"Hiking" with the 500 000 of my closest friends

Yes, I did put "the" in on purpose. Sentances are different here, they don't use a lot of the little words that we do like "the" "a" "he/she/it" so they often put them in in weird places, and leave them out where they are supposed to be. I saw 2 signs today, "The 200 persons being the maximum number allowed on the girder bridge." The second one also warned, "no passing the children, the elderly, the weak or the drunken." Because it's possible, they sell beer everywhere, I'm not kidding, everywhere.

We went on an excursion today to Daedun mountain to see some fall colours. They aren't in full force yet, but any excuse for a hike is a good one, right?! The minute we stepped off the bus, I smelled something that will forever be embedded in my mind: the unmistakeable aroma of roasting silkworm larvae. I have never smelled it before, but somehow I knew, with that first whiff, that nothing else could possibly smell like that. Bondeggi. They should have a commercial like Lay's, only instead of "bet you can't eat just one", take out the 'just'. They have HUGE pans of it, and it's enough to make your stomach turn 4 times over! And they LOVE it!! We probably passed 7 bondeggi places, even up on the mountain. My favourite was the one who had bondeggi AND fried grasshoppers, and we got to wait in line beside them to climb up one of the girder bridges (the 60 person was the maximum on that one). All served up in little paper cups, you just eat them with a toothpick, just smack away. Ugg. I'm glad I didn't have a hangover!

Hiking here is almost exactly the same as at home. Except the paved path wide enough for 2 cars to drive up. And the roasting insects everywhere. And the MILLIONS of people around. And the kiosks set up all up the mountain selling beer and soju (hence why it's entire viable to have "the drunken" on the bridges) and various snack foods. And the giant steel alien-space-ship-looking monument at the top. And the hand railings all the way up. And the stairs. And the steel girder bridges. And did I mention the MILLIONS of people? But other than that, exactly the same. At least I didn't see anyone in heels today. I was going to wear mine, but I'm glad I didn't... they would have gotten caught in the stairs.

So not everyone enjoys hiking as much as I do, which I can appreciate. I think the exact line was "Why walk uphill for an hour of boring when you can take a cable car for 6 minutes and get right to the good stuff?" So we took a cable car up the majority of the mountain. It's a fairly easy mountain to get to, so I'll probably go back again, then I can check out the whole path up. The cable car ride was good, good views, and no one there had bondeggi. But you get to the top, and immediately climb up some incredibly steep stairs, up to a little flat bit with a monk continuously beating on a wooden bell. To the right we go, where there is the first bridge, about 70 m long, linking 2 small peaks across a huge valley! Aaron did not participate in this, as he and heights don't get along. Great views, though. It was a fairly clear day, by Korean standards. We then scrambled up some rock stairs, then more metal stairs (even steeper!), past 2 little cafes, both selling bondeggi and beer. Then there was the other bridge, which was more like suspended stairs, as it also linked 2 rocks. Then a final scramble up some more boulder stairs, past another beer vendor (no larvae this time, shucks) and we reached the space ship at the peak. It was a beautiful view. This whole country is covered in mountains, so it was just peak after peak as far as you could see. It's still looks all green when you see the big picture, but along the trail there was some colour starting to come out, which was also lovely. It was also refreshing to breath some fresh air.

One thing, however, is that you don't go to the mountains here for peace and solitude. It's kind of like walking through downtown at lunch time on a Wednesday, only with hills. The path is literally crawling with people. Picture, if you will, Johnson's Canyon on a summer day, and add the entire population of Calgary. And the top, the fenced in area was packed, all along the railing was packed, on the other side of the railing was packed, and people just line the sides of the trail to have their picnics. And boy do they pack a picnic!! They have whole spreads, all the sides, soups, fish, kimbab, rice, the works! No crackers and cheese for these folkd! They all looked very yummy!

