Summer in Korea

Summer in Korea is quite different than summer Victoria. First off, it gets hot here, much hotter than I'm used to and it's not one day of hot, it's all the days, all the time. Right now I think it's at least 25 degrees and it's after 12 am. The second strange thing about summer weather is the humidity, this is because Korea has a monsoon season in July. It feels pretty deceptive to me because it started to get warm (summer weather by my standards) and I was all like, yesss summer is finally here! Fun times! But then, it started to get cloudy and rainy and glum again, which wasn't very fun. My mood immediately shifted and my energy dropped. 

Next it gets hot, everyday, like about 30 and it still is a bit humid, with some random rain thrown in, although monsoon season is pretty much over for now. The other thing that happens are typhoons, although Korea doesn't seem to get hit that hard, at least it didn't this year. We really only got one, it was stormy and windy for the whole day, not just a few hours. It also rained a lot. I couldn't even get delivery because they wouldn't deliver in the poor weather conditions. 

Not it's just hot, and apparently could get a little hotter, although I don't think that much. My coworker has told me that at the end of August there will be a second storm season which will last into september. I can neither confirm, nor deny this since I don't know Korean weather patterns, but I really hope it just stays warm. It's like being in a sauna always. It's very tiring mixed with the humidity but I'm adjusting to it. The air conditioner helps

There are also special summer foods in Korea. The first and I think, most traditional, is samgyetang which is a whole cornish hen (or some other kind of small bird) and ginseng soup. You get served a ceramic bowl with a whole chicken in it. The chicken is stuffed with rice, ginseng, chestnut, jujube and other spices or nuts. The soup is serve pipping hot and bubbling. It also comes with a lot of side dishes. I love this dish, it reminds me of a chicken soup, but more chicken and more yummy. The chicken is so soft and tender you can break it apart with your spoon. 

Now, I know what you're thinking, it's a little strange that chicken soup is a summer food in Korea... that sounds more like something you'd eat in the winter.... what's going on here? Well, due to the very hot and humid summer you feel slow and tired so you definitely need a pick-me-up. Ginseng is considered very healthy in Korea so the soup is viewed as a health food rather than just a chicken and rice soup. 

For your health you're supposed to have the soup three times during sambok (삼복) the three hottest days of the summer. They have special names: chobok, jungbok and malbok (beginning, middle and end). The days vary every year because it's based on the lunar calendar, I'm not sure what days they were this year, but I think they've already passed. 

The other popular summer food is a special kind of noodle soup (so much soup). These noodles are called naengmyeon (냉면). The most popular varieties are mul naengmyeon (water) and bibim naengmyeon (mixed). This noodles are served cold and not just cold, but icy cold, literally, they put ice in the broth. They usually have a tangy, strong flavoured broth, lots of long noodles made out a variety of things, a hard boiled egg, cucumbers thinly sliced, sesame seeds, and some pickled radish and sometimes red chili paste. It really depends where you go though because everyone seems to have their own variety of this dish. There are two main types, the water cold noodles which comes with broth or the mixed cold noodles which just come with a spicy sauce and no broth. 

I honestly love this dish. It's so yummy, it sounds strange and I didn't think I'd be a huge fan of cold noodles (the idea seems a little strange still) but they taste so refreshing and good! The tangy, spicy, flavour, chewy noodles and noodle broth go so well together. I really don't think this dish would taste good warm. The other day my coworker took me to a special naengmyeong restaurant across from our school. It was super busy and we had to wait for a bit (which is unusual in korea) but it was worth it. The noodles were not the buckwheat ones which naengmyeong more commonly has, but a white variety, the broth was more delicious which a more complex flavour than I was used to. Also, this naengmyeong had meat on top (just a couple of slices) which I'd never seen before and the pickled radish was especially tasty and fresh. 

The soup is the perfect thing for cooling yourself down in the middle of a hot summer day. The other thing Koreans seem to do in the summer is a lot of beaching. I haven't gone yet, but from what I've heard the beaches in Busan get crazy busy, especially their most famous beach haeundae (just google it and you'll see what I mean). I haven't had a Korean beach day yet, but I'll go this weekend and report back to you'll! 

Anyway, Korea summer is very different from home and I can't say I'm in love with it. I kinda felt a bit like I was waiting, waiting, waiting for the good weather then it came then the rainy season started, then the hot weather arrived, which can I get something in the middle?! Well, in all honesty, despite the sweatiness and humidity the hot weather brings I still prefer it to the cold winters, still I do miss swimming in the ocean at home and beach days with my friends. Soon though, soon! 

