Monday Matters

Today we went to an International Language High school just outside of Seoul. On the way there we stopped at a Memorial to the Phillipinos who served in the Korean War. The school was very nice, the kids performed for us, then we had lunch in the teachers cafeteria and were escorted on a tour of the campus by students. The two girls who guided me we wonderful. The students were all very sweet and sincere. They have final exams beginning tomorrow and still took the time to show us around. We then came back into Seoul and went to Korea House. Our choices here were tea ceremony or traditional drums. Luckily I got the tea ceremony. We were dressed in Han Bok and had a great time. The bowing is very hard, very specific and so is the ceremony around tea. We had dinner at NSeoul Tower and went up to the top where there is an observatory. The views are amazing. Tonight I am going to bed early! Tomorrow we have 3 lectures and then we are off to see a performance!

Sunday, meant for fighting?

Today was a very busy day! We went to a Buddhist temple in the morning, the first time I have been to one while services were underway. It is beautiful and right in the middle of town, it is very old, several historic landmarks there on the grounds. We had lunch at Bennigans, weird. While we were going inside we were passed by a changing of the guard at the President's House. The area outside was set up for a children's day with music, face painting, etc. We made key chains and played with a really cool computer that let you take a pic of yourself and send it in an email! I was punished for laughing at a friend's story of the toilets in Japan today when I was squirted not once but twice by the toilets in Bennigan's. All the signs were in Korean and I was trying to flush and instead was attacked by the bidet function. The second time I tried different buttons and still was squirted!I have included a photo of me with the offending plumbing apparatus. Then we were supposed to go to the President's house to walk around the grounds, but it was blocked off today by the police due to the protests. We spent a little while at the Olympic Stadium and then went to the Changdeok Palace. Gorgeous grounds! The last princess lived there until her death in the 1980's. I could not hear the guide as the crowd was so large, but got some good pictures. After that we went to dinner at a traditional Korean restaurant, the fanciest we have been to so far and then to Insadong for shopping. Pretty porcelain, wooden masks, and other traditional items, much nicer than where we went the other night. Of course I shopped and purchased! Walking back we encountered crowds of protesters in different places and many more policement. The mood seemed different tonight. I heard that the police used water cannons last night. Many of the police buses are burnt out and graffiti covered. The policemen are young men on compulsary military service and look so young and frightened, the average age is 22. The police buses were parked competely around this grass square where last night tents were set up, including a first aid tent. Tonight nothing is there and the police were moving towards the crowd in pincer like movements. I hope no one is seriously hurt. We spoke to a women today who supports the President, some of what she said did not make sense to us, but she was calling the kids doing the protests communists. It is really an amazing site that is difficult to describe. City blocks are closed off to traffic night after night as the protests continue, which seems to me to indicate a democratic system that is working, after all they can speak up, yet the protesters claim they are not in a demcracy any longer. Tonight one man told us to be careful as we walked towards the protest and another told us to get out. He did not seem to have our safety in mind as the first one did, he seemed very angry.

Saturday in Seoul

I forgot to mention an interesting item on the breakfast buffet. It is little tiny whole crabs in a kimchee like sauce. I have not had the nerve to try them, I eat the kimchee for breakfast, but the whole crab, hmmm. Today's lectures were good, we split up for lunch and I went to a Japanese restaurant. I had curry fried rice which came with a big shrimp and two mussels, someone else found a super tiny crab in hers. We went back for another lecture and then to a museum to hear traditional music. The music was interesting, but the pieces were long and since we were unfamiliar, a little too long maybe. The dancer was fabulous and moved as though she floated. Beautiful hands, Kari would have loved it. I bought a cd for the classroom and a flute for, well I don't really know why I bought the silly flute. Gil, I hope it looks good in the Asia dining room! We had Shabu Shabu for dinner, delicious! The side dishes were all there and then in the middle of the table is a pot of boiling ??? turns out it was broth. Vegetables are added and then meat and then you eat. Later noodles, similar to saimen or ramen noodles were added. All very good. I have eaten a lot here, but lots of veggies and fruits. i think I even enjoyed soy milk this morning. After dinner we walked down to the market we looked for last night. A lot of typical stalls of stuff. I got green tea ice cream again, bought an umbrella and a pair of protest socks. I may go back for a baby hanbok (traditional Korean dress) for Makana later. She would look adorable! I hope to get to sleep a little earlier tonight. Tomorrow is a Buddhist temple and the museum and shopping again!

