Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Anthony in Korea, Day 22, Wednesday, May 13, 2009









Another nice day in Korea…

Today, before tutoring Olivia, I had “breakfast,” Korean-style. One of the great things about being here is that I’ve gotten out of some of my old eating habits and I am trying new things, especially at different times of the day. For example, today, for breakfast, I ate some cabbage kimchi and rice, as well as some kimchi sesame seed leafs. Just to explain that a bit: “kimchi,” although usually cabbage, is not necessarily made from cabbage. As it turns out, any vegetable that is picked, fermented, and spiced, including cucumbers, radishes, and sesame leaves, is considered “kimchi.” Also, as far as those sesame leaves are concerned, all Americans know what sesame seeds are, but did you know that you can eat the leaves, too? They are really tasty—a little bitter, but tasty, especially when they’ve been ‘kimchi-ized.’ Anyway, it was a hearty and filling breakfast and it proved that you don’t need cold cereal and scrambled eggs to have a good breakfast. In fact, many Koreans eat kimchi and rice for breakfast every day.

Anyway, today was Bori’s first day in Seoul (she flew in last night). And for those of you who don’t know she’s one of my best friends and she is the main reason that I am here in Korea. [Thanks, Bori!!!]. After I tutored Olivia, Bori took me to lunch at a great Korean bibimbap restaurant downtown that actually grows its own vegetables (hydroponically) right in the center of the restaurant. In addition to sprout bibimbap, I had sweet and sour mushroom and tofu. Wow, what a great meal. I also had my first glass of wine in 3 weeks (while wine is available in Korea, it’s not nearly as common as beer and soju), and it was a pleasure.

After lunch we went to Cheonggye stream which is in the heart of downtown Seoul. I’ve been looking forward to visiting Cheonggye since I arrived, because I’d read it was one of the greatest urban developments in Seoul’s recent history. Basically, there’s a miles-long gully that stretches across the center of the city, and in it is a stream about 10 meters wide. It’s a lovely urban stream sidled by walkways and there are also lots of small bridges and stones that go across it [see photo of me standing in the middle of the stream]. Cheonggye stream is very famous in Seoul because the former mayor of the city, Myeong-bak Lee (who is now the President of Korea), had a large highway torn down to uncover the stream running beneath it. Then he had urban landscape architects create what you see in the photos. It’s sort of an oasis in the middle of the city.

After that we took the bus to Itaewon. Some of you may recall that Itaewon was one of the first neighborhoods that I visited when I got to Seoul. However, I went there for a quick dinner with Olivia and her boyfriend, and didn’t get to see it all. Actually, tonight I realized that this is one of the coolest places in Seoul. Because the US military base used to be nearby, this area is very international. It’s the only place in Seoul where it’s common to see non-Koreans on the streets, and there are restaurants representing every cuisine imaginable. I am so used to teaching Arabs back in Greensboro that it was a strange pleasure to see Muslim men and women walking around in this area. In addition, I saw many other internationals reveling in the streets and frequenting the dozens of bars and restaurants here. Indeed, Itaewon has sort of a party atmosphere, and I wonder why I didn’t notice this a few weeks ago. Actually, it might be good that I didn’t notice it, because it forced me to explore true Korean neighborhoods rather than focus on this Queens, NY-style area. Anyway, I grabbed a vegetable burrito at the Mexican take-out place and headed home. But I’m definitely going back to Itaewon before I return to the States.

But before that, we ate at a great restaurant that I had read about in my Lonely Planet guidebook called “Our Place.” It’s a Western-fusion restaurant on the fifth and sixth floors of a building high above the streets of Itaewon. We ate hummus and pita on the terrace overlooking the neighborhood and had a great time [see photo]. Our Place is unique in that it is owned by the only Korean TV start to come out of the closet. He was a famous star a few years back when he announced to the nation that he was gay. Korea is still a relatively closed society when it comes to sex, so they responded to his announcement by canceling his TV show and shunning him. But he came all the way back and now is back on TV, and also owns Our Place in Itaewon. So, considering his story, I was glad to spend my money in his restaurant tonight.

By the way, I am also adding a photo above of a typical hallway in the Seoul subway system. Seoul’s subway is amazingly clean, fast, efficient, and loaded with clothing shops and food joints (they sell everything in subways, from delicious waffles and cream and honey, to broiled mackerel). But most impressive, the Seoul subway system is HUGE and CLEAN. Unlike NYC and Boston subway stations, there is so much room for all the people, and it is kept so clean; it is really like visiting a mall whenever I go into the subway. There are often fresh flowers adorning the hallways of the Seoul subway system [as shown in the photo], and there is no smell of urine, unlike NYC subways…why? Because every station has large, clean, modern public toilets!

2 comments: