Monday night, we went to Indian food which was great and a good resp
ite from all of the unfamiliar stuff. I had a really yummy dhal and garlic naan. (I forgot to add that Sun night I made them my Americasian fusion ramen). We also took a gander around E-mart to show them an Asian grocery store which they really loved. I think they found the mountains of rice, adventurous seafood, Green Bay pickles and Columbia Crest particularly fun to see. Tuesday I had a giant break from work (two and a half hours) so Dad got some takeout Chinese and then we ventured to the bath house at my gym. First, we changed into the spa clothes- shorts and a baggy t-shirt- before trying out some of the sauna rooms. They got pretty hot but they were decorated with these gorgeous stone mosaics with quartz and amethyst that showed Korean scenes. The hottest rooms also had ice water fed benches and rice mats on the floor to protect the feet so they were actually really comfortable. There was also an ice room that we peeked into. After we were done lounging, it was nakie time. We went to our separate locker rooms, stripped, and did the bath parts. The big news is that I FINALLY figured out how to operate the jets in the massage pool- there's a magnetic chip in the key bracelet that you press to a green button. I can't tell you how many times I tried jabbing it with my finger to no avail, so that's a good development. I can't speak for Dad too much but Mom seemed to settle right in.
Tuesday night, we went to a neighborhood kimbop place (Korean sushi) where we had tuna kimbop (which, though yummy, I still can't eat because it was the last thing I had before I got violently sick two months ago), kimchi dok bop, which was sauteed tomato kimchi, rice, and an egg. Not bad. Last, we had mandu ramen. I kind of prefer mine. We picked up some fried chicken on the way back...simply to add some protein, of course.
Wednesday we had lunch at home again. After I got off work, we had Mother/Father's Day Night. I attempted to take them to my favorite galbi place...only to find out that it was fresh out, so it was only sam gap sal that night. That was my first Korean dinner and there's a reason I haven't really tried it since- it's basically thick, fatty fatty fatty bacon that doesn't get cooked all of the way. I much prefer leaner beef galbi. Anyways, I had the parents try mokkoli again (Dad liked, Mom loathed) as well as some of the sides, including my favorite egg soup. We hustled our way to the Daejeon Art Center behind my school for a modern dance performance to which I treated my parents. It was called "The Mating Dance" and it was actually beautiful. It didn't hurt that the first half the guys were all shirtless and the side lighting highlighted all of their muscles to great effect...lovely scenery. They were actually good though, in a legitimate artistic sense, so we enjoyed it.
Thursday Mom and Dad came to observe me for a whole day. We made s'mores with both of my kindie and two post-kindie classes, they were messy, sticky, sugary gold. Went down a charm. The funniest part was when Dad was practicing his water drop sound in former NYU (after they had all had ample time to pet his moustache...) and Leo got right up to his face, peered into his mouth and said "I think there's water in there..." and we absolutely cracked up. It was lovely to share my kids with them, as they're basically my favorite part of this year. I can't get enough of the hugs and adoration, I think they go a measure to offset missing the human connection of home. After work, we went with the other foreigners for sam ge tan (ginseng chicken soup I tried my first week here). I loved it my second time around, it was great and nice to introduce everyone.
Friday, work as usual, but my boss took us out for this really elaborate very Korean lunch. It is hard to say what the main dish was, as there were about 22. It reminded me of "Anna and the King" where they're sitting and picking up bits of food from the whole feast laid out in front of them on sumptuous leaves...except this wasn't in Thailand, it was across the street. We had great honeyed fish, pickled radish, frozen sashimi (on purpose), oodong noodles, rice cakes, lovely mushrooms, chicken soup, pork, purple bamboo rice, fruit tea and I don't even know what else. Even by Korean standards, it was quite the spread and beyond generous for her to treat us. She also said some very complimentary stuff about me which was really nice to hear. Always good to feel competent. Mom made a quick dinner after work before we headed off to English Club. This was a good choice, Mom and Dad really liked meeting some more Koreans and they got every bit the gracious reception that I expected. I think one of them thought he was going to have a heart attack when Dad came to sit by him, he was so excited. We talked about love as a scientific, hormonal phenomenon and then went to walk around at Choongnam University at night to see the cherry blossoms.
