day one in seoul

After a day of sleeping off the jet-lag, we went into the local market to find something to eat. I'll refer to several different markets throughout this story, but they are all basically the same: Literally thousands of vendors, packed next to each other, lining both sides of the streets in a section of town about 10-15 blocks long and deep.

During the day in these markets, you can see an amazing array of goods, some very strange (especially the food), and some quite normal: a lot of Spam, video stores, and even a 7-11 or two. But mix that with tiny little 'restaurants' set up in the middle of the sidewalk, composed of only a table, grill, and a tent, and you find yourself in the middle of a strange, strange ancient-feeling town.

This particular market, near Steve & Betsy's apartment, specialized in food. There are many restaurants and 'Hofs' (bars), as well as lots of tiny old ladies huddled under a beach umbrella, selling pigs' heads, squid, or oranges...

We entered this particular market after dark, when all of the shops light up their signs, and the place is incredibly dazzling. There are no streetlights here-- no need for them; the neon lights up the streets. We stumbled into a tiny restaurant (5 tables) and ordered Kalbi, a grilled beef dish. Keep in mind, that none of us speak any Korean, so by 'ordering,' I mean we just sat down and said "Kalbi," which Steve & Betsy were already familiar with. We also ordered "Makju" (beer). With this dinner came my first true Korean experience. All meals are served with an incredible number of side dishes. The two standard ones are "Kimchi" and pickled radish. The kimchi is made with cabbage and some kind of tangy red spice, the whole deal then put into a ceramic 'kimchi pot' and either buried in the ground or just left outside while it ferments. The fermentation takes several weeks to several months, and then it's pulled out of the pot and served. It's a very tangy, potent, startling taste, which I never completely gathered a liking for, but it is served with every single meal (even the night we went to an Indian restaurant and ordered curry!), so I tried to be polite and stomach it. In the end, I could eat it without grimacing...

The pickled radish, on the other hand, was much more palatable. It's not a red radish, like we're used to in America, but some kind of long green radish that resembles a green onion. This dish (which I never learned the Korean word for) is served in a bowl of clear watery liquid, with slices of radish floating in it.

The kalbi, by the way, was quite good. Not nearly as startling as the kimchi!! (The picture to the right is of a typical apartment building in Seoul; the back ledge of the second-floor apartment is lined with kimchee-pots...)