Tongyeong, City by the Sea (or my almost Korean Home)

So I will start with this story, because I think it encapsulates what Korea can be like sometimes (especially in a work environment). When I first got my job in South Korea I got a position at a all girls Middle school in a city called Tongyeong. Naturally I wanted to know everything I could about my future home and did all the necessary research. There's wasn't that much other than the normal tourist info about the city. I only found one informational video by another teacher and she basically just showed off her apartment. Still, I'd lived in a smallish town my whole life and I wanted to be somewhere near the ocean so I accepted this job and began mentally preparing for it.

One week before my departure my recruiter called me and told me the position I was supposed to fill was already filled. Apparently someone had got there wire's crossed somewhere along the line and the schools request for a teacher was false. But! Good news! They found me another position, this time at a high school in Yansang. I was obviously not in a position to reject the new position (even though teaching at high school sounded a bit scary). So I was still off to Korea. Thank goodness too cause I'd already bought my ticket!

I finally arrived in Korea and everything seemed to be running smoothly for my orientation. I got there early, I was wearing the right kind of outfit. I met another Canadian right off the bat (and from Vancouver too!). It all seemed too good to be true. Then the orientation started. Co-teachers began to arrive, mingle, introduce themselves to people. I wait for someone to introduce themselves to me, but nobody showed up, no co-teacher appeared.

Finally the actual orientation started and this when I really started to worry because the school board officials seemed worried too. They all spoke on their phones in hushed voices in Korean as I sat there fiddling and watching. I wondered if they'd made a mistake and there was no school available for me. I wondered if they would just send me on the next flight home without a second thought. I couldn't help feeling a tiny bit relived at this point, to go home, the soft comfort of familiarity, but - oh! No, some new development had taken place. The guy who hired me finally explained that the high school I was supposed to go to had kept there previous teacher and not informed the school board.

Finally, luck was on my side. They found a school in need of a new English teacher. I was so relived. It was also in Changwon and I was so tired at this point I didin't want to go to yet another city.  So that is how I ended up living in Changwon and not Tongyeong.

Well when you put in all the effort to learn about a place or a city you want to visit it! And I finally got visit Tongyeong.

It was a pretty cool city, right by the water and surrounded by islands. The first thing we saw when we got there was a naval base and Sebyeonggwan Hall. The museum we'd wanted to see was closed, unfortunately, but there was still lots of cool buildings to look through and many of them had workshops for arts and crafts set up. My favourite was the blind making (called daebal in Korean). There were three ladies just sitting and making these bamboo blinds which are traditional to that region. Apparently Tongyeong has a lot of arts and crafts, I'm not sure if that is traditional or they've just marketed it that way for tourists. Either way they are neat. They do the blind weaving, abalone inlays and beautiful furniture with inlays, I also saw some interesting metal work there.

After the museum it was time to see the famous turtle boats. You see models of these boats everywhere in Korea. I'd already seen one in Seoul at the war memorial, but the one in Tongyeong is special because it's actually on the water and you can walk around in side it. It turned out there were actually 4 different boats, three of them in the style of the turtle boat and the fourth a different style.

I should briefly explain what a turtle boat is, since I'm sure you are all wondering. Basically it's a naval ship from back in the day. They covered it with spikes so if the enemy tried to land they'd get stabbed. Apparently, they also covered the ship with hay so you couldn't see the spikes. The ships sort of look like giant turtles due to their shape and the pattern of the top part of the ship (hexagons with spikes in the middle). The top is curved like a shell as well and a sort of oval shape. They used these boats to defend themselves against the Japanese countless times. They are also famous because a famous Korean naval commander, Yi Sun-sin. I don't really know a lot about him so I don't want to write a huge amount, but basically he was able to use a small amount of boats against the Japanese and defeat them using his genius strategies (he was actually considered a tactical genius in naval battles and one of the best naval commanders in history). He also ressurrected the turtle boat and used it which is why it's so famous in Korea (there are also many statues of Yi Sun-sin and Tongyeong has a mock battle every year to celebrate one of Yi Sun Sin's greatest victories (Hansan Naval Battle). 

The boats were really neat looking inside too. The wood work was beautiful and simple. They looked very sturdy and strong. You could see all sorts of different chambers and the first boat had lots of weapons in it. The other boats had fewer weapons and the last boat, which was the larger one had food storage in it's hull as well as clothes you could try on. The backs of the boats were really beautiful too they had giant things sticking out of their sterns, but I'm not sure what they were called.

