Gwangju blues

I guess we haven't had quite ENOUGH adventure, so Patty, Brian and Jack went to the train station on Saturday morning and did something we haven't done for years ... pick our destination at the train station. Well, we decided to go to Gwangju (also known as Kwangju) because one of Patty's uncles said there was a great green tea farm and ocean-water spa. The other reason, we wanted to ride the bullet train and see the countryside.

We took a short ride to Seoul station, then found we were at the wrong place. It should have been our first clue. So, we headed to Yongsan. An hour later, we were on the KTX. http://ktx.korail.go.kr/eng/

The train was smooth and fast, screaming at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour. In less than three hours, we were in Gwangju, in the very southern portion of South Korea. Kwangju makes Milwaukee look like Paris for its culture. We went to the art section -- it was basically one block, with about four stores and two galleries. No one was around. Then we went to "new town" to get a hotel. We turned down this one ($35 a night)

to stay at the Central Tourist Hotel, which was $70 -- and supposed to be one of the nicest in town. It wasn't. There was a "sports massage" for $50 on the 5th floor. And I don't know how they define "sports," but I don't think this qualifies.

We had a seafood dinner that looked pretty good (before it was cooked), but didn't taste great. The octopus and squid were rubbery, and the shrimp and crab were scarce.

Plus, we kept hearing music all night. New town, as it turns out, is full of old pasttimes: nightclubs, bars, dancing women, etc. Jack wasn't too happy either. He screamed at the top of his lungs for more than 2 hours. Korea has been fantastic, but at this moment both of us felt very far away from home. It was probably the first time we both were really down.

The next day, we bounced back quickly: thanks to American food. (Or is it Australian). Yes, a big lunch at Outback lifted our spirits (and Jack's too). I'm not quite sure what you call this mixture of bread, ice and water ....


We got to the bus station, and found it that it was a 90-minute bus ride to and from the green tea farm. So, we bagged it. Took a train back to Seoul (yay!) and ate dinner at TGI Friday's with the Sam and Pearl Pang. Thank goodness for American franchises :) Jack loved the balloon so much, he slept with it in his hand Sunday night. This is a dark room -- it only looks light because of the flash.

Smokin'
One of the joys of Korea is the bathhouses. They date back to the days when people didn't have personal baths in their homes. Today, they are more of a traditional social gathering place with friends and family (or a ridiculously cheap place to spend the night). I just got back from one near our apartment. For 6,000 won (about $6), I could use a men's only shower, several saunas of different temperatures, a hot tub and a cold tub. One of the saunas was so hot it hurt to breathe and my lips started to burn. Then, after you are refreshed and clean, you put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt (part of the 6,000 won), and go to a unisex area with more saunas, a workout area, lots of mats and areas to sleep and food. I brought a book and just relaxed. Fantastic.

No respect
I am CONVINCED that Koreans are simply not fans of the Cubs. I was thrilled this morning (last night in Chicago) to find that the Cubs were on TV live, with Korean broadcasters, playing the Marlins. I watched every out from the 2nd inning to the 8th. The Cubs were losing 3-0, but put their first two runners on base and were starting to rally. That was when they cut out of the game, to do TWENTY MINUTES of pre-game before showing Chan Ho Park pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For those of you who don't know, Park is the #5 starter for the San Diego Padres. And yes, he's Korean. But the story has a happy ending. The Cubs did rally in the 8th (I found out later) to win the game 6-3. And poor Chan Ho got beaten by Arizona.

Gotta represent ...
This one's for Adam, Bucky, Chad, Todd and Grant ... my roommates from Wisconsin. We all had season tickets the last time Wisconsin won the national championship in hockey.
This year, Wisconsin was the undisputed best college hockey team in the land. Go Badgers!
Fortunately, I remembered the Styx song (domo arigato, Mr. Roboto), so I was able to thank the bewildered guy who took this photo. (Damn those camera-wielding American tourists ....)
 

