An amazing day today in Turkey. We left the lojman at 8:00 am and took a bus to Ephesus. According to Herodotos and others, Ephesus was founded by Ephos, queen of the Amazons. In Greek times, Artemis became the city's goddess of choice. Then in Roman times, she was given the name Diana. Ephesus is, of course, an important city for Christians as well because of its associations with the apostle Paul and the early Christian church. It was here that Paul started speaking at the basilica and lecture halls and was riling up the artisans. Demetrius, who made his living creating shrines to Artemis, got pissed off and thought Paul would take away all their market business by converting people to Christianity. They'd be out of the shrine and idol-making business. Part of our tour today included the amphitheater where Demetrius got everyone gathered and where they all shouted their cheers to Artemis. Paul wanted to go there and speak to the people but was dissuaded - this was a wise choice as he'd probably have been torn apart by the angry mob.
Ephesus is a great place to get a fairly clear picture of what it was like to have lived in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. This city has some of the best preserved ruins - there are homes with mosaic floors, temples to Artemis, latrines, markets, brothels, a library and two amphitheaters. One of the most remarkable parts of the tour was a look at the terrace houses that went up into the hills over the city. This was where the rich folk lived. Here you could see large reception areas, kitchens painted with frescos of birds and fish, tiled floors, and enormous bathrooms.
Through an ingenious plumbing system composed of terra cotta pipes, Ephesians could have hot and cold water, fountains, baths, and water running in the latrines to carry the waste away (along with a fresh stream that ran under the feet so one could use a sea sponge and clean up afterwards).
After our tour, we went to the nearby village of Sirince to get lunch. Gary, Rena, Becca and Sarah and I wandered up the steep roads until we found a sign for the Alis Pension Cafe and Bar. We walked down a dirt path to a wooden gate shaded by a large fig tree. Along the walk were several fruit trees - pomegranate, quince and peach - as well as olive trees. We got to a terraced area and ordered beer and mezze. A boy picked a peach and gave it to Sarah. Later the proprietor's older son picked peaches for all of us - huge, ripe, sweet peaches, the best I've tasted. Our meal consisted of a tomato cucumber salad with olive oil, fresh cheeses, small lamb kebabs, bread, olives and fresh pressed olive oil. This was the sort of meal people have on the Food Network - perfect setting, perfect company, perfect food.
On the bus ride home we made an impromptu stop along the road where a woman was selling dried chilis. Her husband invited us to pick ripe figs from the trees behind the house. We talked with the family, ate amazing figs and bought strings of dried red chili peppers.
I'll follow up with some pics for those of you who don't have Facebook.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
My first post from Izmir
Well, I've decided to keep my old blog url since most people know it. The title of the blog has changed, tho (I'm still looking for a better title, but this will have to do until then - Molly and Kristin came up with a great list but I don't think many of those will work). Back at the end of January I was attending an overseas teaching job fair. There I accepted a position teaching at a high school in Izmir, Turkey. Since that time, I pretty much led my normal everyday life with the exception of having to get a few ducks in order - passport, application for Turkish work visa, trip to Chicago to get said visa stamped into my passport, packing, flying out.
Now that I'm here, I can't believe how quickly my summer in Minnesota passed. But anyway, I'll talk about all that's been happening since I got here.
Sunday, August 16th -
I arrived in Izmir at about 3:30 pm and promptly realized that I'd failed to exchange some money before arriving. This made getting a one euro trolly to haul my luggage difficult. I asked about an ATM but it was apparently on the other side of customs. I was reduced to begging a euro off of a fellow passenger. Once I got all that sorted out and got my luggage, I whizzed through customs without the officials even taking one look at my bags, then met Chris (our school's administrator) and Vide (a fellow English teacher). They helped me get my luggage in the van and we headed over to the Lojman, or faculty housing (I like the sound of that word, lojman. I think I'm going to use it for all subsequent residences). They asked if I wanted to sleep or head out and see the neighborhood. Neighborhood, definitely.
