Bulgogi and the Han River Cruise

I have already written a little about my second day in Seoul.  It started with me teaching in Jezreel's back to back Global Business Communication classes and a trip to the local noodle restaurant for some naengmyeon.  It's a cold noodle dish (nang means cold, myun means noodle).  It was kind of an interesting dish because I'm not used to eating things like noodles cold.  Not only were they cold, but they were ice cold.  They put the noodles in an ice bath and it's considered a really refreshing summer dish.  I not only had trouble with the temperature, but also thought the flavor was a bit bland.  However, I added quite a bit of their hot pepper sauce and that actually made it taste much better.  We also had mandu, which is a kind of Korean style dumpling.  Personally, I thought they were much better than the Chinese dumplings I had been eating before.

After lunch, we rested for a while back at Jezreel and Hyunjin's apartment.  We were all a little tired from the oppressive heat in the classroom and from not eating lunch until 3 p.m.  At about 6 p.m., we headed out again for dinner.  None of us were really hungry yet, but we had a cruise of the Han river booked for 8:40 p.m.  Jezreel and Hyunjin have been trying to take me to different restaurants so that I can really get a sense of Korean cuisine.  This time, they brought me a restaurant and ordered what they argued was a very traditional Korean food.  It was called bulgogi, which is simply a marinated barbecued meat of some kind.  Usually it comes in beef or pork and we decided to get both.  They were very delicious.  We also ordered Kimchi-jeon, which is a kimchi pancake.  I know some people don't like kimchi because it's fermented cabbage and has a very strong and very spicy flavor.  I admit that sometimes I don't like it when it's cold because it's too strong.  However, over the last few days, I've been eating a great deal of hot kimchi (whether grilled or barbecued) and it's always wonderful.  I think the heat cooks out some of the really powerful flavors and makes it more mild and tolerable.  I've really come to enjoy this Korean food staple.  After dinner, we walked the street a little and found a street vendor who was selling hotteok, which is kind of like a scone with cinnamon inside it.  It was wonderful.

After killing some time walking the streets, we took the subway down to the Han river for our river cruise.  Jezreel thought it would be a good opportunity to see the Seoul skyline since the river splits the city into two halves.  When we are actually in the city, it can feel very claustrophobic because of the crowds and the tall buildings.  The cruise lasted about an hour and 15 minutes and the night time views of the city were spectacular.  We passed under several large bridges and could see very clearly the high rise skyscrapers and apartment buildings along the river.

Um...don't ask.

Hotteock is such a great dessert.

I actually tasted this one before I knew what it was.  Turned out it was a plateful of the tiniest fish I had ever seen.  They were probably the size of a very small paper clip and you eat them whole.  Not bad, but not that good either.

The pork bulgogi was my favorite dish of the night.  It had this chili paste spice on it that was very good.

The beef bulgogi.

Kimchi pancake.

View of the N Seoul Tower in the background.

Definitely missing my family.  I wish they could see this!

It's been great to see my good friend Jezreel again.  He left SUU in 2010.  

We kept laughing at this picture.  We can't figure out why my hand looks so huge in it!

At the entrance of the main gate to the cruise.

These were interesting.  Korean peninsula made up of coins.

North Korean money.  You don't see this too often!

On the subway.  I used to complain about how the young people in America are involved in their gagets.  It is 10 times worse in Korea.  Everyone has a smart phone and they are super absorbed with them.  At least they are too busy to care what the foreigner is doing.

First Day in Seoul

It was quite a change from Changsha to Seoul.  For one thing, Seoul is just a massive city.  Apart from maybe Los Angeles, I've never been in a city this large.  I'm pretty sure London even pales in comparison to Seoul, but I'm not sure.  It's hard to explain what makes it so overwhelming.   Perhaps it's because the buildings are often very narrow and very tall.  It's like they squished a whole bunch of little businesses into a small space and then each business is trying to attract attention amongst all these other businesses and so they advertise with bright neon lights.  Everywhere you look, there are people, cars, and lights.  Also, it's very clean here compared to Changsha and I couldn't help but notice the people just look wealthier.  They also look much healthier (a bit chunkier) than the Chinese.  I know my friend Johnny would hate for me to say this, but it is noticeable that the Koreans aren't the twigs that the Chinese are.  I feel more at home here in that regard.  I hear the difference can be attributed to all the new Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts on every street corner.   

