Weekend in South Korea

Food, Friends, and Fun in Seoul

South Korea is one of a few countries that has gone from a developing to a developed country in recent times. It has experienced significant growth and success domestically and in the international business world. Samsung has passed Sony in terms of global brand value. Hyundai has gone from being regarded as a cheap Korean car to being widely accepted and purchased in the US market. Before we left our East Asian neighborhood (the flight from Shanghai to Seoul is only 1:40), we wanted to be sure to experience Korea. An old high school buddy of mine, Nathan, is currently living and working in Seoul as an English teacher, so this made all the more sense. It worked out that his dad, Gil, whose house I used to hang out at after school, came to Korea for a visit (fortunately longer than ours) on the same weekend as us. We found Korea to be a nice place - extremely clean and organized. It isn't quite as rigid as Japan, at least as far as we could tell. We basically stayed in Seoul, which is a large city with over 10 million people (picture above).

Our Local Hosts

My company has somewhat recently started operations in Korea and I had the opportunity to meet our Korean team on a visit they made to China. So, I made sure to say hello when we were there. They not only gave me a tour of our projects in Seoul, they took me out for Korean BBQ lunch (Korea is famous for its BBQ), and hosted Karen and I at two nice dinners. One dinner was in an area of Seoul that Nathan calls little America (Itaewon is right next to the US military base there and has every western brand restaurant you can imagine) and the second was in the old part of the city at a very traditional restaurant they said was about 500 years old. You can imagine the second was a much nicer experience. This picture is from that dinner. Korean food consists of many small dishes, served over the course of the meal. There are endless kinds of kimchee (usually pickled cabbage, but can be other pickled vegetable items). Some things were good, others were not so good (like the plate of raw beef), but it was a very nice place and a neat experience. The garden outside the old restaurant building was also amazing. Henry, Alex, Carolyn - if for some reason you read this - thanks again!

Our Non-Local, Local Host

Nathan has only been in Korea since January. He finds it a little boring (too western and developed after he spent 28 months in Kazakhstan), but seems to have made the rounds and learned the place in his few months there. Gil handled his jet lag pretty well, and we explored the city together on Saturday and Sunday. We hiked up to the North Seoul Tower to get the lay of the land and then went to the Deoksugung Palace downtown. It has an interesting mix of Korean-style and western-style buildings within the compound, a result of the varying periods of occupation by the Japanese. The architecture in Korea does not look that different from some of the buildings we have seen at temple complexes in China and even in Japan (to our untrained eyes). The traditional-style buildings were constructed of wood, with paper walls, and elaborate roof profiles. It is interesting (and confusing) how the histories of China, Korea and Japan are interwoven.

Even the writing is interesting. The Chinese came up with the complicated character language that is used in both China and Japan. However, the Japanese have combined it with more simple letters that represent sounds without meanings (like our letters in English), plus the pronunciation is completely different. Koreans used Chinese characters for a long time (although with another different pronunciation), but one of the Kings came up with a phonetic system that does not involve characters with meanings (like our alphabet). To clarify meaning, Koreans still learn, know, and use Chinese characters in parenthesis after words with multiple meanings. This means that Japanese and Koreans can go to China and read; Chinese and Koreans can to to Japan and read part of it; but Japanese and Chinese cannot go to Korea and read. One other potentially interesting fact is that the United Nations adopted the Korean alphabet and its associated pronunciation as one of the best languages to write the words of languages without writing. For example, some random language from Africa where they don't actually have writing to go with it, could best be written, by sound, in the modern Korean alphabet. Strange to think about.

After the palace, we caught part of the parade celebrating Buddha's birthday. It was a procession of colorfully dressed people - men, women, and children - singing, playing instruments and music, and dancing. A parade is a parade (even the pictures are pretty boring), but at least it was more interesting than the average holiday or hometown parade in America.

That evening, we ventured out for some streetside Korean BBQ. It is fun. Here are Gil, Karen, Nate, and I (right to left). You sit around a cooking barrel with a relatively small tabletop surrounding a grill-top well full of coals built into it. The place Nate took us to was more or less in an alley, meaning that mopeds and motorcycles would regularly zip past our table, which added something and took something away from the ambiance. The proprietor of the alley cookery let us do most of the work, but would occassionally swing by to correct our techniques and make sure we were enjoying ourselves. There were lots of sauces and seasonings that go with it. We ended up eating more than we needed because it is a set portioning per person, plus it was good and fun to cook. Here is the spread. After dinner, the three 'youngsters' (not so much any more) headed out to see a little South Korean night life, which is quite lively.

Other Tidbits

Here are a few more things, which I consider to be interesting on some level, that we experienced on our trip to Korea.

1. We tried to go to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as we heard it is interesting and the whole concept of North Korea is somewhat amazing. It is something that you have to book well in advance, so we didn't get to go.

