Weather: rainy and evil
SLEEP in until 11:00 AM. then go shopping in the famous KYOBO bookstore. It's totally crowded there, as crowded as a commuter subway train!! In the kids' section, you can't get near the bookshelves because the kids are all sitting down reading borrowed books!! But in spite of the chaos, the kids are pretty quiet, no shouting or tantrums. I like this MUCH better than the uptight Japanese style bookstores where you have to buy the book before you can even open the cover!!
Naturally, I buy the books about poop.
Then I go back to my hotel and nap until my penpal arrives. The wiseass desk clerk buzzes me and tells me "your girlfriend is here."
Anyway, she takes me to Hyehwa street, where there's even more surprises.
We've arrived in the middle of the 'science fair.' But instead of spotty 16 year olds with paper-machie volcanoes and homemade radios, it's a huge stage in the middle of the street, complete with lightshows and really bad hip-hop dancers who wear scanty gold costumes. I ask her if all Korean scientists dress like that, but she doesn't get it. Then as we continue, we pass a bunch of kids dressed up with plastic bustiers and furry tails, and swords. I ask my penpal, "why are they dressed like Japanese people?"
I'm so shocked I don't even think to grab my camera.
Then we meet her painter friends and go to nore-bang ("singing room",
which is called Karaoke in good old American English).
The good news: yes, you can get Judas Priest karaoke.
Also, the 'videos' that accompany the music seem to be a random collage of
soap operas, news programs, and other artists' videos, which is hilarious
and random. For instance, the Judas Priest video was a documentary on tuna
fishing, with the lyrics to "Electric Eye" superimposed on it.
The bad news : nore-bang sucks. The music is insanely loud, and the singer doesn't perform at all. the singer just sits with his legs crossed and sings to the TV set, while everyone else ignores him and either tries to talk, or looks up songs in the book. really dumb, and I paid for everyone's bill too. also, bad news is this place has more rage against the machine songs than beatles songs in the book. jesus.
MONDAY:
Weather: glorious sun and warm breeze.
On the way there, I see a monk in the subway, with the plain gray robes and shaved head. . . and shelltoe addidas. Huh!
Go to Pukansan ("Pukan Mountain") which is actually a SERIES of mountains north of Seoul. My guidebook calls it "the Korean Yosemitie" but I'm not sure that anyone else calls it that. Anyway, it's a long and confusing journey. I wouldn't have been able to get there at all if it weren't for Gyesoon's help. She was emailing me from work all morning. Most people with a sick mom to take care of, and a 60-hour-a-week job, wouldn't even return my calls, but she's totally patient with me and helpful and a real saint.
Anyway, Pukansan is NUTS. It's full of grandmas and grandpas in full Swiss-Alp hiking outfits, and they're all going 4 times as fast as me. The trails aren't all smooth here. Usually you're just climbing up rocks or down steep ravines. But Korean grandparents have some kind of superpower, they just bounce up and down the cliffs like lemurs.
Plus in America, you'd have obnoxious signs every 3 feet, saying 'don't go
there, don't go here, $500 fine for this, $3000 fine for that" . . but
in Pukansan you can just wander off the trail at any point and have yourself
a picnic. And pretty much, any spot you pick for your picnic will have a bitchen
view. It's nuts I tells ya! All these old people, laughing and kicking it
all day under a warm canopy of trees. This is where I want to retire when
I get old. I greet everyone with a smiley "Annyoung hiseyo," and
they usually laugh and say "Annyoung" right back. when the cliffs
get too steep, I find myself thinking of Homer Simpson once again, "Stupid
mountains. . . I hate them SO MUCH…!"
Sit on top of a dangerous cliff, overlooking this lush valley, and read Jackie Collins.
THEN I hike to the top of this hill where there's this rock they just call THE EAR:
from the top, you can see this huge, smoggy, industrial seaport city, with what I SWEAR is some kind of EVIL SUPERVILLAIN HIDEOUT (in the center, down by the bottom)
then, here's my feet after hiking all day: 
Anyway, then I go to meet my penpal. She's taking me to NANTA, which is one of those wacky Broadway musicals like STOMP or something, where there's no dialogue but a lot of people making noise out of everyday objects. NANTA features a bunch of cooks who use knives and bowls to create rhythm. Oh, and the name in English means "Crazy beat". It's pretty mainstream but fun as hell. . Anyway, they do 'audience participation' in this show, pulling me on stage to help carry pot stickers off of a conveyer belt and beat out a rhythm with a rolling pin. When I come back to my seat, my penpal is convulsed with what I hope is laughter.
intro : part 1: part 2 : part 3 : part 4 : part 5 : part 6 : part 7 : part 8 : engrish : storesigns : poo : links