Spring is sprang and then went. It was a very short spring that quickly turned into a humid summer. The same thing happened with fall. Climate change? Global warming? Yea, probably.
While I semi-hibernated during the cold and snowy Korean winter, I have been doing quite the opposite by running wild all over Korea (mostly Daejeon) since I returned from vacation in late February. Yes, it has been 4 months since I came back from my vacation in Vietnam, and I haven't really slowed down!
- Since I returned from winter vacation, one of my best friends from home, Colin, has come to Daejeon to teach English! He is teaching at a boy's middle school, and although he lives far away from me (and I mean...who doesn't, really?) we have been hanging out a lot. Before he came to Daejeon, I hadn't seen him in a year and a half, which is a very long time not to see one of your best friends.
It has been really fun helping him get acquainted with life here: introducing him too all of my favorite people and haunts. It's also been great seeing Korea through his eyes, where everything has been so new to him as it was for me back in when I first came here.
- I am in the best shape of my life right now. Since coming to Korea, I have lost about 15 pounds and am back down to my pre-university weight. In addition, I am the most muscular I have ever been in my life. These days I can bench press 5 repetitions of 265 lbs (admittedly, not with free weights, and that makes a world of difference, but I'm still quite proud of myself!). Furthermore, my normal fasting blood pressure is 110/70, which is the blood pressure that a lot of people have after strenuous exercise.
- A little while ago, my school had a Pop Song Contest, which I co-hosted with two of my students. I also performed two songs while the judges were making their final decisions ("Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel, and at the request of some of my girls' classes, "All The Single Ladies" by Beyonce). The performances were all great, including an all around excellent performance of "Mean" by Taylor Swift by some of my junior girls. Many teachers commented on how great of an MC I was, moreso than my actual singing and guitar playing, haha! I guess rather than an English teacher, I should have been an MC!
- About a month ago, three of my students were chosen to represent our school in a city-wide high school debate contest. I helped them to prepare, and I was invited to come to the event by my co-teacher who was also coaching them. My students passed the first round, but were narrowly defeated in the second round. I could tell they were very disappointed, but I told them that we were very proud of them and appreciated their hard work. Their disappointment definitely reminded me of how hard I was on myself when I was that age...and in some ways I still am!
- Speaking of, a month or two ago, one of my favorite students was absolutely bawling in our teachers' office while speaking to her homeroom teacher. I had no idea what it was about (because she they were speaking in Korean), so after she left (while still crying), I asked my co-teacher what she was so upset about. Apparently she had not made high enough grades to make it into the school's "academy". My school a designated elite group called "(the name of my high school) Academy". The 30-35 students of each grade who have the highest grades in the school are the ones who are apart of this group. I know it's totally unthinkable to a lot of people in the West for a variety of reasons, but being a part of this "academy" is a big deal when the students start applying to universities. Anyway, the student whom I mentioned earlier just barely did not make high enough grades to be in the "academy", and she was in it the year before. I felt so bad for her, because once again, I remember how hard I was on myself in high school, and how insecure I was about my intelligence. I decided to buy a pastry for her as a good gesture indicating "I know how hard that must be". Before I gave it to her, I told her that she is not her grades, and being a part of the "academy" doesn't make her who she is. When I pulled out the pastry and gave it to her she started crying and said, "Oh, Joshy!" and ran away from embarrassment. A minute later, I heard her happily tell another student, "Look what Joshy gave me!"
From what I know (and from what a few students have told me), the Korean teachers aren't very sympathetic towards the students, even though the students are going through hell, sometimes staying at school from 7:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. (something that I still can't even comprehend, even after a year here). From what students have told me, the teachers are more or less like, "Suck it up!" So, I think the student really appreciated that gesture. I'm not writing this to say, "Oh, I'm such a nice, sympathetic person", but I really just want to remember that moment.
- I’ve had some amazing weekends in Korea the past few months: Easter Weekend and Tony’s Sports Birthday Weekend are the two that spring to mind first.
- Tony is one of the most hilarious, ridiculous people I have ever met in my life. He is one of the most extroverted people I have ever known, and he’s always full of energy and up to something. He scheduled several events for his birthday weekend: a baseball game, Beer Olympics, and a soccer match. On Friday evening, about 15 of us met at Hanbat Stadium in Daejeon for a baseball game, featuring our very own Hanwha Eagles. It was the third baseball game I had attended while in Korea, and probably the most exciting. There was a lot of back and forth momentum between the two teams, and we ended up winning by a run. After that we went out dancing. On Saturday, the “day off” from Tony’s Extravaganza (hah!), I went on a beautiful bike ride to Daecheong Dam, which is an area just 15 km away from where I live. There is a nice walkway along the river that leads all the way to the dam. The weather was great, and I really enjoyed the time alone outdoors. Later that night, there was an International Party. A Korean university student, Eunseok, organizes an International Party once a month. Usually it’s at a club, and we pay 20,000 won (about $20) for all you can eat and drink. Usually about 150 foreigners, as well as Koreans, show up to these parties. It was the last one I will go to with many of my friends since the majority of them will be leaving in August and I will be in the States during the July International Party. When I finally woke up on Sunday (12:30 p.m.? haha!), it was time for Beer Olympics! About 20 of us showed up outside of Olympic Stadium for Beer Olympics followed by a soccer match. Beer Olympics involved games of flippy cup and beer pong, as well as a relays and a batting game (all of which, obviously, involved drinking). After 2 or 3 hours of Beer Olympics, the whole lot of us stumbled towards the stadium to watch what was pretty much a godawful boring game. This weekend made me feel like I was in college all over again, and I have Tony “Tone-Loc” to thank for most of it! I will say, though, that my 28-year-old self does not have the physical ability to do a weekend like that every weekend. But my 22-year-old self was happy to oblige.
- One of my other favorite weekends these past few months was Easter weekend. Our friend, Diisha, hosted an Easter picnic on Saturday. Unfortunately, after about an hour outside by the river, it got incredibly chilly and the rain started pouring. All 20 of us moved into Diisha’s tiny apartment, finished what was left of the food, and broke out the booze. I had a really good time talking with people, as there weren’t the distractions there normally are at bars and clubs that habitually break up conversations. Once night fell up on us, a group of about 10 of us went to one of the girls’ apartments and we played a dancing videogame and just generally were being silly. After that, we went to go see a funk and soul band perform at one of the clubs we frequent. After they were done playing, Jmo, Kate, and I went to a noraebox (imagine karaoke in a photobooth) and sang our hearts out. It’s worth noting that we sang “Summer of ‘69” two or three times…in a row. The next day, our friend Xavier hosted a BBQ/picnic in the park behind City Hall. A great way to end a great weekend.
- Another one of my favorite days was St. Patrick's Day. Since I was a freshman in university, St. Patrick's Day has usually been an all day and all night drink-a-thon for me, but this year was different!...slightly. On St. Patrick's Day I went hiking with Colin, Kate, and our friend's friend (long story) on a mountain called Gubongsan. As is Korean hiking tradition, and now my tradition, we drank makgeoli after we finished the hike, and had a great conversation as the sun went down over the hills. After the euphoric feelings of hiking, getting a little tipsy, and having good conversation with friends, we went to our respective homes to get ready to go out on the town! We met at a local watering hole called Cantina where we met the Andrews (one of whom was bartending). We had some Irish Car Bombs, and then moved to Yellow Taxi (a club) to dance and rock out. Let's just say the night culminated in my throwing cake in one of the Andrew's faces, and that started a bit of a cake fight in Yellow Taxi...good times!
