida there), and a CD store with good prices. You have to be careful, though, because they don't give you bags. I believe you have to buy them, but I'm not exactly sure. I forgot the name, yet again, but if you're interested, I'll find it. There is a Shamanist temple, but don't go there by yourself! There are many homeless people who live along all the paths. I knew it was unworthy of me to be scared, but their eyes watching me as I passed was somewhat disturbing. It's an interesting site, if only to know that the mountain once used to be dangerous with many tigers, only now to be victim of massive urban sprawl. The sacred rocks overlook thirty-year old apartment complexes, and the day I went,
it was so smoggy that you couldn't see much of the horizon. If you're interested, I'll tell you the name. But, I must warn you! It is on the seedy side of town.

Koreans, for the most part are very friendly. They are better at communicating even with the language barrier than the Japanese, and are less afraid to talk to you.

There are some differences, however. They use metal chopsticks, which is difficult because they are slippery. You use a spoon for the rice, and you cannot shovel food in with your chopsticks. Other than that, I can't remember. Restaurants operate in much the same manner Japanese ones do, so you should be ok there. When in doubt, just point at things on the menu.

Foods you should try: bulgogi, bibimpo, I forgot the name, but it's like an egg pizza, and korean bbq.

Also, I have to share this aweseom music video I saw at the hotel:

Where in Which Ali Meets Not One, Not Two, but Three Loves of Her Life

Should I ever choose to be married, it will certainly only be to one of these three men.

1. Ben Hur



Yes! His name is Ben Hur. No jokes. He speaks the sort of English that all educated Korean men do, low and perfectly metered with his errors only in emphasizing the wrong words. He's funny, and puts up with driving us to the airport (our only access point to the subway) every day. Despite his sunny disposition, he's truly only the love of my life because of his name.



2. The Honey Man



I have a video of him that I will post eventually for he was, by far, the best part of the trip. From the steady bustle of the street, we were knocked aside by a uneven "Are YOU from AMERICA?" to which we reply as we stop to see who is addressing us, "yes." Rachel Kim, of course is not, but it's easier to say yes than to explain. The voice belonged to a young man with short hair pulled back in a rather useless pony tail. "I WILL demonSTRATE." He smiled, and then takes out a lump of honey.

"It's hard!" To emphasize his point, he clunks it against the wall twice. He then puts two holes in it and begins to pull it into a circle after dipping it in flour, all the while using his curiously laconic speech that dips and shoots up like an unsecure carousel. He twists the honey circle so that it makes a figure eight. Every time he twists it, he announces how many strings he has officially made, and is joined by everyone else in the stand. He says something in Korean, translates it in to the english and everyone behind the counter yells "eight".

He twists it again.

SIXTEEN!

He twists it again.

THIRTY-TWO!

Again, and again.

"FOUR THOUSAND AND NINETY-SIX" threads of floured honey hang from his hands, and he smiles. "You can give this to ANYONE, your MOTHER, your FATHER, you brothers your SISters, Angelinie Jolie, I love Jessica Alba. ReFRIDgerATE is one month, FREEzer is three months."

Taken in by his charm, I made Kaity buy some. Sadly, he was more interested in Kaity, but likely even more interested in the sale. Nevertheless, I still love him, which is what any good salesman could hope for.



3. The Australian on the Subway

I have very little to say about him, except that he was handsome. His name is a mystery, and I secretly hoped to run into him on the streets of Seoul again. Alas, it was not in the cards. What I did learn of him was that he lived in Australia for much of his life, and he came back to Seoul to visit friends and earn some money so he can go to school.