Huzzah! Christmas! I become the most ridiculously sentimental person around this time of year. The slightest mention of it gets me squeeing and glomping anything that vaguely makes reference to the Yuletide ( ;D ) and its festivenosity. Luckily it was I who was Santa this year, so I wasn't squeeing or glomping any old, bearded, and tubby men.
Christmas Eve was unusual!! It started off with Imo making us an unusual breakfast consisting of what I can't remember. But it was set out on the plate with awesome amounts of decorative power. What a rad. Anyway, then we set off to the study room, on the way picking up things like breads and corn from what appeared to be a co-operative food store (awesome) and a Christmas cake. It's a very strange thing for me, but although Christmas isn't the biggest holiday here (pretty small actually), everyone seems to buy a cake for Christmas! What the hey?! It's like: Cake = Western food, Christmas = Western tradition, thus Christmas = Cake times. I am confused. Oh, also, I had an awesome cherry ice-cream from the store we bought the cake from. It was my replacement for eating the crazy amounts of summer cherries I usually consume around this time of year. Oh. Man. I really miss those now.
We then finally turned up to the study room, a little bit late and wishing that a little more snow had fallen in Gangwha for Christmas. Sigh. The rest of the day was spent making cards for each other (we all wrote a message and decorated each one), playing random games and messing around with the kids. I'm not going to really mention the Christmas 'lunch' we had. Let's just say I only ate a billion mini-Snickers because they were the only palatable in sight. And 'cause, shut up, it's Christmas. And then I was a dude in a beard I couldn't breathe through and mittens I couldn't pick anything up with. It was a challenge handing out the bags of scarves each of the kids received. And then the kids wondered why Santa was so skinny (doesn't he eat at all?) and a boy pulled at my beard. I got air, but hopefully I am never Santa again. Don't make me.
After saying a long and sad goodbye to the naughty kids who we almost came to love, we hopped on a bus to Seoul. We followed the Lonely Planet guidebook we have been using quite a bit, to a place in Insadon, the touristy place that I didn't like and then did. Anyway, we had a banquet. A banquet of bulgogi. It was quite impressive! And, most importantly, delicious. It was nice to sit back for a while on Christmas Eve at a relatively nice place and delight ourselves in some damn good food. My penchant to food blag was turned on. Also: the cinnamon alcoholic spirit (moju)that came with the meal was teh rad. I'm so loving the cheap alcohols here. Were you aware? Eastwood, you'd better deliver to me some dodgy store that sells Soju at a good price.
We then looked around a small four-level shopping place that wrapped around a courtyard, that was absolutely buzzing with people. Most of the stores were unique and cool, and we found some places which stock some gifts we'll definitely buy. Sweet. After wandering around the city a bit, taking in the crowds and some hotteok (apparently a special 'diet' one...that was different) along the way, we made it to Seoul Station at about 10:30, ready to take a 5 hour train to another state. After collecting our ticket, and being intimidated by the massive amounts of food people were bringing (seriously, there were grocery bags filled of it), we finally got on the train. With some water and gum. And then came the uncomfortable-my-seat-is-unpredictable-why-can-I-get-no-sleep-people-keep-eating journey to the seaside.
We arrived at the pitch-black beach at about 5:30am. People were abound, food stores were thriving (seriously, people, stop eating at every given moment), and even crappy souvenir stalls decided to open on that cold cold morn. Crazy bastards. We walked up and down on the beach, watching people let off mini-fireworks, people huddle around candles and cakes with lit sparklers, and then discovered that the sun wouldn't rise until 7:37 and that we couldn't last for that long in the cold. So dodgy Udon noodles were had, and we huddled in the tiny station room being squished by people going to and fro from the cold beach to the fooderies. At about 6:45 we scored a sweet spot on some rocks, awfully close to tiny waves that broke on the shore, and trying to conserve as much heat as possible. Also: the cliff in the distance had a giant, what looked to be a P&O liner, ship on it's top. I assume it was a pimpin'-ass restaurant. Or that sea-levels have dramatically decreased on that coastline in the past five years. And then the sun rose, after what seemed to be eternity. The sky got light in beautiful blues and crimsons, the horizon streaked in greys and oranges. Can't really describe it, but the beach is one of the best places to be in the morning.
We then took a short bus ride to a temple, which was a bit average and random, but cool nonetheless because we got to go into the main temple, which you can rarely do. And then to the snow!! WOOT!!! Although, it was more a fake snow field in amongst regular fields of sheep and other things. Like trees. But sledding is way fun! Especially if you're on a plastic doughnut that is over-blown-up and you have rules like "no-hands". Near death = fun. Also, hard-plastic regular sleds are cool too!!!! Because you're like "Whheeeeee, down hill, then wheee! up the mini-hill barricade at the end, and then arrgh! backwards down the mini-hill barricade".