- On a more solemn note, I keep forgetting to write about this particular experience that we had back in November. I had organized a group of friends to meet at Weizenhaus for dinner and beer one Friday night. Right before we converged at the meeting point, I heard a large crash across the street. It sounded like a car crash, actually, but anything that indicated that it was a car crash. Once I got to the other side of the street, I saw some of my friends looking like they just saw a ghost. Then I saw a bunch of people all standing around in a circle. I looked to the center of the circle and saw what looked to be a woman lying on the ground with a shirt covering her face. I put the pieces together after talking with my friends: the woman had jumped from an apartment building window to her death (assuming it was suicide). The medics were just arriving as we were leaving for Weizenhaus. A very dark start to the evening, everyone was pretty quiet for the first 15 or 20 minutes at dinner. Some of my friends seemed to take it very hard. They were in some sort of shock. I wasn't nearly as shocked as some of them, and I'm not really sure why it didn't affect me as much as it did everyone else. Am I desensitized to it for some reason? Do I just process it differently than other people? I wanted to talk about death and suicide at the table. I wanted to talk about why Westerners, especially we as Americans, have a difficult time talking about and accepting death. But everyone seemed to want to get AWAY from the subject instead of addressing it.
When I seriously consider my own death and the fact that I will die some day, it does make me anxious. But I want to eventually get to a place where I can be very comfortable with, even find peace in, the idea of death and dying. As Robert Jordan wrote, "Death comes to us all; we can only choose how to face it when it comes."
- I'm am preparing myself emotionally and mentally for the exit of many of my friends around mid-August, after our contracts end. I signed on for another year, and I'm very glad to be here another year with my friends who are staying, but it's going to be so difficult missing so many people. To say the least, it will be a lot different. Out of everyone, I'm going to miss Kate and Liz the most. Kate and Liz have become like two little sisters to me, and I've become closer to them than I ever have with anyone while living abroad (Daniel would also be included in this, but he's staying here another year). Kate and I, especially, operate on very similar wave lengths in a variety of ways, and I really consider her the little sister I never had. There will certainly be a lot of tears come mid-August!
- I'm going home for two weeks in two weeks! I'm getting very excited! Although I love it here, which is why I'm staying for another year, it will be a nice to have a break from life in Korea. I can't wait to see everyone, as well as to eat and drink everything I've been missing here!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Family Trips to Seoul and Gyeongju
In Korea, my family away from home is made up of my best friends: Kate, Liz, Daniel, and Colin now that he moved here back in February. Although two or three of us have taken trips together, never before had we all taken a trip together...UNTIL NOW! In May, I we took two "family" trips in Korea, although Colin couldn't make it for the second one.
During the first weekend of May, we decided to take our first group trip to Seoul. On the third weekend of May (a long holiday weekend for Buddha's Birthday), we went to Gyeongju on the east coast.
*****
Seoul
Our original goal for the weekend in Seoul was to party, shop, and tour. Retrospectively speaking, I can confidently say that we definitely got the party part down pat, but not so much the other two.
The beginning of our family weekend in Seoul got off to a rather inauspicious start. I left my apartment a little late to catch the bus to the train station (late being an hour and a half before the train was scheduled to depart (I live far away and it was rush hour)), and we ended up missing our train, but we were luckily able to get another one only half an hour later. I was silently thinking to myself, "I hope this isn't a bad omen for the rest of the weekend...” Luckily, it wasn't!
We had a lot of fun giggling and being silly on the train, as is our wont on any sort of public transportation in Korea. However, like all public transportation in Korea, trains are deaaaaad silent, and YOU WILL BE shushed if you make too much of a racket. So it was less like “giggling and being silly” and more like "barely suppressed giggling and silliness".
After arriving to our hostel in Seoul (mad ups to The Pencil Guesthouse on being such an awesome hostel), we went to a very tiny pizza place whose name escapes me. What I do know about that very tiny pizza place is that they serve the best damn pizza I've had in Korea. We also ate their New Year's Eve. Not sure how to direct anyone there, but it's in the Hongdae area...? Hah!
We went a little wild on Friday night, I must say. Highlights included going to my favorite microbrewery in Seoul (Magpie), my favorite dive bar in Seoul (Go-Go's), and my favorite hate-to-love fast food restaurant (Taco Bell)*. Getting back to our hostel at five in the morning was probably not the best decision, but we had so much fun staying out and dancing, there was seemingly no other option at the time.
The next day was spent sleeping in, and then sitting on the patio of our hostel conversing and drinking coffee. There were suggestions for going to the N’Seoul Tower, going to a water park, or any of the various other activities and tourist locations that Seoul has to offer, but the consensus was pretty much “I don’t feel like it.” Ultimately, we made our way to the Trick Eye Art Museum just a stone’s throw away from us in Hongdae, but once we got there, no one felt like actually entering the museum. We elected to go back to the hostel and chill out once more. I think everyone was getting cranky, and we were all in desperate need of a nap!
After dinner, we elected to go straight to the bars, because if we started drinking early enough, we would be in bed earlier, right?! Easily the highlight of Saturday night was playing beer pong. We noticed these three foreigners playing at a bar called Thursday Party (an American style club/sports bar hybrid). The whole weekend, I had been making a joke that my 20-24 year-old self was coming back into action. I even made up a song to the tune of "My Boyfriend's Back" and it goes like this: "The bro king's back, and you're gonna be in trouble". I, personally, thought it was brilliant. So, while Kate was the one who was really prodding us to play beer pong, I resignedly said, "Well, I guess I'm the bro king, and it's my job to play beer pong whenever possible."
Our game against Team U.N. (our name for them came from the fact that one was a New Zealander, one was Swedish, and ones was Swiss-French or some bullshit like that) did not go nearly as planned. We sunk our first couple of shots, but then totally laid an egg after that. After that devastating defeat, Team U.N. decided to leave the premises. Probably because they were desperately frightened of the Bro King getting warmed up for more beer pong. We decided that Daniel and I would play against Kate and Colin. Amazingly enough, Daniel made a behind the back shot, and I joked that he should start playing beer pong every day all day (from my experiences, Brits find the idea of drinking games confusing, to say the least**)
After a while at Thursday Party, we wondered back to the part of Hongdae we were at the night before. We spent some time at Go-Go’s again, and ran into our friend, Andrei, who teaches in Incheon. After that, we went to a convenience store*** a couple of minutes away from Go-Go’s to have a chill beer or two. After that, Kate and I went back to the hostel (Liz had left earlier), but I guess Colin and Daniel stayed out until the wee hours of the morning yet again. I guess they also got soundly rejected by girls for the rest of the night, haha!
The next day we got moving late once again, but this time actually made it to a neighborhood in Seoul that is well-known for its name brand shopping. After that, it was time to head back to Daejeon!
******
Gyeongju
We had been debating a while as to where to go for Buddha’s Birthday weekend, one of the few three-day weekends we have during the year. We decided on Gyeongju on the east coast of Korea. It’s one of the most historical cities in Korea.
