Ace and I are enjoying a slower pace around here, for the time being. The weekend after the Lotus Lantern Festival, I headed back up to Seoul to pick up Rachel from the airport. It was great to have her here- Ace and I loved getting to share all the random bits of Korean insight we’ve picked up, showing off our weak Korean skills, introducing her to our favorite places and restaurants, and introducing her to our friends here. It was lovely to see her again, and a great excuse to visit places I’ve been to and loved, and places I’ve been meaning to check out. It really felt great to get to share everything I’ve learned over the last 9 months.
Unfortunately, we both developed a nasty cold or something in the beginning of the week. The doctor told me I had “cold plus allergy plus voice problem”, whatever that means, which was a bit of an understatement, seeing as I was completely unable to speak above a whisper when I visited him. It was pretty lame having to try not to talk with my friend here, but, on the bright side, I got the day off work and got to spend more time with her. Rach was feeling icky all week, but was still able to enjoy everything. I’d say some highlights were tandem biking around Gyeongju, the cool spas and whole-body-nibbly-fish-pool at Spa Valley, the local waterpark, and getting scrubbed within an inch of our lives, thrown around, beaten and then doused in cucumber and milk by the old ladies at the bath house we visited.
I took the day off on Friday to take Rach up to Seoul, which meant it was a 3 day workweek for me! It was really nice, though I still managed to exhaust myself. Ace met us up in Seoul in Saturday, and we enjoyed some good food, a live show, a night in a Korean traditional house, and a palace together.
Rachel left for Seoul that Sunday, and I spent most of last week catching up on little stuff, while still trying to work out, study Korean, and write in my journal. I had a phone interview with EF INST, my top choice for schools in Istanbul, on Monday. I think it went well, but they won’t be making offers until June, so now I just have to wait. There are a million uncertainties that are driving me crazy, but I’m trying not to dwell on them. What kind of position will they offer me, if they do offer one? How many split shifts and weekends will I have to work? What kind of students and classes will I teach? Will I have enough time with Ace? Will I get enough vacation and holidays to do some traveling in the area? What will my pay be like? What area will I work in? Will I be able to negotiate a 9 month contract? If they don’t offer me something, should I get a job with one of the less desirable schools, or just cruise on into Istanbul when I want and look for work there? Yuck. Anyone that knows me knows that I hate not having a plan, but I’m attempting to be patient.
This weekend was the first time in a month that I didn’t go up to Seoul! Saturday was one of our rare Daegu rainy days, so it was perfect for a lazy day around the house. Ace studied a lot of Korean, and I had a great time working on a photo book with our Turkey pictures, making banana bread, journaling, and getting myself organized. One of the bonuses about our situation is having apartments next to all of our friends, and we spend Saturday evening visiting three different friends’ apartments, all within a 15 minute walk.
Sunday I took myself shopping downtown, and Ace met up with me at night to see Star Trek. It was great! I’m not even remotely knowledgeable about the old stuff, but I still loved the movie. We had a late dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants, then headed home. It was a perfect weekend- just what I needed! It’s getting a bit late here-1:30 a.m.- and I think it’s time to retire with the good book I’m reading, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Goodnight!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Festivals
One week ago, Kait and I went to Seoul to see the Lotus Lantern Festival that was a week-early celebration of Buddha's birthday. To give just a little background, the lotus flower is important in Buddhist beliefs because the flower grows in swamps, an example of beauty that flourishes amid the muck.
There were many Buddhists from around the world who were celebrating at this festival. I saw people from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and many other Asian countries, but I also saw monks that were completely American, which was pretty cool to see.
The festival took place near the main walking street in Seoul, Insadong, so we all (me, Kait, Carolyn, Laura, and Sarah) enjoyed going from stall to stall to see the activities. The ladies all got their faces painted. Later, we had some traditional tea by sitting cross-legged in a stall while munching on some delicious rice cake. I and Sarah copied a sketch of a hand holding a lotus flower above a bed of clouds. Amid the stalls, there was a temple that we also checked out just off of the street. Many people gathered in this area to pray, pay their respects to the Buddha image, and to watch a slew of performances that were taking place just outside. After we got some delicious potato and pork spine soup and did a bit of browsing through the walking street, we checked out the main event: the parade.
