Heads on the floor

Two weekends ago, my friend David and I went exploring in Gangneung's street market. It is a huge place, and it is possible to find some very strange things there. This is one thing we discovered.

More cyclists in Korea

One of the ways that I have been fighting home sickness has been to get myself involved in the local biking scene. Whenever I see another rider, I try to say hello. Usually they are pretty curious about me too. Here are some of the people I have met.

This fellow was riding his fancy triathlon bike right through the heart of downtown Gangneung. I was really surprised to see this, since the vast majority of cyclists in my area seem only to be interested in Mountain bikes. Anyway, this rider was wearing an aerodynamic teardrop helmet along with his face mask and sun glasses. It is typical for cyclist to completely cover up, even when it is very hot.
I met this cyclist on a recent ride I went on. I was on the return trip, riding along the beach road when I spotted his bike and trailer. I had to stop and investigate...

It turns out he was on a bike tour of South Korea. I think we would've gotten along pretty well, but he was going the opposite direction and we parted after getting coffee together. Anyway I thought his bike touring setup was pretty awesome. It is a good example of what can be done with a bike.

Visitors from France

Wow, its been a while since my last post. Well, there is a lot to talk about.

About one month ago, during a hiking field trip with the students, I met two French cyclists, Florent and Aurelie. We ran into each other in a parking lot at the edge of Soraksan Park. When I saw these two westerners on big touring bikes, loaded down with dry bags and touring gear, I had to investigate. I think they were as curious about me as I was about them and they seemed happy to talk to a fellow traveler. They explained that they were on a world wide bike tour and that they had ridden from France to Korea. We stood in the parking lot speaking for about ten minutes. Then we parted ways, or so we thought! Since I had just finished the hike, the other teachers wanted to sit down and get pancakes and rice wine. They had spotted me talking to Florent and Aurelie and, in standard Korean fashion, invited them to join us for a snack. We spoke for another 20 minutes over rice wine, exchanged contact information, talked about France and Korea, and finally said goodbye. They were planning to hike into Soraksan, and then continue their journey south.

It was a great surprise when I got an email from Florent a few days later. He and Aurelie were planning to stop in my home city of Gangneung! They were hoping to find a place to stay in the city, since camping in urban areas was difficult. I offered my apartment and after a few emails we arranged a meeting spot and a time.

They arrived on a Thursday night. After we unpacked all of their gear, I took them out for chim dak, which is Korean chicken stew with noodles. We spent most of the evening eating, talking, and listening to music. It was really an excellent night. Talking to them reminded me of my own adventures, traveling across Europe and of all the people who helped me then. I was glad to have the chance to host Florent and Aurelie, and pay some of that hospitality forward.
Look at all the stuff they were carrying! It basically filled up my apartment!
Here they are discussing the classic KISS soda can alcohol stove.
Here are their bikes being loaded up the next morning.
Have a good trip you two! I hope we meet again!

More old style Korean culture with Mr. Son

This weekend was relatively quiet. I spent Saturday morning trying to remove the fixed cup in my new bike's bottom bracket shell. On Sunday, I spent the day selecting records for a new DJ mix. Then in the evening, Mr Son called...

He had gone fishing that afternoon and brought back a bucket full of fish and another bucket of snails. He invited me to a friend's restaurant where they were working on turning the fish into dinner. When I arrived at the restaurant, I went out into the back courtyard. Two men were squatting by a drainage grate. On closer inspection, I saw that they were gutting the fish. They had just started so the majority of the fish were still alive, shifting about in a bucket of rock salt. The men were running their thumbs up the belly of each fish. The force would reverse the innards out of the fish's anus. I did not see them use knives at any point during the gutting process.

After gutting, the fish had to be descaled. The men did this by repeatedly rubbing the fish with rock salt and rinsing them down. When the fish were gutted and cleaned, the men moved on to cutting the vegetables and heating up water. An aluminum pot filled with small snails was already boiling and was ready for seasoning. Another burner and pot were set up for the fish. At this point, Mr. son explained how the fish would be cooked and eaten. Our meal would consist of two soups. The first would be snail soup. The second would be the fish soup. Traditionally, the kind of fish we had are boiled, mashed into paste, and then boiled again. Finally, greens and spices are added and allowed to cook a little more.

When everything had cooked down, we ate. The snail soup was excellent. The flavor of the snail soup was completely new to me. The fish paste soup was much hardier than I had expected. Rice was also served and everyone mixed some into their soup. Mr. Son produced some kind wild berry liquor that he made himself and, of course, Soju was also served. Eventually, the wives and children of some of the men showed up to join us. Having entire families at the table really transformed the meal into a kind of community event. It made me think about how different food culture and food preparation are in the United States. I think this is one of the few meals I have had where the main ingredients were gathered rather than raised. The simplicity of the meal has definitely raised my interest in more traditional food dishes and preparations. Until next time...

Some panoramic shots

This is a shot I took while in Soraksan last weekend. Take note of the color of the leaves on the left. Autumn is the most popular time to visit the mountain because of the change in color.

This is the inside of my favorite bar, Rush. Bars in Korea are pretty different from bars in the USA. Rush is one of the few western style bars. They often have live performances and the crowd is very mixed. Rush is known for great long island ice teas.

hanging with the guys

Recently I have had more opportunities to spend time with my students outside of class. I really like these occasions because they allow the students to get more comfortable around me. These chances have also been great for building rapport with both the students and the other teachers.

Two weeks ago, our school had a school wide physical fitness exam. All of the students spent the morning going through a long set of body circuit tests. Here you can see the sprinting and sit-up events.

This past weekend, I went on a day hike to Soraksan mountain. The hike was organized by the school as a kind of disciplinary measure for the biggest trouble makers at school. I went along with the hopes of getting closer to some of the toughest students. I was successful, and I think the benefits are already showing in class. We ended up having a lot of fun, despite how crowded the trails were. Here are some of my students.

Paper making

I recently went to a traditional mulberry paper factory. Koreans use the fibers from mulberry bark to make a variety of products including conventional paper, wall paper, flooring, clothing, and insulation. In this video, you can see the factory worker sifting fibers to make a single sheet of paper.

The screen in the previous video is suspended from these bamboo springs...


Here, paper is being applied to hot plates for drying.