A few snapshots from my first week in Seoul. First impressions? There are a lot of hills here. It’s no wonder Koreans are skinny, they get a work out every time the go somewhere. The hills here aren’t like they are back home – they are STEEP, or at least they are in my area of Seoul, Gwanak-gu.
Korean food is incredible. My co-teachers and the head of my department took me out for dinner the other night. I’ve never seen so many small plates on one table in my life. Many of the dishes were banchan (pronounced PAN-chan), or side dishes. Kimchi, pickled yellow radishes, spicy mini squid, etc.
There were also more adventurous dishes, such as live octopus (weird sensation and chewy, but very good) and my personal favorite, fermented sea ray fin. Not unlike the more famous Icelandic Hákarl (fermented shark), the sea ray has a very, very ammonia tinge to it. It tasted and smelled like rotting cheese. You are supposed to layer it with kimchi and cured pork and eat it all at once. The flavors are more balanced and you don’t get much of the rotting flesh taste.
Oops.
I made the mistake of eating the ray fin by itself. My Korean co-teachers were surprised, as none of them dared eat it that way. They called me “brave teacher.” Win? I think so.
So I live near Seoul National University, which is the Harvard of Korea. Lots of smart, young college age kids around. Hopefully they speak English and are willing to practice with me. Ok, enough words, on to the pictures!
Mi apartamento.
Stream/park right next to my apartment.
John and his Korean co-teacher Claire at the immigration office. We had to wait a long time to get things done there. I think they ended up waiting 2-3 hours just to submit paperwork.
LOTS more after the jump.
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