We walked around - oh, wait! here's a series of photos I patched together to show my apartment - it's kind of hard to see, but you get the idea. It's huge! I could fit three of my Japartment in this place (tho' I'll always miss the heated toilet seat and deep tub in that place).
- the neighborhood and Chris pointed out various places I'd need to familiarize myself with - where to buy good fruit, a bakery, the post office, a convenience store, the bank, etc. Then we walked over to the Kordon - this is the area on the bay where there is a big walkway and tons of little outdoor bars and cafes. Apparently someone back in the day had come up with the idea of building a major highway along the coast here which would have ruined the area. Thankfully, aesthetic heads prevailed and the project was abandoned. It was hot and I was a might parched so Chris and Vide took me to a bar where we had a couple of beers. As we sat there, several convertibles sped by (there's still a road along the coast, just not a view inhibiting, elevated highway), with men beating drums and boys seated up high on the back seat wearing dress clothes and flowing capes. We saw about 7 or 8 in the course of an hour. The boys were smiling and waving. Chris explained that this bit of pomp was to celebrate when a 9-year-old boy was going to be circumcised. The boy is obviously smiling because he hasn't had the procedure done yet.
After beers, we went to a local restaurant where I had a lamb and eggplant kebab with ayran (a kind of salted yogurt drink) and ended with Turkish coffee. That night I unpacked and slept only a few hours.
Monday - Wednesday
These days have been spent doing a lot of walking, taking trips to the store to get things for my place, exploring the neighborhood, greeting other arriving teachers and getting to know the campus. They have quite an orientation set up for us - trips to Ikea and local shopping malls, three days in Istanbul, departmental meetings, planning sessions, etc. We'll be very prepared by the time our students arrive.
I wanted to post a ton of pictures of the Kordon, the school and the exterior of my apartment, but I cannot get the pictures to load. I Think once I get my DSL hooked up it will be quicker. Right now I'm just piggy-backing off of my neighbor's wireless - thanks Michelle!
More to come.
Now that I'm here, I can't believe how quickly my summer in Minnesota passed. But anyway, I'll talk about all that's been happening since I got here.
Sunday, August 16th -
I arrived in Izmir at about 3:30 pm and promptly realized that I'd failed to exchange some money before arriving. This made getting a one euro trolly to haul my luggage difficult. I asked about an ATM but it was apparently on the other side of customs. I was reduced to begging a euro off of a fellow passenger. Once I got all that sorted out and got my luggage, I whizzed through customs without the officials even taking one look at my bags, then met Chris (our school's administrator) and Vide (a fellow English teacher). They helped me get my luggage in the van and we headed over to the Lojman, or faculty housing (I like the sound of that word, lojman. I think I'm going to use it for all subsequent residences). They asked if I wanted to sleep or head out and see the neighborhood. Neighborhood, definitely.
We walked around - oh, wait! here's a series of photos I patched together to show my apartment - it's kind of hard to see, but you get the idea. It's huge! I could fit three of my Japartment in this place (tho' I'll always miss the heated toilet seat and deep tub in that place).
- the neighborhood and Chris pointed out various places I'd need to familiarize myself with - where to buy good fruit, a bakery, the post office, a convenience store, the bank, etc. Then we walked over to the Kordon - this is the area on the bay where there is a big walkway and tons of little outdoor bars and cafes. Apparently someone back in the day had come up with the idea of building a major highway along the coast here which would have ruined the area. Thankfully, aesthetic heads prevailed and the project was abandoned. It was hot and I was a might parched so Chris and Vide took me to a bar where we had a couple of beers. As we sat there, several convertibles sped by (there's still a road along the coast, just not a view inhibiting, elevated highway), with men beating drums and boys seated up high on the back seat wearing dress clothes and flowing capes. We saw about 7 or 8 in the course of an hour. The boys were smiling and waving. Chris explained that this bit of pomp was to celebrate when a 9-year-old boy was going to be circumcised. The boy is obviously smiling because he hasn't had the procedure done yet.
