Asia Update #10 - Soju Sickness

Some of you may have remembered my talk about soju from the hike. Well, I got up close and intimate with it last Thursday. And did it as part of a what could potentially be a CLM (Career Limiting Move).

We had business dealings with a Korean company. A bunch of American coworkers are in town (including 2 vice presidents). We spent the day with our Korean counterparts and then went out with them for dinner. Standard stuff - Korean food, sitting on the floor, etc. The only drinks served were beer and soju (50 proof Korean alcohol). Koreans like to bond by drinking a lot of alcohol together - well, I must say I bonded. I felt fine up until it was about time to leave, when the alcohol hit me and I knew that I was smashed. I hadn't been this drunk since college. I made use of a bag provided during the drive home (and thankfully we had a driver who could bring me all the way home - there was no way I was going to navigate the subways or taxis). And I had to call in sick on Friday. Not one of my smarter moves. Thankfully, the others (including the VPs) had also drank enough that they weren't feeling 100% (though they were much better off than I - they at least made it in to the office).

The picture above shows a scene from the dinner. The little green bottles are the evil soju.

This was a traditional Korean dinner. You sit at a low table. You always have lots of side dishes (all the little white bowls). The lettuce is there to eat the main dish with. The grills in the center are where you cook meat. This meat is picked up with your chop sticks and then placed into a piece of lettuce. A bit of sauce is added, along with a piece of garlic. You then stuff this whole thing into your mouth. The Korean equivalent to a burrito, I guess.

Well, my hangover had given me the munchies. I went out and walked around an area close to my home which I hadn't explored before. While there, I decided to pick up a snack. The ice cream looked best, though I wasn't sure which to buy (I have to base my decision on the pictures, being that I can't read the writing). Then I found the little cooler in the back with Haagen-Dazs. It was nice to be able to buy ice cream knowing what it would taste like and what flavor it is. $5 for a pint - I am definitely paying for the privilege.

Spent the weekend sightseeing with the Americas. Went to various museums, shopping districts, palaces, and the DMZ. Below is a picture from Namdaemun, one of the local markets. Very active place. It literally encompasses many blocks of areas and has thousands of little shops selling everything from food to clothes to hardware. Much of it is at good prices, especially items made in Korea. Items from abroad are often more expensive than what we'd pay in the US.

I will write up about the DMZ next time. Along with going there last weekend, I am going again next weekend. Hopefully I will get some more and better photos for that.

Asia Update #9 - Seoul Olympics

The Olympics are on in Australia and I live in Asia, so I figured I'd pop down and see what was happening. Well, not really considering that it is a very long flight (probably a good 10 hours) to Australia from here. And I didn't do any preparation, such as book flights, lodging, or get tickets to the events. So all I get to do is watch it on TV, and think about what it would be like there while visiting the Olympic Park here in Seoul (where the 1988 Olympics were held).

I did some sightseeing last Sunday, besides going to the Olympic Park. Jennifer, who works for my company, offered to show me around a bit. Here is a picture of her on sitting by the Han River. I used the panorama function of my camera to splice three pictures together - came out pretty good for my first try at this.

Seoul is split by the Han River. The north side is the old city, where all the palaces and such (and my apartment) are at. My office is on the south side. This picture was taken on the south side of the river, though not near my office. Seoul is a big city, with somewhere between 10 and 15 million inhabitants.

Most of the tall buildings you see around are apartments. Various companies and even government organizations are building these tall apartment buildings to satisfy their housing needs. Much of the new apartments are built as part of planned communities. They seem to work here, as opposed to 'The Projects' in major American cities.

You can see a couple of the bridges which cross the river. There are about 20 bridges already in place and at least 2 more being built. This makes it so that it isn't too hard to get across a bridge (unlike the Bay Area, where the bridges are the first place which get snarled with traffic). Unfortunately, the roads in the city aren't being expanded that quickly, so once you get across the river, you are back in traffic. Supposedly, each bridge is wired with explosives, just in case North Korea attacks.

As the picture shows, the weather has definitely improved. Partly cloudy skies, and much of the pollution haze has blown/been washed away by the storms leaving behind comfortable temperatures (low 70s). Made it a nice day to be outside and wandering about. I didn't even have an excuse to not go for a run (though I haven't gotten myself around to fixing the flat on my bike, even though I have all the parts here now, so I still have an excuse for that).

