Thursday, February 10, 2005

Pears.

Vacation time... I spent most of Monday lounging around. Watched some Saturday Night Live episodes. The new stuff is horrible. Studied a bit of Korean, learned the important fact that bae / 배 means both pear and your gut. Yes, I think the average pear here looks like a big apple.

Tuesday and Wednesday were mostly spent with a family from school. Wednesday was great because it was the first day of the lunar new year. The family dressed traditionally. The grandparents were bowed to and they said happy new year, then the grandparents would give out money. The money should bring good luck. Then the people of the same generation bowed to each other and exchanged money. A pretty happy and relaxed time.

Later we went to Ojukheon. It reminded me of Sturbridge Village without the people.

Then we went out for my favorite Korean food...

Dalkgalbi / 닭갈비 is my favorite Korean food I've had so far. I always forget to bring my camera when I'm going out to eat it, I think some might find it a little interesting to look at. Chicken, thick noodles, sweet potatoes that aren't orange, and cabbage are the main ingredients. Some mild to real hot red sauce is added and it's cooked over a burner. Yum.

Yesterday I went out to Unification Park with some friends. The North Korean sub that "drifted" in South Korean waters in 1996 is on the left. I went in it... it seemed like it was Russian-built from the 1960s. That's probably not a bad guess; it was tiny and not exactly state of the art. And the huge boat is a retired South Korean warship. A relatively new ship, it was only the second warship I've ever set foot on. It was a stark contrast to the sub... no doubt to inspire confidence in the minds of the South Korean people. And hopefully the Captain has been spending more time with Abel recently.

We went to Jumunjin, too. The best scenery I've seen in the country yet. A jetty... and some rocks. There was also a cruise ship taken out of the water, placed at the top of a hill and converted into a nice hotel. We don't need to put our palm trees in winter clothes in Florida, though.

And I'll leave with a couple more. To the northwest, from the top of the cruise ship hotel. My new desktop, a cool piece of art.

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