Ancient ruins at Gyeongju

I finally got a chance to get out of Daegu. On my three day weekend another teacher and I headed off to Gyeongju and ancient Korean city about an hour bus ride from Daegu. Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Dynasty whose powerful families ruled Korean until 700 A.D. This small town is scattered with large mound tombs, stone carvings and temples that gave me my first glimpse of the history and culture of Korea. I wished I had more that a day to see everything but we had only one day to cram it all in. We first headed to the tomb park, Daereungwon, which contains 30 ancient tombs including the tomb of King Michu. There is only one tomb that is open to the public to see the rest of the tombs remain unexcavated. This tomb dates somewhere between the fifth and sixth century and contained many gold and jade pieces. The tombs of the kings were distinguished by a fence around them.

Just a short walk away was Gyerim Forest which has trees that have survived for nearly 2,000 years. It was a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The Koreans seem to prefer the white cherry blossoms so the really do look like snow. They were glorious! From there we walked to Anapji, a pleasure pond where the pavilions have been rebuilt to resemble what they looked like long ago. Most of the structures were made out of wood and have unfortunately most have deteriorated and disappeared long ago. Many of the artifacts that are in the National Museum were excavated from this pond. I think servants that broke something just threw it over the side into the lake. No one would notice. Far better than getting beaten. From there we continued our trek to the National Museum which had phenominal works of art from the area. There were actually four buildings; one for the Buddhist art, a building for Archeology, another building just for Silla Dynasty art and a Children's museum. We could have stayed there for hours but we pressed on so we could see the Bulguksa Temple and I'm really glad we did because it was my favorite part of the trip. This temple is tucked away on the Tohamsan mountain and was created in 751 A.D. Although they call them bridges there are actually stairways consisting of 33 steps symbolizing the 33 heavenly worlds of Buddhism. Once we got there it was well worth the view and seeing this beautiful serene place will always bring back wonderful memories. So after seven hours of walking and sightseeing we headed back to the bus station for the trip back to Daegu. Our tickets round trip were $7.00 each. We staggered onto the bus tired and happily exhausted. Every step was worth it. Gyeongju was by far the most impressive site I've seen in Korea thus far.

A Korean Wedding

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Kim's middle son Hee-dals wedding which is certainly not something everyone gets to experience. The wedding service was held at a lovely hotel here in Daegu in the banquet hall which is where most weddings these days are held. The room was set up with dinner seating and guest sat at their table during the ceremony. There was a long raised runway down the middle of the hall where the procession took place. There was probably around 500 guest and Hee-duk another of the Kim's son's translated the ceremony into English for the few non-Korean speakers. The parents of the bride and groom had special chairs where they sat on either side of the stage and the bride and groom bowed reverently to each set of parents before the ceremony began. The bride wore a traditional western style gown and was really beautiful. Except she was so tiny I thought she was going to pass out dragging her train. The parents mothers wore the traditional Hanbol which are quite beautiful with hand-stitched embroidery. The ceremony lasted only about a half hour and the bride and groom left to go change clothes. We were then served and eight course western style meal from salmon to dessert with such speed and efficiency I barely put down my silverware and another course arrived. The bride and groom once again reappeared in traditional Korean dress and walked the room thanking the guest for coming. They never sat down or rested or ate, this was a workout, like running a marathon. There was no dancing or singing and after the dinner, that had been served with Swiss clock precision, the celebration was over. The teachers were invited to come and see a private ceremony where the bride and groom were introduced to the families. They had to bow in front of each family member based on their status of course. Once again another clothing change, by now the bride is getting flushed and her clothes are so heavy they have to pick her up off the floor each time she bows. Very interesting, maybe its an endurance test for the bride. No wonder divorce rate is so low here, who wants to go through that again. Sorry the pictures aren't better, every time I went to take a picture there were five photographers in front of me. Enjoy!

Haein-sa

Greetings to All,

Happy 2010! It's hard to believe another year has gone. Hope everyone had a joyous holiday season with their families! They do celebrate Christmas in Korea but in the most commercial way. Plenty of lights and trees but when I asked my students if they celebrate Christmas they said "Oh, Yes! We get presents" my next question was, "Are you Christian?" and they replied "No, we just get presents!" Their version of Christmas is pretty much like American kids.

Anyway, I really wanted to blog about my adventures in dining in authentic Korean restaurants not Outback Steakhouse. My friend Jihee came to visit from Seoul and took me to a very nice restaurant in an upscale neighborhood. Koreans seem to enjoy cooking their own food. Similar to cooking fondue. There was a recessed pot in the table and they proceeded to bring platters of vegetables to the table which were then dropped into the pot in the table filled with boiling water. After a few minutes of cooking time we ate the vegetables like soup. They also brought side dishes of pickled vegetables, salads and of course Kimchee. Next, came a platter of rolled slices of beef about the thickness of sliced luncheon meat. Yes, you guessed it, it also was dropped into the boiling pot of water and cooked. Then came a huge plate of noodles, which were next plopped into the water and cooked. One pot cooking. We slurped up the soup and left quite full. But, just a few hours later we decided to try yet another Korean restaurant specializing in Bulgogi. Bulgogi, is Korean barbecue. The meat is sometimes seasoned and grilled at the table and sometime the meat is brought raw to the table to be cooked. They seem to like to play with their food. Bulgogi looks like bacon and is about the same thickness of thick sliced bacon. You place it on the grill and after its cooked you cut it with scissor into bite size pieces. Jihee did all the ordering and I just tasted along. They brought out little side dishes of pickled things, sauces and an unusual looking little round things is a soy sauce. Jihee urged me to try them. I will try anything once especially if I don't know what it is. I popped one in my mouth, not bad until I got to the end and it tasted a little earthy. When finally I asked what it was I just ate, she told me a silkworm cocoon. YIKES! She said during the war when they had no food Koreans started eating them for protein. I'm sure production and demand for silk was way down as well. It's an acquired taste that even Jihee's mom doesn't enjoy any more. Thanks Jihee. The rest of the meal there were no surprises. The meat is grilled, then placed in a lettuce leaf with sesame paste, jalapeno peppers or raw garlic, wrapped and eaten. Good! We also had a soup made of zucchini and tofu. Tasty but scalding hot. You can pour the broth over rice. Their rice is like sushi rice, sticky and short grains so it is often wraped in seaweed. I like the seasoned fried seaweed wrappers and seaweed is supppose to have many nutrients in it.