Now, important important important aside. Daejeon has woken up. About two weeks ago, spring HAPPENED and all of these innocuous looking trees that punctuate my apartment a
nd my morning commute exploded in flowers. The cherry blossoms are by far my favorite tree I've ever seen in my life- it's like a pinky white frothy popcorn ball of flowers just coating every branch. Lovely. Lovely lovely lovely. We also have a ton of wider, smoother, white magnolias which are also stunning. 
So yes, Daejeon has scored some points with me recently, even before the parents descended. Girlfriend got her hair did.
Anyways, we walked up some lanes in the university flanked on either side by these huge white flurries of blossoms and got some hot chocolate because the temperature was not quite matching the spring-like visual. It was cold, but heart-achingly gorgeous, so I forgave the air its chill. After, I really wanted my parents to see the mandu place that we always go to so Hooney very obligingly drove us and accompanied our little midnight snack. Now, the ahjima (older woman) who hand makes these has been mentioned in this blog before. She makes a mean mandu but is usually somewhat surly and kind of just does her thing in the corner rollin out the dough. Dad managed to hit some button with her, as he is want to do, and she fell in love and cackled as I have never heard any woman cackle. For that matter, sounds emitted from that woman's mouth that I've never even associated with a human. It was the best laugh I've yet stumbled across, and better for the fact that the interaction was all translated and garbled through the language barrier. Of course, Mom and Dad also loved the mandu. So win win.
Saturday morning, we had Father's Day at school where dads come and play games
with their kids. My station did a quiz where Dad and child stood on a big piece of paper and if they got the question wrong, they had to fold it and the last pair not touching the floor won. It was pretty funny seeing some fully grown be-suited men balancing on one food clutching their kid and trying to answer a question in English. After, one of my sweet coworkers gave my parents a parting gift even though they'd barely spoken and we hopped the KTX to Seoul. We managed to time it perfectly so that we dropped our stuff off and made it to Changdeo
kgung Palace just ahead of the English tour. This palace was spectacular. Gyeongbokgung (way back in October) was bigger and more imposing, this was gentler and flowed with the topography. It had some beautiful trees, flowering like the rest of Korea, and a Secret Garden that was a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the three most influential gardens in Asia. I particularly loved the pond in the Secret Garden, very tranquil.
After that, we spent a loooooong time wandering around and trying to find dinner. We actually sat down in three different restaurants before settling down. I tried kal guksu (knife noodles in a soup) for the first time, yummy. Then we turned in. Sunday was largely spent wandering Insadong at the market and picking up presents and souvenirs. We got the dragon's beard cookies and Mom and I had tea while Dad did some independent site seeing. We ended up waving the white flag for dinner and doing Pizza Hut. Afterword, we took a really nice walk along the stream that flows through the middle of Seoul and saw some cool light exhibitio
ns along it's length. It's source is at the really big square at the heart of the city that feeds into the Seoul Performing Art Center, the American Embassy, and Gyeongbokgung Palace. Nice area, I finally feel like Seoul's making a better impression after zooming in from the endless apartments. I also counted about 8 (I think) big screen TVs running ads on the surrounding skyscrapers.
EEEEEEEaaarly the next morning I said bye to both, which yes was sad, and got the train back home. I had some extra time before work so I took a quick nap which led to me waking up in my PJs riiight about the time I was supposed to be walking into school so that was a rush. Despite the obvious twinge at saying goodbye, I'm great. My interest in Korea is revitalized and it honestly feels like they filled me back up. I've got a new spring in my step, which is much much appreciated. This week has been a really quick one. Unfortunately, Renee's leav
ing soon so her replacement Tracy came today. She seems nice but we didn't talk much yet. I tried another new food last night as well, dalk galbi. It's spicy chicken, cabbage and sweet potato fried together with rice noodles with cheese. Pretty good. They even fry up the remains with some rice. Not bad. Also, today I checked out a full blown grocery store. That is directly underneath my apartment. That it took me 8 months to find. Mom serendipitously happened upon it and I feel like a prize idiot. I'll still make my E-mart runs for specialized stuff but it's got basic produce, cereal, milk, eggs, ramen....enough to be a convenient resource.
