We left Geosan bright and early Friday morning and made the 2-3 hour bus ride to Seoul. Again, it's nice hanging out with everybody--but this cattle barge style of traveling is starting to wear me down a bit...and I am greatlylooking forward to Mokpo next week (scratch that, THIS weekend). In any case, we got to Seoul around 11 on a (nearly) empty stomach so the first thingI
look for is the spiciest, most alive food I can find. Okay, so I wasn't actually looking for spicy food, or anything alive for that matter, but that's exactly what I ordered at a lovely squid restaurant in downtown Seoul. As an aside, the vast majority of restaurants here specialize in one specific type of food: squid, bbq, monkey (ok maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't put it past them) instead of the typical big box American joint with a huge menu). But back to the mainpoint, I am at a squid restaurant, so what better to order than squid bibimbap and a plate of live, wriggling, screaming for life squid. In all honesty they weren't screaming for life, at least not that I could hear, but they sure as hell made every attempt to latch onto my cheek before diving down my throat. To be specific, they were not actually "alive," just fresh cut tentacles that wriggle and gasp around for an hour after you cut them off. Also, I can see how people die eating these dishes: if you don't chew enough you might find a tentacle wriggling around in youresophagus. Regardless, I washed it all down with a hot and ridiculously spicy (see: Gochujang) bowl of squid bibimbap. *Ahh* each day is an adventure. Well, next we sat through a 2 hour talk on the medical details of our fellowship with Dr. Linton of Severance Hospital (the only foreigner licensed to practice medicine in Korea, actually, and someone I hope to get an internship with this winter). Of course I am intrigued by pretty much ever gritty medical detail he has to say--while everyone else is probably falling asleep--but in
all seriousness this man was hilarious. He's there giving us a talk on STDs, vaccines, etc, but it
was really more of a stand up routine on Korean and American culture. Dr. Linton is the chief of the International Wing at Severance (the biggest hospital in Korea), he's fully caucasian (but his family has been here for over a hundred years in some form or another), he's trained both in Korea and in the States and married a Korean woman. Long story short, he's in this ambiguous position--at the top of his game--where he can make fun of both cultures and himself and still make a good impression. I don't know why I was so intrigued, but hopefully the internship will work out this winter and I can spend some more time at Severance.
To cap off the evening all the ETAs got to hang out at the ambassador's place for pool party (see: American Food). I was just thrilled to get some fresh fruit, beef that didn't cost me $50, and lounge around without a cultural workshop or word-memorizing binge. I also randomly
found myself next to the ambassador for dinner (see the picture) and really enjoyed the conversation. It's another one of those deals where, at least at first, everyone is a little bit nervous or uptight wondering how to act around the "biggest" persona in the room, but I preferred to treat her (the ambassador is a she, Kathleen Stevens) as just another person--I mean, last time I checked, she was. In any case, I maintain all the formalities, the respect, manners, etc. but it was as nice talking about U.S.-East Asian relations as it was her cycling interests and traveling around Korea. Needless to say it was a good experience.
Well, this is plenty for this post, but I'll be back on later with a few more details on the weekend.
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