Since getting back from the temple we've been lucky enough to really get a sense of what it's like to live in Korea (as a foreigner), thanks to Monika and her wonderful friends. On Saturday we walked over to the favorite local beach where we had lots of room to ourselves. Apparently July and August are the beach months when the sand is packed, but come September 1 it clears out considerably. The Koreans are big fans of doing the appropriate activity at the appropriate time. We, however, had a great time playing frisbee and swimming; the few locals in the water had on full wetsuits but Monika, Becky and eventually I braved the water in just swim suits.
On Sunday we were introduced to screen golf. Koreans are big fans of doing social activities outside of the house. While I don't know the origin of this interest, it sure is convenient since most people live in tiny high-rise apartments with not much room. The name of these establishments, which provide a small room and some snacks for you and a group of friends, are "bangs." We went to a screen golf bang on Sunday with three Mt Holyoke women (Becky, Monika and Megan) and their respective girlfriends. Screen golf is amazing - a little machine tees up your ball for you, and you then hit it with full force, using a real golf club, into the virtual world projected on a large, heavy, hanging cloth about 10 feet in front of you. You then proceed to play video game golf, but with all the physical motions of real golf. Crazy! Becky and I had games characterized more by....character...than skill, but the set-up itself was really impressive.
On Friday we had experienced a karaoke bang, in which you have a small room for your friends and your own karaoke setup. A bit more fun and more laid-back than the public style of karaoke in the States. Finally, yesterday evening we went to a DVD bang. You walk in and select a movie from the library of DVDs available, and then you're shown to a small room with a large couch (the size of a bed) and a big screen. The fellow downstairs starts the movie and you have your own private movie showing! We watched Invictus, about rubgy in South Africa during Nelson Mandela's first term. A perfect movie for this crowd, and a great, uplifting film. Watching the other people getting rooms it was clear that DVD bangs are also an outlet for young couples to have 'together time' in a repressive society in which most adolescents and young adults live with their parents and in which public affection is shunned. Fascinating way to get around that.
The past few days Becky and I have embarked on little adventures around the city after being helpfully sent on our way by Monika. Yesterday we all three went and got new glasses for Becky, since the glasses are much cheaper here than in the states and Becky happened to have her prescription on her (!). Very successful; they're fun, stylish, frames perfect for a hot architect. (Yes, I know, we promise pictures once we get home!) Becky and I then went to a very crowded street market and on to the famous fish market in which you can buy some strange stuff in those water tanks.
We're slowly getting a bit more adventurous with food, though we fully admit that it's really challenging to eat vegetarian when you don't know the language. The staple of Korean cuisine is kimchi, a condiment served with almost every meal made by fermenting/preserving cabbage and sometimes other vegetables with hot peppers. Kimchi is aged in large, earthenware pots set outside residences and restaurants, when it's not purchased already made. As a vegetarian it'd be really wonderful if we loved this dish; unfortunately it's a bit of an acquired taste. I do, on the other hand, love the scallion pancakes that we've been having. The best were found on the street yesterday, at one of the ubiquitous food stands set up in the middle of pedestrian streets. During the day in markets or the evening in bar areas there will be a line of half a dozen carts all serving the same food, consisting of scallion pancakes cooked on a flat griddle in the middle of the cart, skewered meat cooked in a vat of broth to the side of the griddle, a pile of seafood in red sauce on the other side of the griddle, and some rolls and dumplings of unspecified content. You go up, order your food, and then stand in front of the ledge on the side of the cart to eat your food, right there. Hot and fresh. Another food custom I really appreciate is the almost ubiquitous availability of large, delicious fruit platters at bars. It's almost a challenge to find a savory or salty bar snack. This speaks to a larger Korean trend: the default seasoning is sweet. Popcorn, crackers, even garlic bread and packaged Sun chips are all sweet! Makes for a bit of a surprise when you go into a store, buy a savory snack that you've been craving, and bite into it to find the coating of sugar. My sweet tooth doesn't mind, but it will be nice to get back to salt in the States.
Today is our last full day in Busan before we head to Seoul tomorrow. On today's schedule is a local museum, picking up Becky's glasses, and going to the bathhouse for some soaking (we're going to skip the brillo-pad scrub down offered for clients. I find my skin too useful to get rid of). We've heard that Busan seems almost provincial compared to the NYC-style hubbub of Seoul, so that will be an interesting experience. We leave on Monday, so we're going to live up our last days here as best we can!
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