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Published: August 27th 2009
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... Especially if you got a floor show with dinner each night!
On Sunday night I met up with Karl, Florence, Chairman and Mrs. Hong and Dr. and Mrs. Lee of the Korea Customs Service for dinner. And not just any dinner, but a special dinner at a restaurant called Sanchon in Insa-dong. Sanchon offers temple cuisine, as in the cuisine that Buddhist monks would eat. It was all vegetarian, since the monks would pick the food from what was available in nature. Some of the flavors were exotic and a little bitter, others, like the peanut salad, were relatively normal. It was all very good.
We sat on the floor again (my knees!) and dug right in. We also shared a couple bowls of makkoli- a milky rice wine that definitely had a little kick to it at the end. At about 8pm the floor show started. Dancers came out and performed traditional Korean dances to the sounds of Korean drums and flutes. I got a ton of video. Each performance was perhaps 5 minutes long and it lasted at least half an hour in total.
Although the food was very good and the atmosphere was really
great, I still felt a disappointment because I couldn't follow or join in the conversation everyone was having in Korean. I mean, I've gotten used to people talking around me (or about me) in another language. That doesn't bother me. It's that I realize now that 3 weeks was never going to turn me into a Korean-speaking whiz and I'm just frustrated that I still didn't understand when Chairman Hong asked me if I understood everything he was saying. We just learned the word "everything" on one of the last days of class. If you want to know about my family or what's in the classroom, I'm your girl. And I'm understanding prices more quickly. But much beyond that and we need. to. go. very. slowly. Argh!
Sunday and Monday of this week were actually very big culture days for me. On Sunday, before dinner, I met Minah from KIEP in Ichon and we had lunch, followed by my first patbingsu! Patbingsu, which is the best I can do without hangul, is a tasty dessert for the summertime in Korea. "Pat" is sweetened red beans. It's mixed with fruits and a finely shaved ice. We ate ours at Haagen-Daz,
so had an elaborate and HUGE green tea variety. Oh my gosh my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It is so good, I can't even describe. Please, find yourself a way to have this thing.
Minah and I did a whirlwind tour of the National Musuem of Korea. Oh my gosh this museum complex is massive. It's a big honking building, with a nice design that allows for a clear view of Seoul Tower in the distance, between the two wings. We were only able to hit the history of the Korean peninsula section on the first floor. Some very cool texts and jewelry and spearpoints and burial items, etc etc. Definitely worth a visit, especially because it's free. I love free. And education. And free education is even better.
Speaking of education, I had my final exam on Monday! I think I did pretty well. I was only slightly lost and shaky on a couple of questions.
After class I mailed my books home to the States so I don't have to carry the extra weight. It was expensive, but worth it I think. Hopefully they make it. It would really stink if they
disappeared in the mists of time and the international postal services. I am definitely going to continue studying using the Yonsei books, because the style of learning makes sense to me. And it's pretty straightforward to learn the concepts of the chapters and complete the exercises. I'll have to have someone check my work though.
After book mailing, I went and spent a few hours at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Central Seoul. I really wanted to see a palace while I was here and this was a good choice I think. The complex is huge and stretches all the way back to the Blue House. I walked all the way to the back entrance and snuck a shot of the Blue House through the palace gates. It didn't turn out too well though. I was in Gyeongbokgung for about an hour and a half, then I walked down to Insadong to buy some gifts and souvenirs. I forgot to have lunch so I grabbed some food from a street vendor. It was much, but it held body and soul together long enough so I could get back to the dorm and be ready to go to dinner with KLI classmates
on Monday night. And oh what a night! But that's a story for a different blog post...
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