Koreans, though, aren't very shy about letting you know if you're going too slow. "Excuse me" is a phrase that is reserved for more serious situations, which I have not encountered yet, because they just shove you out of the way. No, not a little nudge, or a poke, but a full-on push. Or repeated hard pokes, in the back of your legs. That one was nice, a little 4'9'' ajima (old lady) in a pink blazer, mumbling something (probably "stupid slow oegugin") and giving me a little jab in my hamstring every 20 seconds or so. I wanted to turn around and say "I CAN"T GO ANY FASTER BECAUSE THERE ARE 150 PEOPLE ON THE TRAIL DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME WHO ARE ALL GOING THE SAME SPEED!" but my Korean isn't that good yet, so I just kept repeating "stop pushing me. Stop pushing me. Stop pushing me" to whoever came near. At least no one grabbed my butt, as one old man did to Charlotte. I think he was trying to steady himself, and that was the closest thing around!

I still can't get over how many people are in this country. It's the size of New Brunswick, with the population of Canada plus New York City. I've probably said something like this before, but it never ceases to amaze me! It changes your perspective on everything!

But all in all, it was a good day. You can't complain too much about the mountains, and every outing is a cultural learning experience. And I have renewed my commitement that no insect shall knowingly cross my lips, however I may go back to try some deep fried ginseng.

A nudist's day at the Jimjilebang

So Hannah decided to introduce me to the Korean spa today. Sounds good to me! But there are some MAJOR differences between a North American spa and the Korean Jimjilebang...

So you go in, pay 6000 won (about 6$) and they give you a key and some "spa clothes". You take your key upstairs, lock up your stuff, and change into your spa clothes. This particular spa has 7 levels! 2 are filled with rooms of varying temperatures... the dry saunas varied from 63*C to a whopping 115*!!!!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's a setting on an oven, not a room that you sit in voluntarily!! So you basically just go in and sweat. There were also saunas that had pipes running along the sides with cold water running through them, so you lie down and put your head on the pipes and it feels really nice, you can actually stay there for a while! Or until the pipe really starts digging into your head, whatever... The walls and ceilings in these saunas are also very beatifully decorated, with stones and mosaics and scenes and stuff... it's the first place that I've seen that isn't tacky to the n'th degree!

So now we come to big difference #1: people lying everywhere. On the 2nd sauna floor, there was also a "resting room", which is really just a big open room, a few benches, and people lying on the floor. Some were resting, some were sleeping, some people were lying on the floor sleeping elsewhere in the building... basically, wherever you hit the floor, that's a good place to nap! Sounds good to me! They also had a cold sauna, which was the perfect temperature to initiate my desire to go snowboarding. Damn, have to wait a few more months for that here!

Big difference #2: this spa is 24 hours. And being a 24 hour spa, with lockers, "resting rooms" and only 6 bucks to get in, travellers often stay there instead of a hostel!!! So there was a floor that was totally un-spa-y, that had a cafe and a restaurant, kareoke rooms, a stage, internet lounge, movie room, and even sleeping rooms!!! So tip for all of you who want to travel in Korea... stay in spas! It's cheap, safe and self-indulgent, all in one convenient location! They also have a gym and a pool, and on the 7th floor (roof) it was all a big rooftop garden patio, with tables and chairs and a little pond with waterfall, just to hang out and relax, maybe take a nap!

I went for a run earlier, so no gym today, so after we sweated it out in the saunas for a while, back into the changeroom we go, where the hot tubs and showers are, as well as the spa services. But get ready for BIG DIFFERENCE #3: you are completely naked! Yup, you just strip down, grab your shower stuff and head'er on in! If you want to turn some heads, walk a naked glowing white ass through a room full of naked Korean women in hot tubs... it's evidently a rare sight!

Once you get past the naked thing, though, it's a pretty awesome place. There's a huge room, full of hot tubs of varying temperatures, again from heavenly to stew. And some cold tubs, with various massaging jets and waterfalls. And about 70 showers, full of naked Koreans, from about our age to about 102. And they're all brushing their teeth... I've noticed this, everyone here brushes their teeth about 10 times a day... must be all the kimchi! The thing I found the most fascinating was the normalcy of it all, like there is no other way to go to a spa! Then again, a lot of these women come at least once a week, so I guess it would be pretty mundane.

