Han River Boat Cruise

The Han River bisects the City of Seoul. The river is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, and you can take an hour and a half cruise at night for only about $15. I went with a group of college students that I've met while here and we enjoyed seeing Seoul's grand skyline contrasted with the water's edge. The highlight of the trip was seeing the floating stages built only a few years ago (if that) which light up and play music at night.

Speaking of music, I will be going to my second Korean concert tonight, a poplar veteran R&B artist named 인순이 (Insooni). Between work, my Korean language class, boat tours, concerts, and eating live squid, Korea is keeping me pretty busy!

Eating Living Squid in Pusan!

I had Monday and Tuesday off this week in celebration of 주석, Korea’s version of Thanksgiving. For the holiday I went South to Pusan, Korea’s second biggest city located off the coast of the East China Sea. Pusan is a beautiful place with great beaches and delicious seafood.

By far the most memorable experience I had there was eating 산낙지, or living squid. The plate was brought out with the small tentacles of the squid still squirming around. 산낙지 is a dangerous food, apparently, a few people have died in the past by not chewing well enough. The squid is still alive when they swallow, and latches on to the inside of their throat and suffocates them.

I went to grab one with my chopsticks and it wrapped itself around the tip in a stranglehold. Ready to do battle with my food, I dipped it in some soy sauce and attempted to put it in my mouth. The tentacle hopped from my chopstick and latched on to my outer lip with its little suction cups. I started laughing. I tried to work it into my mouth with my tongue, and soon it latched on to that. Then the little guy hopped from my tongue to the inside of my cheek. From there I began to fight back. After a couple of chews the lively squid stopped moving and I was able to swallow, with a shot of soju for good measure. The taste was actually quite nice and I enjoyed eating several of the living tentacles, making sure to chew well each time.

Weddings, Birthdays, Korean Class and More!

Quite a bit has gone on since my last post. Two of my co-workers had their last days, the executive on my floor had a birthday, I attended my first Korean wedding, I turned in a report that I’ve been working on since July, I took my first KOTRA Korean language class, and I’ve been planning for a trip to Pusan that I am taking next week thanks to the 주석 (Choo-Soak) holiday (more or less Korea’s version of Thanksgiving).

I’ll try and take a quick moment to elaborate on the busy last few days that I’ve had, starting with the leaving of two of my co-workers, 경환 and 잔환 (From here on I’ll refer to them by their last names, Kim and Lee). Kim and Lee are both interns that I’ve known for most of my time here in Korea. They have both left to start school at their respective Universities. I will miss them both at work, but still plan to stay in touch as they both go to school in Seoul.

The Kotra birthday party was for a man named Mr. Gwack. The party came as a surprise to me. I considered myself very lucky, it was the day after I had gotten my haircut, and I hadn’t done laundry in a while, so I was wearing slightly more formal clothes than usual. Mr. Kwack is what is known as an 이사님, he is not the President or CEO, but he sits on the board of directors and is highly respected in the office. As my team walked into Mr. Kwack’s office to celebrate, he asked me to sit next to him and be his guest. We talked for a bit about my time in Korea. When he asked if I spoke any Korean, I replied that I could speak a little. As I continued though, my nerves got the best of me and I let out some of the poorest Korean I’ve spoken in a while. Luckily, Mr. Kwack only laughed, he seemed to appreciate the effort nonetheless.

As for the wedding, I regret that I brought my camera, but when I pulled it out, realized that the battery was dead. I do have one picture of me and my co-workers with the bride and groom though. The wedding was more or less the same as America, with a few stark contrasts. The most noticeable being that instead of bringing wedding gifts, guests bring cash in envelopes and the dollar amount that they bring is recorded on a spreadsheet (I found this to be rather bizarre). Also, the bride and groom did several things that you may expect at a Korean wedding, such as giving deep bows to one and other’s parents; however, one thing they did not do was share a wedding kiss at the end of the ceremony. I am also sorry to report that while there was lunch reception afterwards, there was no chance to bust out any of my favorite dance moves. It may have been for the best though, as I had not eaten any pancakes for breakfast.

My first day of Kotra’s free language class was also quite interesting. There are several students of all ages from all over the world, including Russia, Taiwan, South Africa, Vietnam, and India. I was the only American in the room, however, the one language that everyone could speak was English. Knowing this, the teacher immediately banned all English speaking while in class. The lectures are quite challenging, had it not been for the near three months I’ve been in Korea, I’m sure I would have been quite lost. Fortunately, I was generally able to keep up, hopefully by the end of the class in mid-October, I will finally be at a comfortable “conversational” proficiency.