This was definitely the highlight of the festival. The parade went on for roughly three hours, and consisted of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people walking, dancing, or marching down the street. Also, we saw a bunch of awesome floats, depicting fire-breathing dragons, fire-breathing peacocks, a monk in a taxi, and Buddha in a helicopter -- along with a bunch of other floats that seemed more natural at a Buddhist celebration. Another thing to see was the costumes. Some of them were quite elaborate and beautiful.
Traditional food and drinks festival
Two weeks ago we went to a festival in Gyeongju that celebrated Korean traditional foods and drinks. For the most part, we saw barbecued meat and rice cakes for the traditional foods. The focus, however, was more heavily put on the traditional drinks...especially those of the alcoholic variety. Dongdongju, Maccoli, bamboo leaf wine, andong soju, and soju were all there, and, for a mere 2,ooowon, Kait and I each bought a small cup about the size of a shot glass that allowed us to go from booth to booth receiving free samples of drinks. [Dongdongju and moccoli are both similar versions of fermented rice drinks. Soju itself is a much harder version of fermented rice wine, and bamboo leaf wine is, well, bamboo-leaf flavoring mixed with soju.]
A mildly funny thing happened while Kait and I were approaching one of the stalls that gave out the drinks. There were many people with high-quality video cameras that were possibly filming for television purposes. Anyways, when we approached the stall, one such man and his reporter (equipped with a mike and everything) saw us coming. I saw these men see us as they started to get their camera/mike poised for us to approach. At this point I stopped Kait, and told her we might want to go to another stall, but just as I stopped, the men saw us stop, and they realized what we were doing, so they took some hesitant steps in our direction. Realizing that we were already committed to getting filmed drinking some free alcohol, we went ahead to the stall, which seemed to please the men very much. They asked us questions in English such as "How is the taste" and the like, so we were happy to answer them.
Herb Festival
Recently (yesterday) after our Korean language class at the local YMCA, Kait and I went to another very small festival that was celebrating the use of plants/herbs/roots/etc. We just kind of perused, and we decided that we wouldn't try the fried ginger root or pumpkin juice, though I was just a bit tempted. Also, the highlight of this festival was perhaps the giant, inflated vinyl artery (as in a human artery)that served as a play area and bouncy room for children; of course, we checked it out immediately. I am guessing that it was a random way to promote the health benefits of herbal medicines.
Anyways, that's all for now. We will post again soon, as there will definitely be a lot going on in the weeks to follow. Until then, we send our thoughts and love!
There were many Buddhists from around the world who were celebrating at this festival. I saw people from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and many other Asian countries, but I also saw monks that were completely American, which was pretty cool to see.
The festival took place near the main walking street in Seoul, Insadong, so we all (me, Kait, Carolyn, Laura, and Sarah) enjoyed going from stall to stall to see the activities. The ladies all got their faces painted. Later, we had some traditional tea by sitting cross-legged in a stall while munching on some delicious rice cake. I and Sarah copied a sketch of a hand holding a lotus flower above a bed of clouds. Amid the stalls, there was a temple that we also checked out just off of the street. Many people gathered in this area to pray, pay their respects to the Buddha image, and to watch a slew of performances that were taking place just outside. After we got some delicious potato and pork spine soup and did a bit of browsing through the walking street, we checked out the main event: the parade.
This was definitely the highlight of the festival. The parade went on for roughly three hours, and consisted of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people walking, dancing, or marching down the street. Also, we saw a bunch of awesome floats, depicting fire-breathing dragons, fire-breathing peacocks, a monk in a taxi, and Buddha in a helicopter -- along with a bunch of other floats that seemed more natural at a Buddhist celebration. Another thing to see was the costumes. Some of them were quite elaborate and beautiful.
Traditional food and drinks festival
Two weeks ago we went to a festival in Gyeongju that celebrated Korean traditional foods and drinks. For the most part, we saw barbecued meat and rice cakes for the traditional foods. The focus, however, was more heavily put on the traditional drinks...especially those of the alcoholic variety. Dongdongju, Maccoli, bamboo leaf wine, andong soju, and soju were all there, and, for a mere 2,ooowon, Kait and I each bought a small cup about the size of a shot glass that allowed us to go from booth to booth receiving free samples of drinks. [Dongdongju and moccoli are both similar versions of fermented rice drinks. Soju itself is a much harder version of fermented rice wine, and bamboo leaf wine is, well, bamboo-leaf flavoring mixed with soju.]