We have arrived

I barely made my connection in Chicago, when I checked in at ticketing they were already boarding and I still had to get through security and find the gate. Luckily it was a slow group I guess because I made it. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I had frist class seats. I kept waiting for someone to tell me it was a mistake and that I should not be there. The seats were amazing, I want one for the living room. It was like a pod and the seat moved within the pod so you did not bother your neighbor. You could even extend the length of the foot rest, all with the push of a button. I knew I needed to try to begin adjusting to the time change so I did not allow myself to sleep, I got caught up on movies instead! We left the airport for the hotel, smooth check in and then up to the room, but not time to shower as we had to go down for dinner. Dinner was good, a mixture of Korean and other foods. Some rice and kimchee, some sesame balls, something with whole baby octopus, miso soup, not as good as Kims though. Went up to the room showered and went to bed, 30 or more hourse without sleep makes you crash hard!

Today we had a breakfast buffet of traditional and American food. Kimchee, rice, wontons, a kimchee version of soft shell cabs, yogurt and pastries. Then it was off the university, Yonsei. A beautiful campus, I took some pictures for gardening inspiration. Lunch was at the universtiy, good Korean food, one dish the I especially enjoyed was a small dish like a salad with jelly fish. I wish the guide had not told me what it was as I would have thought the jelly fish was noodles and liked it even more! Good lectures today and the a beautiful welcoming dinner with all types of food including sushi, I had the shrimp and the octopus ones. They were good, wine was great and company was even better. After dinner we went down to watch the protestors against American beef. A lot of people were there, some seeming to have a picnic lunch with their kidsI understand that it will get bad around midnight, but for now it is fine. Two of us continued on in search of a market nearby, we did not find it, but must have made some sort of circle as we ended up very near the hotel. So we stopped for ice cream, I got the green tea that I have been missing since 2005, delicious!

The first picture you see above is a statue of the man who founded Yonsei University, the next is a garden view from the rooftop of the building where we had lunch and dinner. The third picture is a banner hanging from a university building protesting the US beef, notice the faces of the cows are drawn as skulls and cross bones. The last photographs are of the protest. The candles were at one end of the protest, near where the family picnic was. Here people brought food and were sharing with others. The last photo is of young people wearing what appeared to be blue rain gear dancing in the street to the music from loudspeakers. The candles were at one end, then people and a guy on a truck bed with loudspeaker equipment, in front of him and facing the president's home were A LOT of people, sitting on the ground in a fairly orderly fashion facing the president's home. At the far end, keeping them from getting closer to the president were riot police in full gear. Near our hotel were a lot of buses with windows covered with grates, these are used to haul off the rioters and are kept pretty far from the actual protest. It was very interesting, I wish someone with us spoke Korean. We spoke to a few people in the crowd, some gave us signs (we picked up discarded signs for our classrooms). They told us that they believe the US sent very bad beef, spoiled and poisoned and they really believe this is true and think the president is lying to them. One man even said that the country is "not a democracy any more." It seems that the beef is really more of an excuse to protest a man they don't like, but I wonder why they are so unhappy with him and need to find out more.

We have tickets

Hooray, today I was notified that we have tickets. I will fly from DFW to O'Hare then to Seoul. just set this up today and will post in Korea. If you do not want to be notified of my postings be sure to let me know via email. Send the link on to anyone that you think might be interested! Now I'd better start packing, reading the Korean history, packing, learning a few survival phrases in Korean and have I mentioned packing?