Special treatments aren't necessary, but at 25 bucks for an exfoliating body scrub and massage, I had to indulge! Let me just say that in the end it was worth it, but I was seriously questioning my judgement for a while! It may be a little graphic, but the whole thing is just to amusing not to share!! The body care ladies were on lunch, so they were pointed out to us as they were walking to the back where the spa treatment area is... just in the back corner, because why go for privacy at this stage of the game? And of course, they were naked (why not enjoy a little soak on your lunch?!) I thought they were starting to get dressed, but just ended with the first layer... they work in their skivvies. Welcome to big difference #4. So they lie you down on this bed, toss a bucket of water over you, and I mean toss, and then start rubbing you down with a sandpaper mitt. Terribly painful, I kept wincing and I think she was asking me things but nothing was getting through, so I kept saying "mulaiyo! Mulaiyo! (I don't know, I don't know!) so she was laughing at me. So here's the scene... butt naked Laura, being sanded head to toe by a Korean in her bra and undies, making fun of me! And I'm paying for this!! And occasionally she would rinse me off by throwing another bucket of water over me (after a while, my body looked like it was covered in eraser shavings). So the scrub lasted about 35 minutes (it did get better, or else she just scrubbed away all the nerve endings in my skin, I'm not sure which), I'm lying on my stomach and she wraps and nice hot towel over my shoulders. How comforting. Then a little bit of a shoulder rub, very nice. Then she starts to beat me! A few good whacks on the upper back, and the oil comes out. The massage alternated between digging with thumbs, pounding with fists, and whacking with cupped hands! Again, right up there on the scale of weirdest experiences of my life, but it actually felt quite good. Finally, she coated me with soya milk and let me steep for a few minutes. And I admit, I'm pretty durn silky now!

So in short I spent my afternoon naked in a room full of strangers, and paid money for someone to abuse me. But it was phenomenal, and given half a chance I'd do it all again! Now I'm relaxed, happy and smooth, and I will never again have that bad dream where you get up to give a speech and you're in the nude, because I've already lived it!

Hope you're all well, go get some pampering done in my honour! It's worth it!

Yours in the buff,
Laura

Korean Food

In honour of this holiday revolving around gorging ourselves, I'll describe a traditional Korean meal, and the best one I've had yet.

In Korea, it is very disrespectful to wear shoes inside, so in Korean restaurants you always take your shoes off at the door. They eat off the same low style table made famous by Japanese restaurants. Yes, your feet go to sleep, and no, this doesn't get any easier or less painful the more you do it!

Most restaurants have a specialty, and usually only 4 or 5 things on the menu. You can usually tell what kind of restaurant it is by the cartoon on the front. Chicken places have chickens, beef places have cows, and so on and so on. These animals are usually smiling and giving a thumbs up, and generally looking happy about the fact that you're going to be eating their kin. The place I went to on Wed was a tofu place, and there was no smiling tofu, but I think that's because it was in such a small place; I have seen happy little white blocks on signs, as well as grinning mushrooms!

When you have plopped yourself down on your thin little cushion, you usually order almost straight away (5 options expidite the decision process! Koreans don't have time to waste pouring over menus). Then they bring you water and side dishes. Side dishes are the jewel of any Korean meal... they are shared by all and chosen so they complement each other and the main dish you have chosen. There is always kimchi, and usually some other vegetables (cooked, steamed, preserved... never raw!) and sometimes little bits of seafood, tofu, and whatever else the chef wants to prepare that day. If your meal isn't soup, than soup will always be a side dish, but that doesn't mean that it's thick or necessarily even hot... a sort of miso soup is commong, as is a cold bean sprout broth; this is not my favourite). Rice is never a side dish, because everyone gets their own.

As I've mentioned before, chopsticks here are usually metal, as are bowls and spoons, because in the days of the Jeoson dynasty, a lot of people had grudges against the Koreans, and poison in food will tarnish the silver or other metal, while in a wooden dish it would remain hidden. They say they continue the tradition now because metal is easier to clean and lasts longer, but I feel pretty safe eating my meal knowing that someone can't slip something into my bibimbap unbeknownst to me! I've seen how they look at me! A lot of food is eaten literally boiling hot... sundubu and samgyetang are two soups that I've had that are brought out to the table boiling on little portable gas stoves. Dolsap bibimbap is a rice dish that comes in a stone bowl with a raw egg on the top that you stir in and it cooks almost instantly!

