Perfect Timing

I have no excuse for not having posted sooner other than I have been having too much fun. And too much soju. So instead of coming home at night and writing, I have been coming home and sleeping. And getting up the next morning and doing it all again.

Our party split up for a couple days while we were in central Seoul as we had different interests that we wanted to pursue. Kim, Mallie, and I chose the historic route and spent two days exploring all the palaces. Our first day can be summed up with the words ‘perfect timing.’

The first place that we went was Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty. I had been to this one before and I knew that they would want to see the full ceremonial changing of the guard (as opposed to the simpler procession that is done every hour) so we planned on getting there when it opened. But we were pokey getting out the door and missed the first one. We leisurely toured the other buildings and I was surprised how much I remembered from my guidebook from my last trip that I was able to pass along to my friends. We wrapped up just in time to see the afternoon pageant.

It was also lunchtime and we had spent the morning walking and climbing and we were starved. For meals we have pretty much followed our nose. Whenever we get hungry we just start looking in the windows. There are restaurants and street vendors every few feet and you have plenty of selection. I often wonder how they all manage to stay in business. We select one and walk inside.

Now if you have been following along, this is our first time venturing out without Lizzy who usually takes point in these situations because she is the most fluent. This is our test. Getting a taxi to where we wanted to go is an accomplishment when the driver speaks no English but no so much so when you take into consideration that our destination was a national landmark.

It is a small shop which seats about a dozen run by two older women. We our proud of ourselves when we tell them we need a table for three in Korean when they ask how many are in our party. They are tickled that we speak the language. They ask how we know and we tell them that we have studied it at school. They give us an English menu but laugh heartily when we order in Korean. When it is my turn, I asked for budae jjigae (army stew) which was on the wall in Hangul but not on the menu. This thrills them even more that we could read the language as well as speak it. Every time we as for something – more water, more banchan (side dishes) – they laugh and clasp their hands in front of them as they bring whatever it is we have requested. We even settle our bill in Korean without them having to show us the total on the calculator. We are not offended that they laughed at us whenever we spoke. It was not meant maliciously. And we laugh at them laughing at us. When all is said and done, we are proud of ourselves for ‘surviving’ without Lizzy.

Time to head out for today and still three days behind in writing. I’ll catch up eventually. Be patient with me. To be continued …