The food I've had so far, I've come to the conclusion is either healthy or like eating liquid fire. I think I need to taste more. Fish is king here and it's everywhere. I walked past a store front for the first two weeks that had a huge tank in it with the biggest fish I've ever seen. I thought it was a pet store until one day the fish was gone. When I looked closer it dawned on me this was a fish market and not a pet store and I'd seen that fish for the last time. There are many restaurants downtown with these tanks that you can pick your dinner. Tebokki, is another Korean dish that has dried pollack in it, quite pungent and spicy. They love squid and octopus. Another delicacy I've heard about but not tried, is eating live baby octopus with a piece of kimchee and the octopus dies in your mouth as you eat it. I'm still working up to trying the kimchee donuts. More later! Enjoy !

I came, I saw, I conquered Costco!

Wow! What is up with the snow in Denver? It's suppose to stay in the mountains isn't it?

No worries it will be gone in two day. The ski resorts must be estatic.

Well, I have experienced Costco in Korea. I thought I had stepped into a Costco in the US, same brands, same gigantic sizes, same everything. Priced a little higher of course. I understand it is for upscale shopping in Korean and only the wealthiest shop there. I bought the biggest jar of Skippy peanut butter I've seen in my life so every meal for the next month will contain peanut butter in some form, yes even salad dressing. I'm soliciting your best peanut butter recipes this month. It was quite an experience especially when you have to lug everything home in a taxi.

I found a pair of pants for 22,000won, which is around $20.00 bucks. There were only a couple of pairs left so for once I thanked God for making me a big boned girl. I'm sure they were left because they were to big for any Koreans.

A little about the city of Daegu. Some argue it is the 3rd largest while others say it is the 4th largest. Regardless it is 2.5-3 million people and while you are not on top of each other everywhere you look you see towering skyscraper apartment buildings. I asked a native how many people she thought lived in her apartment complex and she said about 10,000 and that's just one building. They have underground grocery stores and shopping under these complexes.

They have quite efficient and clean subway system as well. They also have the KTX bullet train that travels at about 200 kilometers and hour. You definitely need to step back when that train comes through the station. From what I hear rent is expensive here especially in the newer apartment complexes. Daegu is surrounded by mountains so hiking is quite popular here. The mountains are also where all of the temples are located. The monks have the right idea. A native told me the way to experience Korea was to go to the mountains.

Well since pictures are worth a thousand words I have posted some photos for you. Keep the emails coming. It's great to hear any news of the western world.

All the Best

Greetings from Korea!
I can't believe I have been here already 6 weeks! Its amazing how quickly time goes. I feel like I am getting to know my way around the city of Daegu. I can take the bus to school, a major accomplishment in my book. It's an interesting experience since the buses are stick shift. You definitely can tell the rookie bus drivers. Globalization has hit Korea and yes American fast food is everywhere. Dunkin Donuts, Pizza, Outback Steak House, Baskin Robins, and yes McDonalds and Burger King are here as well. I could live here the entire year and never eat Korean food. Aside from the fact that I can't speak Korean to order in a Korean restuarant I would have to point and hope. My friend Jihee from Seoul is planning on coming to visit and since she went to the university here she knows some great Korean places. We plan on eating our way through Daegu when she comes. Get out the tums! Korean food can be extremely hot! The most interesting food I've had so far is acorn pudding. You would see elderly people on the streets, almost getting decapitated by crazy Korean bus drivers, picking up acorns from the curbs to make this delicacy. It's consistency is like tofu with a very delicate flavor. Lovely but I don't know if it is worth risking your life.
I teach Monday-Saturday from 3:45-10:30 at night. It's taken some getting use to working late and having half of the day off. Most teachers sleep in until at least noon but I'm a morning person and up and ready to go by 9:00. Korean's are late nighters. Most people are out and about until at least midnight. Since, Korea has such a low crime rate you often see children as young as twelve out taking the bus or walking home at 10:00 or 11:00 at night. Students attend school in the evening to learn English and high school students are often out until 11:30 taking classes. I'm beginning to adjust to my classes and starting to recognize faces. I have students from seven years old to high school. Lesson plans have been a challenge with such a diverse age group. Children in Korea are no different from anywhere else in the world and they will definitely challenge you. They get a great kick out of my attempts at Korean.
This is our first three day weekend in six weeks so I intend to take full advantage of the time off.
I have had a chance to get to a couple of mountains so see some temples. They are quite beautiful in the mountains. We were fortunate to take a teachers outing to Haesinsa Temple and the monks were at prayer. We also watched them drum which is a way to prepare themselves for concentration on prayer and meditation. The mountains were beautiful with the leaves starting to change colors. I wish we could have stayed longer but we had to get back for our classes.
Korea is on the same latitude as North Carolina, so they say Daegu rarely gets snow. Daegu is surrounded by mountains but certainly nothing like the Rockies. The weather now is starting to change to damp cooler nights. I hear the summer is quite humid.
Please stay in touch! I would love to hear from all of you. More later!
All the Best,
Cellini