We waited too long to purchase train tickets, and by the time that we actually did, everything was sold out for Thursday night, so we came to Gyeongju early on Friday morning. The only notable part of our train journey was when we accidentally got off at the wrong stop. I quickly asked someone if we were at the right stop, and they said, “No! Next one!” So we quickly jumped back on the train before the doors shut.
We had booked a room in a hostel with five beds, but there were four of us. Once we had arrived at our hostel, we found out that indeed there was another person already staying in our room. The hostel owner referred to him only as “Mr. Lee”, which for some reason struck us as slightly funny and mysterious...not sure why exactly…maybe because the hostel owner referred to him in such formal terms. For some reason, that referent started a plethora of jokes and stories among us. We decided to make up anecdotes involving Mr. Lee. For instance, I said that Mr. Lee had been a crack-addicted prostitute in L.A. until he discovered his true passion in designing shoes made from recyclable material (or something like that). The funniest inside joke we made concerning our fictional Mr. Lee was when we saw an older, drunken Korean man yelling at passing people and cars for no particular reason that we could surmise. Daniel said, “Looks like Mr. Lee is at it again, you guys.”
Once we did actually meet Mr. Lee late Saturday afternoon, he unfortunately didn’t meet our expectations. He was just some regular guy from California. He seemed pretty normal. The fictional Mr. Lee was a much more interesting character who had had a rough go at life.
For our Friday afternoon, we wondered around Gyeongju. One thing that Gyeongju is famous for is its tombs. It has these tombs that look like really out-of-place hills. The parks in Gyeongju were absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of people out having picnics and flying kites. We walked around and through the parks, and we also walked to a “traditional village”. Unfortunately, it was a bit misleading, because we could tell the village had either been extremely remodeled, or rebuilt just to attract tourists. After getting some dinner and drinking some coffee, we made our way to an artificially made pond called Anapji Pond. There was a cluster of people there, but the space was so wide open that it wasn’t that big of a deal.
After that, we just grabbed a few beers from a convenience store and drank on the back patio of our hostel with the other guests.
The next day, Saturday, we went to one of Korea’s most famous Buddhist temples. It took us a while to actually hike up the mountain to reach the temple, but it was a nice hike, and wasn’t that grueling. I’m just glad I didn’t wear my heels (but really, if I can count the times that I’ve seen Korean women hiking with heels…(albeit, usually not on really difficult hikes)). Of course, with it being Buddha’s Birthday weekend and all, there was an assload of people there. Everyone was in line to see an old and storied statue of Buddha. While we waited in line for an hour and a half or so, one or two of us would take turns holding our place while the other one or two went exploring the surrounding area. We laughed at ourselves for staying in line that long to see the statue for about one minute.
On Sunday, we had decided to go to a water park, but once we saw the ticket price, we decided to turn back. Since it was rainy, we basically spent the entire day in a coffee shop reading together, like introverted friends are wont to do.
****
While writing about these two weekends, I feel like I haven’t been able to aptly translate what was so special about them. I think it had a lot do with the company. There is something really special about traveling with your best friends. These are people you already have intimate relationships with, and traveling together just brings you closer together in so many ways. Sure you can get annoyed with each other, but I think it’s hard for that to happen during such a short weekend getaway, haha!
To be a bit more...abstract, there have been times in my life when I feel wholly "in the present" and some major endorphins fire in my brain. Call it "the ecstasy of life" or "the infinite of a moment", but it's a feeling I used to experience a lot more when I was younger. There were definitely some points over these two trips where I felt myself approaching this kind of feeling.
* I'm happy that I haven't really eaten fast food in a long time (as far as McDonald/Taco Bell type places are concerned), but I was drunkenly happy to break my fast food fast with a delicious crunchwrap supreme.
** My favorite quote concerning this is a teacher from Liverpool during my EPIK orientation telling us, "We don't really understand you Americans and your drinking games. It's like...why would I want a to stand in the way of my drinking? Well, I guess we do have a sort of drinking game in Liverpool. It consists of drinking a beer at a pace of your own choosing, and then when you’re finished with that one, going up to the bar and buying another one." That's paraphrased, but you get the idea.
*** I can’t really recall if I’ve mentioned this phenomenon before, but it is common for people to pregame (drink before going out) outside of convenience stores. Many convenience stores offer seating outside (mostly because it’s not really culturally acceptable for Koreans to eat on the run…except maybe in Seoul or Busan), but many foreigners, as well as Koreans of lower socio-economic classes (I was TOLD that latter part, not sure if it's actually true), choose to just buy cheap drinks from the convenience store, and then just drink right outside of the store (public drinking is legal in Korea). (sorry for the parentheses overkill)
During the first weekend of May, we decided to take our first group trip to Seoul. On the third weekend of May (a long holiday weekend for Buddha's Birthday), we went to Gyeongju on the east coast.
*****
Seoul
Our original goal for the weekend in Seoul was to party, shop, and tour. Retrospectively speaking, I can confidently say that we definitely got the party part down pat, but not so much the other two.
The beginning of our family weekend in Seoul got off to a rather inauspicious start. I left my apartment a little late to catch the bus to the train station (late being an hour and a half before the train was scheduled to depart (I live far away and it was rush hour)), and we ended up missing our train, but we were luckily able to get another one only half an hour later. I was silently thinking to myself, "I hope this isn't a bad omen for the rest of the weekend...” Luckily, it wasn't!
We had a lot of fun giggling and being silly on the train, as is our wont on any sort of public transportation in Korea. However, like all public transportation in Korea, trains are deaaaaad silent, and YOU WILL BE shushed if you make too much of a racket. So it was less like “giggling and being silly” and more like "barely suppressed giggling and silliness".
After arriving to our hostel in Seoul (mad ups to The Pencil Guesthouse on being such an awesome hostel), we went to a very tiny pizza place whose name escapes me. What I do know about that very tiny pizza place is that they serve the best damn pizza I've had in Korea. We also ate their New Year's Eve. Not sure how to direct anyone there, but it's in the Hongdae area...? Hah!
We went a little wild on Friday night, I must say. Highlights included going to my favorite microbrewery in Seoul (Magpie), my favorite dive bar in Seoul (Go-Go's), and my favorite hate-to-love fast food restaurant (Taco Bell)*. Getting back to our hostel at five in the morning was probably not the best decision, but we had so much fun staying out and dancing, there was seemingly no other option at the time.
The next day was spent sleeping in, and then sitting on the patio of our hostel conversing and drinking coffee. There were suggestions for going to the N’Seoul Tower, going to a water park, or any of the various other activities and tourist locations that Seoul has to offer, but the consensus was pretty much “I don’t feel like it.” Ultimately, we made our way to the Trick Eye Art Museum just a stone’s throw away from us in Hongdae, but once we got there, no one felt like actually entering the museum. We elected to go back to the hostel and chill out once more. I think everyone was getting cranky, and we were all in desperate need of a nap!