A mildly funny thing happened while Kait and I were approaching one of the stalls that gave out the drinks. There were many people with high-quality video cameras that were possibly filming for television purposes. Anyways, when we approached the stall, one such man and his reporter (equipped with a mike and everything) saw us coming. I saw these men see us as they started to get their camera/mike poised for us to approach. At this point I stopped Kait, and told her we might want to go to another stall, but just as I stopped, the men saw us stop, and they realized what we were doing, so they took some hesitant steps in our direction. Realizing that we were already committed to getting filmed drinking some free alcohol, we went ahead to the stall, which seemed to please the men very much. They asked us questions in English such as "How is the taste" and the like, so we were happy to answer them.
Herb Festival
Recently (yesterday) after our Korean language class at the local YMCA, Kait and I went to another very small festival that was celebrating the use of plants/herbs/roots/etc. We just kind of perused, and we decided that we wouldn't try the fried ginger root or pumpkin juice, though I was just a bit tempted. Also, the highlight of this festival was perhaps the giant, inflated vinyl artery (as in a human artery)that served as a play area and bouncy room for children; of course, we checked it out immediately. I am guessing that it was a random way to promote the health benefits of herbal medicines.
Anyways, that's all for now. We will post again soon, as there will definitely be a lot going on in the weeks to follow. Until then, we send our thoughts and love!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cappadocia
As Ace mentioned, our time in Cappadocia was gorgeous. Getting there was frustrating (see Ace’s previous comment on going to the wrong airport and a very expensive cab ride- other highlights of the short trip included a non-existent shuttle pickup and several more expensive cab rides) but as soon as the terrain outside the bus changed from normal, dry hills into the exquisite, weird, beautiful rock spires, layered, multicolored valleys, and fairy chimneys, all of our tension melted away. We just felt overjoyed and incredibly fortunate to be in on of the most beautiful and interesting places on Earth. I really wish I had words to describe it, but I can’t- you’ll just have to look at the pictures.
We stayed in a lovely little village, Goreme. As it wasn’t tourist season yet, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. We stayed in the Kelebek Pension, a cave hotel perched on the side of a mountain, with a terrace with a stunning view of the village. Come to think of it, pretty much all of the views in the entire region are stunning. We adored Kelebek- I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to dirty, cheap hostels now that I’ve stayed in a cave room carved out of solid rock in a fairy chimney that was still luxurious. Our room was awesome- windows, shelves and closets carved out of solid rock, Turkish carpets on the floor, and our own piping hot shower. The staff was lovely, and the main area was great- free apple tea, board games, a fireplace, and, in the mornings, the best hotel breakfast I’ve encountered. Ace and I stuffed ourselves with the cheeses, olives, veggies, breads, olives, dried fruits, and baguette French toast each morning. YUM! The stray dogs and cats in Goreme seem to have a very happy relationship with the locals, and happy, healthy dogs and cats roamed the terraces waiting for loving and snacks from visitors. Ace and I were only there for two whole days and nights (we got to our hotel about 10:30 Wednesday, and left at 6:00 a.m. on Friday) but we managed to pack a lot into our time there.
On Wednesday, we got settled, then headed out to nearby Uchisar for some hiking in the famous valleys. We clambered around on Uchisar castle, a huge, cave-riddled stone chimney which is the highest point in Cappadocia. Next, with the help of about a million helpful locals, we finally found the unlabeled Pigeon valley, which we could hike through until it returned us to Goreme. We enjoyed a very rugged, 2-hour-or-so hike through the valleys, which were riddled with ancient dwellings carved out of the rock. Most of them had little cubbies carved into the walls, which we later learned were pigeon houses- keeping pigeons and using their droppings for fertilizer was one of the most common ways of earning money there before good ‘ol tourism kicked in.
