Green Tea Fields Forever

We took a weekend trip to see some friends in Gwangju, a large city on the westsiiiiide of Korea. They took us on a rainy day trip to see the beautiful Boseong Green Tea Fields. This is one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Korea, a place that felt very unique. I learned two things: tea leaves grow on small shrubs, and according to the gift shop you can make just about anything from green tea leaves (chocolates, cookies, crackers, keychains, etc).

Some pictures from the adventure:

We also saw this sign on the side of the highway. Any guesses as to what this is or isn't allowing?

Knot Tied

Korean Weddings are another fascinating thing to see here. We've been to two now, and both have been unique experiences. They are such a melding of East meets West, but because both are so removed from their origin when coupled with the opposite the wedding takes on a strange identity of its own.

The first wedding we attended was for a co-teacher. We were advised to show up with money, not with a gift. When you arrive, you give this money to an organizer, who then gives you a meal ticket (literally a ticket that allows you to eat at the wedding). Weddings are typically held in wedding halls, multiple floor buildings that house dozens of weddings a day. The families from the wedding that just happened as well as the wedding that was happening after this one were in the same area.

It turned out that we ate before the wedding even happened. There was a huge buffet with Korean and Western food. There was also closed circuit TVs in the banquet room so you could see when the wedding was going to start. When it started, Beth and I went to get up but no one else at the table did. We followed their lead and remained at the table, and ended up watching the whole thing on TV. This wasn't rude, or even mentioned at the table. From what we could see on the TV, the lighting for the ceremony resembled something you'd see on Star Search or something, disco balls and spotlights following the couple walking. Strange stuff. After the meal we went to see the aftermath, where we were invited to be in the group picture. The whole thing, meal and all, was over in an hour.

This weekend we went to another one. I managed to get a few pictures at this one. The wedding wasn't such a runway production this time, but the thing that struck us was how irreverent everyone was. Everyone in the room was talking, a medium noised chatter filled the room during the entire ceremony. There were huge projection screens on each wall showing the wedding. It felt like everyone was thinking "NEXT." There were other weddings happening that day, move it along.

Beth noticed that the individuality or the uniqueness that Americans try for at their weddings is not part of it here. The room was very beautiful, but it would be the exact same beauty for everyone getting married that day. The flowers in this ceremony were the same as the next were the same as the next. The room didn't change. The only difference might be the songs performed, but even that was probably chosen from a list of 12 songs. Individuality just isn't as important here.

Dinner was ridiculous. Again, we were given a meal ticket in exchange for our monetary gift to the couple. We went up to the 4th floor to see something very similar to a Ryan's Steakhouse. Buffet lines of mediocre food. This place was bigger than any Ryan's though. Visitors from earlier weddings were there, and by the time we left there were new people arriving from another wedding. We barely got to say hello to the bride and groom. After the wedding, they did a costume change into very traditional Korean clothes to thank people and greet them.

The restaurant, much like the wedding, had a Western side and a Korean side. They had self serve beer on tap. Tons of sushi, spaghetti, salad, and Korean noodles. Waffles with whipped cream for dessert.

Land of the Rising Sun

Japan was clean. Not just in a no-gum-on-the-sidewalks way, but in a design sense as well. Things in Korea can be a bit ramshackled at times, and there were little to no signs of this in the parts of Japan that we saw. The roads weren't cracked, their weren't cigarette butts on the sidewalks, and all the hedges were trimmed. It was a beautiful place.

Travelling in the winter is in a lot of ways a big advantage. Small crowds, easy accommodation, and great photo ops without all the people. We travelled to Kyoto and Tokyo and saw beautiful shrines, temples, geishas, mountains, and plenty of culture.

Fushimi-Inari Shrine

This place was endless. We walked for hours and still didn't see the whole things. Long, winding paths through the Kyoto mountains, covered with these orange gates.

Geishas

Our book talked about geishas like they were as scarce as a leprechaun, but we found Kyoto to be full of them. We saw them in traditional districts at first and were captivated, but by the time we left Kyoto we'd ridden buses with them, stood in line at stores with them, and watched them shop. They were everywhere, it was so interesting to see them as part of the culture, not something that only exists in one place.

