Kamsahamnida! - part three - posted at 08:24

Our third day in Seoul also marked our last. We slept in late, grabbed breakfast and set out. Cory wanted to check out the Korean War Museum just down the street from where we were staying, so we struck out to go see it.

I had first noticed the museum on our way back from the tour the day before when I saw the huge, telltale vertical stabilizer of the B-52 -- I'd know that anywhere. It was visible over a wall and some trees, and when seen like that it totally looks like a Land Shark. But I digress.

As you've no doubt surmised by now, the museum grounds had some static displays of aircraft. Aside from the B-52 most of them were pretty unremarkable, except for the An-2 COLT. Cory definitely wanted a picture of this one, and he even graced it with SNAKES, the official salute of his squadron.

Fear the Juvat SNAKES

As we wandered, we sadly realized that the museum itself was closed on Mondays so we weren't going to be able to get inside. It was a nice day out though, so we wandered around the grounds more and took in some of the other static displays that were out, like tanks, SSMs, AAA, and subs. We also spent some time taking in the impressive monument (though I would artistically disagree with the foot-to-body ratio that was used!).

After we had exhausted the sightseeing options there, we walked to Itaewon to see if there was any further shopping to do. I was on the lookout for silk pajamas and robe or kimono similar to the stuff my Dad brought back for me when I was about ten, but alas, I was unable to find anything of suitable quality. We decided more relaxing was in order before we started scavenging for dinner so we went back to the hotel and finally finished watching Wallace & Gromit. Ahhh, I love watching that movie with Cory so much. This was followed by some quality jacuzzi time and napping.

At this point we started trying to decide where to go for dinner. I had literally woken up in the middle of the night multiple times salivating at the thought of more samosa, so knowing that I could get some more good authentic Korean food in Kunsan, we decided to go back to Moghul where we proceeded to stuff ourselves silly to the point of actual pain. It was SO GOOD though. If I could live on mutton, palik, samosa, the flat bread whose name I can't remember, curry rice, and jasmine tea for the rest of my life, I would probably choose to do so.

Sadly, after dinner we had to leave the Dragon Hill to go to Kunsan so Cory could get back to work (on the way our bus stopped at a rest stop that had heated toilet seats! How badass is that???). Luckily his work hours were pretty short that week so we got to spend lots of time together. On Tuesday he took me to eat at the Korean restaurant on base where I tried bibembap. Apparently the cooks didn't get the memo that I possess the wussiest tastebuds ever to grace the Korean peninsula and put TONS of red pepper paste right in the bowl. The dish was tasty, but oh, so so much fiery death for my mouth. Dinner that night was much, much better -- we had beef bulgogi and yaki-mandu. Mmmmm, tasty Korean food that doesn't have me running to douse my tastebuds in milk.

Cory had been sick the week before I came out to visit him, and of course, I started coming down with whatever bug he had had at this point. This was good timing as there isn't exactly a huge amount of stuff to do in Kunsan like there was in Seoul, so we were able to just really concentrate on spending some quality down time together, which is really what we needed at that point. I was very not happy about having to leave a couple of days later, but I suppose that's life.

That day was literally the longest day of my life. It lasted 42 hours, which is a nice effect of crossing the international date line. The flight back home was relatively pleasant. I tried bibembap on the plane since I knew I would be given a tube of red pepper paste that I could apply myself in Stacey-appropriate quantities, and oh my god. Heavenly. I love Korean food, I just wish that it was less spicy!

Upon landing in Seattle it really sunk in: Holy crap, I was in a foreign country! For some reason it had never really hit me while I was over there, but once I got back to the states and could read all of the signs or order a sandwich or say "excuse me" to a stranger without having to worry if my language could be understood I fully understood that I had been a long, long way from home. Sweet!

Overall, even if you take out the Cory-factor which obviously made the trip unbelievably awesome, I still had a great time. It's kind of humbling and somewhat uncomfortable to realize that your tall body with its wide bone structure with white skin marks you as an outsider right off the bat, but is definitely an experience I would say that everyone needs to have. It certainly gives you a very basic understanding of what it's like to be a minority in a country and how unconscious and easy it is to gravitate towards other people that look like you. It's a little scary, frankly, just because I don't think that I ever would have anticipated doing that.

With any luck, I'll be heading back to Korea in five or six months to visit Cory again before he returns stateside for good. I'll definitely learn a lot more basic Korean phrases before I leave, try a lot more Korean food, and do more research on what Seoul has to offer. Korean culture is definitely interesting and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about it.