On Thursday-the most perfect day I can ever remember having- we got up at the crack of down to a van pick-up for our hot-air balloon ride. Cappadocia has a unique terrain that makes it very balloon-friendly- there’s very little wind- and hot air balloon tours are a popular way to enjoy the breathtaking views. I was obviously THRILLED, as I’ve been dreaming about hot air balloons constantly since I first went up in a tethered one with my brownie troop in elementary school. We rode about 30 minutes outside of the village, where we saw our inflating balloon peeking over the ridges. We got there just as it was filling up, and hopped into our cozy little basket with a few other tourists. The balloon lifted a few inches off the ground and cruised right over the very steep edge of the valley, and we were off. I was surprised at how steady the basket felt, and thoroughly enjoyed dangling my arms over the edge and snapping pictures. Watching the 20 or so other balloons in the air at the same time as us, while floating over such stunning, unique terrain, made it the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was AWESOME! After we’d been in the air for about 45 minutes, our pilot announced that we were over a valley nicknamed “love valley”- and that’s when Ace proposed! He asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. I was pretty shocked, as I wasn’t expecting that any time remotely soon. We returned to the ground very shortly after, a very happy engaged couple.
After our lovely balloon ride, we took several buses to a different area in the Cappadocia region- Kaymakli. It’s another small village, home to one of two major underground cities in the region. The first three floors were probably carved out by Hittites about 2000 B.C., and were later used and enlarged by early Christians who hid in them for months at a time to escape persecution. The city was pretty awesome- 4 stories underground of stables, churches, living rooms, wineries, etc. carved out of solid rock and connected by narrow, winding, sloping tunnels. While a tourist route was clearly market and well lit, Ace and I found ourselves wishing we had a flashlight so we could explore the numerous pitch-black tunnels that sloped off of the main drag. We loved seeing the place, but ceilings so low that at times we were crawling made me thankful that I’m not claustrophobic.
We returned to Goreme, and after a delicious lunch, we took a 1 kilometer walk on a small road towards the Goreme open air museum. We got distracted on the way by the stunning cliffs, caves, and valleys off the road, and took about a 2 hour detour from the road to climb up rock outcroppings, snap photos, explore caves and scoot down the steep valley walls. We felt like little kids on a giant, gorgeous playground. The most amazing thing is that the entire region is like that- the opportunities for awesome exploring and adventuring are virtually endless. We finally made it to the open-air museum, and checked out some really cool cave churches first used between the 300’s to 500’s. You could see different layers of decoration on the walls- really ancient red die in geometric patterns revealed where the “newer” frescoes had peeled off.
After such an eventful day, we were exhausted, so we headed back to a restaurant in the village to recline on huge cushions while we enjoyed an amazing dinner, orange tea, apple hookah, and Turkish rice pudding- perfect. We returned to Kelebek, played a few games of backgammon ( a very enthusiastic staff member helped us figure out the rules) and collapsed in bed.
The following morning, we returned to Istanbul to enjoy our last full day in Turkey.
The only thing left to mention is that Ace and I are now looking for teaching jobs in Istanbul. Needless to say, we absolutely loved the city. We were planning on spending another year in Korea, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got about the prospect of experiencing another (totally different) country and culture. The city is gorgeous and fascinating, the people are really nice, the arts scene is great, and the history is just incredible. I would love to finally live in the same city as my dear friend again, too. Ace is particularly excited about the culinary prospects (surprise surprise ). Ace managed to squeeze in an interview at Malynda’s school on Friday, which he really enjoyed, and I’ve been scouring the internet for a decent language school ever since we returned to Daegu. Wish us luck!
Lots of love,
Kait
We stayed in a lovely little village, Goreme. As it wasn’t tourist season yet, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves. We stayed in the Kelebek Pension, a cave hotel perched on the side of a mountain, with a terrace with a stunning view of the village. Come to think of it, pretty much all of the views in the entire region are stunning. We adored Kelebek- I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to dirty, cheap hostels now that I’ve stayed in a cave room carved out of solid rock in a fairy chimney that was still luxurious. Our room was awesome- windows, shelves and closets carved out of solid rock, Turkish carpets on the floor, and our own piping hot shower. The staff was lovely, and the main area was great- free apple tea, board games, a fireplace, and, in the mornings, the best hotel breakfast I’ve encountered. Ace and I stuffed ourselves with the cheeses, olives, veggies, breads, olives, dried fruits, and baguette French toast each morning. YUM! The stray dogs and cats in Goreme seem to have a very happy relationship with the locals, and happy, healthy dogs and cats roamed the terraces waiting for loving and snacks from visitors. Ace and I were only there for two whole days and nights (we got to our hotel about 10:30 Wednesday, and left at 6:00 a.m. on Friday) but we managed to pack a lot into our time there.