So that's the latest, world! I am 2/3 done, 4 months to go, foot loose, and fancy free.
ite from all of the unfamiliar stuff. I had a really yummy dhal and garlic naan. (I forgot to add that Sun night I made them my Americasian fusion ramen). We also took a gander around E-mart to show them an Asian grocery store which they really loved. I think they found the mountains of rice, adventurous seafood, Green Bay pickles and Columbia Crest particularly fun to see. Tuesday I had a giant break from work (two and a half hours) so Dad got some takeout Chinese and then we ventured to the bath house at my gym. First, we changed into the spa clothes- shorts and a baggy t-shirt- before trying out some of the sauna rooms. They got pretty hot but they were decorated with these gorgeous stone mosaics with quartz and amethyst that showed Korean scenes. The hottest rooms also had ice water fed benches and rice mats on the floor to protect the feet so they were actually really comfortable. There was also an ice room that we peeked into. After we were done lounging, it was nakie time. We went to our separate locker rooms, stripped, and did the bath parts. The big news is that I FINALLY figured out how to operate the jets in the massage pool- there's a magnetic chip in the key bracelet that you press to a green button. I can't tell you how many times I tried jabbing it with my finger to no avail, so that's a good development. I can't speak for Dad too much but Mom seemed to settle right in.Tuesday night, we went to a neighborhood kimbop place (Korean sushi) where we had tuna kimbop (which, though yummy, I still can't eat because it was the last thing I had before I got violently sick two months ago), kimchi dok bop, which was sauteed tomato kimchi, rice, and an egg. Not bad. Last, we had mandu ramen. I kind of prefer mine. We picked up some fried chicken on the way back...simply to add some protein, of course.
Wednesday we had lunch at home again. After I got off work, we had Mother/Father's Day Night. I attempted to take them to my favorite galbi place...only to find out that it was fresh out, so it was only sam gap sal that night. That was my first Korean dinner and there's a reason I haven't really tried it since- it's basically thick, fatty fatty fatty bacon that doesn't get cooked all of the way. I much prefer leaner beef galbi. Anyways, I had the parents try mokkoli again (Dad liked, Mom loathed) as well as some of the sides, including my favorite egg soup. We hustled our way to the Daejeon Art Center behind my school for a modern dance performance to which I treated my parents. It was called "The Mating Dance" and it was actually beautiful. It didn't hurt that the first half the guys were all shirtless and the side lighting highlighted all of their muscles to great effect...lovely scenery. They were actually good though, in a legitimate artistic sense, so we enjoyed it.
Thursday Mom and Dad came to observe me for a whole day. We made s'mores with both of my kindie and two post-kindie classes, they were messy, sticky, sugary gold. Went down a charm. The funniest part was when Dad was practicing his water drop sound in former NYU (after they had all had ample time to pet his moustache...) and Leo got right up to his face, peered into his mouth and said "I think there's water in there..." and we absolutely cracked up. It was lovely to share my kids with them, as they're basically my favorite part of this year. I can't get enough of the hugs and adoration, I think they go a measure to offset missing the human connection of home. After work, we went with the other foreigners for sam ge tan (ginseng chicken soup I tried my first week here). I loved it my second time around, it was great and nice to introduce everyone.
Friday, work as usual, but my boss took us out for this really elaborate very Korean lunch. It is hard to say what the main dish was, as there were about 22. It reminded me of "Anna and the King" where they're sitting and picking up bits of food from the whole feast laid out in front of them on sumptuous leaves...except this wasn't in Thailand, it was across the street. We had great honeyed fish, pickled radish, frozen sashimi (on purpose), oodong noodles, rice cakes, lovely mushrooms, chicken soup, pork, purple bamboo rice, fruit tea and I don't even know what else. Even by Korean standards, it was quite the spread and beyond generous for her to treat us. She also said some very complimentary stuff about me which was really nice to hear. Always good to feel competent. Mom made a quick dinner after work before we headed off to English Club. This was a good choice, Mom and Dad really liked meeting some more Koreans and they got every bit the gracious reception that I expected. I think one of them thought he was going to have a heart attack when Dad came to sit by him, he was so excited. We talked about love as a scientific, hormonal phenomenon and then went to walk around at Choongnam University at night to see the cherry blossoms.
