Itaewon
This is an area not far from where Charles Montgomery lives, and I spent an evening with him and Yvonne here. There are lots of foreigners in this area. The famed "What the Book" English-language bookstore is here. The American Army base is next to here. There are restaurants from all over the world here. Really great for a little diversity! We browsed the book store, wandered the streets and went to a delightful rooftop cafe for drinks and food. I'll be returning to this area!
Insadong
Clara Song was here in Seoul last month, and one evening she invited me to join her and a friend to visit this special "cultural" area. Lots of artisans have shops here, there are old-style homes here, tea houses, narrow cobbled streets, galleries and so on. The friend was Mi Kyong, the one I later went to Seoul Forest with. We walked around, visited various shops, and ended up at this small specialty restaurant Mi Kyong knew about. Amazingly, we walked in, and there at the next table was a famous Korean actress Clara and Mi Kyong recognized - in her 70s now, but apparently well-know in her youth. (Her name for any Korean readers: Eom Aeng Ran or 암앵란). There was a fair bit of conversation between our two tables and I was even introduced and greeted. So what a great evening - Insadong, great dinner, meeting an actress, being with Clara, and making a new Korean friend.
Ewha Womans University
Yes - it's spelled without the apostrophe. This university is very near Yonsei, and one evening Clara Song (yes, Clara, once again, who has introduced me to so many people!) invited me to this area for dinner with another friend of hers, Myeong-hee, who teaches health education at the university. At dinner we got acquainted, and since then I have met with Myeong-hee several times and gotten to know Ewha a bit. Myeong-hee even invited me to go an excursion with her and a colleague to the DMZ, and I really wanted to go with them - but alas, they were going on the day of the midterm!! Amazingly, 4 of her students have volunteered to meet with me once a week to practice speaking Korean. Wow! I have already met with one student a couple of times, and will meet another one tomorrow.
So - my days have been full. It's a good thing I'm not teaching!!
You sound like you are enjoying literally every minute of your time in Korea so far. So much studying, so many people and outings. How do you fit it all in? It sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you're having such a variety of experiences, and I'm really enjoying reading about them. Thanks for sharing! These blogs will be a great memento of your year-long adventure, too.
ReplyDelete