So I guess I got really lucky, getting a one week break already just a month after being here! I always want to do 50 different things at one time, so I was scrambling to find something to do this week. I wasn't content on just sitting in Cheonan all week and saving money (although maybe not a bad idea...) so I talked to Jake and asked if he had plans for the week. He did have plans but was still gracious enough to take some time off from studying and hang out with me and show me around Seoul. The first thing we did was hit up a Doosan Bears baseball game. Korean fans are passionate about baseball...way more so than any game of baseball I have ever been to in the States...I would almost compare them to the Cameron Crazies of baseball, although there really isn't an equal to the Crazies, anywhere! The game was fun...a 12 inning thriller, but unfortunatly Doosan lost.
Korean food is amazing and if you have never tried it I would highly recommend it. After the game we went to a local Korean restaurant and had some samgyeopsal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal which is my favorite food I have had here. With any Korean meal there are like 10 side dishes and most of them are pretty good but it is always an adventure and I usually just try it and if it is good I keep eating, and if not...well, I just try and swallow down whatever it was and go on. I have only had one bad experience with a side dish and it was some sort of fish that, well...let's just say it wasn't very good. The peppers are extremely hot here, Jake warned me never to just bite into them, he said to always just break off the end and lick it, and if your mouth starts burning...well, maybe you shouldn't eat any more! The best way to eat samgyeopsal is to dip it in a sauce, then put it in a leaf of lettuce. Then add a few other side dish items like garlic and gochujang (a pepper sauce) and enjoy!
Jake found me a nice little motel, not too bad only 40,000 Won a night (1,000 Won is about equal to $1). Most of the hotels here have huge TVs and computers in the room.
I took off the next morning to go see Bongeunsa http://www.bongeun.org/, a Buddhist temple that sits right in the downtown section of Seoul. It was first founded in 794 and has quite a history. I was amazed with the beautiful colors on the buildings. I felt a little funny taking pictures where there were so many people there worshipping and praying, so I made sure not to take any when they were praying. There are quite a few different buildings and I found one with no one worshipping so I took a few pictures inside. Inside JiJangJeon one of the Buddhist monks was singing and playing a handbell and a small drum, it was very amazing to hear and I wanted a picture so bad, but felt that might be quite rude...so I just watched and listened. Koreans have many more things deemed "rude" than Americans do, so I try and watch what other people do and then just roll with it...I think most of the younger Koreans have become so "westernized" that it isn't a big deal to them, but for the older generation Koreans...there are just certain things you don't do! You NEVER blow your nose in public, you don't eat rice with chopsticks (which is hard anyway!), you don't set your spoon or chopsticks in the rice while not eating (there is some sort of celebration of one's deceased ancestors where this is part of the celebration), you don't pick up the bowl to eat, and when eating with an older person you must wait until they are ready to eat and dip their spoon into the soup (or pick up the food)...basically you get the idea. In the States...you just sit down and eat whatever, do whatever...very different here.
I was very impressed with the temple site...it was fascinating to me to think that in the 3rd largest city in the world, you could walk through the temple gates and feel a million miles away from all the noise and people.
I also had a chance to visit Olympic Stadium, and Olympic Park. I am an Olympic junkie...so this was quite a treat for me. The Stadium is starting to look a little old, but was still in pretty good shape. I think it is quite sad to see the buildings that once were a place of such excitement now just fading away. I know inanimate objects don't have feelings, but I thought to myself "I wonder how the stadium feels?"...here in a just a few short weeks the same excitement that was in Seoul 20 years ago with be just across the Yellow Sea in China...and surely the stadium has to be a little jealous, right? HA! The stadium was all locked up but I felt like walking around anyway just to check it out...to my amazement the very last (I know it sounds like I am making this up but it's true) gate was open...I have no idea why, but I quickly ran over and snapped a shot of the inside of the stadium. I still remember the hype Carl Lewis vs. Ben Johnson, and I was so sad when Johnson pulled away and won the gold...only to be stripped later after testing positive for steroids and Lewis secured the gold medal. And who can forget Flo Jo winning three gold medals and a silver?
Outside the stadium however was the grim reminder of the cruelty that Koreans have had to endure at the hands of some of their neighbors. There is a statue of Sohn Kee-Chung, an Olympic Gold Medalist (marathon) from the 1936 Olympics. At that time Korea was occupied by Japan and he was forced to compete for Japan and use the Japanese name Son Kitei. He refused however to sign his name in Japanese and at the metal ceremony he was so overcome with emotion that when they raised the Japanese flag and played the Japanese national anthem, he shed tears. Years later he was filled with excitement when he ran the torch into the stadium at the Seoul Olympics http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dg_weauz1eI
About 5 miles down the road is Olympic Park, which was also really amazing. The sun was out and it was quite hot, but I really enjoyed just having a chance to wander around the park and take everything all in. Just inside the gate were the flags of all the competing nations (which, at the time the Seoul Olympics had more nations competing than any other Olympics), and there were beautiful flowers and sculptures all over the park.