After beers, we went to a local restaurant where I had a lamb and eggplant kebab with ayran (a kind of salted yogurt drink) and ended with Turkish coffee. That night I unpacked and slept only a few hours.
Monday - Wednesday
These days have been spent doing a lot of walking, taking trips to the store to get things for my place, exploring the neighborhood, greeting other arriving teachers and getting to know the campus. They have quite an orientation set up for us - trips to Ikea and local shopping malls, three days in Istanbul, departmental meetings, planning sessions, etc. We'll be very prepared by the time our students arrive.
I wanted to post a ton of pictures of the Kordon, the school and the exterior of my apartment, but I cannot get the pictures to load. I Think once I get my DSL hooked up it will be quicker. Right now I'm just piggy-backing off of my neighbor's wireless - thanks Michelle!
More to come.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Seen and Overheard at the Ecopolitan
I just got back from a great dinner with Liz, Bevin, and Christina at Ecopolitan, Minneapolis' raw foods/vegan restaurant. The meal was great, the company, scintillating and the people-watching was ... in a word, interesting. Across the room from us sat a couple. Just a seemingly normal middle-aged couple having a quiet conversation. Behind Liz sat a table of two women and a man celebrating one of their birthdays. There were others in the adjoining room but I don't remember much about them.
We sat, enjoying our silly conversations when above the din a woman's voice rose and said something to the effect of, "Don't call me Barbara, whenever I'm in here I must only be referred to as Liz." (I can't remember if Barbara was the first name, but you get the idea - it was a WEIRD thing to say. I thought it was odd and after the people behind Liz left, I leaned over to Christina and asked, "What did that Liz woman say they weren't supposed to call her?" Christina laughed and replied, "I don't remember and she's still here." It was apparently woman who made up half of the middle-aged couple who'd made the loud, strange remark. Luckily she hadn't heard me and we continued with our own conversations.
A bit later, as we were eating our food, I happened to look behind Bevin to the corner where the couple sat. The middle-aged man, while the woman was talking to him, picked up his empty plate AND BEGAN LICKING HIS PLATE!!!! Not just a single lick, but several, sweeping licks! This man made a production of licking his plate clean.
Come on! Who licks their plate in a restaurant?!
We sat, enjoying our silly conversations when above the din a woman's voice rose and said something to the effect of, "Don't call me Barbara, whenever I'm in here I must only be referred to as Liz." (I can't remember if Barbara was the first name, but you get the idea - it was a WEIRD thing to say. I thought it was odd and after the people behind Liz left, I leaned over to Christina and asked, "What did that Liz woman say they weren't supposed to call her?" Christina laughed and replied, "I don't remember and she's still here." It was apparently woman who made up half of the middle-aged couple who'd made the loud, strange remark. Luckily she hadn't heard me and we continued with our own conversations.
A bit later, as we were eating our food, I happened to look behind Bevin to the corner where the couple sat. The middle-aged man, while the woman was talking to him, picked up his empty plate AND BEGAN LICKING HIS PLATE!!!! Not just a single lick, but several, sweeping licks! This man made a production of licking his plate clean.
Come on! Who licks their plate in a restaurant?!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I got a new Flip Video Camcorder...
...to give me greater flexibility with videos for my other blog. Here's the first video I made:
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The Old Summer Palace and Seoul Part 2
I've been meaning to post these pictures for a few days now - especially after Kristin's comment about not having anything to check before she began work. But it's been tough to do so as I am using dial-up at my folks until I can get wireless. I am, at the moment, at a wifi spot. So, I will throw the last of my blogworthy pics up and then start posting pictures of Minnesota (and hopefully tempt friends in Japan, India, Germany, and Canada to make a trip out to see yours truly.
