Sokcho Vacation, part 2

After we arrived at the minbak, we changed clothes and headed to the beach. Alas, the weather was rather gloomy and cool for August. But, we braved the cold water and wind to spend a few hours at the beach. The kids were back in their element. It was a lot of fun to see them play.

The Sokcho lighthouse is a tourist attraction of the area. We wanted to climb the stairs and pay a visit, but the lighthouse was closed for renovations. We simply admired it from afar.

For Oliver and Ronan, the water was a bit too cold Oliver compensated by running after the waves and letting the waves chase him. Ronan decided he'd wait on the beach with his inner-tube until the water came to him.

Overall, Oliver appeared to enjoy the sand the most. He created a few masterpieces that were all in danger of being destroyed by anyone within the area. He was quite the little guardian of his work. I tried to get him to smile for the camera with his art work, but he said, "No, I'm working. I need to focus." Hmmm, where have I heard that before...(mommy guilt seeping in).

Dahin braved the water and actually swam a bit in the ocean. I joined her for a bit, but could only take so much. She was determined to get SOMEONE in the water with her. Mostly, I just stood in waist-deep water and watched her bob around. Really wish the weather had been more cooperative. I think the waters are usually pretty chilly, but not as chilly as the SF Bay area waters. I could at least go into the water here. Would have felt fabulous on a hot, sunny day. One thing that surprised me was the water quality: clear, clean, cool water of aqua blue, emerald in spots. Just beautiful. Not the murky waters I was expecting. Good thing--we've seen a lot of recent stories about great whites and hammerheads 'beaching themselves' (yeah right; hello overzealous fisherpeople) on beaches (mostly on west coast--with the pollution from China, doesn't surprise me the sharks are wanting out). Nice to have a clear view of what's around you.

Those obnoxious boards on the ground near our feet were advertisements for boat rentals. You'd think one board or even two would suffice, but there were about 10 boards placed the ground to make sure people noticed. Koreans don't waste advertising space, that's for sure. Just wish there was more room on the beach to enjoy the sand unimpeded.

Dahin tried in vain to get apa to join her. He got as far as the water's edge before turning around ad returning to his natural habitat and position. She put a good effort into making it work, though, which is why I think she looks so disappointed.

Ronan collected seashells constantly. Very picky, too. Many of the shells I found for him were just not good enough. We tried finding shells big enough so that we could hear the ocean in them, but all we really found were these clam shells. Ronan was excited, anyway.

After showering, we headed to the Sokcho central market to get some dinner. The place is a massive maze of fish, veggie, fruit, grain stalls, clothing stores, houseware sellers, etc. We found our way to the bottom level where we settled in for a dinner of clam soup, raw fish, and mae-eun tang (spicy fish stew).

The kids have mastered chopsticks by now. They surprised me by really diving into this soup. They loved the challenge of getting the clams out of their shells (really not that much of a challenge, but takes some dexterity with chopsticks).

Jack and I enjoyed a raw fish platter created from fish we picked from buckets at the restaurant. Swimming one minute, dinner the next.

Because the kids are not that into hoe (raw fish), we supplemented with some fried squid, rice, and lettuce (they wrapped their rice in the lettuce).

After dinner, we headed to another fish market. This is the market in which you can eat the fresh catches right by the ocean. It was very busy that night, so glad we had chosen to eat at the sijang instead. Below, the market's lights are reflected in the water.

Some of the highlights of the market included checking out all the tanks full of king crabs, squid, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and all kinds of fish. We witnessed a fish escape. It leapt/leaped (too tired to look up which is correct) out of its tank. onto a pile of dried fish, jumped around for a while until hitting the payment. It flopped around for a while until I couldn't watch it anymore. I kept waiting for someone with a net to run along and get the fish back to its tank. Thought of trying to catch it with my hands but 1) knew that I could not make that one work and 2) didn't want to be the stupid foreigner catching a fish in the market (get enough stares as it is). When we headed back that way a little later, the fish was no longer on the walkway so I am guessing the fish tank owner person took care of it.

Jack and the kids' favorite: fried anything. We bought some deep fried shrimp and squid and chased the snacks down with some slushies and iced coffee (the latter for the grownups).

After our fish market snack, we headed to a well-known lookout point with lots of swirling lights and pagodas. It seems that, for most beach-side attractions, nature is not good enough. Gotta add swirling lights.