That is all. It was tiring. It was sleepless. But we got back to Seoul that night with nowhere to stay and the last bus to Gangwha gone. So we bath-housed it up! Because you can stay in those places for about $7, soak for ages in different pools bubbling hot and full of green tea. And get pummeled by a spry and mega-strong Korean dude who uses both hands and a foot at times. And then you can sleep there. For $7. The 40-minute beating was extra, but it was a Christmas present to me.
And then this morning we woke up and went to another Banquet in Insadong! OMFG IT WAS THE BEST MEAL I'VE HAD IN KOREA. It was a freakin' Buddhist monk's banquet, that is why. It was vegetarian, it was roots picked off the sides of mountains, it was delicious. One of the best restaurants I have ever been too. Atmospheric and gorram great value. We got something like 20 panchan (side dishes), deonjung soup, some fried stuff, and some rad-ho rice. It almost converted me to Buddhism. Can you beat that? Didn't think so.
This was an awesome Christmas. It was the most untraditional I think I have ever had, but has made me see that breaking away from tradition can still be all types of fun and happy. Woo! Vive la good times!
Merry Yuletide all! Hope you are all well!! *Likes all with an intensity only festivities and likeness for all can bring*
PS Tried to upload photos, but this PC place is shit. The screens are only 19 inch and are CRT monitors. Whatever.
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Festive Cheer!
I've had the most haphazard christmas of my life. It totally worked out.
We headed back into Gangwha for Christmas Eve, in order to attend the Christmas party that the study room holds for the kids. These kids really do live in some terrible situations so I'm becoming increasingly touched at how much just buying them some truly awful chicken and pizza does for them. We played dumb games, like spinning 5 times, getting a lolly with our FACE and then eating an onion ring dangling from a string. The kids obviously love that shit. It was sad seeing them for the last time, but we have cards with their sentiments and a whole lot of memories I guess. One of the little girls (we took photos!) was so cute that I wanted to kill her, preserve her and stuff her so I could gaze up on her cute little visage ^__^
On arriving back to Seoul we went and had a banquet of delicious bulgogi proportions! We went to a nice restaurant called Gogung and indulged ourself in probably the best bulgogi I've ever had, awesome Bibimbap, and a bunch of other delicious side dishes! We were also served a traditional alcoholic drink called Moju which is made with Cinnamon. Totally delicious. The staff were all in traditional Hanbok and they gave us an awesome Maesil (asian plum! Thank you wiki!) tea to finish. I am so a fan of banquets.
After that, we took an overnight train to Gangwundo, the coldest part of Korea in order to do something a bit random for Christmas. The train was packed and uncomfortable, but it had a buzz to it that was welcome. I figured the lights in the carriage would be turned off to let people get some freakin sleep, but it never happened. I am not a fan of broken sleep.
I am a fan of beautiful sunrises. It's a nice way to celebrate anything really, you just stand and watch something beautiful just happen. There's something satisfying about it that I can't really quantify. You stand - Sun rises. It was cold as fuckery, and the waves were crashing close to us, but the beach just got prettier as it became light. People let off shitty fireworks and were generally happy. If you had told me that I'd be watching a sunrise on the eastside of Korea for christmas, I would have been very confused. I would probably have guessed I would have been playing PES on christmas day.
We went from there to a temple that sounded really awesome, but when we got there... wasn't. Maybe we've seen too many gorgeous temples, but this one wasn't as good as the rest of them. Modern buildings and weird banners are enough to give it a couple of black marks. It was special in that the temple let us in to the main prayer hall, something I normally have to view through a window. It's so striking being surrounded by candles infront of a huge golden buddha and other statues. The murals and paintings on the screens were gorgeous as well.
Temples are just rad.
The snow-park was random too. After being promised a bunch of different things to do, it only really had a slope that we could sled down. And sled we did! It was like
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
except colder. We lay in the snow at one point and had the most retarded snow fight in history. It was almost like we were both smacked in the face as children and it affected the development of our brains. Good way to spend christmas.
We got in Seoul too late to get back to where we were supposed to sleep, so we crashed at a 24 hour bathhouse. Although this may sound bad, it means I got to soak in a Tea bath and scrub myself uber clean, as well as watch Mia get bashed by a "masseuse". Seriously, dude was cracking her back and pulling at all her joints, making her hug herself and such. She assures me it felt good. I was not game to try getting beaten up. Maybe next time. They have sleeping facilities, but I had forgotten that DUDES SNORE. SHUT IT, OLD DUDE. I'M TRYING TO SLEEP, NOT IMAGINE WHAT FORESTS SOUND LIKE DURING LOGGING.