On Wednesday, we got settled, then headed out to nearby Uchisar for some hiking in the famous valleys. We clambered around on Uchisar castle, a huge, cave-riddled stone chimney which is the highest point in Cappadocia. Next, with the help of about a million helpful locals, we finally found the unlabeled Pigeon valley, which we could hike through until it returned us to Goreme. We enjoyed a very rugged, 2-hour-or-so hike through the valleys, which were riddled with ancient dwellings carved out of the rock. Most of them had little cubbies carved into the walls, which we later learned were pigeon houses- keeping pigeons and using their droppings for fertilizer was one of the most common ways of earning money there before good ‘ol tourism kicked in.
On Thursday-the most perfect day I can ever remember having- we got up at the crack of down to a van pick-up for our hot-air balloon ride. Cappadocia has a unique terrain that makes it very balloon-friendly- there’s very little wind- and hot air balloon tours are a popular way to enjoy the breathtaking views. I was obviously THRILLED, as I’ve been dreaming about hot air balloons constantly since I first went up in a tethered one with my brownie troop in elementary school. We rode about 30 minutes outside of the village, where we saw our inflating balloon peeking over the ridges. We got there just as it was filling up, and hopped into our cozy little basket with a few other tourists. The balloon lifted a few inches off the ground and cruised right over the very steep edge of the valley, and we were off. I was surprised at how steady the basket felt, and thoroughly enjoyed dangling my arms over the edge and snapping pictures. Watching the 20 or so other balloons in the air at the same time as us, while floating over such stunning, unique terrain, made it the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was AWESOME! After we’d been in the air for about 45 minutes, our pilot announced that we were over a valley nicknamed “love valley”- and that’s when Ace proposed! He asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. I was pretty shocked, as I wasn’t expecting that any time remotely soon. We returned to the ground very shortly after, a very happy engaged couple.
After our lovely balloon ride, we took several buses to a different area in the Cappadocia region- Kaymakli. It’s another small village, home to one of two major underground cities in the region. The first three floors were probably carved out by Hittites about 2000 B.C., and were later used and enlarged by early Christians who hid in them for months at a time to escape persecution. The city was pretty awesome- 4 stories underground of stables, churches, living rooms, wineries, etc. carved out of solid rock and connected by narrow, winding, sloping tunnels. While a tourist route was clearly market and well lit, Ace and I found ourselves wishing we had a flashlight so we could explore the numerous pitch-black tunnels that sloped off of the main drag. We loved seeing the place, but ceilings so low that at times we were crawling made me thankful that I’m not claustrophobic.
We returned to Goreme, and after a delicious lunch, we took a 1 kilometer walk on a small road towards the Goreme open air museum. We got distracted on the way by the stunning cliffs, caves, and valleys off the road, and took about a 2 hour detour from the road to climb up rock outcroppings, snap photos, explore caves and scoot down the steep valley walls. We felt like little kids on a giant, gorgeous playground. The most amazing thing is that the entire region is like that- the opportunities for awesome exploring and adventuring are virtually endless. We finally made it to the open-air museum, and checked out some really cool cave churches first used between the 300’s to 500’s. You could see different layers of decoration on the walls- really ancient red die in geometric patterns revealed where the “newer” frescoes had peeled off.
After such an eventful day, we were exhausted, so we headed back to a restaurant in the village to recline on huge cushions while we enjoyed an amazing dinner, orange tea, apple hookah, and Turkish rice pudding- perfect. We returned to Kelebek, played a few games of backgammon ( a very enthusiastic staff member helped us figure out the rules) and collapsed in bed.
The following morning, we returned to Istanbul to enjoy our last full day in Turkey.
