Anthony in Korea, Day 13, Monday, May 4, 2009

Today I went to Bangbae station to meet Sunae and Dahee for a three-hour tutoring session. For those of you who are familiar with INTERLINK, I would say Sunae is an RW4 level writer and Dahee RW2. Honestly, both are very good, and I sometimes think, “why do these guys need me?” They have no plans to live in the USA; I guess they just want to improve their writing. Interestingly, Dahee lived in Flushing, Queens, my hometown, for a month when she was visiting her uncle there a few years ago. As far as their skills are concerned, hey—no argument from me; it’s a mutually beneficial relationship, and I get to sit and talk to some very interesting people. It’s really nice, actually.

After the session, we went to a traditional Korean restaurant [see photos] and had bibimpap and banchan (side dishes). We sat on pang suks (pillows) at low tables, as is usually the case in such places. Dahee had mackerel in a spicy, boiling stew. I taught her the phrase, “holy mackerel!” and she thought that was pretty funny. As usual, all the food was great. I think the best part of this trip so far has been experiencing the different cuisine, and realizing how one can eat in a totally different way than usual and still be satisfied. I mean, although don’t eat meat in the States, obviously it is quite common for a meal to consist of ‘chicken and vegetable,’ or ‘steak and potato’ or ‘burger and fries.’ While Koreans seem to eat meat with almost every meal, the meat is just a small part of the overall meal; the side dishes are often vegetables, and Koreans never, ever eat cheese or other dairy products [I would love to go on a rant about how dairy products are COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY for human sustenance—cow milk is meant only for baby cows!—but I won’t since this blog is just about Seoul. Needless to say, the people here seem to be doing quite will without milk and cheese, which the US dairy industry and government claim are essential to a human diet]. (Actually, that was a rant, after all! But at least it was a small one!).

Anyway, I promised myself last night to stop eating crap. Since I arrived here in Korea I’ve been trying to put on some weight, and I’m sure I have; but now it’s time to start eating some healthier food. So rather than eat Dominos or some other junk, I traveled back to Silim station and visited my favorite mandu (dumpling) place, and bought four yapchae (vegetable) mandu, and some delicious vegetarian street food. The two bags of food are rather heavy and altogether they set me back only five bucks.

Now I’m sitting in the same bar as last week (where those guys were coughing), near the subway, typing in my blog. I’ll also update my novel in a little while.

So nothing major happened today, I’m sorry to say (well, sorry for you, at least, who may or may not be anticipating exciting news).

Oh, I almost forgot: before I came to Silim I went to another part of the city, a place called Gangnam. Gangnam is one of the wealthier areas of Seoul, and it’s loaded with hundreds if not thousands of chicly-dressed women and men. I’m attaching a photo I took of two women who just happened to be walking by. Please take a look at the photo. The women are wearing neat, fashionable clothes, high heels, and are carrying little shopping bags. This photo represents not only every woman in Gangnam, but really almost every woman in Seoul. Downstairs, in the Gangnam station, hundreds of women were purchasing discount fashion apparel at any of the dozens of little clothing stores, all of them selling the kinds of clothes that they were wearing. It’s funny to me, how these women try so hard to be “fashionable” and, presumably, different and cool. But honestly, they all look they same to me. Really, 95% of women in Seoul between age 18 and 40 look the exact same to me. In their efforts to be chic they are all as bland as can be. This is not to say that women (and men) in other big cities around the world are any different. But, as mentioned in prior posts, Seoulites are ridiculously fashion-conscious, and for an average shmuck like me it’s both funny and, well, stupid.

Oh, there was one thing in Gangnam that I loved—a baseball batting cage. I was surprised that in the middle of this rather upscale area there were batting cages where, for 500 won (about .40), guys like me could line up at take 10 swings. It hovered above a small parking lot, strangely; these Seoulites certainly take advantage of their limited space! [Please see the photo of me in my super-cool baseball stance].

So that is it, really. In an hour or so I’ll head home, post my photos, and eat those delicious Mandu. Oh, yes, one more thing…as I type this Korean a Korean pop song is playing…a song called “Lolli” (as in lollipop), one that I seem to here all over Seoul, almost as much as I hear the song “Ka Ji Ma” (Don’t go). And you know what? I actually like this music! I am very surprised that I like it because I never listen to this kind of stuff at home. But it’s pretty good music!

In sum, another nice day in Seoul…

Quick update: as I was sitting here typing in my novel, the waiter came over and offered me some ‘ko bak chun’ (or at least I think that’s what he said!). I think he felt bad for me because, unlike the rest of the Koreans in this place, I’ve not ordered any food to accompany my drink. Or maybe he was just being nice because it’s nice to be nice! He said it was traditional Korean food; it’s basically just zucchini fried in egg (perhaps with a little rice flour), much like my mother used to make. And yes, like nearly all of the food I’ve tried here in Seoul, it’s amazingly delicious! I’ll certainly be coming back here again for a third try…and a fourth…and a fifth. (I just took another bite; my god this is so good!!!).