The highlight for the kids? Roman candles and sparklers. Yes, we added to that 'natural' feel of the place by adding more flashing lights and making a lot of smoke. Here, Ronan displays one of his prizes. After working on apa for a while, he finally caved in and got the fireworks. Jack, of course, fired them off, but the kids had a blast watching. Seems that is the thing to do at the pier as their were fireworks sellers all over the place and many families doing just what we were doing.

We couldn't leave the pier, of course, without getting some of those neon light-thingies.

The final stop was a view from the largest pagoda and one of the highest lookout points. There, we watched the white foam of the waves and listened to the ocean for a while.

After enjoying the views. we piled into the car and headed to our room where we finally crashed around 11 pm. Day 2 coming soon....

Sokcho Vacation, part 1

We just took our first family vacation in Korea and it was a lot of fun. Per usual form, I took WAY too many photos, which means I am having to post in installments. This is installment numero uno: the way there. Above, in the map of SK, you can see where we went. Seoul is closer to the west coast of Korea and is marked by that big red square towards the northern part of the ROK. We traveled to the eastern seaboard for our vacation. If you look on the map, you'll see the province in the north (and colored yellow) named Kangwon-do. We were east of Ch'unch'on (marked on the map, and where Dahin and I will be headed next week for a kugak--Korean traditional music--camp) on the coast; just west of the mountain range housing Seorak mountain--one of the highlights of our trip. The kids were so excited to go. The boys and Dahin packed their own bags the day before and placed them by the door. Oliver and Dahin did a fabulous job. Ronan, well, besides two shirts and pajamas, his backpack was filled with toys. After some careful bag-editing the day of the trip, we were on our way. We faced traffic the first part of the trip, which put SOME of us in a bad mood.

Dahin was NOT happy and laid down in the car in protest. We had to threaten her with abandonment (no kidding) so that she would actually get up and let her brothers sit safely in their seats. Are we having fun YET? Ah, good times. Relief came at the point when we realized that that long line of cars was actually headed somewhere else. So, after slow going for two hours, we had a clear road and found our way to a rest stop.

Rest stops in Korea are like combinations of cafeterias, snack food supply spots, and convenience marts (oh, and potties). We ordered mandu (dumplings), ramen, kimbap, seolleongtang (beef soup with clear noodles), and a bulgogi burger (for Dahin). We also got some jwipo (dried fish) and dried squid while waiting for the burger. The kids love jwipo--it is really good, but needs to be heated over a fire and makes one's home stinky. Ok while out and about, though. The dried squid (ojingeo) was not well cooked, however. Oliver used his squid to make funny faces and pose for photos. Most of it went to waste. What's that? Yes, my picky ("that's yu-cky") kids eat dried fish and squid with gusto (shocking, huh).

Finally, after 5.5 hours on the road, we made it to our little, overpriced room. Jack's idea was, we would just drive there and find a room. I envisioned full hotels and driving with grumpy kids ready to land and said N-O to that idea. So, we reserved a room on line for 70,000 won a night (about 70 dollars). After we arrived and when Jack went downstairs to get extra towels and bedding, he overheard the owner ask a guest how she liked her room. She said, "It's alright for 50,000 a night and a view of the ocean" (we had opted for the no-view room online because the charge was 30,000 won a night more). Yes, we got ripped off. But, hey, we didn't know and it was the height of the tourist season. Our room was alright. Minbak are little hotel-like places. You pay for basically a room with a sink, little fridge, tv, and bedding. We didn't need anything fancy because we didn't plan on staying inside much. Minbak lined the beach where we were staying. The ajuma and ajeossi who ran the place were really very nice, despite the fact that they ripped us off. Usual prices for minbak (off-peak season) range from 30,000-50,000 won a night.

And, our room did have a bit of a view. The boys discovered this as soon as we got to the room. It wasn't a full-on 'we're facing the beach' view, but it was still nice. And, smelling that salt air and hearing the waves was so, so nice. The kids had not seen a beach or the ocean in 7 months--an eternity when you consider that they lived most of their lives in the Bay Area and took regular trips to the beach to play.

A view of the rooftops and the beach and beachfront road. Next installment to be posted tomorrow: the beach, the fish markets, and fireworks (all in our first day/night!).

We can now bake!!

When we were hanging out at a friend's house, Oliver mentioned that he didn't get the cupcakes he wanted for his birthday, with sprinkles. I had to explain, once again, that we don't have an oven (not standard here) and they don't sell the cake mixes here (at least not that I know of) to make the cupcakes with anyway. My friend piped up, "We have an oven we're not using; I'll give it to you." She then went to her cabinets and supplied us with cake mix, frosting, sprinkles, and a pan. Her husband has access to the US-style grocery store on the military base, so she gets regular access to stuff we have to pay big bucks for on the black market. It was so awesome of her to hand all this stuff over. The kids thoroughly enjoyed baking the cake and, of course, eating it!