The only thing left to mention is that Ace and I are now looking for teaching jobs in Istanbul. Needless to say, we absolutely loved the city. We were planning on spending another year in Korea, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got about the prospect of experiencing another (totally different) country and culture. The city is gorgeous and fascinating, the people are really nice, the arts scene is great, and the history is just incredible. I would love to finally live in the same city as my dear friend again, too. Ace is particularly excited about the culinary prospects (surprise surprise ). Ace managed to squeeze in an interview at Malynda’s school on Friday, which he really enjoyed, and I’ve been scouring the internet for a decent language school ever since we returned to Daegu. Wish us luck!
Lots of love,
Kait
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Impressions of Turkey
For any who didn't hear, Kait and I took a vacation to Turkey just over a week ago, so here are my impressions of our visit there, including some of what we did and saw.
ISTANBUL:
Landscape-
Perhaps the first thing I noticed was how Istanbul stood out when looking at the cityscape. There was one area near central Istanbul in particular - just across the Golden Horn River - that was definitely the most beautiful sight in Istanbul. When you see it, it is a collection of normal-looking buildings (such as apartments, city buildings, etc.,) but there are also incredible, large mosques and churches that usually have a bulbous main building with some spires that go high in the air. The main buildings of course are where people go to worship, and the spires are for broadcasting the call to prayer (more on this later). So in the area across the Golden Horn, there are several mosques and churches with similar construction, so the cityscape is one with breathtaking beauty. The construction of many of these buildings are impressive, to say the least.
Call to Prayer-
This is a regular practice that mosques broadcast over loud speakers from their spires so surrounding neighborhoods can hear it and begin their prayer. The call to prayer is done several times a day at regular intervals, and it is done in a distinct, harmonious, chant-like voice that sounds something between singing and talking.
People-
In Istanbul we found the people to be so friendly that we we were actually a little bit surprised. Often Kait and I would be a little lost, and someone would just walk up to us and to ask us what we were looking for. At first I thought such people would try to scam us somehow or sell us something because this was a very common occurrence in Thailand, and it was very hard to avoid. However, if someone came up to us to help us find our way, that is exactly what they did.
There was actually one instance I remember when Kait and I were looking for a cab, and a guy called us over to a line of parked cabs that were waiting for customers. We knew the guy who called us over would probably get some of the profit from our fare, but so we were sure to be careful. Sure enough, the driver told us that our 5-minute destination would cost a lot of money because there was a "traffic problem." He mentioned that he would cut us a deal by charging us a set fee of roughly 35 lira (which is like 21 dollars or something). Luckily, we just looked at each other and politely left the cab because we knew that when anyone offers to give you a flat fee on cab fare, they are usually trying to rip you off. Anyways, once we got out of the cab, the guy who was standing by the cabs asked us what was wrong, and we told him what the driver told us. It was here that I thought he would try to make us get back into the cab, but instead, he told us how to get to our destination by using the public metro. We were very surprised that even someone who was definitely trying to make money off of us had the kindness to show us our way around, and we walked away feeling a little better about the situation.
Malynda-
(Kait's friend who has lived in Turkey for over a year)
Definitely one of the biggest highlights of our trip was someone who knew the city and could show us around a bit: Malynda. It was not merely her wonderful knowledge of Istanbul that we appreciated, however; we appreciated even more her determination to ensure that our stay there was as pleasant and smooth as humanly possible. She did many things such as pay for some of our meals while we were out; she invited us to stay at her house to save on hostel prices; she came with us to the Grand Bazaar to ensure that we got fair prices on things; she took a day off from work in order to show us many of the main parts of the city; she set us up for a couple of nights at her sister's place near downtown; and she even paid for a museum ticket for Kaitlin, herself and me. (I could go on.) All of these things she seemed to do with the utmost joy at simply having us there, and for that we were very grateful. Thanks Malynda!
The Grand Bazaar/Spice Bazaar-
This was a covered (mostly) market in Istanbul that contains over 1,000 shops that sell anything from clothes to jewelry to food. It was here that Kait and I wandered around for a good part of one day just looking for things we might like to take home. True to it's name, the Spice Bazaar specializes in spices and herbs, such as those used both for cooking and for tea. This is where Kait and I bought a whole bunch of dried fruit, some teas that we definitely could not find in Korea, and a hookah.