After the boats we had a kimbap called chungmu kimbap which is native to the area. It was delicious. It came with a soy bean soup and radishes. So yummy. There were mixed reactions to it in our group. Personally,  I loved the spicy, salty flavour and the little rice and seaweed wraps. Also they had one of my favourite kinds of radish kimchi. For some reason I find it overwhelming to eat a lot of it, but I still think it's delicious.

After lunch we wandered up to the art village which is a special part of Tongyeong artists have painted all over the buildings and other things. It's like an out door, free gallery with many interest, beautiful and thought provoking pieces. On the way up the hill to the village we walked along a street lined with shops selling another Tongyeong speciality, honey bread. This is basically a little ball with a honey sauce, sesame seeds and some kind of paste-y filling. I had several samples because the girls kept shoving them at us (and who's going to say know to free bread samples, not me!). Finally I caved and decide to buy a cute looking yellow bread. It had a sweet citrusy flavour and I think sesame paste on the inside. It was also a pretty yellow colour which I liked.

Finally, we went through the live fish market, up a hill and made it to the art village which was really really neat. Basically they have artists free reign to paint all over the walls of this village. It had all sorts of paintings from the fun, to the pretty and whimsical to the political. It was definitely my favourite part of Tongyeong. The high light for me was the secret garden paintings. Someone painted all over an abandon house re-imagining what it would have looked like when it was inhabited. It was magic. I wrote a bunch about it on facebook with the pictures so check it out there!

After we finished with the art village, which was surprisingly quick we went and walked through a tunnel. It was supposed to be an underwater tunnel, but I'm entirely sure if it actually went underwater. We all thought it would be much cooler than it actually was. It was pretty boring actually. Other than being an interesting architectural achievement it was pretty much just a regular old tunnel. It was super busy though, it seemed like the locals like to take walks there or use it as a short cut possibly? (Korean's are really big on walking).

After the tunnel we decide to go to the top of mount Mireuksan. Unfortunately we hadn't thought about the weather. As soon as we got going up the gondola we realized we were heading straight for a giant cloud enclosing the top of the mountain. When we got off it was damp and chilly, with a bit of a breeze, still we ventured up to the observation deck and admired the pure whiteness surrounding us. We were pretty tired at this point and it didn't look like the weather was going to let up so we decided to head back. I wish I hadn't been so tired by this point or I'd have stayed longer and explored the mountain, but as you can guess from the amount of things I've already mentioned we'd spent a lot of time running our already. 

We headed back to the bus terminal and managed to get there just in time for a bus to Changwon. Then we headed back to Changwon, it was fairly short trip and we all agreed we should grab some dinner when we got back. We ended up going for Dak Galbi which is basically a giant chicken, veggie and rice cake stir fry with gochujong (korean chili paste) and some other things (to make it more tasty). Basically they bring out this huge pan with all the raw ingreidents and you cook it at the table then eat it while it's still sizzling hot. After, there's usually lots of sauce left so you can order some fried rice and they will come and make it for you at the table (usually, although some places make it in the kitchen). It is a filling meal and we managed to get a table at one of the best dak galbi restaurants in Sangnamdong (downtown). We all drank beer and soju with it which was the perfect way to end a long day.  

Gyeongju: Korea's Ancient Capital

Gyeongju was flat and open and wide. It is the most 'Korean' Korean city I've visited.When I arrived there I was surprised how open and wide it felt, there were no giant apartments towering above the city, most of the house were lower and slightly more old-fashioned.  It had an atmosphere like a museum or an park that encompassed the entire town. There were giant burial mounds everywhere, which came out of the flat ground without warning, gently sloping upwards. There were also parks everywhere with small, neat forests, beautiful gardens and fancy pavilions. The style and feel of the town felt old. It felt like going back in time a little bit, but it still had all the modern day features and the downtown area was similar to normal Korean cities.

I think I need to back up here and explain why Gyeongju is special. It is the ancient capital of Korea, during the Silla dynasty (a few dynasties ago I think). There was a giant palace there and you can still see the beautiful pond. This is also where they discovered the burial mounds of ancient rulers which apparently were discovered by a man working on his house, he found a gold crown in one. The people of Gyeongju seem very proud of their history, of the history of Korea, as most Korean's do and they rightfully should be. The parks were amazing in this town, larger than ones you usually saw for temples and palaces. They were also very peaceful, even with lots of people they were so spread out and calm it was hard not to relax in them.

The first day we arrived in Gyeongju it was Saturday, we decide to start by going around and exploring some of the parks they were wonderful, as I just described. Honestly, it's hard to do them justice in a written description, but they were just how you imagine Korea before all the industrialism and development, well a little, they were to well curated, clean and neat to be real in a sense. Still, they were probably my favourite part of Gyeongju.