 From time to time I've had cravings for different Western foods. For a while, it was spinach pasta with pesto sauce, though my trip back to the States seemed to have settled that one (plus a good friend mailed me a packet of pesto sauce and pasta to let me stop the craving the next time it hits). I can't seem to find a good salad (even at the 'western' restaurants - I've had some of the worst Caesars salads ever here), though I do think I am getting enough vegetables through eating kimchi and such. But what I miss the most are bagels. The bakeries here carry various western foods, but very few carry bagels. And those that do probably shouldn't call what they sell bagels. So, if anyone wants to send me a care package, send me a couple of packages of Sara Lee bagels (any flavor).

A bunch of American coworkers arrive tomorrow and will be here for about a week, so that may keep me too busy to write an update. Then again, it also may provide some good fodder for my drivel...

Asia Update #8 - A Saturday in Korea (sorry, no pictures)

Well, it was an interesting day today. First, we have a typhoon coming through, so there was lots of rain. All my good thoughts of getting up and going for a run turned into me sitting in front of the TV and watching the Olympics. I get to see it live, being in the same time zone. And usually two different channels are carrying it - one in Japanese and the other in Korean. They follow the Japanese and Korean athletes/teams and different sports (what the hell is hand ball, anyway - looks like mix between soccer and basketball).

One of the guys from the relocation firm I am working with was going to come by and show me a few things and the area. The typhoon hitting us caused my main window to leak and my phone still wasn't connected, so it turned into him calling the service people in to get these fixed. Took about 3 hours and at one point there was 6 or 7 Korean folks milling around taking apart the phone jacks and cleaning the water up. Phone works, and the window should be fixed as soon as the rain lets up.

After this, we did get to tour the area some and he pointed out things I didn't know. Then a quick lunch and we were off for a hike up a mountain just outside of Seoul.

One thing I have learned is that if a Korean invites you to something, you must directly and multiple times say no if you don't want to go. In the States, if you sound like you are half-hardheartedly interested, the inviter understands that it is really no. In Korea, this is taken for a yes. In the long run, I am glad that it worked out as it did, because I've gotten to experience a few things I would have passed due to me being cautious. Today, my concern was going for a hike in a typhoon. I tried to edge my way out, but next thing I know we are at the trail head.

These guys had me concerned from the start. Older guys, on the whole. All 40+, and perhaps one even almost 60. But they were dressed to kill, with various technical gear and packs, sweat rags, shorts, etc. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

We start up the trail… well maybe stream would be a better term for it. The rain caused water to run straight down the trail. Did have a real stream to cross. Me and one other guy were able to scramble on some rocks and make it across, but the others chose a less ambitious way. I thought I'd help them by tossing a big rock in the stream so they'd have a stepping stone. They saw what I was doing and one guy provided suggestions on where to toss it. The others stepped back, except one. I toss, and the splash was perfect for soaking this one guy (not a drop was wasted - it all got him). I couldn't believe it. What a great first impression to make with these guys. Thankfully, they all got a good laugh from this.

Remember those packs I mentioned at the start? They were generally large enough to carry gear for an overnight. I wasn't sure why they had so much stuff with them, considering that this was supposed to be a 2 hour hike. At the peak, I found out. They pulled a 10 course picnic out of their bags. Each brings an item to share, and just like in the US, you have way too much. Rice cakes, fruit, Japanese beans, and some stuff I couldn't identify. And 5 bottles of alcohol, including a full bottle of scotch, Korean wines (they are more like Japanese sake than European/American wine), and Soju (a 50 proof Korean liquor). After my 5^th glass of various alcohols, I was feeling good and ready to stumble my way back down the hill. They still had way too much food and drink, so they took to offering it to anyone else who showed up at the peak.

Hike was over, and time to clean up. We went back to the health club which they use as a meeting place, and off to the showers. First, we went to the locker room, where it became obvious that I was supposed to strip and follow the others (who were also stripping). Next thing I know, I am walking naked down a flight of stairs following a naked Korean guy. As we walk into the next room, I am handed a small towel (about the size of an American wash cloth). Much too small to be any good, so I hadn't a clue what it would be used for. The naked Korean took his, so I took mine and followed.

Next room was showers. Kind of like a high school gym where there is just a big room with shower heads on the wall. Not too unusual, besides the fact I was the one naked white guy in a room full of naked Koreans. Thankfully, I am not too self conscious. Probably thankful that I wasn't wearing my glasses, so these naked Korean men were only fuzzy blurs.

After this, we walk to big hot tubs for a nice soak. Felt good on the muscles. Still carrying that little wash cloth and haven't a clue what it is for.