I'm staying with my friend Jezreel and his wife Hyeounjin in their apartment.  It is very beautiful and well decorated.  They are clearly above average in terms of income level.  Instead of finding cockroaches in my bathroom, I now see a Western-style toilet and actual toilet paper.  This place is luxurious!  Apart from being a tad allergic to their cat Gogo, I'm really quite comfortable.  

Last night, they took me to a restaurant for this type of meal called Sam Gyup Sal.  They bring you pieces of meat, kimchi, and some other sides and you throw them on a grill in the middle of your table.  Once they are cooked, you use pieces of lettuce as wraps and just load them up with stuff.  The tricky part is that you're not supposed to take bites of it.  You have to shove the whole thing in your mouth and it was a bit difficult at times.  I also struggled with the Korean style chopsticks because they aren't rounded or squared like the Chinese ones.  They are flat and I had so much trouble gripping them.  I also found it difficult to sit on the floor in the restaurant because I never really learned to sit in the old "Indian-style" (is that politically correct anymore) when I was in Kindergarten.  The good news is that the food was absolutely delicious.  After dinner, we walked around the downtown area and looked at the skyscrapers.  We also worked our way down this little river walk.  It reminded me a bit of San Antonio.

The next morning, Jezreel invited me to guest lecture in his Global Business Communication classes at his university.  He wanted to have the students analyze my communication challenges in China and to come up with proposals for future communication.  So, I told them about myself and what I experienced in China.  They were very interested and had many questions for me.  We easily filled the hour and 15 minutes in each of the two classes and I had a very positive experience with the Korean students.  They were a little more talkative than my Chinese students, but otherwise not that different.  

Jezreel and Hyeonjin's apartment on the 18th floor.

A three story Dunkin' Donuts!  Is that really necessary?

Waterfall in the downtown business district.

On the river walk.

We both thought this picture was funny.  I can't remember what we were looking at, but by our facial expressions, it would have to be a mushroom cloud.  

Jezreel told me that they displayed some North Korean propaganda in here.  When we arrived it was the winners of an art contest for autistic children.  I felt guilty for being so disappointed, but I was.  

Just me chillin' on the river.

The setup for our Sam Gyup Sal meal.  

Ok, I'm clearly having difficulty sitting in this position.

"Ok, tell me the second you are done 'cause I'm goin' in."

Prepping my lettuce wrap.

My newest discovery.  They sell milkshakes in a pouch.  Picture a Capri Sun, but with something better inside.

Seoul subway is pretty nice I must say.

Jezreel never looks like he knows where he is going, but we always end up in the right place.

The line to get on the bus that goes from the subway to the campus.  Notice the big change from China.  They actually stand in a single file line.  

On our way to class.

Showing a slide of my beautiful family to the students.  They did the same thing as the Chinese students and let out a big "Ahhhhhh."  Translation: "They are so adorable!"

I'm relaxed and having a good time.

You would think Jezreel taught because he was sweating more than me.  He must know me really well and was worried what I would do in class.  Actually, it was like 90 degrees in our classroom.

The students have left already, so we decided to do a rendition of "Islands in the Stream."

Just outside the building where the class was held.

I'm not sure how much I have here, but I hope it's a lot!

The opening gate to the university.

Cruising around looking for some food.

These are noodles in some kind of ice bath.  You add hot pepper paste to it and whatever else they have (here it was mustard, vinegar, and sugar).  Apparently, you cut the noodles across one way and then the other (like a "T") before eating.  Here, Jezreel demonstrates the procedure.  

My technique is flawed, but I figured it out eventually.  I liked the flavor of my dish, but I think I do prefer my noodles hot.

Orphanage Visit and Last Day in Changsha

Going to the orphanage was a good way to finish off my trip to Changsha.  Chance, Brenna, myself and these three Chinese students named Lucy, Barbara, and Nancy (the Chinese seem to love choosing English names) all went together to see the children, to play with them, and to hold them.  Before we went, we pooled our money and bought them lots of stuff.  I can't remember everything we got but I do remember buying diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, wash cloths, music cds, hair barrettes, toothbrushes, and various toys. We had to go to three different stores to get everything we needed and the workers at the stores were very intrigued as to why these Americans were blowing so much money.  We only spent about 1500 yuan ($225 dollars), but it was a fortune around here.  When we told them it was for the orphans, they seemed very excited and willing to help.  They would find extra boxes lying around the stores so that we could fit everything since we would be riding the bus quite a distance into town to get to the orphanage.  Chance was joking that most people will blow about $500 dollars or more every trip to Cosco, but we were celebrities spending a measly 200 bucks.  Money does go a great deal farther here so by the time we were all done shopping, we had 4 big boxes full of supplies to donate.  

