Week 10 was a short week. We only had 3 days of school (Chuseok holiday followed by Founder's Day meant we did not return to classes until Wednesday the 4th of October). On the 6th, a group of 16 of us went to dinner together at a traditional Korean restaurant called Nakseonjae in Gwangju (not to be confused with the area of the Palace with a garden...this one is a well-established restaurant).
As you can see in the photo, we sat on the floor and were served dinner at a low table, very traditional style. We enjoyed japchae, bulgogi, kimchi (three kinds), rice, acorn jelly, beef pancakes and vegetable pancakes (from dosirak recipes), and lots of greens.
It was fun to do with a group. The food was pretty good but we ended up paying about $55 per person for this food. I was surprised by that. The event was billed as being about $30 per person. Anyway, the setting was lovely and the foliage around the building (on the mountain as we drove up) was beginning to show signs of changing color. It was a nice outing.
This is our group in front of the "house" we were assigned for dinner.
On the 7th, Nimmi and I braved the subway system looking for the giant underground mall. We got a little turned around and ended up in the wrong place (this happens to us frequently, and yes, I am always navigating...Nimmi is very good-natured about it). Hailie came to our rescue (by phone) and navigated us to the right subway stop. It is good to have friends who speak the language!
On our misdirected adventure we found McDonald's! I am sure there is more than one in Seoul, and I was not going to take Nimmi in there (she is a vegetarian). But I will go back on my own, soon. We also saw this building and I think this is really representative of Seoul in general:
The building has 4 layers. I know I should be calling them storeys but that is the thing: the 4 layers are really different stories. The one facing the street with a Mini Stop is so ubiquitous ... every 20 meters there is a convenience store. The one above that is a very nice restaurant (and in this case, they worked hard to make it look different from the rest of the building). The one above that is clearly offices/residential. And there is a bottom layer which you can see to the left down the stairs. I am sure that is storage and delivery space.
Why this caught my attention is because it represents many things at once to me. First, practicality. People here make use of all available space. With close to 10 million people in Seoul it is no wonder they are experts at space management. The population density here is much higher than in New York (1.5 times as dense) and more than twice as dense as Tokyo. Second, it shows how the Koreans embrace and incorporate history and culture. It's not just a dress in the closet that you haul out for special occasions. The pride in Korean culture is visible everywhere. And finally, this is a bustling downtown street corner, but look at how clean it is! Koreans are fastidious!
Once Nimmi and I found the right subway stop (the Express Bus Subway Stop in case anyone wants to find this place) we ate lunch at Subway and then dove into stores. We had been given gift cards from Shinsegae department store for Chuseok (from the school) so we were ready to investigate the options. Nimmi is from Southern India and has worked in desert and tropical places, so warm winter clothes are a new thing for her. She found a coat! But we had some funny adventures trying on winter wear. Shinsegae Department Store is high end (Bloomindale's) and we tried on a bunch of coats in one area of that store without knowing the prices for anything. Turns out they were all in the 10 million won range (around $7500). That is NOT where Nimmi bought her new coat. 😂
On the 8th I spent the entire day preparing for my presentation at the Monday Professional Development day. October 9th is Hangul day so the Korean staff had the day off work. The teachers showed up for PD and I was given the opportunity to do a presentation on Retrieval Methods. I chose Korean as my subject matter (and Spanish for those Korean speakers who attended). I baked little quiches and brought an assortment of teas. We had a good session. But I was exhausted by the end of that day.
It took me most of the week to catch up with all my regular duties. I have started cooking once a week (this is my commitment to eat more than chips or crackers and cheese for dinner). This week I made pizza. Nimmi had ordered a pizza and found it was made with mayonnaise. When I have ordered pizza I was surprised to find that the sauce on it was sweet. So I ordered frozen pizza dough, made my own sauce, and chopped up veggies and took pizza to Nimmi and my neighbors. It was delicious! I am happy to have neighbors that tolerate my cooking every now and then.
One other notable development from week 11...mosquitoes. There was a mosquito plague but only in my building. I noticed that my neighbors were getting bitten at night as much as I was. It took a few sleepless nights of battling the buzzing but I am happy to report that as of today, my apartment is mosquito free. A citronella candle and a lot of shoe prints on the wall are the evidence of my struggles. 😉
I broke out my jackets this week. I even wore a sweater to school one day. Fall is really here, folks! I hope you are getting to enjoy a nice change in the weather.
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