Kinkaku-ji Temple

It's golden. The thing is pretty ridiculous, but still captivating. There is an awesome gold bird on top of it, kind of like a weather vane. Apparently, the guy who lived here was completely obsessed with this temple, to the point of insanity.

Sushi

We ate a lot of sushi. This was at a conveyor belt restaurant, where you grabbed anything that looked interesting. They counted your plates and charged you for what you had. You could also use the touch screen to order something not on the belt, and it would come out on a toy train straight to your table.

Vending Machines

They are EVERYWHERE in Japan. They sell anything from beer and cigarettes to cola and coffee (hot or cold).

Tokyo

The city is so big there is no end in sight.

I mentioned things being clean...this is a public toilet. You could always be sure that the bathrooms were clean, both in architecture and inside.

Maybe you saw Lost In Translation. This intersection is in the movie. I'll have to say, the picture doesn't capture how busy this place was. It is much like Times Square in New York.

Sumo

We were able to see Sumo practice one morning. This was a highlight of our trip, it was so awesome to see these guys go at it. We watched outside a small stable for almost an hour. It was captivating.

Arcade

We found a 5 story arcade, with two bowling alleys in it. There is an entire floor dedicated to crane machines. This one offered the chance to will a jumbo bucket of ramen.

Seoul

We made our second trip to Seoul two weekends ago. It was an exceptional trip, we had a best friend and a brother with us so it was that much more enjoyable. The weather was ridiculous, one night was 5ºf. Because of this awful weather we had little to no crowds at everything we went to see. Here are some highlights.

Seoul Folk Flea Market

This was one of my favorite spots in Seoul, one I hope to visit again. It was two floors of a bunch of junk. Electronics, prints, Michael Jackson busts, and other unnecessary items. This guy had a really organized stand:

This machine was amazing, it supposedly tests your stress level or something...it reminded me of Ron Hubbard's E-meter.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

This palace is very much in the center of Seoul. Most of the palaces here are really reconstructions of what once was...the Japanese and Chinese decimated most of their palaces over the centuries. This is the biggest one in Seoul, and is truly amazing.

Singing Room

After a long day of walking around in freezing temperatures and being cultured, it was nice to relax and kick it in a Norebang. The singing rooms here are so infectious...you pay about $15 for a room to sing karaoke in and you get your pick of the songs, two microphones and hilarity. The one we found wasn't particularly nice, but it did the trick. We even got a bonus half hour for free!

The 63 Building

We went to one of the tallest buildings in Seoul, the 63 Building. It was a bit of a let down really, it was a bit expensive. The building boasts "the highest art gallery in the world," and to be fair they had a decent picasso exhibit there, but most people that want a nice view don't want to contemplate fine art at the same time. It was a strange mix. Complete with cheesy tourist photo opportunities.

The size of Seoul guarantees that we'll never see everything, the city has 10 million people. Hopefully you'll come to visit so we can explore it again together!

More Market Madness

There are two main markets here in Daegu, Chilseong Market and Seomun Market. Seoumun is bigger, and more polished. Chilseong is a bit smaller, and has a lot more of a raw vibe to it. For instance:

Below is some Sashimi, or Korean sushi. As I noted earlier, they don't roll the fish up with veggies and rice, they just cut it up and serve it.

I don't know why they hang the fish, but it sure is pretty that way.

Whistle Blower

One of my favorite characters here is the popcorn man. On my walk to the subway I always get to see the popcorn man. He has stacks and stacks of various popped foods: puffed rice, popcorn, assorted rice wafers, etc. They are all packaged in ridiculously large bags.

This in itself isn't that impressive, and you can see bags like this all over the place. The fun part is to watch this guy use his little pressure cooker, which looks like a cannon off of Super Mario Bros., to pop this stuff. He blows a whistle as a warning just before he opens it because of the blast.

If you look closely at that feedbag on the second picture, you can see debris blasting out of the back of the bag. The popcorn shoots into this bag at full force. It's a lot of fun to watch. As you can imagine, this is a favorite spot for pigeons.