And now to the meat of the story... or should I say the bean curd? My student took me to a tiny little restaurant in a tiny little town down an amazingly terrifying road! (for a full description, see my last post) They specialize in tofu, and they are exemplary of Korean pride! They only use Korean-grown soy beans (because from anywhere else they just don't have as much flavour), and they make their own soya sauce using the traditional Korean method (because the stuff you get in Japan is too sweet), and by the way it's Dubu in Korea (because Tofu is Japanese and therefore inherently bad, speaking of holding grudges...!) So we ordered sundubu (literally tofu soup), and she hurried away and brought out 5 sides. Homemade kimchi (using only Korean cabbages), pickled radishes, spicy steamed radish greens, spicy steamed spinach, and a GIANT block of raw tofu, with the homemade soya sauce. Now, most of you know that I am a big tofu fan, but I've never really eaten it raw, always cook it up and season it and such. But when in Korea, do as the Koreans, so in I dig, and oh my goodness, it was the most delicous thing I've ever tasted!! It really did have a rich flavour, very smooth, and the soya sauce was salty and a little bit spicy, and together it made for bite after bite of pure gastronomical joy! I could have had a whole meal of just the sides, and would have been quite happy! Even the kimchi, which I've rather grown to enjoy anyway, was the best I've tasted.

For those who have never heard of it, Kimchi is the national dish of Korea. It is pickled vegetables that came to be because of the need to preserve food for the winter (sounds familiar), and being Korean, of course it's spicy! A general rule of thumb here is red = hot. Kimchi is usually cabbage, often radish, and can also be made of almost any other veg. There is a whole process to making kimchi that I have not yet learned, but I know it involves a separate fridge because the smell is quite pungent. They used to bury it in the ground to ferment, but at the rate this country grows, if you leave your kimchi buried too long, there'll be a highrise or an apartment complex on it when you get back!

Our sundubu came, boiling hot as it should be, and it was just as good as the other tofu. Other sundubu that I've had is in kind of a thin tomato-y broth, with some greens and tofu and clams, and it's pretty tasty too, but this was traditional sundubu, which is basically just boiled tofu. About a pound and a half of boiled tofu actually, into which you stir as much rice and soya sauce as you like, and it's a phenomenal meal! I can hear you all rolling your eyes, 'right, Kalazy*, a meal of boiled tofu and spicy veggies was delicious... loony' but it's true! I wish they had taste-o-vision, because it truly was like nothing I've tried before! Unfortunately, I don't think there are any buses that go up there, so I'll probably never have it again, unless I get really bold and rent a car, or cajoule another student to take me! But I'm so glad that I got to go, and experience a truly local traditional Korean meal. Gambe!**

*In the Korean language, you cannot have 2 consonant sounds together, so they will always put a vowel in between if they are saying an English word. Also, "R" and "L" are the same letter, it just depends where they are in the word for what sound they make. Thus, Crazy becomes Kalazy! This is also kind a harsh word, and gets lots of giggles when you use it.
**Gambe! = Cheers!

Buddhist Temples and Super China!

Hello again!

Well, it has been WAY to long, and I apologize!! On the bright side, the lobby of our school has a new floor and the desk has been all switched around and looks really nice!

One advantage of teaching adults is that you can hang out with them after class and it's not weird! Wednesday was a national holiday here, kind of the Korean equivalent to Victoria day, celebrating the birth of the first king of Korea. So one of my students (who still had to work, Koreans never really take breaks!) took me out to a mountain just outside Daejeon on Wednesday evening. It is located in Gyeryongsan National Park, whose name translates to Rooster Dragon, because the mountain-naming locals thought the mountain looked like a dragon with a rooster's head. (I tried to get some pictures, but it was by far the muggiest day yet, so they didn't turn out. Going back with the school staff next week tho.) About 1 km from the parking lot is Donghaksa temple, which is inhabited entirely by female Buddhist monks.

If you want a good tour guide, go to a Buddhist temple with a Buddhist Korean historian! I learned so much I can barely recall it all but I'll give it a shot. Firstly, before you even enter the park, there is a fountain that you drink from (from plasitc cups, there are 4 there to be shared by the thousands of visitors to the park every day. Yummy.) This is to purify your soul. Near the beginning of the pathway, there was a big archway, which evidently there is always a single-pillar gate like this before each temple. Temples are always built near water, to get the requist bridge in there, which also signifies that you're leaving the evil world behind and entering a pure, heavenly place. Temples are often found in the mountains, because during the Joeson dynasty, Buddhism was outlawed and monks were rounded up and forced into the army. To avoid this, monks fled to the hills, where they could hide and continue on living their peaceful monk lives. By the time we got to the actual temple it was closed, but that meant we did get to see and hear the daily drumming. There are 2 HUGE drums and a giant bell inside a little open hut, and every night the monks drum for close to an hour to signify to every living creature that it is time to go to sleep. It was much more pleasent to hear than "It is 6:00 and Donghaksa temple is now closed. Please check out our souveniers at the gift shop by the entrance, and have a good night"!