Legal and lovin' it
On Saturday, I followed the letter of the law. I left the country and came back. My reward? The Korean government allows me to stay another 30 days. Although Japan was generous enough to let me stay through July (90 days), I only visited for five hours. After flying into Kansai airport, I hopped on a train for an hour ride to Osaka. I got some advice for a spring makeover ...
The conductor, a white-haired, white-gloved man, kept rhythmically raising his right hand and pointing forward. It worked: the train followed right behind his gestures.
Osaka Castle was beautiful. A very peaceful area, surrounded by gardens. Osaka is the Chicago of Japan. It's big and well-known in the region, but will always be the second-city.
After this, I took the subway to the Apple store in Osaka. I managed to get there, with only having to ask people for help about six times. I've now ridden the subway in New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Seoul and now ... Osaka. And, I have to say, (with Washington a close second), the Seoul subway is the best. Fast, clean, frequent and -- the best part -- all signs and announcements are in English as well as Korean. 

Lady liberty makes an appearance
I have absolutely no idea the significance, but I had a Statue of Liberty sighting in Osaka. It looked about the same size as it did when I stood on our roof in Brooklyn and squinted at New York harbor.

A few scenic views from the top of Osaka castle. I climbed up the eight floors wearing a jacket (for some reason) and was covered with sweat when I got to the top. Classy, yes I know.
 

Saturday night
On Saturday, we have the five aunts and uncles who live in Seoul over for a thank-you for your help dinner. Here's me being a goof:
This is Patty's cousin (I know him as Big Auntie's son), his wife and their six-month old baby.
Here is Olympic Park auntie's family ... and Q-Hyun (love that name), enjoying the spread with uncle Jin-Moon from Oryudong. That uncle ended up staying late and having a few sojus.
 

Patty's first entry

Some people have been asking who the talented writer and photographer is for the blog. I must admit i'm neither! but lest any of you think i've fallen into Han River never to be heard from again i'll try to make regular contributions, which until we get a computer of our own will be from a 'PC room'. No, not a place where people are nice to eachother but an internet cafe, which are everywhere in Korea. Right now I'm typing away at a quarter to 2 a.m. Korea time.

We are all feeling a bit more setled now that we have an apartment. The first week in the hotel was the hardest because Jack had nowhere to play and the crib the hotel gave us had some strange features! It had a door on the bottom half, like a cat door in a house, and the top half had a horizontal bar that folded down so that Jack was either crawling out the 'cat door' or climbing up the 'ladder'. He slept in the playyard we brought along. Thank you Graco.

The second week in Oryudong was more fun for me as Jack and I got to live with 'Harmony' and my two uncles. Jack became quite spoiled as you can imagine! Every time he would cry out in his sleep the whole house would wake up and insist that he eat something or that I 'Abbuba' him-Korean tradition of baby carrying on the back. Jack was also quite an attraction at Oryudong Elementary school where Uncle Jin Moon took him to play in the play ground. About a dozen or more school girls would follow him around, doting upon him as he went up the slide steps and slid down the slide. I wish I had a picture-can't say I didn't enjoy watching that! B.T.W. my bother Steve attended that school for one year many moons ago. I wonder if all the school girls doted upon him?

Let's see, that brings us to week three, when we moved into our apartment with a few luggages and boxes. All the meals were eaten out-no complaint here-and Brian was already busy at Joong Ang Daily while I ran around with the aforementioned Amex buying an entire household. My big Auntie and uncle Jin Moon were extraordinary in their help to us, chauffering us around from one mega department store to another with many a Costco runs thrown in. By the way, everything at Costco costs almost double what it costs in the U.S., and you won't find better prices for U.S products anywhere else in Seoul, so that gives you some idea of the mark-up! We just paid $9 for a jar of Quaker Oatmeal at a western grocery store.