2. The night life in Korea, and the culture generally, was impressive in its western-style mass consumerism. People are very high fashion. The malls are packed with young people out spending money. Bars were fairly expensive. Although it is still somewhat a closed economy and society, there is a significant presence of western brands and influence in the goods and services consumed in South Korea.

3. Virtually every car on the road is of Korean manufacture (maybe about 95%). Korean cars are cheaper in the US than they are in Korea. This is a closed market so import duties are huge. That said, when the presidential motorcade blew by us one morning, it consisted of a bunch of German sedans (BMW, Mercedes, etc.) and big US SUVs (suburban type secret service rigs) so while the government doesn't want Koreans to gain easy access to foreign brands, it has no problem overspending on them for its own fleet (Nate's observation).

4. We were served a bowl of peanuts and dried fish with hot sauce for dipping as a table snack at a bar. Nate and I had some; Karen refrained. Another interesting trend at the bar was that people just come in and buy a bottle (fifth) of alcohol - tequila, whiskey, etc. and then sit there and mix it or shoot it. I guess it is cheaper and effective, but it was different.

5. People eat small snails and cooked silkworms as a streetside snack (in addition to lots of dried squid and fish). In this picture, the round silver container is a cooker full of silkworms and the square one behind it is full of small snails. People walk around sucking the snails out of the shells, which is interesting. These things are eaten in China as well, but it seemed more prevalent in Korea. None of us tried this.

6. We went to Costco on our last day in Korea. This sounds lame, but we were actually quite excited, for several reasons. First, we were able to get drinks and hot dogs for less than $2. Second, Costco was virtually the same as it is in the US - many of the same products - exactly. Third, we were able to bring some foods we miss in China back with us (in limited quantity). We got good tunafish, canned chicken breast, blueberry bagels, and some granola bars.

7. Perhaps the most unique phenomenon we saw amongst the Korean youth, was the tendency for young couples to wear matching shirts. This is really weird and in my opinion quite unfortunate for the men of Korea. The shirts can be exactly the same - cut and color, the same pattern in different colors, the same colors but with cuts for men and women, or somehow be themed together, but different. This was very common. This picture is from the airport at one of the check-in counters. I've gone ahead and circled the visible matching couples in red, but bear in mind that these are just the ones you can see. I would bet there were at least three more in that crowd. You really should click on this picture to see it clearly.

OK, that's it for now. We were going to try to squeeze two more trips in before we go - one to Chengdu (pandas) and one to Xian (terra cotta warriors), but due to the earthquake we may only be going to Xian. So you'll see maybe one more post from China, and then it is off to India for us. Best wishes to all.

Update from China

Overdue Update
Karen and I have been busy lately with some guests, some weekend trips, and lots of business travel for me. I've been running from China to the US to India to the Middle East and back again. Consequently, I've been lax on posting. Before starting, I’d like to say that the recent earthquake did not impact us. I was in India and Karen was here in Shanghai, but she didn’t feel it. Apparently my office building in downtown Shanghai was swaying and everyone evacuated the building, but there was no major damage in the city. However, the situation is still very bad in western China nearer the epicenter. The Chinese seem very good about organizing and giving aid to their countrymates in the west.

Some Visitors
The week before Easter we were supposed to have a mini international Kellogg reunion as our good friends Aaron and Ulrika (living in New Zealand) and Jaap and Jantine (from the Netherlands) were supposed to rendezvous at our place in Shanghai. Unfortunately, the plan unraveled a bit. After the Dutch flew from Amsterdam to Munich, to connect for Shanghai, they were denied entry to the plane because they never got Chinese visas. Of course this was an unpleasant and expensive lesson for them, but they did get to see our friends in Munich, and we had a nice week with Aaron and Ulrika. We showed them around, hung out in the evenings and they took a day trip to Hangzhou. Essentially, they got a good taste of the city and our lives in it. Here a shot of us at dinner at Tang Dynasty, which is an inexpensive, but fairly upscale restaurant that serves very authentic (and strange) Chinese food. It would have been a nicer picture with six of us...maybe in India! The best part about Tang Dynasty is that the menu has pictures and is in English and Chinese. We opted to skip the snake soup and chicken cartilage, but went for Karen's favorite dumplings with peanut sauce. On Wednesday night that week, we took them to the Coconut, which is a little place we go sometimes on Wednesday because we know the people and ladies drink free. They have a good band and its five minutes from home. Here are Karen, Ulrika, and Mary Catherine (Canadian teacher at Karen's school) posing, Asian-style.