After dinner, we elected to go straight to the bars, because if we started drinking early enough, we would be in bed earlier, right?! Easily the highlight of Saturday night was playing beer pong. We noticed these three foreigners playing at a bar called Thursday Party (an American style club/sports bar hybrid). The whole weekend, I had been making a joke that my 20-24 year-old self was coming back into action. I even made up a song to the tune of "My Boyfriend's Back" and it goes like this: "The bro king's back, and you're gonna be in trouble". I, personally, thought it was brilliant. So, while Kate was the one who was really prodding us to play beer pong, I resignedly said, "Well, I guess I'm the bro king, and it's my job to play beer pong whenever possible."
Our game against Team U.N. (our name for them came from the fact that one was a New Zealander, one was Swedish, and ones was Swiss-French or some bullshit like that) did not go nearly as planned. We sunk our first couple of shots, but then totally laid an egg after that. After that devastating defeat, Team U.N. decided to leave the premises. Probably because they were desperately frightened of the Bro King getting warmed up for more beer pong. We decided that Daniel and I would play against Kate and Colin. Amazingly enough, Daniel made a behind the back shot, and I joked that he should start playing beer pong every day all day (from my experiences, Brits find the idea of drinking games confusing, to say the least**)
After a while at Thursday Party, we wondered back to the part of Hongdae we were at the night before. We spent some time at Go-Go’s again, and ran into our friend, Andrei, who teaches in Incheon. After that, we went to a convenience store*** a couple of minutes away from Go-Go’s to have a chill beer or two. After that, Kate and I went back to the hostel (Liz had left earlier), but I guess Colin and Daniel stayed out until the wee hours of the morning yet again. I guess they also got soundly rejected by girls for the rest of the night, haha!
The next day we got moving late once again, but this time actually made it to a neighborhood in Seoul that is well-known for its name brand shopping. After that, it was time to head back to Daejeon!
******
Gyeongju
We had been debating a while as to where to go for Buddha’s Birthday weekend, one of the few three-day weekends we have during the year. We decided on Gyeongju on the east coast of Korea. It’s one of the most historical cities in Korea.
We waited too long to purchase train tickets, and by the time that we actually did, everything was sold out for Thursday night, so we came to Gyeongju early on Friday morning. The only notable part of our train journey was when we accidentally got off at the wrong stop. I quickly asked someone if we were at the right stop, and they said, “No! Next one!” So we quickly jumped back on the train before the doors shut.
We had booked a room in a hostel with five beds, but there were four of us. Once we had arrived at our hostel, we found out that indeed there was another person already staying in our room. The hostel owner referred to him only as “Mr. Lee”, which for some reason struck us as slightly funny and mysterious...not sure why exactly…maybe because the hostel owner referred to him in such formal terms. For some reason, that referent started a plethora of jokes and stories among us. We decided to make up anecdotes involving Mr. Lee. For instance, I said that Mr. Lee had been a crack-addicted prostitute in L.A. until he discovered his true passion in designing shoes made from recyclable material (or something like that). The funniest inside joke we made concerning our fictional Mr. Lee was when we saw an older, drunken Korean man yelling at passing people and cars for no particular reason that we could surmise. Daniel said, “Looks like Mr. Lee is at it again, you guys.”
Once we did actually meet Mr. Lee late Saturday afternoon, he unfortunately didn’t meet our expectations. He was just some regular guy from California. He seemed pretty normal. The fictional Mr. Lee was a much more interesting character who had had a rough go at life.
For our Friday afternoon, we wondered around Gyeongju. One thing that Gyeongju is famous for is its tombs. It has these tombs that look like really out-of-place hills. The parks in Gyeongju were absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of people out having picnics and flying kites. We walked around and through the parks, and we also walked to a “traditional village”. Unfortunately, it was a bit misleading, because we could tell the village had either been extremely remodeled, or rebuilt just to attract tourists. After getting some dinner and drinking some coffee, we made our way to an artificially made pond called Anapji Pond. There was a cluster of people there, but the space was so wide open that it wasn’t that big of a deal.
After that, we just grabbed a few beers from a convenience store and drank on the back patio of our hostel with the other guests.
The next day, Saturday, we went to one of Korea’s most famous Buddhist temples. It took us a while to actually hike up the mountain to reach the temple, but it was a nice hike, and wasn’t that grueling. I’m just glad I didn’t wear my heels (but really, if I can count the times that I’ve seen Korean women hiking with heels…(albeit, usually not on really difficult hikes)). Of course, with it being Buddha’s Birthday weekend and all, there was an assload of people there. Everyone was in line to see an old and storied statue of Buddha. While we waited in line for an hour and a half or so, one or two of us would take turns holding our place while the other one or two went exploring the surrounding area. We laughed at ourselves for staying in line that long to see the statue for about one minute.
On Sunday, we had decided to go to a water park, but once we saw the ticket price, we decided to turn back. Since it was rainy, we basically spent the entire day in a coffee shop reading together, like introverted friends are wont to do.
****
While writing about these two weekends, I feel like I haven’t been able to aptly translate what was so special about them. I think it had a lot do with the company. There is something really special about traveling with your best friends. These are people you already have intimate relationships with, and traveling together just brings you closer together in so many ways. Sure you can get annoyed with each other, but I think it’s hard for that to happen during such a short weekend getaway, haha!
To be a bit more...abstract, there have been times in my life when I feel wholly "in the present" and some major endorphins fire in my brain. Call it "the ecstasy of life" or "the infinite of a moment", but it's a feeling I used to experience a lot more when I was younger. There were definitely some points over these two trips where I felt myself approaching this kind of feeling.
* I'm happy that I haven't really eaten fast food in a long time (as far as McDonald/Taco Bell type places are concerned), but I was drunkenly happy to break my fast food fast with a delicious crunchwrap supreme.
** My favorite quote concerning this is a teacher from Liverpool during my EPIK orientation telling us, "We don't really understand you Americans and your drinking games. It's like...why would I want a to stand in the way of my drinking? Well, I guess we do have a sort of drinking game in Liverpool. It consists of drinking a beer at a pace of your own choosing, and then when you’re finished with that one, going up to the bar and buying another one." That's paraphrased, but you get the idea.
*** I can’t really recall if I’ve mentioned this phenomenon before, but it is common for people to pregame (drink before going out) outside of convenience stores. Many convenience stores offer seating outside (mostly because it’s not really culturally acceptable for Koreans to eat on the run…except maybe in Seoul or Busan), but many foreigners, as well as Koreans of lower socio-economic classes (I was TOLD that latter part, not sure if it's actually true), choose to just buy cheap drinks from the convenience store, and then just drink right outside of the store (public drinking is legal in Korea). (sorry for the parentheses overkill)
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Cherry Blossom Festival
Every year, my particular borough of Daejeon holds a Cherry
Blossom Festival that lasts for an entire week.
Cherry blossom trees only show their blossoms for a week or two before
they shed them, so there is only a small window of opportunity when one can
really enjoy their splendor.
“Yes, these are my friends.”
After walking up and down the pathway, Daeun had to leave to meet a friend, while Dana had already left by that point in order to meet a co-worker.
I was told that in the past there had been several
activities associated with the Cherry Blossom Festival, but because of budget
cuts, there wasn’t necessarily a Cherry Blossom Festival this year as much as
there were just Cherry Blossoms, which was fine by me.