The following is a warning for any of you planning to leave the States without your official documents in order. All who don't apply need not read this lengthy cautionary tale:
For those of you know that I have perhaps 5 aliases to my credit will be interested to know it came back to bite me back when I applied for my F4 Visa at Seoul Immigration office (1st visit). My naturalization paper didn't have a name change certificate in the back (required after 1990. Mine was in 1991), so I was sent to the US Embassy to get an affidavit to prove that I was, in fact, Hye Kyung Kim at one time. Meanwhile, my Passport bears the name Hye Kyung Kim because at the time I got it my citizenship paper was invalid due to a date change on the document without a seal. Hence my passport has 4 amendments (2 additional aliases, 2 expiration voids). So since I was at the Embassy I applied for a new passport and submitted it. I came back to Immigraion office (2nd visit) with the affidavit but no family tree, no passport and no photo for Jack. I also forgot that Brian needed to show my passport for his visa (b/c of the Hye Kyung Kim discrepency on the passport). Back to the U.S. Embassy (2nd visit) to retrieve my old Passport and then waking Jack up from a nap to hoist him up at a passport photo booth, then back to Immigration (3rd visit) with all 3 things to finish up my and Jack's F4 application 15 minutes before it closed for the weekend. I should get my visa a week from now-2 days before I would have to leave the country otherwise!
Unless you think that's it, I have to return to Immigration to pick up the F4 and old passport, then to the Embassy to pick up the new passport and get my old passport voided out, then back to Immigration to notify them of my new passport! A spy never had it this hard!

The following is a warning for any of you planning to leave the States without your official documents in order. All who don't apply need not read this leagnthy cautionary tale:

For those of you know that I have perhaps 5 aliases to my credit will be interested to know it came back to bite me back when I applied for my F4 Visa at Seoul Immigration office (1st visit). My naturalization paper didn't have a name change certificate in the back (required after 1990. Mine was in 1991), so I was sent to the US Embassy to get an affidavit to prove that I was, in fact, Hye Kyung Kim at one time. Meanwhile, my Passport bears the name Hye Kyung Kim because at the time I got it my citizenship paper was invalid due to a date change on the document without a seal. Hence my passport has 4 amendments (2 additional aliases, 2 expiration voids).So since I was at the Embassy I applied for a new passport and submitted it. I came back to Immigraion office (2nd visit) with the affidavit but no family tree, no passport and no photo for Jack. I also forgot that Brian needed to show my passport for his visa (b/c of the Hye Kyung Kim discrepency on the passport). Back to the U.S. Embassy (2nd visit) to retrieve my old Passport and then waking Jack up from a nap to hoist him up at a passport photo booth, then back to Immigration (3rd visit) with all 3 things to finish up my and Jack's F4 application 15 minutes before it closed for the weekend. I should get my visa a week from now-2 days before I would have to leave the country otherwise!

4/17
For Brian's birthday we had cake (bad) from our neighborhood bakery, champagne from our grocer (worse) 10 cards from aunt Elizabeth and 3 homemade ones: one from Uncle Jin Moon, who came over just to make it with me and Jack. Then we went to the "Texas Western Ice Bar" which boasted the bigest selection of American and European beers we've seen so far-even Brian's favorite Newcastle Brown ($10 a bottle), then to a typical Korean watering hole which serves a variety of 'hof' (beer) and 'beer food' like fried chicken. Then Jack told us it was time to go home.

Still crazy after all these years.
Yes, Brian turns 36 today. And the cake at the Pangs Sunday night was great ...
But look at all of Brian's birthday cards!!!! Yes, he hates to brag, but you can see how popular he is. Jack is pretty proud, too. Of how much cake he could stuff in his mouth. OK, OK. The truth must come out. These cards were all from aunt TGE (the greatest ever, see previous post)
http://lifeandseoul.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-not-to-do-welcome-dear-readers-to.html

It was our first piece of mail at the new house! There are cards from their dogs, Martha and Penny, Bill and auntie, all the way from Marblehead, Mass. I didn't feel a day older. We spent the morning in Yeouido, which is a beautiful section of Seoul with lots of parks and the financial district.