The old Summer Palace is very close to Peking University, so we walked there. There are two major differences between the old Summer Palace and the New Summer Palace:
1) The new one's architecture is strictly Chinese in nature, while the old one also included several buildings that reflected Western architecture (and which were, designed by Jesuits - those clever fellows).
2) The new one still has most of its buildings standing while the old one was blasted in 1860 by the British and the French during the Second Opium war (The museum has become a kind of symbol to the Chinese of foreign aggression). So while, as you saw in my earlier post, you can walk around and enjoy the New Palace in the way it was enjoyed by the last Emperor of China, you can only walk around the Old Palace ruins (which looks a bit like the Roman Forum) and try and imagine how magnificent it must have looked.
This place also had a place where you could dress up in imperial togs and get your picture taken. This child looked far more regal in his robes than i did in mine:
One of the treats of the Old Palace is this stone maze that somehow escaped the fate that met the buildings just to the east of it:
I would have liked this maze more if the walls were higher and the way in more difficult, but this was one of those "all roads lead to Rome" sort of mazes. I guess I'd have preferred a hedge maze to stone as well; however, in light of the demolishment of the once grand structures, I was going to cut this little maze some slack. Apparently at night on special occasions, girls who were part of the court would run through the maze with lanterns and guests of the emperor would rush in after them, using the light to guide them to the center pavilion. Along the way, there were some nice trees planted at various points. Here is one such tree creating its own maze of branches:
And here are some pictures of the ruins. Each one had a plaque in front of it with an etched brass plate showing what the building once looked like, but these were difficult to photograph (and to see, for that matter, given the sun's glare on the brass):
The Old Summer Palace was my last sightseeing place in Beijing. After bidding my parents an early farewell at customs at the Beijing Airport the next morning, I was on my way back to Seoul for a couple of days. I'd gotten to the airport super-early as we were concerned about traffic - it was the last day of holiday. Fortunately, I was able to catch an earlier flight to Seoul, so I didn't have to sit around so long. A note about airlines. This whole trip I flew on the Korean Asiana Airlines and I have to say that this airlines is one of the most efficient, hassle-free airlines I've ever had the good pleasure of flying with. Highly recommended.
Back in Seoul, I decided to go to a Korean Folk Village on the outskirts of town - this required a long bus ride, followed by a long walk, but the village was one of the nicest I'd been to:
I guess a lot of South Korean period films are set here - they were filming while I was there - here's a gang of actors waiting to go on:
All along the village were little huts with people showing how various Korean food, medicines, arts, crafts, and tools were made. Here's a picture of a paper-maker's shop:
I stopped here for lunch and had this lady make me a Korean pancake which was really delicious:
The grounds were extensive and included a small, cool (in both senses) lake upon which boats glided (I wanted to type "glid"):
The next day was somewhat low-key as I was getting tired and anxious to be getting back to the US. I stayed in the city and visited another palace - not as grand as the others, but nice nonetheless. There was a small ceremony going on outside of the gates, so I got some more pics:
Everyone was getting their picture taken with this dude, so I did as well:
In the afternoon, I went to this area that was a kind of street market that went on for blocks in every direction. The hawkers were a bit less vulturey than they were in Beijing at the Dirt and Silk Markets, so I was able to walk around pretty easily:
I saw this cool alley with a bunch of noodle stalls and women calling out, trying to get everyone to sit at their particular stall. I went in and had one of the most memorable meals in Korea. It began with kimchee and cold noodles and was followed by a fresh bowl of hot noodles in a really amazing broth. The cold noodles were spicy, but delicious - I had to keep refilling on water:
The old Summer Palace is very close to Peking University, so we walked there. There are two major differences between the old Summer Palace and the New Summer Palace:
1) The new one's architecture is strictly Chinese in nature, while the old one also included several buildings that reflected Western architecture (and which were, designed by Jesuits - those clever fellows).