I decided to invite some friends to my apartment for a
potluck. I made roasted eggplant glazed
in a miso sauce, a sautéed tofu zucchini stack with herbs, and a summer salad
with a homemade balsamic/strawberry puree dressing. Daniel brought pesto pasta, Kate brought a
creamy chicken casserole, Daeun brought tteokgalbi, Dana brought kimbap, and
Liz mostly just brought champagne and wine, as is her wont as far as our
potlucks go.
After eating and getting a little buzzed, we decided to walk
along the river close to my house. I
thought there were a lot of cherry blossom trees lining the river, but I guess
there actually weren’t. Daeun suggested
we instead go to a park where there were sure to be a lot of cherry blossom
trees. The park had a pathway that was
lined with cherry blossom trees. There were, of course, many couples
hand-in-hand strolling up and down the path.
There were also families and groups of teenagers, including many of my
students. I really can’t go anywhere in
my area of the city without running into at least one or two of my students, so
I really wasn’t too surprised.
“Joshy, your friends?!”“Yes, these are my friends.”
After walking up and down the pathway, Daeun had to leave to meet a friend, while Dana had already left by that point in order to meet a co-worker.
The four of us remaining decided to get some coffee together, and then return to my apartment. We watched a ridiculous documentary of a group of young Korean men and women who traveled to Europe to help spread Korean cuisine. It was really funny to see how awkwardly the young Koreans in the show interacted with the Europeans, and how the Europeans reacted to bibimbap (a staple of Korean cuisine). Then Liz left, and then Kate, Daniel, and I hung out listening to music, drinking, and talking until the wee hours of the morning.
It doesn't sound like much, but this was one of the greatest days I've had in Korea, spent with some of my best friends here.
Vietnam Is Very Happy New Year: Hanoi and The Haunt Report 2013
While we were in HCMC (Hoi Chi Minh City), we were told my numerous
people that Hanoi is quite a bit different from HCMC. Hanoi is the
political capitol of Vietnam, and as one might expect, it is where the
control of the Communist government is the strongest. We definitely got
this impression from our experiences in Hanoi. As we were told,
Hanoi's bars and clubs are pretty strictly shut down around midnight. I
mean...seriously, after we went out one night, it was like we were
walking around in a ghost town. In the Old Quarter (where most
backpackers stay), there was what I would imagine to be Communist
propaganda spouting (but who really knows what they were really yelling
about) from loud public speakers from early on in the morning until the
early evening. Despite all of this, how I would succinctly describe the
difference between HCMC and Hanoi is that, while HCMC relies on its
modernity and vibrant culture, Hanoi relies on its historicity.
Hanoi had a lake in the city center, and another much bigger one a little farther northwest of the city center. Daniel and I had the luck of exploring these lakes on an eerily foggy morning. There was a Buddhist temple that was built on a small peninsula that extended into the lake. With the addition of some mist, there was certainly an added element of mystery. There were a lot of people at the Buddhist temple, so it kind of took away from calming effect that visiting Buddhist temples usually has on me, but it was still nice and somewhat otherworldly.
Hanoi had a lake in the city center, and another much bigger one a little farther northwest of the city center. Daniel and I had the luck of exploring these lakes on an eerily foggy morning. There was a Buddhist temple that was built on a small peninsula that extended into the lake. With the addition of some mist, there was certainly an added element of mystery. There were a lot of people at the Buddhist temple, so it kind of took away from calming effect that visiting Buddhist temples usually has on me, but it was still nice and somewhat otherworldly.
Besides wondering around the city, walking around the lakes, and admiring the temples, we also attended a "water puppet show." It's kind of hard to describe, but apparently there is somewhat of a
tradition of puppet shows in Vietnam. Usually they are used to retell
folk stories. This one in particular retold the mythological birth of
the first Vietnamese people in the pond in the middle of Hanoi. If I
remember correctly it began with the mating of a phoenix and a
dragon...? Anyway, you know how these things go!
We also made a veeeeery short stop at the "Hilton". No, not the hotel. "The Hilton" is the nickname for the prison where American POWs were infamously tortured. Literally all we did was take one picture if front of it (the one below of Daniel making a salute). Apparently, the Vietnamese have a sense of humor, because most of the original "Hilton" was actually converted into a hotel many years ago, much to the dismay of American and International Veterans' organizations.
While in Hanoi, we took an overnight boat to tour Vietnam's most famous tourist destination: Halong Bay (Descending Dragon Bay). While we were in HCMC, we were at a bar and a lot of young..."stereotypical" Americans were sitting next to us. One member of our party mentioned Ha Long Bay, and one of the American girls next to us said, "Are ya'll talking about Ha Long Bay?" "Yes, we are." "Hell yea! We're going to Halong Bay too!" This, as if Ha Long Bay isn't the most sought out destination in all of Vietnam.
More than likely you have seen pictures of Ha Long Bay at some point. It's a maze of stark, rock islands that jut out from the water. It was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.
Halong Bay was a couple hours away from Hanoi, so we had to take a van to get there through a tour agency. In our tour were Americans, Canadians, Spaniards, Argentinians, Chileans, Swiss, Norwegians, French, and Dutch among others. It was an international extravaganza! We spent the first day touring the bay. We went to some caves that were, unfortunately, plauged by hilariously bad Disneyland lighting. There was also the option of kayaking, which Daniel elected to do, but I opted out of because I didn't want to get wet (it was cold and I didn't have a swimsuit!). We also visited a "floating village", which was literally how it sounds: fishermen and sea-faring merchants living in house boats; forming a rough community.
After dinner, the night was spent visiting with our international friends. We played a variety of card-based drinking games from all over the world. Hilariously, there were one or two games that we all knew, but it went by a different name depending on which country we were from.
The next morning we toured more of the bay and then returned to
land. It was enchanting sitting on top of our boat and watching the
jutting rocks retreat into the horizon.
For the most part, the pictures tell the story, but Ha Long Bay was
nothing short of fantastic. One of the most amazing places I've seen!
After getting back to Hanoi, we made dinner plans with a few of our
international friends: the Norwegians, the Swiss guy, and one of the
Dutch women. We ate dinner together and then went out until...you
guessed it, midnight. Actually, the bar we ended the night at cheekily
stayed out open until 1:00 a.m. But what they did was they effectively
closed the front by putting their garage door down (not sure how else to
describe it, but it every business in the area had this "garage door"
they would put down after closing for the night), but by allowing
everyone to remain the bar. This, so that every time a bar patron would
leave between 12:00 and 1:00 a.m., they would have to reopen the garage
door.
The next morning we would say our goodbyes to our international friends, and take a plane back down to Ho Chi Minh City, and then a day or two later fly back to Seoul!
The next morning we would say our goodbyes to our international friends, and take a plane back down to Ho Chi Minh City, and then a day or two later fly back to Seoul!
*****
Daniel and I (and to a larger extent with our friends, Kate and
Liz) have an ongoing joke about being haunted. Kate had a friend come
to visit back in November, and after meeting Daniel, Liz, and me, he
said something like, "You're friends are all great and everything...but
they all seem rather haunted." When Kate relayed that to us, we all
laughed, but agreed it was probably true. That's the first step to
acknowleding you're haunted, I think: recognizing you are haunted and
laughing about it.