Climb every mountain.

On Saturday night, our reward for climbing to the top of this little mountain, was the chance to drop 4,000 won ($4) for a spaghetti dinner. We passed, but only because we had a mountain of food ahead of us at Patty's uncle's 60th birthday party. That's a huge deal in Korea (along with the wedding and the first birthday), but we didn't want to bore you with tons of pictures of the great food at the Sheraton Walker Hill and all the family that came out to celebrate. Oh yeah ... we forgot to take any.

Cherries Jubilee.


I actually used that headline in a photo cutline for the Joongang Daily. But that's just too good not to reuse. Right? Anyway ... we got to the hotel early for Patty's uncle's birthday dinner, so we walked up the mountain side (5-10 minutes) and took in the cherry blossoms. The smell was amazing. And when the wind blew, the pedals blew around like snow. Very cool.

Finally, I'm at work so things are slowing down ...

Wait, I'd better erase that in case the boss stops by. Well, it was quite a weekend. Friday night, Brian and two others from the JoongAng daily stopped by the Seoul Foreign Correspondents club to hang out with fellow ink-stained wretches. What a raucous party. There were about six white men, all in their 60s, hanging out and drinking Korea's own Hite beer, which makes Coors Light taste like Guiness.

The next day, we had lunch with Patty's Park cousins (a few of them pictured below, the middle is In-bae, with his wife and daughter). We went to Samwon Gardens, which is owned by the family of LPGA golfer Grace Park. When she wins a major tournament, dinner is free. Unfortunately, it's been a while ...


Jack seemed to enjoy himself....

Illegal Immigrant
Brian may be about to become an illegal immigrant. His 30-day "tourist" visa expires April 24, and my work visa hasn't been processed yet. So, he either has to fly to Japan, then catch the next flight back to restart the clock ... or take his chances as an "illegal." We'll keep you posted.
Patty should be OK, she's working on getting a visa for people who were born in Seoul and whose parents are Korean. As for Jack, we hope he can latch onto momma's paperwork. Otherwise, he and Brian will fly together for some fresh sushi.

Play ball!

Well, the batteries on our camera have died, so I don't have any new photos to post. HOWEVER, here's a couple shots from Opening Day at the Mets game in Shea. I was there ... in spirit. (Thanks, Karla ... shown below, for passing these on to me). And I renew my vow to return to attend a game if AND WHEN the Cubs play in the World Series. Signed, the biggest Cubs fan in Seoul.

Our new home!
Wow. We'll never live in a place like this again. Our apartment is brand, brand new. Not too many people have even moved into the building yet. We're on the 10th floor, with views of Seoul on both sides. (See below). We have so much technology (remote control lights, heated floors, talking rice cookers, a stove with an automatic exhaust sensor, even a bidet) ... but all the manuals are in Korean! Oyy ... We love the place, though. It's got three bedrooms with lots of room. It even has a playground on the bottom. The move itself took about 10 minutes. But we spent the last two days running around Seoul with an Amex to furnish it. Our bed arrives Tuesday and the couch on Wednesday. Until then, our bed is our floor.


 

Seoul food.
Meat on the street. What could be better? This guy was selling pork that had been cooked for 30 minutes over charcoal, then slathered with bbq sauce and/or mustard. He was in Sinchon, and sold it for $1.50 (though it costs only $1 in Oryu-dong). Below, Patty bites into a "Thunder Burger" near Itaewon. Our first burgers in Seoul. Darn tasty.
 

Childhood memories.
This is the church Patty attended as a child. They still remember her, and they still serve noodles after church -- the same as 25 years ago. Patty's grandmother still goes there, as do her aunt and uncle. We won't be going there for one reason: Brian doesn't understand a word. The kids start learning English at an early age here. A group of little kids kept calling out to Brian "How old are you?" (Not really expecting an answer). Jack held court as usual, Patty's uncle is holding him below. And one of the kids in the nursery during church made a sign for Jack.