2) The new one still has most of its buildings standing while the old one was blasted in 1860 by the British and the French during the Second Opium war (The museum has become a kind of symbol to the Chinese of foreign aggression). So while, as you saw in my earlier post, you can walk around and enjoy the New Palace in the way it was enjoyed by the last Emperor of China, you can only walk around the Old Palace ruins (which looks a bit like the Roman Forum) and try and imagine how magnificent it must have looked.
This place also had a place where you could dress up in imperial togs and get your picture taken. This child looked far more regal in his robes than i did in mine:
One of the treats of the Old Palace is this stone maze that somehow escaped the fate that met the buildings just to the east of it:
I would have liked this maze more if the walls were higher and the way in more difficult, but this was one of those "all roads lead to Rome" sort of mazes. I guess I'd have preferred a hedge maze to stone as well; however, in light of the demolishment of the once grand structures, I was going to cut this little maze some slack. Apparently at night on special occasions, girls who were part of the court would run through the maze with lanterns and guests of the emperor would rush in after them, using the light to guide them to the center pavilion. Along the way, there were some nice trees planted at various points. Here is one such tree creating its own maze of branches:
And here are some pictures of the ruins. Each one had a plaque in front of it with an etched brass plate showing what the building once looked like, but these were difficult to photograph (and to see, for that matter, given the sun's glare on the brass):
The Old Summer Palace was my last sightseeing place in Beijing. After bidding my parents an early farewell at customs at the Beijing Airport the next morning, I was on my way back to Seoul for a couple of days. I'd gotten to the airport super-early as we were concerned about traffic - it was the last day of holiday. Fortunately, I was able to catch an earlier flight to Seoul, so I didn't have to sit around so long. A note about airlines. This whole trip I flew on the Korean Asiana Airlines and I have to say that this airlines is one of the most efficient, hassle-free airlines I've ever had the good pleasure of flying with. Highly recommended.
Back in Seoul, I decided to go to a Korean Folk Village on the outskirts of town - this required a long bus ride, followed by a long walk, but the village was one of the nicest I'd been to:
I guess a lot of South Korean period films are set here - they were filming while I was there - here's a gang of actors waiting to go on:
All along the village were little huts with people showing how various Korean food, medicines, arts, crafts, and tools were made. Here's a picture of a paper-maker's shop:
I stopped here for lunch and had this lady make me a Korean pancake which was really delicious:
The grounds were extensive and included a small, cool (in both senses) lake upon which boats glided (I wanted to type "glid"):
The next day was somewhat low-key as I was getting tired and anxious to be getting back to the US. I stayed in the city and visited another palace - not as grand as the others, but nice nonetheless. There was a small ceremony going on outside of the gates, so I got some more pics:
Everyone was getting their picture taken with this dude, so I did as well:
In the afternoon, I went to this area that was a kind of street market that went on for blocks in every direction. The hawkers were a bit less vulturey than they were in Beijing at the Dirt and Silk Markets, so I was able to walk around pretty easily:
I saw this cool alley with a bunch of noodle stalls and women calling out, trying to get everyone to sit at their particular stall. I went in and had one of the most memorable meals in Korea. It began with kimchee and cold noodles and was followed by a fresh bowl of hot noodles in a really amazing broth. The cold noodles were spicy, but delicious - I had to keep refilling on water:
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The (__________) Wall
I'm not really sure of a better word than "great" to use, but it's such an understatement and does nothing to prepare you for how extensive, huge, beautiful, dangerous, winding, massive, awesome, and impressive this wall is. It has to be more than one word - or maybe a sound, like:
The
"bumbuduhbumbuduhbumbuduhbummmmmmmmmmKAPOW!!!!!!!!"
wall.
It's that impressive.
Really.