Anywaysies, while Daniel and I were traveling, we practically
didn't stop talking about how haunted those around us were. All the
while, though, Daniel and I knew deep down that we were probably more
haunted than anyone we came into contact with. So, in all of it's
splendor, I present to you...
THE HAUNT REPORT:
The Haunt Report 2013
While traveling in Vietnam, Daniel and I constantly assessed the levels of hauntedness of those around us. Whether it was a natural response to our insecurities concerning our own hauntedness, a consideration of whether or not we could actually be friends with someone who was less haunted than us, or a simple passing of the time, no one was immune to our assessments of hauntedness.
After careful consideration, here is the list of the most haunted foreigners we have met (names have been changed to protect the haunted):
While traveling in Vietnam, Daniel and I constantly assessed the levels of hauntedness of those around us. Whether it was a natural response to our insecurities concerning our own hauntedness, a consideration of whether or not we could actually be friends with someone who was less haunted than us, or a simple passing of the time, no one was immune to our assessments of hauntedness.
After careful consideration, here is the list of the most haunted foreigners we have met (names have been changed to protect the haunted):
Styr, a young man from Switzerland, was somewhat haunted. He had a
somewhat bubbly personality, and seemed rather outgoing. But beneath
the surface, Daniel and I could both sense a restless hauntedness
boiling underneath.
Steve was a Canadian met in Ho Chi Minh City. He was traveling with a
different Canadian, Alex, who wasn't haunted at all (maybe just a
little...), but Steve himself was quite haunted. In Canada he works in
near isolation (a town of 85 people) as a cook in a hotel in the Yukon
the border with Alaska. Now, your employment doesn't necessarily
indicate how haunted you are, but the majority of professional cooks I
know are quite haunted, and resort to pretty severe substance abuse to
mask their hauntedness. Steve was certainly no different, as it was clear
that both his hauntedness and his libertine lifestyle had taken a major
toll on his well-being.
Lacy was a Vietnamese-American whose detached way of interacting
(to the extent that she turned her chair completely away from the group
at the table, but continued to "interact" with the group with passive
comments and acknowledgements that she was still, maybe, listening), was
an early indicator of her hauntedness. Furthermore, she rarely looked
people in the eyes when she spoke to them, which is generally a
tell-tale sign of some serious haunting. She bore a stark contrast to
her younger sister who was bubbly, perky, and actually "present" in the
conversation. Lacy obviously had some deep, dark experiences in the past
that made her the second most haunted person on our trip.
By far the most haunted person we met was a Spanish girl on our
boat trip in Halong Bay. In fact, we didn't even have to speak one word
to her to know how haunted she was. THAT'S HOW HAUNTED SHE WAS. Her
unchanging "kill-me-now-because-it-would-
At the time, Daniel and I decided the least haunted foreigner we
met was a 19-year-old Frenchman. Shaggy-haired and raggedly dressed and
in a somewhat haggard state, he approached us and asked (imagine a thick
French accent), "I'm selling marijuana...do you want to buy some?" When
Daniel and I declined, but thanked him for his offer, he said, "Pfftth,
no problem," and walked away. Another time I saw him in the hall and
thought he had just left the bathroom. I asked, "Are you finished in the
bathroom?" and he responded, "I wasn't even in there..." and walked on.
Now that I think about it, he was either VERY haunted, or not haunted
at all.
Well, that's all for my travels in Vietnam! It only took me three months to finish writing about it! Here's to the next vacation!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Vietnam Is Very Happy New Year: The Bus On Hell's Wheels
With transportation options slim, and our time in Vietnam waning
faster and faster, we decided to book a 36 hour bus ride from Nha Trang
to Hanoi. Now, admittedly, we didn't realize it was actually a 36 hour
bus ride until we really put some logic to our purchase. At first we
thought, "Oh, an 8 hour bus ride. That's not bad." Soon afterwards, we
realized the impossibility of traveling nearly the entire length of
Vietnam in 8 hours. Hopeful thinking, I guess.
However, soon after that, we learned that our bus would be stopping
in both Hue and Hoi An, which were two cities that we
had originally planned on visiting, but now with our time waning, we didn't think we would have enough time to visit until we got this bus.
The sleeper buses
would also stop to pick up hichhikers along the road, and charge them (what I
would expect to be) quite the discounted price compared to what we were
paying. The new passengers would then just sit or lie down in the
middle of the aisle.
Things got rough at times, because the bus only stopped once every 5
hours for a bathroom break (there were no bathrooms on the bus). I
drink enough water where I usually need to go pee every 45 minutes or
so, so I had to consciously cut back on the amount of water I was
drinking.
We would also stop to eat. Each place we stopped at was usually a little hole in the wall on the side of the road. The one that I remember the best was a rowdy little "shack" that we stopped at in the middle of the night (for a bathroom break, but a lot of people decided to eat). The place was run by a surly middle-aged woman, and the service was equally as surly. They just gave all of the foreigners the same thing without even asking what we wanted. I didn't really care either way, but thought it was kind of funny. The place was loud and rambunctious with families with crying babies eating next to groups of drunk Vietnamese men.
Of Hue and Hoi An, Hue was the first stop. We were in Hue for
about 6 hours, which gave us some time to see the main attractions.
Hue is
the ancient capitol of Vietnam. Hue's main attraction is its Imperial
City, which housed the old kings and his royal cadre. The Imperial City
was huge, and even while skipping some areas, it took an hour or so to
walk around the main areas. Besides this, we just walked around a bit.
We considered renting a motorbike, as the traffic was notably more tame
in Hue than the other cities in Vietnam, but I'm afraid I was still
scared straight from the insane traffic we saw in Ho Chi Minh.
As excited as we were to spend some time in Hoi An (as a
sidenote: multiple people had suggested Hoi An as a less well-known
can't-miss type place in Vietnam) we were ultimately disappointed. Our
bus arrived in Hoi An an hour or two over schedule so we couldn't spend
any time there. Hoi An is a small town on the coast. Over the years it
has attracted travelers looking to get away from the big, bustling
cities of Vietnam. As a result, Hoi An has become really tourist
driven, but it still seemed (from the bus), that it would have been a
nice place to visit. People rent bikes to ride around the town and to
the ocean. I was expecting a town like Lijiang,
an ancient Chinese city that I visited while teaching there, but it
wasn't quite like that at all. It looked more modern than what I
expected, I think. Hah, all of this, and we only stepped off the bus
there for 10 minutes in Hoi An.
Overall, it wasn't too bad for a 36 hour bus ride. The
sleeper buses in Vietnam are relatively comfortable...I've certainly
been in more cramped, less comfortable public and private
transportation before. But, it's probably not something I want to do again
anytime soon.
Next up: the last entry to our Vietnam adventures...Hanoi!
Friday, April 19, 2013
North Korea: Ain't Noboby Got Time For That!
Well, according to Western news sources, things have been quite heated over here on the 38th parallel. According to South Koreans...no one cares.
I've watched and read a lot of pretty ridiculous claims made by news outlets in the West. My favorite so far was a segment on CNN, where they talked about what an all out war would look like between N. Korea and S. Korea/U.S.-led coalition forces. They discussed the subject for about 4 to 5 minutes including computer generated battle plans. Then, during the last 30 or so seconds of the segment, the host asked, "What is the likelihood of something like this happening?" I can't remember what the guest said exactly, but he said something to the tune of, "Slim to none." Talk about over-sensationalizing!