After we explore most of the parks and the old palace site we went for lunch (by this time we were starving). We got a local speciality which is called ssam bap which just means rice wraps. It had many many side dishes as well as rice wraps. It had lots of dishes I'd never seen and was delicious.

During lunch another friend of mine met up with us at the restaurant and said we should visit Yangdong Folk Village, a traditional style village just outside of Gyeongju. We thought that sounded awesome so we agreed to go. We had a little trouble with the buses because we couldn't seem to find the stop for the bus that was supposed to take us there. We finally ended up getting a cab, which wasn't too expensive when split between four of us.

The village was another highlight for me. It was so big! And people actually live in it! Amazing. It had traditional style Korean houses, lots of them even had thatched roofs. There were plants and gardens everywhere and people too, not just tourists visiting, but people just living there lives. Since people lived in the houses you couldn't go inside any, although there were a couple cafes and restaurants around. The village was all over the hills, not just flat as Korean cities often are. We ended up walking up a hill near the edge of the village and we had a lovely view of the surrounding area and the village.

Earlier,  before going into the village we'd all stopped at a convenience store for some snacks and crystal ate some ramen. While she was eating the little boy at the table next to ours was watching us curiously, he came over and we all all fawned over him. His family seemed fine with it, until Crystal put on her sunglasses and for some reason that scared him and he started crying. She attempted to show him the glasses were harmless, but he was still scared, so we left the family alone after apologizing.

Later, when we were climbing one of the hills inside the village we found the same family sitting at the top of the hill eating some traditional Korean candy. We said hi to them again and Crystal went over to greet the little boy. The mom kindly offered us all some candy, which was very hard, it was a kind of white taffy like stuff, it sort of melted in your mouth and then became more chewy. It tasted like pure sugar. I made the mistake of taking a larger piece and was stuck with it for awhile.

When we were walking in we also saw a beautiful school, you couldn't go inside it because it was a operating school, but Crystal said she had a friend who worked there, gosh I envied her in that moment. The school had a more traditional architecture style and wasn't the regular three block of cement that Korean schools usually are. Also, her friend go free entrance to the folk village (which cost 4,000 won).

After we finished at the village I was pretty much exhausted from the full day of travel and walking. We headed back to Gyeongju and Crystal headed back to her town of Pohang. When we got back we decided we needed to stop off at the hostel first (where we'd dropped off our bags earlier) and then head out to find some food. The hostel was a big, two story Korean style home. It had a beautiful little garden and court yard area when you went through the gate (typical of Korean houses, especially more traditional ones). There was a lot of beautiful wood work inside and it felt really comfortable and homey to me, it was comfortably cluttered inside the house, but the room we stayed in was simple and clean, it had beds rather than the ondol style sleeping (sleeping on a mat on the floor) which many guest houses and hostels I've stayed in have so that was nice.

The bathrooms were outside though, which was a little annoying and the showers were the kind where the whole bathroom is a shower (ie they don't have a stall) this is pretty normal in Korea, my own place doesn't have a stall. The whole bathroom is just tiled and there's a shower head.

We went out for jjimdak (steamed chicken) which is a great, cheap meal to get when you're hungry. I might have complained about all the walking a bit because the first place we went to find the restaurant it wasn't there! Disaster. Michael asked someone about it and she told us the actual location of the restaurant, which was luckily near by. The food was delicious. Jjimdak has a spicy, soy sauce sauce, pieces of chicken, potato, glass noodles, and other bits of veggies. We also got rice with it because it has a ton of sauce to soak up. You get it on this giant plate and it looks like an endless about of food and it pretty much was, even with the three of us eating we still didn't finish everything.

After dinner we decided we wanted to try the local Makeolli (kind of traditional rice wine) since everywhere in Korea makes there own (it doesn't travel well I've heard). We found some in a CU (convenience store, Korea is handy that way). Then we headed back to the hostel. It was actually a beautiful night but a little chilly now. When we got back we set ourselves up in the living room with our makeolli and some cards, we never actually played cards (although michael played solitaire for a bit). I discovered a whole stack of beautiful photos someone had taken in and around Gyeongju. I spent a good long time looking at those and then we saw some of the other hostel guests and Lori began chatting with them so we all sat around comfortably talking to different people from around the world. As I thought, the hostel had a really good vibe. We met a girl from the czech republic (I think?) who was there for a conference, but she had finished and was now traveling around. She was an anthropologist. We also met three guys form Singapore who were traveling around Korea (and I think asia) it was cool to compare all the places we'd been. We also met a student from Seoul. Part of what makes hostels so awesome is the people there and the hosts (who were also great). There were a couple little boys around too who say me and started saying 'waygook' (foreigner) to their mother watching me with wide eyes. I laughed at this and the mother realizing I understood tried speaking to me in Korean, which was a bit of a lost cause since my Korean isn't that good. We had to finish drinking by 11pm so we went to bed around then too (hostel rules). The next day we were going to Bulgoksa a famous Korean temple.