Before the pics of the wall, here's a few of my first full day or two in Beijing. First, I went to sit in on my dad's class. I really enjoyed watching him teach after sitting in a pew in church for years and seeing him in the role of preacher. He's doing a great job and his students - all PhD students at Peking University - really like him and mom (who sits in on the class and helps out). Here's my pop in action in the classroom:
After classes, the teachers on my dad's volunteer team gathered by a beautiful lake on the campus to take pictures, so mom, dad, and I decided to take our picture too. This is at some famous rock. Someone told me why it was famous, but I cannot remember the reason. Anyway, here we are:
After pics, we had my first Chinese meal. Now I'd always heard that the Chinese food we get in the US is vastly different from what you actually get here - this is probably true if you go to various regions of the country, but here in Beijing, you still have the MSG-laden, deep-fried food you can get at Chinese takeout. We did try something a little different (but still greasy) - catfish:
Now, here are pictures of the Great Wall at Badaling (don't ask me the intonation on that one - it's tough). We had to take a cable car up to the wall. Here are my parents' reactions to seeing their first glimpse of the wall from the cable car:
And here are some more pictures I snapped from the wall. The day was perfect, but the wall is a bit more steep than you'd think - in fact, many people go to this section because it is one of the safer climbs on the wall (which is in disrepair in other spots). So, I won't put any more commentary, but just let you see the wall. As always, the pics are nothing compared to the real thing. Still, enjoy them:
That's the wall. Stay tuned for "The Forbidden City," "The Dirt Market," and "The Summer Palace."
The
"bumbuduhbumbuduhbumbuduhbummmmmmmmmmKAPOW!!!!!!!!"
wall.
It's that impressive.
Really.
Before the pics of the wall, here's a few of my first full day or two in Beijing. First, I went to sit in on my dad's class. I really enjoyed watching him teach after sitting in a pew in church for years and seeing him in the role of preacher. He's doing a great job and his students - all PhD students at Peking University - really like him and mom (who sits in on the class and helps out). Here's my pop in action in the classroom:
After classes, the teachers on my dad's volunteer team gathered by a beautiful lake on the campus to take pictures, so mom, dad, and I decided to take our picture too. This is at some famous rock. Someone told me why it was famous, but I cannot remember the reason. Anyway, here we are:
After pics, we had my first Chinese meal. Now I'd always heard that the Chinese food we get in the US is vastly different from what you actually get here - this is probably true if you go to various regions of the country, but here in Beijing, you still have the MSG-laden, deep-fried food you can get at Chinese takeout. We did try something a little different (but still greasy) - catfish:
Now, here are pictures of the Great Wall at Badaling (don't ask me the intonation on that one - it's tough). We had to take a cable car up to the wall. Here are my parents' reactions to seeing their first glimpse of the wall from the cable car:
And here are some more pictures I snapped from the wall. The day was perfect, but the wall is a bit more steep than you'd think - in fact, many people go to this section because it is one of the safer climbs on the wall (which is in disrepair in other spots). So, I won't put any more commentary, but just let you see the wall. As always, the pics are nothing compared to the real thing. Still, enjoy them:
That's the wall. Stay tuned for "The Forbidden City," "The Dirt Market," and "The Summer Palace."
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Seoul, Part 1
I'm currently in Beijing and have found a coffee shop with free wireless. Things, connection-wise, are a bit slow over here behind the Great FireWall, but I got all the pics I want to share uploaded, so without further ado, here is what I did and saw during my stay in Seoul.
First of all, Seoul is so completely different from Tokyo in so many ways. Tokyo is quite flat, while Seoul is right in the mountains. Tokyo is very modern, while Seoul, tho' modern, has fewer skyscrapers. I have to say that Seoul more immediately reminded me of Mumbai than it did Tokyo - there was a noisy bustle and an energy there akin to what I'd experienced last summer. The smells of curry were replaced with wafts of kimchee and Korean style barbeque as I walked the streets.
The first place I visited was a folk village that had several restored homes - it was fun to walk through and see what things were like in South Korea way back when.