Another good thing that their visit did was motivate me to get our BBQ working again (not-so-cheap, cheap Chinese BBQ!), get our roof deck in order, and find some fire wood for our fire pit. You might think, as I did the day I bought a fire pit here, that finding fire wood in China would be easy, but this is not correct. You can get Delloggs at the grocery store for about $7 each. Much to Karen's dismay, the opportunity to get some wood arose when she was with me near a local mall. Some old guy rode his bicycle by with a bunch of wood on the back of it. I chased him down and asked if he wanted to sell his wood. He said yes for about $4. I said sure. Then I asked/gestured for a saw (these were more like logs). He said he had one at his house which was ten minutes away. I said great and we started walking and talking - him pushing his bike, me walking next to him, and Karen, disatisfied with the direction the situation had gone, about 100 feet back. Ten minutes turned into fifteen, then thirty, and then a series of "two more minutes". We ended up following him back to his house, which was really in the depths of a very local slum. It worked out fine, but I think I paid more than I would at Home Depot. Here was this old guy, along with his family, at their home which looked about the size of our bedroom, with a concrete floor, a table for two that doubled as the kitchen, newspaper cushions on the seats, and a pile of wood outside the door. I'm trying to negotiate and Karen is yelling at me for paying too little. In the end it was fine, the people were happy with the price, and I have an eager source for wood. Aaron and I made another wood run, partially to get more and partially for the experience. Here is a picture of the guy, his friend, his daughter (?), and I cutting the wood with their handmade saw. In case you are wondering, Aaron and I had a nice fire on the roof deck, just out of principle.

A couple weeks later, we were also visited by a troupe of my University of Washington Construction Management friends from America. Brian, Kaj, and Ken and his wife came to Shanghai for about a week. Ken and Susan (his wife) are Taiwanese-Americans, so they got around fine (they speak Mandarin in Taiwan, same as most of China) and even had some friends and family in town. We had a glimpse of the way young Taiwanese people spend their evenings in the big city - eating big meals while smoking and drinking Baijiu (white alcohol), followed by countless hours at fancy and expensive lounges, maybe with some KTV (Karaoke) thrown in. We skipped the late night, but that is what happened to Brian here. When it was our turn to host, we showed them all our normal spots - the pearl market, the fakes market, etc. They were doubtful of the appeal of the fakes market at first, but I think the cheap prices and negotiating game grew on them. Here is Kaj with the controller to our 'unlocked' Nintendo Wii, for which we can buy (copied) games for about $1 - of course, at the fakes market. We also made sure to take them to the Coconut (same local bar), where Kaj made efforts to recruit Sunny, a carry-on sized potential wife to take back to the States with him. That didn't work out, but he did go home with some fake dress shirts and some copied artwork. The appeal of a good deal in China can defeat most everyone's appreciation for legitimacy and respect for intellectual property rights.

Hong Kong
On my way back from a recent trip to India, for which I typically have to connect in Hong Kong, we worked in a quick weekend trip. Hong Kong is considered a special adminstrative region within China. It has a semi-independent government, its own currency, and has acheived a much higher level of average development and wealth. It is pretty organized and clean, although it does still feel like China when you wander around. Local people speak Cantonese (and most speak at least some Mandarin), and English is more common than in mainland China. I arrived in Hong Kong on a Saturday morning after a night flight (on a plane full of mosquitoes from sitting with the plane door open on the Bombay tarmac) and met Karen directly at Hong Kong Disney. Hong Kong Disneyland was nice - everything was a little smaller than the 'real' one in Orlando, but it is cheaper and there were very few people there. We did Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, found Mickey at the Character Corner, and reminisced about the old days, almost nine years ago, in the Happiest Place on Earth. Our final reaction was that Hong Kong Disney was kind of lame...more catered to small children than in California and Florida, where they have better rides. Here we are in front of the severely scaled-down princess' castle. After lunch, Karen decided to try a sweet red been and rice porridge 'desert', which more or less looked just like this when we left the restaurant (she didn't like it). They also sold dried squid at the snack carts there; I don't recall peddling those during my days on Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom.

Other than that, we wandered around the city, which is very modern, has a nice waterfront, an impressive skyline, and is easy to get around in taxis, the subway, or the double-decker buses. We had some good conveyor belt sushi, did a little of the night life, and jumped on the 2.5 hour flight back to Shanghai.

India Bound
For those who have not heard, Karen and I will soon be leaving China, headed for another great overseas adventure. In early July, we will be packing up and heading to Bombay, for a stint in yet another booming developing country. Of course, India is very different from China; some things will be better and some things will be worse. As of last week, after our house-hunting trip to Bombay (Mumbai), we have both been there and are looking forward to the change. We are looking forward to the food, but dreading the heat and monsoon season. The people are more relaxed and social, but the poverty is striking. At least we'll have some local friends - Radha and Anant (of course from Kellogg). I don't know if we'll change the blog address, but there will certainly be many new things for me to write about. So anyone who was contemplating a visit to China to see / stay with us, you will soon have to consider visiting us in an entirely different place. Lastly, thanks to our visitors from this spring; we'll see you again soon - either in India or elsewhere! Hope all is well with everyone.