Yesterday we spent the morning getting a train ticket to Gyeongju, a town about 6 hours out of Seoul. We took the Metro which is an ultra modern, very extensive network. It reaches every corner of Seoul and in many cases to some of the outlying reaches. It is very inexpensive, never more than $2.00 and usually less. Each stop and the next stop is announced in Korean and English. The same was true of the airport bus. The train station, like the rest of Seoul, blew us away. It is a modern, large open concept of steel and glass. Easy to navigate and an excellent information booth. Again everything in Korean and English. The woman helping us spoke perfect English and when I asked for a senior discount she told me it applied only to Koreans. I suggested that I might be Korean which brought on a hearty laugh. Not one of the tee hee mouth covered laughs often associated with Orientals. This is true of the population we have encountered. The Koreans seem open, friendly and helpful. When we are ushered into our seat in a restaurant, the woman (always women) will often take me by the arm or put a hand on my shoulder and walk us to the table. This is very unusual as our experience is that women touch women and men touch men. Never the opposite sex.
At the train station we realized that we were next to one of the large open air markets that we had intended to visit. So we strolled over for a few hours. One can buy almost anything there. There was an excellent food court area and we had a great lunch of dumplings and bibimbap which is an all in one dish of rice, veggies and meat in a very hot stone pot.
We made our way back to our guesthouse easily and without getting lost. We have learned some of the shortcuts so we are beginning to feel part of the neighbourhood. We are also recognizable as there are very few westerners around and even fewer old people (are you smiling?). Except of course Elaine, a teacher of English living in Japan, whose second question to us was, "Bist a Yid?"
The guesthouse that we're at is centrally located and while not Deluxe it is comfortable, clean and most of all a place where travelers meet in the common room and exchange stories, places to stay, eat etc.
Supper was outstanding. We have found a narrow lane that we have named Food Street. It is a series of interesting and different restaurants. After much deliberation we settled on Mandu-jeongal and is described on the menu, in English (unusual) as "dumplings with meat, five kinds of vegetable, four kinds of mushrooms, noodles and liltleelespicy sauce". The utensils are a long handled spoon and chopsticks. The chopsticks are unlike any we have seen. They are made out of steel and are very flat which makes them a bit difficult to use initially. We have twice been offered a fork but we declined. We are on the verge of mastering the steel chopsticks. Also, we now own long handled spoons and chopsticks as we are very enthusiastic about Korean cuisine.
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