The next place I visited was the beautiful Changdeokgung Palace (which is a bit redundant because "gung" or хоо (that's "miya" in Japanese) means "palace"). This place was large and colorful and most notable for its "secret garden" which was really beautiful to see. I am not going to put a lot of commentary here between pictures - I'll just let you look at them:
After the palace I went over to a nice shopping/eating/people-watching area called Insadong. All along the street were vendors with stalls. I liked this little Korean flute player in his modern/traditional Korean wear:
Next I came upon this guy holding up this sign. The side facing the camera is Korean, but the other side was English and it read, "Free Hugs." I hadn't heard of these folks until Michel ran into them in Tokyo. I guess they are all over the world standing and giving free hugs to people who want or need a hug. I thought it was a super idea, so I went up and got my free hug and then took his picture:
Because Insadong has a lot of traditional shops and eateries, they told Starbucks, when they moved in, that the sign had to be in Korean:
I had lunch in Insadong - a kind of spicy tofu soup, but it was a set so it included many other dishes - including a fish (whose eyes had gone milky with cooking):
After lunch, I went to a Korean tea shop and had a cup of this tea called something like "five flavors tea." As you drink this tea, you experience flavors all over your tongue: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. It was really tasty, and it turned out to be quite a photogenic tea:
Next I went to Seoul Tower - I took a cable car up and saw the view in the sunset and at dusk:
Day two began at a shop I saw that boasted healthy traditional Korean porridge. I like the word porridge - it's a word that's been with me ever since I read Goldilocks. I always wanted to taste some porridge that would be amazing and sweet and full of spice and not at all like the lumpy oatmeal I used to get at the Thomson-West cafeteria in the mornings before beginning work. After being in Asia, I realized that porridge over here is not really sweet but usually a savory, rice-based affair. In Japan it is often a very watery kind of over cooked rice that is easy to digest (so is usually eaten when sick). My porridge on my second day in Seoul was a mix of pumpkin and rice all blended together - the pumpkin made it a little sweet (so did the sweet beans on the top). I liked it, tho' it's still not the porridge of my fairytale reading days:
I spent the bulk of day two at Seoul's famous Gyeoungbokgung (I decided against the redundancy here). This palace is a maze of beautifully painted buildings. On this day, there were tons of school kids on class trips. Every time I passed a group, I was barraged with "Hello!" "How are you?" "Where are you from?" "How's the weather?" They were so out-going and fun to talk to.
After my trip to India, my father rightly observed that I didn't take enough people pictures. I wanted to rectify this, but didn't want to shove my camera in people's faces. But here at the palace, all these kids were quite happy to have their pictures taken. There was also a reinactment of an official ceramony at the palace which showed us what happens when the emperor's wife gives birth to an heir. In this ritual, they take all the afterbirth and wash it one hundred times in fresh water to insure long life and then present it to the emperor. So I got some pics of this odd little ceremony. They were actually washing some fleshy thing, but I don't really know (nor want to know) what it actually was. I don't suppose it was actual afterbirth or an umbilical cord as this was only for pretend. At any rate, here are my pictures (with people!) of Gyeongbokgung:
In addition to kimchee, one must eat bibimbap when in Korea - it's a must. So I did. bibimbap is a bunch of veggies and meat and an egg served in a hot stone bowl. You get it and mix it up with your chopsticks or spoon and dig in. Here it is before being mixed:
And here I am standing in front of a statue of a dog. This was a series of figures representing the animals of the Chinese zodiac - I am a dog (obviously).
Maybe I should buy a dog when I return home and get a job.
Stay tuned for the following episodes: "The Great Wall" and "The Forbidden City"
First of all, Seoul is so completely different from Tokyo in so many ways. Tokyo is quite flat, while Seoul is right in the mountains. Tokyo is very modern, while Seoul, tho' modern, has fewer skyscrapers. I have to say that Seoul more immediately reminded me of Mumbai than it did Tokyo - there was a noisy bustle and an energy there akin to what I'd experienced last summer. The smells of curry were replaced with wafts of kimchee and Korean style barbeque as I walked the streets.