We woke up uber relaxed, and I ran on a treadmill for absolutely no reason. Then we made our way to Sanchon restaurant. I cannot describe how good this place was. We were served 20 different things. Each was special in its own right. They make authentic temple food. I believe them, because there was a monk eating behind us. I've had some of the things that I was served a million times, and this was like eating them for the first, awesomest time. Look at the photos of the delicious food. Rishi, Jared, Bob, this restaurant is entirely vegetarian. I would have loved to bring you here. I'm going to try and get rich so I can fly you all over.
Good times.
We're planning to see a shamanistic dance known as a "gut" (Pronounched Guhht) pretty much... right now. Anything can happen at these things, they're rare for even Koreans to be able to see and we're watching some of the best dancers. More when we get back. I'm personally hoping they get up on two parallel swords with bare feet and start dancing on them.
We headed back into Gangwha for Christmas Eve, in order to attend the Christmas party that the study room holds for the kids. These kids really do live in some terrible situations so I'm becoming increasingly touched at how much just buying them some truly awful chicken and pizza does for them. We played dumb games, like spinning 5 times, getting a lolly with our FACE and then eating an onion ring dangling from a string. The kids obviously love that shit. It was sad seeing them for the last time, but we have cards with their sentiments and a whole lot of memories I guess. One of the little girls (we took photos!) was so cute that I wanted to kill her, preserve her and stuff her so I could gaze up on her cute little visage ^__^
On arriving back to Seoul we went and had a banquet of delicious bulgogi proportions! We went to a nice restaurant called Gogung and indulged ourself in probably the best bulgogi I've ever had, awesome Bibimbap, and a bunch of other delicious side dishes! We were also served a traditional alcoholic drink called Moju which is made with Cinnamon. Totally delicious. The staff were all in traditional Hanbok and they gave us an awesome Maesil (asian plum! Thank you wiki!) tea to finish. I am so a fan of banquets.
After that, we took an overnight train to Gangwundo, the coldest part of Korea in order to do something a bit random for Christmas. The train was packed and uncomfortable, but it had a buzz to it that was welcome. I figured the lights in the carriage would be turned off to let people get some freakin sleep, but it never happened. I am not a fan of broken sleep.
I am a fan of beautiful sunrises. It's a nice way to celebrate anything really, you just stand and watch something beautiful just happen. There's something satisfying about it that I can't really quantify. You stand - Sun rises. It was cold as fuckery, and the waves were crashing close to us, but the beach just got prettier as it became light. People let off shitty fireworks and were generally happy. If you had told me that I'd be watching a sunrise on the eastside of Korea for christmas, I would have been very confused. I would probably have guessed I would have been playing PES on christmas day.
We went from there to a temple that sounded really awesome, but when we got there... wasn't. Maybe we've seen too many gorgeous temples, but this one wasn't as good as the rest of them. Modern buildings and weird banners are enough to give it a couple of black marks. It was special in that the temple let us in to the main prayer hall, something I normally have to view through a window. It's so striking being surrounded by candles infront of a huge golden buddha and other statues. The murals and paintings on the screens were gorgeous as well.
Temples are just rad.
The snow-park was random too. After being promised a bunch of different things to do, it only really had a slope that we could sled down. And sled we did! It was like
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
except colder. We lay in the snow at one point and had the most retarded snow fight in history. It was almost like we were both smacked in the face as children and it affected the development of our brains. Good way to spend christmas.
We got in Seoul too late to get back to where we were supposed to sleep, so we crashed at a 24 hour bathhouse. Although this may sound bad, it means I got to soak in a Tea bath and scrub myself uber clean, as well as watch Mia get bashed by a "masseuse". Seriously, dude was cracking her back and pulling at all her joints, making her hug herself and such. She assures me it felt good. I was not game to try getting beaten up. Maybe next time. They have sleeping facilities, but I had forgotten that DUDES SNORE. SHUT IT, OLD DUDE. I'M TRYING TO SLEEP, NOT IMAGINE WHAT FORESTS SOUND LIKE DURING LOGGING.
We woke up uber relaxed, and I ran on a treadmill for absolutely no reason. Then we made our way to Sanchon restaurant. I cannot describe how good this place was. We were served 20 different things. Each was special in its own right. They make authentic temple food. I believe them, because there was a monk eating behind us. I've had some of the things that I was served a million times, and this was like eating them for the first, awesomest time. Look at the photos of the delicious food. Rishi, Jared, Bob, this restaurant is entirely vegetarian. I would have loved to bring you here. I'm going to try and get rich so I can fly you all over.
Good times.
We're planning to see a shamanistic dance known as a "gut" (Pronounched Guhht) pretty much... right now. Anything can happen at these things, they're rare for even Koreans to be able to see and we're watching some of the best dancers. More when we get back. I'm personally hoping they get up on two parallel swords with bare feet and start dancing on them.
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