Korean food is amazing and if you have never tried it I would highly recommend it. After the game we went to a local Korean restaurant and had some samgyeopsal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal which is my favorite food I have had here. With any Korean meal there are like 10 side dishes and most of them are pretty good but it is always an adventure and I usually just try it and if it is good I keep eating, and if not...well, I just try and swallow down whatever it was and go on. I have only had one bad experience with a side dish and it was some sort of fish that, well...let's just say it wasn't very good. The peppers are extremely hot here, Jake warned me never to just bite into them, he said to always just break off the end and lick it, and if your mouth starts burning...well, maybe you shouldn't eat any more! The best way to eat samgyeopsal is to dip it in a sauce, then put it in a leaf of lettuce. Then add a few other side dish items like garlic and gochujang (a pepper sauce) and enjoy!
Jake found me a nice little motel, not too bad only 40,000 Won a night (1,000 Won is about equal to $1). Most of the hotels here have huge TVs and computers in the room.
I took off the next morning to go see Bongeunsa http://www.bongeun.org/, a Buddhist temple that sits right in the downtown section of Seoul. It was first founded in 794 and has quite a history. I was amazed with the beautiful colors on the buildings. I felt a little funny taking pictures where there were so many people there worshipping and praying, so I made sure not to take any when they were praying. There are quite a few different buildings and I found one with no one worshipping so I took a few pictures inside. Inside JiJangJeon one of the Buddhist monks was singing and playing a handbell and a small drum, it was very amazing to hear and I wanted a picture so bad, but felt that might be quite rude...so I just watched and listened. Koreans have many more things deemed "rude" than Americans do, so I try and watch what other people do and then just roll with it...I think most of the younger Koreans have become so "westernized" that it isn't a big deal to them, but for the older generation Koreans...there are just certain things you don't do! You NEVER blow your nose in public, you don't eat rice with chopsticks (which is hard anyway!), you don't set your spoon or chopsticks in the rice while not eating (there is some sort of celebration of one's deceased ancestors where this is part of the celebration), you don't pick up the bowl to eat, and when eating with an older person you must wait until they are ready to eat and dip their spoon into the soup (or pick up the food)...basically you get the idea. In the States...you just sit down and eat whatever, do whatever...very different here.
I was very impressed with the temple site...it was fascinating to me to think that in the 3rd largest city in the world, you could walk through the temple gates and feel a million miles away from all the noise and people.
I also had a chance to visit Olympic Stadium, and Olympic Park. I am an Olympic junkie...so this was quite a treat for me. The Stadium is starting to look a little old, but was still in pretty good shape. I think it is quite sad to see the buildings that once were a place of such excitement now just fading away. I know inanimate objects don't have feelings, but I thought to myself "I wonder how the stadium feels?"...here in a just a few short weeks the same excitement that was in Seoul 20 years ago with be just across the Yellow Sea in China...and surely the stadium has to be a little jealous, right? HA! The stadium was all locked up but I felt like walking around anyway just to check it out...to my amazement the very last (I know it sounds like I am making this up but it's true) gate was open...I have no idea why, but I quickly ran over and snapped a shot of the inside of the stadium. I still remember the hype Carl Lewis vs. Ben Johnson, and I was so sad when Johnson pulled away and won the gold...only to be stripped later after testing positive for steroids and Lewis secured the gold medal. And who can forget Flo Jo winning three gold medals and a silver?
Outside the stadium however was the grim reminder of the cruelty that Koreans have had to endure at the hands of some of their neighbors. There is a statue of Sohn Kee-Chung, an Olympic Gold Medalist (marathon) from the 1936 Olympics. At that time Korea was occupied by Japan and he was forced to compete for Japan and use the Japanese name Son Kitei. He refused however to sign his name in Japanese and at the metal ceremony he was so overcome with emotion that when they raised the Japanese flag and played the Japanese national anthem, he shed tears. Years later he was filled with excitement when he ran the torch into the stadium at the Seoul Olympics http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dg_weauz1eI
About 5 miles down the road is Olympic Park, which was also really amazing. The sun was out and it was quite hot, but I really enjoyed just having a chance to wander around the park and take everything all in. Just inside the gate were the flags of all the competing nations (which, at the time the Seoul Olympics had more nations competing than any other Olympics), and there were beautiful flowers and sculptures all over the park.