The first place I visited was a folk village that had several restored homes - it was fun to walk through and see what things were like in South Korea way back when.
The next place I visited was the beautiful Changdeokgung Palace (which is a bit redundant because "gung" or хоо (that's "miya" in Japanese) means "palace"). This place was large and colorful and most notable for its "secret garden" which was really beautiful to see. I am not going to put a lot of commentary here between pictures - I'll just let you look at them:
After the palace I went over to a nice shopping/eating/people-watching area called Insadong. All along the street were vendors with stalls. I liked this little Korean flute player in his modern/traditional Korean wear:
Next I came upon this guy holding up this sign. The side facing the camera is Korean, but the other side was English and it read, "Free Hugs." I hadn't heard of these folks until Michel ran into them in Tokyo. I guess they are all over the world standing and giving free hugs to people who want or need a hug. I thought it was a super idea, so I went up and got my free hug and then took his picture:
Because Insadong has a lot of traditional shops and eateries, they told Starbucks, when they moved in, that the sign had to be in Korean:
I had lunch in Insadong - a kind of spicy tofu soup, but it was a set so it included many other dishes - including a fish (whose eyes had gone milky with cooking):
After lunch, I went to a Korean tea shop and had a cup of this tea called something like "five flavors tea." As you drink this tea, you experience flavors all over your tongue: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. It was really tasty, and it turned out to be quite a photogenic tea:
Next I went to Seoul Tower - I took a cable car up and saw the view in the sunset and at dusk:
Day two began at a shop I saw that boasted healthy traditional Korean porridge. I like the word porridge - it's a word that's been with me ever since I read Goldilocks. I always wanted to taste some porridge that would be amazing and sweet and full of spice and not at all like the lumpy oatmeal I used to get at the Thomson-West cafeteria in the mornings before beginning work. After being in Asia, I realized that porridge over here is not really sweet but usually a savory, rice-based affair. In Japan it is often a very watery kind of over cooked rice that is easy to digest (so is usually eaten when sick). My porridge on my second day in Seoul was a mix of pumpkin and rice all blended together - the pumpkin made it a little sweet (so did the sweet beans on the top). I liked it, tho' it's still not the porridge of my fairytale reading days:
I spent the bulk of day two at Seoul's famous Gyeoungbokgung (I decided against the redundancy here). This palace is a maze of beautifully painted buildings. On this day, there were tons of school kids on class trips. Every time I passed a group, I was barraged with "Hello!" "How are you?" "Where are you from?" "How's the weather?" They were so out-going and fun to talk to.
After my trip to India, my father rightly observed that I didn't take enough people pictures. I wanted to rectify this, but didn't want to shove my camera in people's faces. But here at the palace, all these kids were quite happy to have their pictures taken. There was also a reinactment of an official ceramony at the palace which showed us what happens when the emperor's wife gives birth to an heir. In this ritual, they take all the afterbirth and wash it one hundred times in fresh water to insure long life and then present it to the emperor. So I got some pics of this odd little ceremony. They were actually washing some fleshy thing, but I don't really know (nor want to know) what it actually was. I don't suppose it was actual afterbirth or an umbilical cord as this was only for pretend. At any rate, here are my pictures (with people!) of Gyeongbokgung:
In addition to kimchee, one must eat bibimbap when in Korea - it's a must. So I did. bibimbap is a bunch of veggies and meat and an egg served in a hot stone bowl. You get it and mix it up with your chopsticks or spoon and dig in. Here it is before being mixed:
And here I am standing in front of a statue of a dog. This was a series of figures representing the animals of the Chinese zodiac - I am a dog (obviously). 
Maybe I should buy a dog when I return home and get a job.
Stay tuned for the following episodes: "The Great Wall" and "The Forbidden City"
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