Seoul's Beef with Beef

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but Korea has a serious hate on for American beef. You can read the entire story here from the BBC. Apparently the trouble started back in 2003 when the US had a case of mad cow. According to the Korea Herald article, last October there was some spinal cord bone found in a shipment (Can anyone say, disgusting!), and since then no American beef has been allowed into the stomachs of Koreans. Yet another reason to be a vegetarian. No spinal cords on my plate, thanks.

Howev-ah, Mr. Recently-Elected-President-ay has tried in recent months to re-open the border, under pressure from the US. Well, that sent thousands upon thousands of protestors to the streets of City Hall every weekend, especially on Saturday nights. To his credit, he listened to the voices of his people and twice (I think) re-instated the ban. But, he's just now lifted it once again, so the protests downtown are bigger than ever. And more dangerous.

Anyway I was around City Hall yesterday (Saturday), and took a few pictures which I may post later...nothing exciting...there were a couple hundred people sitting in the street in front of the police buses that were barricading the route to the Blue House (President's house). Nothing much happening...the real stuff happens at night. I wasn't there at night...it's kind of dangerous, because the police have been using water cannons. American beef is not worth this Canadian getting water cannoned, thanks! To be fair, sometimes the protests are not exactly peaceful. Which is a shame, really. Violent protest doesn't really help anything, in my opinion. Here's a video from the BBC of Saturday night's protests:

Apparently there are containers of beef sitting in storage yards in the port cities just waiting for the ban to be lifted so they can start traveling to our tables. Protestors and activists are apparently now going to try to block the transportation routes. But if they can't, get out those chopsticks all you steak-loving carnivores. BBQ tonight anyone? ;)

Insadong Parade Babies

...looking thrilled with their part-time work.

Old-fashioned Honey Dessert

Insa-dong is a really cool part of Seoul where you can see a lot of traditional Korean things...you can you can buy traditional arts and crafts, you can see traditional clothing, you can buy traditional food, and see it being made. This video is a couple of cute little Korean guys making an old-fashioned dessert out of hard-as-rock fermented honey. With only the help of some corn starch (and his memorized English speech), he quickly makes 16 000 strings out of the nugget of honey, and afterward (which is not on the video), he cuts the strings into short lengths and wraps them around some sweet filling or nuts. Mashisseyo! (Delicious!)

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"

Busan

Hola amigos! Sorry for being MIA there for a bit...after we came back from Busan last weekend I got the worst cold I've had in years (I never get colds! Maybe it was the shock of Seoul's pollution after Busan's relative cleanliness). I even had to take some time off work. Meh! But I'm better now, and have some pictures to share with you from our little trip last weekend.

So, to answer La's question...no...Busan is not like Montreal in the least! It's like...Korea! Every city, big or small is basically the same as far as types of establishments, decor (aka neon), etc. However, it was a lot smaller than Seoul and a lot cleaner, and had tons of mountains. Very pretty! I thoroughly enjoyed the 5 1/2 hour train ride both ways b/c my friend E was with me, and the scenery was beautiful. We met our friend La there, and as soon as we dropped our stuff at a seedly little motel, we were off to the beach! A whole 10 minute walk away. Yes!
And we saw these guys...who had big propellors on their backs. Looked like it was loads of fun, droning and swooping over the beach. Brother, I thought of you.
We found these cool spheres and had a good laugh. I think E (right) looks like Jack Nicholson. hahahahaha
Busan is famous for its seafood!
Sand sculpture contest. Dad, I thought of you.
Our beach at night. So warm, and pretty with the bridge .Next day, we were off to Beomeosa Temple. The whole place had a blanket of peace and calm. Ok, I know I say that about every temple, but it's true! Even with tourists, it's still very serene and refreshing. Lots of bamboo at the entrance to this one.
Looking down at my two amigas after climbing the steps to enter the courtyard.
Is it just me or do I not look like mom in this picture? Welcome to the almost-30s....
There were lots of buildings, and therefore...lots of roofs.


That night after dinner, we caught the tail end of a fireworks show. I think this one looks like an angel and a giant fire bird.
E talking to her sweetie a half a world away.
View or a river from train ride home.
Crib helped us pass the hours. :)
All in all, an excellent weekend! I'll definitely be heading there again, probably in the early fall. You can imagine the beach's crowdedness in the heat of summer, as it seems every Korean flocks there with his or her family. Apparently you even have to rent out the beach spot you wish to sit on! No thank you!

Hope you have a great weekend everyone! Lots of love! xoxo

Busan here I come!

Tomorrow (Friday) is a holiday here in Korea, similar to our Remembrance Day in Canada. I'm not sure if it's only for the Korean War, or for all Korea-involved wars.

In any case, I will rise at 5:30am and catch the slow train (5+ hours) down to Busan, the second-largest city in Korea (a wimpy 4 million), and its largest port. I'm looking forward to some cleaner air. As an aside, I noticed on the Wiki page that Montreal is a sister city to Busan. Nifty! Hopefully it mirror's some of its sibling's coolness. Anyway, hope you have a great weekend! *muah!*

Picture pilfered from Wiki.

Mistakes can be a good thing

So on Sunday, me and A took the subway with the thought of finding a new temple/shrine that we hadn't yet seen. But we took the wrong subway line, and got off at a stop with a name similar to the one we had planned on. Anyway, it was a lovely mistake! We ended up in the outskirts of Seoul, in a more rural town, with a man-made waterfall, and some lovely hiking trails. Take a look-see.

Moi:
Moi et A:
Me caught in infinity:
A view of the small city:

Some wall art along the hiking trails:


After wandering around in the woods for a bit, we left and walked in the town, where we came across this tiny temple with a huge Buddha on top:
We walked in through the gate, and the one little old monk who lives there came to greet us. He spoke no English, but words weren't needed, as he was so sweet and kind. He showed us into the small meditation room lined with gold Buddhas and paper lanterns. We sighed at how beautiful it was, and he lit all the candles for us. A perfect ending to my weekend!