The bus trip to the temple was a bit long, but it was pretty beautiful. It went by a really large lake (river?) and through a resort area with tons of beautiful buildings. We saw a temple under construction as well. When we arrived at the temple it was super busy. This is one of the more popular temples in Korea. It was a short walk up to the temple and as with most things in Gyeongju we had to pay to get in.

The temple was huge, I think it was the largest one I've been too. It is also special because it houses some ancient pagoda's. Michael asked us if we had 50 won on us (which is about 5 cents and a coin) Lori had a couple and he said we should have them ready. When we got into the main courtyard of the temple he said to get out our coins and hold them up to the pagoda, it was the pagoda on the coin! So funny Michael. Unfortunately one of the pagoda's was under construction and had a huge building built around it to protect it so we couldn't get a look at it easily. As I said the temple was huge, it seemed to not end. There were tons of tiny, little temples all around the main building. The main entrance to the temple was probably the most spectacular part with giant stairs going up to it and a beautifully decorated building, stretching across the entrance (I can't do it justice here, please see my photos on facebook from Gyeongju!). I ended up taking tons of pictures of the temple because it was so beautiful. I loved it there, I only wish it had been less busy there were people everywhere.

After the temple we were getting hungry so we went across the street to a small strip mall type complex to look for food. I guess not that many people go over there because it was near lunch time and the place looked deserted. As soon as we walked up a korean woman came over and tried to get us to come to her restaurant. It was uncomfortable. We told her we weren't interested, but as ajuma's do she followed us and continued to try and get us to her place. As we walked further we say more and more ajuma's hanging around outside their restaurants or stores. The atmosphere was strange because nobody was around so we decided to leave. I felt a bit bad, clearly business wasn't that good, but being stared and followed was pretty uncomfortable for us in that situation.

So we headed back to Gyeongju. By the time we got there I was starving so I told the others we needed to stop for some food. I'm glad we did. We found a cute little hole in the wall kind of place with one other man eating there. He spoke fairly good English and chatted with us while we order. The food wasn't the most amazing I'd eaten, but you can't complain when you were as hungry as we were. Lori ordered some kimbap (seaweed and rice rolls) and Michael and I got some ramen. Kimbap is a kind of snack food or side dish in Korea, usually you have it with something else. So when Michael and I didn't give Lori some of our ramen (she didn't actually want any) one of the ajuma's came over and gave her some of her own noodles.

The man we were chatting with left part way through our meal, but he bought us patbingsu (shaved ice with sauce and toppings) before he left so we were very happy and grateful towards him. The patbingsu was delicious, but it's a pretty hard dessert to mess and so good that you can't really go wrong with it.

After lunch we headed to the museum, which was huge. There were about 4 large buildings full of artifacts from Gyeongju and the silla dynasty. It had some beautiful things in it. I especially liked the crowns and jewellery (you should google the silla dynasty crowns they are very unusual looking). There was also an art museum with many statues of buddha, it was interesting to see all the different ways he was depicted. The whole thing was very simple and, I thought, well curated, you didn't feel overwhelmed even though there was a lot of stuff to see.

Eventually it was time to return home, we walked from the museum to the bus station. I remember on one of the walks by the giant burial mounds there was a family hanging out on a blanket on the grass. I think they were eating too, but I honestly don't think I was close enough to tell. I couldn't help imagining that my next trip to Gyeongju would be something like that. Sitting under the shade of an ancient burial mound with some good friends and a role of kimbap.

We also caved to our hungry and grabbed some of the special Gyeongju bread, which looks like small buns but they're filled with red bean paste (which I love, but is a bit of an acquired taste for some people). They were the perfect snack to take on the long bus ride home (which ended up being a lot longer than the bus ride there because it took a different route and hit up a bunch of other cities along the way).

Arriving 'home' in Changwon still feels strange to me. I still feel like I'm on an adventure even though I know I'm just going to catch the bus home and sit and watch tv and make food. It still feels a bit foreign and overwhelming when I get off that bus and see the strange landscape, but still at the end of the day, I feel most comfortable in my little room writing or watching tv or reading or cooking. It's all quite comfortable now.