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Published: January 27th 2007
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We arrived in wintery Seoul having not slept in over 24 hours. Not surprising that we would then get completely lost trying to find our hostel. We eventually approached a very nice business man who walked us all the way there, thus allowing us to crash hard in our new, temporary beds. Ah, but sleep is sweet.
We awoke refreshed the following morning only to find it was snowing! As I expected this would be the only snow I'd see this winter, I found this white falling fluff to be quite uplifting... until we set out on our way in not-boots and not-parkas. I prefer winter when I'm prepared for it, but onward and forward we must go. So we started by taking in the Grand Palace which has a great reputation for its beauty and historical value. Had we been able to see past the wind and snow that hit just as we arrived, I'm sure we would have appreciated it much more. The adjoining museum was a great help for both warming our bodies and teaching us a little more about Korean history, which was really quite fascinating.
We spent the remainder of our afternoon and evening
taking in the shops of the Insa-dong market. There were lots of great little craft and souvenir shops along these narrow market streets. Such a cute little area that we decided to stick around to find a yakiniku restaurant (very popular, yummu, nummy Korean barbeque). When we finally found a restaurant with the characteristic hot plates that we were looking for, we sat right on down and understood a little too late that this was, in fact, not yakiniku, but a restaurant specializing in octopus. Cold and hungry, we ordered anyway. As is the case with many Asian dining experiences, we weren't really certain what we ordered, but it seemed to be a beef and octupus mix. They brought out a huge platter of sliced meat and vegetables and started cooking it up on our table as we started on the kimouchi and salads set out for us. Then, they brought out a little metal bowl with a lid on top. Not certain what else we had ordered, Dore and I both watched curiously as our server took off the lid, reached in with her tongs, and pulled out two blue octopi. As the woman pried the octopi's suction pads
off the cold metal bowl, these suckers started squiggling and squirming, bringing their still very alive state to our attention. And then, splat! Into our hot pan of food they go, splurshing and splooshing around as they were slowly cooked alive among mushrooms, sprouts and spicy kimouchi. Once the movement on our platter had stopped, and our nervous cackles and awestruck expressions were beginning to subside, our server picked up the octopi by the neck and, one at a time, proceded to cut their little bodies into bite size pieces. Only the brains were left appetizingly at the side of our platter, as the rest of the little octopus pieces were mixed into our meal. We ate what was set out before us, but I only did it because there are children dying of hunger in Ethiopia. There's something just not quite right about watching your food die a painful death on the plate in front of you.
After an early evening, we were out and about bright and early the next morning, bound and determined to make the most of our few hours left together in Seoul. Though we tried to take in the Dongdaemun markets, we learned
that the downfall of a city with night markets is that they aren't really open by day. So we made our way to the Korean War Memorial Museum, which turned out to be a real highlight. Not knowing much about Korean history, it was so intriguing to learn just how war had both united and divided its people. The museum had several awesome exhibits and was absolutely fascinating.
From there, it was a rush back to the hostel and then the airport for me to catch my flight back to Japan. Again, another day or two in Seoul would have been great, but we saw what we could while we were there and enjoyed it all greatly. As I flew back to Japan and finished writing my postcards, I started feeling pretty nostalgic about home. There's something a little odd about coming home from a trip, but not really going home. I'm back in my routine in Japan though, and life is feeling as normal as before. Enjoying what each day has to offer and loving every minute of it.
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