One of my favorite stories concerning the situation comes from a fellow foreign English teacher, who teaches at the middle school next to my high school. He had been expressing worry about the N. Korea situation to his co-teacher. In true Korean fashion, his co-teacher scheduled a meeting between my friend and the Vice Principal of the middle school. So here is the conversation straight from the source:
VP: "(name of my friend)! You not need to be worried about the North Koreans, we're not. It's nothing."
My friend: "Yeah, I know. But still, a threat is a threat. We can't really say it is OK."
VP: "If something happens, what will you do?"
My friend: "I'm outta here, and I'm fleeing to Japan!"
VP: "Hahaha! By then you'll be long dead."
My friend: "..."
Obviously, the VP was trying to make light of the situation, but I don't know if...ya know, my friend was really comforted by that conversation. In any case, he is one of the only foreigners I know that has been/is worried about the N. Korea situation.
To my knowledge, there wasn't one embassy in S. Korea that issued any real warnings. And there certainly wasn't an embassy that was asking their citizens to leave the country. The only message that was sent out by the U.S. embassy could basically be summarized by the following: "Conduct business as usual."
By now, S. Koreans are so used to the political games played by the North, that they just brush it off. Some of my co-teachers, other teachers, as well as some of the students asked if I was worried.
Teachers: "Are you worried about North Korea?"
Me: "No, not really."
Teachers: "Why not?"
Me: "Because I think Kim Jeong Eun is just playing political games."
Teachers: (a smile and a nod) "Are your parents worried?"
Me: "Yes, I think they are a little worried."
Teachers: "That's OK! They have nothing to worry about!"
What's funny is that I think some of them were pleasantly surprised to see me the day after N. Korea issued a warning asking all foreigners to leave S. Korea. I think some of them truly thought I might fly the coop (there were rumors, that may or may not be true, that at least some foreigners left the country after the warning). Who knows, maybe they were even taking bets on it?
One of the teachers joked to my co-teacher: "Keep an eye on him! He might leave Korea tomorrow!"
By the more rational and logical accounts of the situation, N. Korea is in a bad place what with their famine, poor economic situation, and a new leader who has yet to establish himself amongst both his people and the older political elite.
In summary: Don't worry.
Here are some sensible articles about the situation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/opinion/global/North-Koreas-nuclear-drama-is-a-ploy.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/opinion/stay-cool-call-north-koreas-bluff.html
I've watched and read a lot of pretty ridiculous claims made by news outlets in the West. My favorite so far was a segment on CNN, where they talked about what an all out war would look like between N. Korea and S. Korea/U.S.-led coalition forces. They discussed the subject for about 4 to 5 minutes including computer generated battle plans. Then, during the last 30 or so seconds of the segment, the host asked, "What is the likelihood of something like this happening?" I can't remember what the guest said exactly, but he said something to the tune of, "Slim to none." Talk about over-sensationalizing!
One of my favorite stories concerning the situation comes from a fellow foreign English teacher, who teaches at the middle school next to my high school. He had been expressing worry about the N. Korea situation to his co-teacher. In true Korean fashion, his co-teacher scheduled a meeting between my friend and the Vice Principal of the middle school. So here is the conversation straight from the source:
VP: "(name of my friend)! You not need to be worried about the North Koreans, we're not. It's nothing."
My friend: "Yeah, I know. But still, a threat is a threat. We can't really say it is OK."
VP: "If something happens, what will you do?"
My friend: "I'm outta here, and I'm fleeing to Japan!"
VP: "Hahaha! By then you'll be long dead."
My friend: "..."
Obviously, the VP was trying to make light of the situation, but I don't know if...ya know, my friend was really comforted by that conversation. In any case, he is one of the only foreigners I know that has been/is worried about the N. Korea situation.
To my knowledge, there wasn't one embassy in S. Korea that issued any real warnings. And there certainly wasn't an embassy that was asking their citizens to leave the country. The only message that was sent out by the U.S. embassy could basically be summarized by the following: "Conduct business as usual."
By now, S. Koreans are so used to the political games played by the North, that they just brush it off. Some of my co-teachers, other teachers, as well as some of the students asked if I was worried.
Teachers: "Are you worried about North Korea?"
Me: "No, not really."
Teachers: "Why not?"
Me: "Because I think Kim Jeong Eun is just playing political games."
Teachers: (a smile and a nod) "Are your parents worried?"
Me: "Yes, I think they are a little worried."
Teachers: "That's OK! They have nothing to worry about!"
What's funny is that I think some of them were pleasantly surprised to see me the day after N. Korea issued a warning asking all foreigners to leave S. Korea. I think some of them truly thought I might fly the coop (there were rumors, that may or may not be true, that at least some foreigners left the country after the warning). Who knows, maybe they were even taking bets on it?
One of the teachers joked to my co-teacher: "Keep an eye on him! He might leave Korea tomorrow!"
By the more rational and logical accounts of the situation, N. Korea is in a bad place what with their famine, poor economic situation, and a new leader who has yet to establish himself amongst both his people and the older political elite.
In summary: Don't worry.
Here are some sensible articles about the situation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/opinion/global/North-Koreas-nuclear-drama-is-a-ploy.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/opinion/stay-cool-call-north-koreas-bluff.html
Vietnam Is Very Happy New Year: Dalat
If Nha Trang destroyed our remaining preconceptions of Vietnam after leaving HCMC, then Dalat blasted the remaining particles into outer space.
First, a little history of Dalat. According to our guide book, Dalat was essentially untouched by the Vietnam War. At the time of the war, Dalat was not easily accessible. Dalat was simply not a strategic location and the only road there was unpaved and windy...not the best for transporting armies. I guess military officers would take leave in Dalat to play golf against each other. Dalat is known throughout Vietnam as a big producer of wine, flowers, and coffee. If that tells you anything, it should tell you that Dalat has some incredibly fertile soil and a rather temperate climate.
Just like Nha Trang, we couldn't book a hotel or hostel before arriving in Dalat. Everything was booked for the days we were coming. Luckily, as soon as we stepped off of the bus, there were representatives/employees of hotels standing there asking us if we needed a place. We confirmed a price with one of them and he led us back to the hotel.
Our first day in Dalat was spent merely walking around the city. Architecturally and structurally, Dalat looked like no other city that we visited in Vietnam. It's back streets twist and turn similar (at least, in my mind) to what you would find in Italy or France. The architecture was a startling contrast to what we were expecting to see, and what we had seen so far in Vietnam.
There is a huge lake southeast from the center of the town. Around the lake, people were selling flowers, having picnics, or playing games. We walked next to the lake for a while, and ended up in a huge garden. By "garden", I mean more like "flower park". I could tell it was marketed a bit more towards couples who wanted to stroll around and be lovey dovey, but it was nice nonetheless. We also walked around a while trying to find this Buddhist temple, and when we finally did, it was a bit underwhelming, so we just went out for dinner and called it a night.