Now, important important important aside. Daejeon has woken up. About two weeks ago, spring HAPPENED and all of these innocuous looking trees that punctuate my apartment a
nd my morning commute exploded in flowers. The cherry blossoms are by far my favorite tree I've ever seen in my life- it's like a pinky white frothy popcorn ball of flowers just coating every branch. Lovely. Lovely lovely lovely. We also have a ton of wider, smoother, white magnolias which are also stunning. 
So yes, Daejeon has scored some points with me recently, even before the parents descended. Girlfriend got her hair did.Anyways, we walked up some lanes in the university flanked on either side by these huge white flurries of blossoms and got some hot chocolate because the temperature was not quite matching the spring-like visual. It was cold, but heart-achingly gorgeous, so I forgave the air its chill. After, I really wanted my parents to see the mandu place that we always go to so Hooney very obligingly drove us and accompanied our little midnight snack. Now, the ahjima (older woman) who hand makes these has been mentioned in this blog before. She makes a mean mandu but is usually somewhat surly and kind of just does her thing in the corner rollin out the dough. Dad managed to hit some button with her, as he is want to do, and she fell in love and cackled as I have never heard any woman cackle. For that matter, sounds emitted from that woman's mouth that I've never even associated with a human. It was the best laugh I've yet stumbled across, and better for the fact that the interaction was all translated and garbled through the language barrier. Of course, Mom and Dad also loved the mandu. So win win.
Saturday morning, we had Father's Day at school where dads come and play games
with their kids. My station did a quiz where Dad and child stood on a big piece of paper and if they got the question wrong, they had to fold it and the last pair not touching the floor won. It was pretty funny seeing some fully grown be-suited men balancing on one food clutching their kid and trying to answer a question in English. After, one of my sweet coworkers gave my parents a parting gift even though they'd barely spoken and we hopped the KTX to Seoul. We managed to time it perfectly so that we dropped our stuff off and made it to Changdeo
kgung Palace just ahead of the English tour. This palace was spectacular. Gyeongbokgung (way back in October) was bigger and more imposing, this was gentler and flowed with the topography. It had some beautiful trees, flowering like the rest of Korea, and a Secret Garden that was a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the three most influential gardens in Asia. I particularly loved the pond in the Secret Garden, very tranquil.After that, we spent a loooooong time wandering around and trying to find dinner. We actually sat down in three different restaurants before settling down. I tried kal guksu (knife noodles in a soup) for the first time, yummy. Then we turned in. Sunday was largely spent wandering Insadong at the market and picking up presents and souvenirs. We got the dragon's beard cookies and Mom and I had tea while Dad did some independent site seeing. We ended up waving the white flag for dinner and doing Pizza Hut. Afterword, we took a really nice walk along the stream that flows through the middle of Seoul and saw some cool light exhibitio
ns along it's length. It's source is at the really big square at the heart of the city that feeds into the Seoul Performing Art Center, the American Embassy, and Gyeongbokgung Palace. Nice area, I finally feel like Seoul's making a better impression after zooming in from the endless apartments. I also counted about 8 (I think) big screen TVs running ads on the surrounding skyscrapers.EEEEEEEaaarly the next morning I said bye to both, which yes was sad, and got the train back home. I had some extra time before work so I took a quick nap which led to me waking up in my PJs riiight about the time I was supposed to be walking into school so that was a rush. Despite the obvious twinge at saying goodbye, I'm great. My interest in Korea is revitalized and it honestly feels like they filled me back up. I've got a new spring in my step, which is much much appreciated. This week has been a really quick one. Unfortunately, Renee's leav
ing soon so her replacement Tracy came today. She seems nice but we didn't talk much yet. I tried another new food last night as well, dalk galbi. It's spicy chicken, cabbage and sweet potato fried together with rice noodles with cheese. Pretty good. They even fry up the remains with some rice. Not bad. Also, today I checked out a full blown grocery store. That is directly underneath my apartment. That it took me 8 months to find. Mom serendipitously happened upon it and I feel like a prize idiot. I'll still make my E-mart runs for specialized stuff but it's got basic produce, cereal, milk, eggs, ramen....enough to be a convenient resource.So that's the latest, world! I am 2/3 done, 4 months to go, foot loose, and fancy free.
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