I'm thinking the jet lag, overindulgence of the pork belly saam, and the worst bus ride of my life all led to the very moment I found myself hurling in the Lotte Department store ( pretty much as fancy as it gets in Seoul’s Meongdong neighborhood)...5 minutes before I was going to meet one of my cousins for the first time.
Let me back up.
The day before we visited a Korean Folk Village. I have to say it was special to see how my people lived back in the day. I have about a hundred photographs of horse stalls and huts (think...a Korean Williamsburg)...but this was my favorite...an old fashion kitchen! Imagine getting served a piping hot bowl of kimchee stew from one of these bad boys:
Also, did you know that we had heated floors back in the day before electricity? The floors were heated by a fire in another room using the “ondol system”. And magic. For more pictures, please refer to the Flikr page.
For lunch we stopped at a Korean BBQ place. If I'm in Korea do I need
to put the Korean in front of everything?
Anyway. The set up was cool and I overdid it i admit.
But not more than usual. Pictured below, pork belly and pork kalbi over hot coals.
The next day I was to go with my cousin Hak Seung to meet my cousin Wookguk in Meongdong (Seoul is broken up into several neighborhoods). I had skipped a few meals, I strangely still felt full from the night before. I was also still terribly jet lagged. I felt as if I hadn't slept in days. The town is a good 30 minute bus ride from Bundang where I am staying.
Allow me to set the stage.
My cousin and I board the bus. There is no place to sit. We have to stand and hold on for dear life as the bus lurches forward with every stop. It is like, 80 degrees for some reason on the bus. I have no room to even take off my giant down parka that I thought I needed for the trip. I'm sweating bullets. Someone is eating something with sesame oil in it.
My stomach is churning. We get off as soon as we can. I start to dry heave. Hak Seung runs to buy me water and medicine. This is all in vain. I will leave the next part out. But you know this story ends with me hurling in a fancy bathroom. Seriously, the public bathrooms in Korea are some of the nicest I’ve ever been in. There is even an “Etiquette Button” which is a small speaker that you push to mask any noises that come from the bathroom. It simulates a toilet flushing.
Anyway. I come out to meet Wookguk for the first time and what does he have in his hand for me? Motion sickness pills. Family is numbah one.
I have never, in my life been around so much family. I really am thankful to have this opportunity to meet my relatives. They are are truly kind and thoughtful people. And I'm seriously related to them.
I hope I can return their hospitality when/if they ever come to the states.
This wouldn't be a post without some notes...
- I realized that the European should bag isn't as in as I thought. Half of the guys I see with shoulder bags are sweet guys carrying their girlfriend’s bag. The other half are legit wearing murses.
- Koreans take home food delivery to another level. They deliver and serve in reusable bowls. You then put the bowls out on the sidewalk and the restaurant comes by and picks them up. What a country!
- I see the occasional white person. I resist the urge to speak to them since I miss speaking English. Half of them are European anyway.
- There is no concept of personal space or yielding to pedestrians. This is taking some adjustment.
- I continue to struggle with the informal and formal speak. There are like 50 ways to say “thank you” and it all depends on who you are talking to.
- There is a lot of floor sitting. My feet are constantly falling asleep.
Until next time...Ahn young! (or if you were older than me..."Ahn young hee geh seh yo")
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