On to the dry sauna where I finally find out that the clothes are for you to sit on. I guess they don't want butt coodies or something. Nice to find out what the cloth was for. Sauna was way too hot, so I didn't last long before having to head out.

Next stop is a cold tub, which felt good as I cooled back to normal. Then on to a wet (steam) sauna for another bake while sitting on the wash cloth again. Back to the cold tub after that to cool the body back to a more reasonable temperature. Then to the shower again and then grab a full size towel (well, a Korean full size towel, which is maybe 2 square feet of material) to dry off.

Definitely an interesting day. Sorry, no pictures (do you really want pictures from the hot tub/sauna anyway?).

Asia Update #7 - Misc. stuff, mostly Seoul

Sorry about the time gap between this update and my last. Not much has happened since I posted my last update (much of the reason for that is that I was only in Korea for a few days before heading back to the States for a week). But now I am back in Asia and ready to write about my experiences…

I didn't write about this, but I visited Singapore the 2^nd week I was in Asia. Very clean, English is spoken by most everyone, and the food was great. Probably one of the more cosmopolitan cities in Asia, and one where a westerner would likely feel more comfortable as compared to other places in Asia (though I suspect that it would start to feel too sterile after a while, with all the rules they have). Nothing out of the ordinary happened there, so nothing to write about. Singapore is definitely a nice place. I should be back there for a few days on the way to Thailand in October, so maybe something worthy of writing about will happen then.

My company's office is in one of the business sections of Seoul (an area called Youido, and it contains most of the TV stations and the Korean Stock Exchange). The area looks similar to an American city with all the tall office buildings and such. In the picture below, the office I am in is the gray one next to the red, white, and blue bubble building (the one on the right behind the low rise yellow building).

One thing that seems to be missing from the area is that there aren't many restaurants within sight. There not being restaurants doesn't make sense, considering the large amount of business people who need to eat lunch and business dinners/drinks (Asians do a lot more business socializing than Americans - I'll have to write more about this later). Turns out the restaurants/karaoke bars/'business clubs' are there, just out of sight. Just about every office building has a basement with multiple restaurants (mostly Korean foods) or clubs/bars in it. Some you enter through the building, others have entry ways outside of the building (which could easily be mistaken for subway entrances). There are signs for these, but I didn't know what they were given they mostly are just Korean words and no pictures. I am still exploring these basements to see what I can find (found a TGI Fridays in one, complete with the same menu you'd find in the States - wasn't expecting that from one of these basements).

I have cable TV in my apartment now. I went from about 6 channels, all in Korean, to about 50 channels. I now get 3 full time English channels (Armed Force Korea Network, CNN, and a local channel which is similar to PBS) and a few of the others sometimes show English programs with Korean subtitles.

Korean TV is interesting, even without understanding the language. They have a variety of soap operas, game shows, and variations of candid camera/kids say the funniest things. There also seems to be three or four music channels. There is also a handful of shopping networks and supposed to be a movie channel (I guess a pay per view style thing) which I haven't figured out how to use yet (instructions and the remote control are all in Korean). The two most different from the US are:

1. the 24 hour karaoki channel - I can sing my heart out all day. They have pictures of nice areas (fields, streams, ducks swimming), instrumental music running, and words (usually Korean) across the bottom for you to sign along with.
2. The 24 hour Korean chess game. The camera is aimed straight down at a board containing white and black markers (looks kind of like an Othello board). Every couple of minutes you see a hand reach out and add, move, or remove a piece. Some color commentary is going on in the background (at least that is what I think the Korean voices are talking about). I haven't figured out the rules at all, and likely never will.

 

Today's weather report on the CNN web site said we would get "tons of rain". That pretty much covers it. The second typhoon of my stay is rolling in. I've been told that this is unusual - the typhoons usually end by August. I have taken to carrying an umbrella with me most of the time. Wet umbrellas are trouble in buildings, because most buildings have marble floors. A bit of water on a marble floor and you have a slick surface. So, in the building's entry, they put out bags which you slip on the wet umbrella. Kind of like slipping a big condom on it.

Looks like I will be spending much of September in Seoul. We are closing on an acquisition here (one of the reasons that Seoul was chosen as my base) which will require a significant amount of my time over the next few months. Only trip I see as a possibility in September is perhaps a few days to Tokyo. I should get back to bouncing around Asia in October and November, with plans to visit Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and back to the States in those months.

Oh, I've reread some of my posting and could easily understand if you think I am hating it here. I must say that I was wondering if I made the right decision at first and did have some hard times. And I do miss biking and a lot of my friends in California. But overall this has already turned into a fun experience and should only get better.