Probably my favorite day we had in Vietnam was a tour that I took from Dalat into the countryside (Daniel wanted to do something else that day, so we split up...so sad). On the tour we stopped in a valley that has hundreds of green houses. I asked our tour guide if there was a monopoly on green houses. She told me that, actually, generally only one family controls one green house. So each green house is owned by a different family. I thought that was great! But then I imagined the families trying to sabotage each others flowers. It probably doesn't happen, but ya know. I must say that the valleys would have looked a lot nicer if they hadn't been covered in green houses, but I know people gotta get paid! As I mentioned before, Dalat is known as the flower capitol of Vietnam, and apparently they ship their flowers all over the country.
After that went to some coffee fields. It was a rustic looking house built above ground on wooden stakes. Behind it was an idyllic scene of hills, a pond, and, of course, fields of coffee plants. As I mentioned in a previous post, before trying Vietnamese coffee, I had never tasted anything like it. It's as thick as syrup, and must be drank with sugar for the faint of heart. It's really bitter and incredibly strong. One of the most infamous coffees that is made in Vietnam (and especially in Dalat) is appropriately called "Weasel Coffee". Literally speaking, weasels are given coffee beans to eat, and what is pooped out by them is the "Weasel Coffee". It sounds disgusting, but apparently people will top dollar for it. That must be some strong shit (pun intended)!
We stopped at a cricket farm. Literally: a farm that raises crickets for human consumption. They had glass cages filled with egg cartons, dirt, and you guess it...crickets. I ended up trying a few fried crickets. Crunchy and not nearly as gross as one might expect. Crickets, like many insects, are incredibly high in protein! I think they said a serving of crickets can account for about 17% of your daily protein intake!
Our next stop was an old, small silk factory. We saw the different steps of silk production all in one room. The machines they had there had to have been at least 30 years old, but apparently everything still works fine. I'm sure there are more modern ways to produce silk, but it was certainly interesting to see how it is done.
After that we went to a waterfall (called "The Elephant Waterfall"), which next to a serene Buddhist Temple that was on top of a hill, and looked over much of the surrounding area.
Our last stop before going to a late lunch was a place that is nicknamed, "The Crazy House". It really looks like a house out of a fairly tale. Some people have called the house itself a work of "expressionist" art. Others have compared it to the work of surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. For me, stepping into the Crazy House was like stepping back into my childhood. The primary structures appeared to be made out of wood, and they twisted and turned as if they had started to melt at some point, but then were frozen in place. The stairs and pathways also twisted and turned, so that it was very easy to lose track of people.
Our tour guide was great, the tour itself was also good, but the late lunch we had at a restaurant was one of the worst meals I've had in recent memory. In fact, the Russian couple on our tour got really really pissed off, because their meat was undercooked, and they had have it taken back not once, not twice, but three times to get it cooked well done. The worst restaurant experience in recent memory. Additionally, the host and servers clearly wanted nothing to do with us.
Up next: Our daring 36 hour bus adventure to Hanoi!
First, a little history of Dalat. According to our guide book, Dalat was essentially untouched by the Vietnam War. At the time of the war, Dalat was not easily accessible. Dalat was simply not a strategic location and the only road there was unpaved and windy...not the best for transporting armies. I guess military officers would take leave in Dalat to play golf against each other. Dalat is known throughout Vietnam as a big producer of wine, flowers, and coffee. If that tells you anything, it should tell you that Dalat has some incredibly fertile soil and a rather temperate climate.
Just like Nha Trang, we couldn't book a hotel or hostel before arriving in Dalat. Everything was booked for the days we were coming. Luckily, as soon as we stepped off of the bus, there were representatives/employees of hotels standing there asking us if we needed a place. We confirmed a price with one of them and he led us back to the hotel.
Our first day in Dalat was spent merely walking around the city. Architecturally and structurally, Dalat looked like no other city that we visited in Vietnam. It's back streets twist and turn similar (at least, in my mind) to what you would find in Italy or France. The architecture was a startling contrast to what we were expecting to see, and what we had seen so far in Vietnam.
There is a huge lake southeast from the center of the town. Around the lake, people were selling flowers, having picnics, or playing games. We walked next to the lake for a while, and ended up in a huge garden. By "garden", I mean more like "flower park". I could tell it was marketed a bit more towards couples who wanted to stroll around and be lovey dovey, but it was nice nonetheless. We also walked around a while trying to find this Buddhist temple, and when we finally did, it was a bit underwhelming, so we just went out for dinner and called it a night.
Probably my favorite day we had in Vietnam was a tour that I took from Dalat into the countryside (Daniel wanted to do something else that day, so we split up...so sad). On the tour we stopped in a valley that has hundreds of green houses. I asked our tour guide if there was a monopoly on green houses. She told me that, actually, generally only one family controls one green house. So each green house is owned by a different family. I thought that was great! But then I imagined the families trying to sabotage each others flowers. It probably doesn't happen, but ya know. I must say that the valleys would have looked a lot nicer if they hadn't been covered in green houses, but I know people gotta get paid! As I mentioned before, Dalat is known as the flower capitol of Vietnam, and apparently they ship their flowers all over the country.
After that went to some coffee fields. It was a rustic looking house built above ground on wooden stakes. Behind it was an idyllic scene of hills, a pond, and, of course, fields of coffee plants. As I mentioned in a previous post, before trying Vietnamese coffee, I had never tasted anything like it. It's as thick as syrup, and must be drank with sugar for the faint of heart. It's really bitter and incredibly strong. One of the most infamous coffees that is made in Vietnam (and especially in Dalat) is appropriately called "Weasel Coffee". Literally speaking, weasels are given coffee beans to eat, and what is pooped out by them is the "Weasel Coffee". It sounds disgusting, but apparently people will top dollar for it. That must be some strong shit (pun intended)!
We stopped at a cricket farm. Literally: a farm that raises crickets for human consumption. They had glass cages filled with egg cartons, dirt, and you guess it...crickets. I ended up trying a few fried crickets. Crunchy and not nearly as gross as one might expect. Crickets, like many insects, are incredibly high in protein! I think they said a serving of crickets can account for about 17% of your daily protein intake!
Our next stop was an old, small silk factory. We saw the different steps of silk production all in one room. The machines they had there had to have been at least 30 years old, but apparently everything still works fine. I'm sure there are more modern ways to produce silk, but it was certainly interesting to see how it is done.
After that we went to a waterfall (called "The Elephant Waterfall"), which next to a serene Buddhist Temple that was on top of a hill, and looked over much of the surrounding area.
Our last stop before going to a late lunch was a place that is nicknamed, "The Crazy House". It really looks like a house out of a fairly tale. Some people have called the house itself a work of "expressionist" art. Others have compared it to the work of surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. For me, stepping into the Crazy House was like stepping back into my childhood. The primary structures appeared to be made out of wood, and they twisted and turned as if they had started to melt at some point, but then were frozen in place. The stairs and pathways also twisted and turned, so that it was very easy to lose track of people.
Our tour guide was great, the tour itself was also good, but the late lunch we had at a restaurant was one of the worst meals I've had in recent memory. In fact, the Russian couple on our tour got really really pissed off, because their meat was undercooked, and they had have it taken back not once, not twice, but three times to get it cooked well done. The worst restaurant experience in recent memory. Additionally, the host and servers clearly wanted nothing to do with us.
Up next: Our daring 36 hour bus adventure to Hanoi!
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