When we got to the orphanage, there were many small children in the hallway and they seemed very happy to see us.  The main ones we saw initially ranged in age from about 8 months old to about 4 years old.  Most I would say were about 2 or 3.  Anyway, the first thing that surprised me was how clean it was and how many workers were there and how attentive they were to the children.  You could tell they really cared about them and were interacting with them and showing us around.  The orphanage is next to an elderly person facility and so the whole building is very much like a hospital. The walls are decorated with things to make it more warm for the kids, but it still had that sterile feel that hospitals do.  There was one cute little girl that kept gravitating to Brenna.  She was about 2 and had Leukemia.  It made me really sad to see her afflicted with such a trying disease at such a young age (and orphaned on top of that).  Another cute little girl kept looking at me so I reached out and picked her up.  She started to cry, but I immediately distracted her with some origame swans hanging from the ceiling.  She warmed to me very quickly and started calling me baba (daddy).  Sad, isn't it?  When the workers tried to take her from me a couple of times, she cried and reached back for me.  I also tried to put her down to play with toys a few times and she reached up for me to pick her back up.  It's a good thing Stacie and I aren't eligible by Chinese adoption regulations to adopt because this girl would have come home with me.  I was about ready to bust her out of that joint and hire some people to help me cross the border into Mongolia.  But, I came to my senses quickly enough.

One thing that is very obvious in the orphanage is that there are many girls and the boys they do have are disabled.  In fact, most of the children in the orphanage had some disability.  I saw many kids with down syndrome, dwarfism, cleft lips and palates, and other ailments.  The boys in the orphanage were much more likely, though, to have a disability and it makes sense why when you think about it.  With the one child policy, everyone is trying to have a boy.  If it's a girl (even a healthy one), they are sometimes just abandoned in the streets and end up in the orphanages.  The boys are more likely to satisfy the desires of their parents unless they are disabled.  

It was a really emotional experience for me and I'm not sure how much I should share on a public blog.  On the one hand, it was uplifting to bring some small measure of joy into the lives of these small children.  On the other hand, I realize that despite the great efforts of these orphanage workers, these children lead pretty sad lives.  We generally saw the healthier kids because they could actually get out of bed and come to interact with us.  Many of the children, though, were so disabled that they simply lay in their cribs all day. When I got back to my room, I had a hard time keeping it together.  I really wish I could adopt one of these beautiful children.  Life isn't fair! 

Buying toys for the children.

Yes, the Angry Birds were a big hit.

Our stash of stuff just before getting on the bus.

One thing I'll never get used to in Changsha.  The crowds.

Showing the little kids the toys we brought for them.

Told you they liked the Angry Birds.

The one on the right is the one with Leukemia.  Such a doll! 

Some of the cribs in one of the rooms.  I went into a few of these rooms and waved at the little babies, but it was hard to see them just laying there.

This is the one I wanted to smuggle out of the country.

This disabled boy just loved Chance!

I tried to put her down, but she keeps clawing at me.

This girl on the left is 16 and spends her time doing bead work.  I took her picture and she literally jumped out of her chair.  She seemed very sensitive to noises and things.

View from the orphanage window.

Bunks for the older kids.

This is the Chinese version of a dryer.  It plugs into the wall and you put your clothes in there to dry them.  It zips up around them.  My clothes have now been in there for 3 hours and they seem to be half done.

Going to my favorite restaurant for the last time.

Still on my way.

I made it.  That short woman in the green is Liu jie.  Miss Leo.  She is short even by Chinese standards, but very very sweet.

She is very excited to meet the whole Stein clan next year.  She speaks no English, but kept saying 2 0 1 3 in Chinese because that's when we will come back.  She also grabbed my arm and said "Wo Bu Yao" (Wo Boo Yow).  I don't want.