Rain in Seoul

Wednesday, Aug. 24 (Continued)

After breakfast, I walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It's a beautiful huge complex at the northern end of the boradest boulevard through downtown Seoul. It's also the location of a changing of the guard ceremony. The guard wears ancient costumes and artificial beards and moustaches. They are impressive. The complex, burned by the Japanese in 1592 and greatly dismantled by the Japanese again in WWII, has been mostly restored and is beautiful. There was even a special building to house a water clock that measured the hours, days, and seasons.

In the back gardens of the palace is the National Folk Museum of Korea. I spent another two hours touring its galleries to learn about the history and customs of Korea. It was very comprehensive and had signs in English for each display.

When I left the palace complex, I walked to Namdaemun Market. It is a huge traditional market with small stalls selling everything. I was hungry, so I wandered very narrow aisles looking for just the right restaurant within the market. I chose one with about 10 tables that was 2/3 full and showed the waitress my sentence in Korean asking her recommendation. She walked 3 tables away and said something. it was to a western lady who speaks Korean. She was finishing her meal there. After asking if I liked spicy food, she ordered for me. She said I came to the best place in the market for what I was going to eat. It was a pot of fish in a spicy broth with a type of cooked radish also in the pot. The lady showed me how to remove the innards, since the Koreans don't clean their fish before cooking them. She also warned me about the bones and pointed out that the radish looked horrible but was the best part of the dish. She was right. I struggled to get fish without bones, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole meal. There was a bowl of rice with a place of seaweed sheets for wrapping up the rice. There was a plate of cooked egg and a large, partitioned plate with five small dishes--kimchi (pickled cabbage), bean sprouts, shredded greens, and others I don't recall now. I ate it all except for the fish pieces I couldn't get off the bones. It was really a good meal.

One strange thing happened at the restaurant. All tables but mine had a bottle of cold water. I held my glass and asked for water. The waitress brought a bottle. Two minutes later, a couple sat at the table in front of mine. The waitress took my bottle and gave it to them. The glasses are tiny (about the size of a tea cup), so I asked for water again. She poured me a glass, but never brought me a bottle again.

On the backside of Namdaemun Market is Shinsegae Department Store. And up the street from it is Lotte Department Store. Both are huge shopping complexes with full-line luxury boutiques from designers all over the world, food halls with booths from world famous eating emporiums, etc. Each makes the typical U.S. department store look rather quaint and simple. And each department has employees bowing as one walks by.

It was beginning to sprinkle as I left Lotte. I headed back to my room. There was a message that someone had called. My guess is that it was Matt, a university professor in Inchon near here who is from Corpus Christi. The number wasn't well written and didn't match the one he had given me. I don't know how to place a long distance call here either. So I went downstairs to the computer here in the hotel and wrote him an e-mail telling him that if he was the one he should try to call back during the hours that I am normally in the hotel.

I've stayed in the room tonight. I watched The Green Mile on TV. It's a movie I had not seen before. I also listened to CNN News. The satellite TV has many channels, but CNN is one that is scrambled. I can hear it well, however, so it's not necessary to see the photos to learn what's happening.

Gyeongbokgung Palace/National Folk Museum 3,000
Lunch 5,000
Total: 8,000 won = $7.88

Thursday, Aug. 25

It rained lightly all night and is still raining lightly this morning. I can see some thinness in the cloulds, though. I am going out of the hotel about 11:00 and explore some area attractions--places close enough that if it begins to rain more I can get back to the hotel without it taking too much time and causing me to get too wet. The forecast is for sunshine no later than tomorrow afternoon. That's good, since it also calls for sunshine on Saturday when I have to get back to the airport for my flight to Bangkok.