Still Present at Berkeley

I LOVE this photo! An MA student in the program I worked for at Berkeley just posted this on his Facebook page and tagged me. It's a photo of his girlfriend (a brilliant program alum, now working on her Ph.D. at Columbia) posing next to my picture on that giant Billboard in the middle of the UCB campus. He gave the photo the title "Why We Dig Berkeley." I think the name of the installation is something similar, like 'what Berkeley means to me' or something like that. It's a compliment, although the paranoid person in me thinks maybe 'dig' refers to my current absence; like, 'whew, thank God she's gone." No, seriously--I prefer the less-paranoid version and remain very, very flattered. Ah, I miss those guys. I also heard that I got a standing ovation at the Group in Asian Studies commencement this year. Nice to be missed and even nicer to be remembered. It's kind of fun to think that my image still adorns the Berkeley campus. Good to know, as well, that my 'makeover' has been removed. Last time I knew, my image and the images of others were decorated with mustaches and beards. While cool to think that I could be graffitied, it's a lot of work for the people doing upkeep on the installation.

Pool Days

Summer vacation is here for the kids and we're making the most of it with frequent pool trips. Even today, they were at the pool with Jack and a friend of his while you-can-guess-who was in her office trying to finish up some work (never, ever finish-able). We can spend pretty much the whole day at the pool, usually bringing our own fruit and snacks that rapidly disappear and having to buy ramen, udong, kimbap, and other types of food at the food stations. Luckily, the food is reasonably-priced so we don't end up spending a lot of money. The pool has some wacky rules like: 1) you must wear a swim cap at all times in the pool or a lifeguard will blow his/her whistle at you very loudly and yell that you have to get out if you don't get a cap on NOW (apparently, not wearing a cap is 'dirty;' ok, but it's alright to pee in the water? and not to mention the slick suntain oil that washes off into the water....); 2) you are required to take a 15 minute break at the end of every hour; the announcer says its 'for health, ' but I think it's so the lifeguards can get regular breaks (although they seem to spend half the breaktime blowing whistles and yelling at the kid who inevitably sticks his/her feet in the water, jumps in on a dare, or dips his/her water gun in the pull to re-supply); 3) you are not allowed to take photos (we got away with it by taking quick shots of the kids, but apparently the rule is in place so creepy guys won't go to take photos of girls in bikinis; also, it makes a safe place for celebrities and models to come and relax--we've seen a few there that Jack and his friends recognized, including one transexual that definitely passed for a woman). I met some British women who were new to the pool while in the bathroom (or, should I say, the 'loo') and they asked, "Why is no one swimming?" I was tempted to make up some fable about a suspected skin fungus or a Han River monster stuck in the pool (maybe they haven't seen the movie), but was nice and told them it was just break time. "Why?" they asked. "It's for health," I responded. It's funny that the excuses we find so lame, we end up using, too, for lack of imagination. They then asked, "Do I have to wear a cap?" I told them yes. "Even if we pretend we don't know the rule and don't know Korean?" Told them it doesn't matter; the lifeguards don't evaluate your linguistic ability, they just use body language to let you know you're breaking the rules. Go on, suck it up girls! This is Seoul. Buy the silly little caps at the overpriced supply store on site. The good thing about the swim hats and goggles is that the kids look so cute all decked up. Dahin does a pretty convincing Esther Williams. Another good thing about going to the pool so often: Dahin has learned to swim--she does a mean breast stroke. So there, expensive YMCA swim lessons! We didn't need you after all. The boys are a little tougher, but we're working on the doggie paddle in the shallow end. Photos of the kids and a friend hamming it up are courtesy of our friend Peter.

Summer Night, Seoul

Friends of ours invited us over for a barbecue at their place tonight. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the company as well as the hamburgers, chips, soda, and icecream (you can imagine). Jack and I had a great time, too.

The evening entertainment included watching the burger's cook on the outside grill, swinging on a hammock on a balcony overlooking the city (Dahin braved that one; Oliver said she looked like a mermaid after a remark that she was almost like a fish caught in a net), a rousing game of 'duck, duck, goose' about which Dahin explained the rules, and a game of hide and seek.

Sometimes, I like nothing more than sitting outside (in an elevated spot, mind you) and watching the lights and the night sky. Seoul is a noisy city, but, from any spot up high, it looks and feels quite peaceful.