Hiking in this country is a totally different experience. Firstly, if you're going to the parks to get away from crowds and get peace and quiet, you're going to have to discover a new mountain, because they're full all the time. On weekends and holidays, picture Johnson's Canyon any day in July, but there are 1/3 less buses because everyone has come out in their car! The pathway is also wide enough that I'm sure you could drive a semi up (the monks have a couple vans, but I don't think they go for daily joy rides). Korean women are the epitomy of femininity, most of them were walking this in heels. And before the entrance, the path is lined with vendors selling such delicacies as roasted chestnuts, BBQd corn on the cob on a stick, dried squid and silkwork larvae. Nothing gets you fueled for a hike like some nice hot grub.

As temping as the food was on the way down (I'm fairly open minded when it comes to food, but the squid just smells so bad and it's EVERYWHERE, and I draw the line at insects), my student wanted to take me to have some authentic Korean food. So off we go to this itty bitty little town, up one of the most terrifying roads I've ever been on! It twisted and turned, often switching between paved and dirt, and randomly going down to only 1 lane, generally around corners. Thankfully it's a quiet road, so we didn't encounter any one else! The restaurant is at the owner's home, which was really neat, because there were about 3 different little buildings to eat in, each with about 8 tables. I am going to make a separate post about food, because this meal deserves it's own space!! But suffice to say, for now, that it was hands down the best meal I've had since I've been here!!

Classes are going well, I started teaching by myself on Tuesday, (rough, hey, I work 1 day and I get a day off!) and everyone seems to like me so far!! I'm learning to control how fast I speak, so much so that when I go out with my English friends I find myself pronouncing everything very slowly and properly, and confirming that they understand!! I teach levels 2 and 3, mostly conversation with a little bit of writing. There are books that we use, and most of the students understand well enough to get the instructions. Each unit in the books deals with a group of words or common situations they might have while travelling or communicating with English people. For example, the one class just finished a unit on describing locations of places on a map, giving directions, and finding buildings and services. There was also a unit on family, which they get a kick out of mine!! Divorce and second marriages just don't happen over here, so trying to explain step parents and half-siblings and such was a bit of a challenge... lots of drawing and charades! And sometimes they just like to talk, and they LOVE Canada... last night, my last class just kept asking questions, and trying to explain to them that it takes 3 days to drive from Calgary to Niagara Falls was just too much for them!! They live in a country the size of New Brunswick, with 40 million people, so to them a 2 hour drive is seriously far!! I drew a map of Canada and pointed out various points and places they had heard of and where they wanted to go, so they could get an idea of the size of the place! You should have seen their faces when I told them I took 10 days to drive home from school! haha

I went to see Cats today (in English, though they did do a rendition of Memories in Korean, to a very enthusiastic response!), then to Super China festival at Expo park. Who knew Daejeon hosted expo '93? Super China consisted of a lot of alluminated fabric structures, but they had a really impressive light/water/fireworks show and a whole show of crazy Chinese acrobatics... I want to know where people come up with these things!! There was a sphere, slightly larger than an average bathroom, which at one point had 4 motorcylcles going around, a girl who I'm sure had no bones in her body, and a guy and a girl, hanging on a pole hanging on a trapeze. The whole contraption was circling around the stage, and and one point the were both biting something and the girl was hanging and spinning away. Very impressive, but bizarre! They also had some of the terra cotta warriors there too, which was pretty cool.

Busy weekend for me, I'm going to Seoul for the day tomorrow and then on Monday some of the Canadians are having Thanksgiving dinner at 9:30 after classes. I don't exactly know what that will entail, but I'm sure it'll all be eaten with chopsticks!! Hope everyone is enjoying their turkey back home, miss you all and bye for now!