We originally looked for hookahs in the Grand Bazaar, but we found that the prices ranged considerably higher than at the Spice Bazaar. Plus we found a very unique hookah with a turquoise-colored, ceramic base; after shopping around, we realized that this was quite the find because we did not find another one like it at any of the other shops.
Turkish Delight (or Lokum)-
This was a sweet that neither Kait nor I had ever tried before, and much to our joy, we found that at local markets and at the Grand Bazaar, this was given away as samples for us to try. The texture is very marshmallowy, and it can come in fruit, honey, nut, chocolate, and coconut flavors (many of which are mixed, of course). The outside is covered with a powdered sugar. The fruit flavors in particular are almost like a gummy. Needless to say, it was very delicious.
The Bosphorus-
This is a river that is indeed a wonder. It is literally on the brink of Europe and Asia, so if you asked which continent Istanbul was on, you would get these two answers. We only crossed over from Europe to Asia twice - both under unfortunate circumstances. We crossed over the first time when we accidentally took the ferry boat instead of a boat that takes people out to touristy islands. The other time, we crossed over when we had to take a VERY expensive cab ride to an airport. (We were running low on time because just before that, we went to the wrong airport...I don't want to talk about it...)
Also worth mentioning is the Golden Horn River, which branches off of the Bosphorus. We crossed over this several times when we were touring around Istanbul. It has fishermen who line up and presumably fish for a good amount of time during the day, but when you look at the fish they have caught, they are no longer than 10 inches long...It also has a place just off of the river where you can sit down and have a fish sandwich - fresh caught from the river! Delicious.
Food-
After coming from Asia, our west-acclimated taste buds celebrated with joy with all of the foods Turkey had to offer. Surprisingly, Korea does not have a ton in the way of just salad, unless we really go out of our way to buy all of the ingredients (at least half of which go to waste because they come in such large quantities) and mix them ourselves. We also enjoyed all of the "village" cheese, butter, and yogurt, which are all actually made in a village outside of Istanbul. (Malynda said they were made in the old style - by hand/churn/whatever.) The cheese was a white cheese akin to Brie or Camembert, and the yogurt tasted very un-messed with, like Nancy's Yogurt back home. There was also an abundancy of western dishes in general such as pasta and sugar-dense desserts. (Korea has rice cake, which is like cooked, ground rice that is very lightly sweetened - but not much - and it has the consistency of marshmallows. So we sometimes do miss a nice, sweet dessert.) Baklava was easy to come by, and we definitely took advantage of that fact while we were there.
Teas were also in abundance. It is a sort of Turkish custom to invite people into your house for tea, and Turks drink tea in the outdoor markets, in the airport, and even in a large square where you can find vendors walking around with large thermoses and plastic cups for you to use. The most common was black tea, but apple tea was also very popular. We took some apple, mint, cinnamon/clove, mixed fruit, and rosehip tea with us before we left.
We were delighted to find a large amount of fruit and nuts there. We even picked up a good deal of dried fruit, like figs, apples, dates, apricots, and more. Walnuts and almonds could be found for very cheap.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. I did not cover Cappadocia, so expect a post soon from Kait about what we did there. It was gorgeous and VERY fun!
ISTANBUL:
Landscape-
Perhaps the first thing I noticed was how Istanbul stood out when looking at the cityscape. There was one area near central Istanbul in particular - just across the Golden Horn River - that was definitely the most beautiful sight in Istanbul. When you see it, it is a collection of normal-looking buildings (such as apartments, city buildings, etc.,) but there are also incredible, large mosques and churches that usually have a bulbous main building with some spires that go high in the air. The main buildings of course are where people go to worship, and the spires are for broadcasting the call to prayer (more on this later). So in the area across the Golden Horn, there are several mosques and churches with similar construction, so the cityscape is one with breathtaking beauty. The construction of many of these buildings are impressive, to say the least.
Call to Prayer-
This is a regular practice that mosques broadcast over loud speakers from their spires so surrounding neighborhoods can hear it and begin their prayer. The call to prayer is done several times a day at regular intervals, and it is done in a distinct, harmonious, chant-like voice that sounds something between singing and talking.
People-
In Istanbul we found the people to be so friendly that we we were actually a little bit surprised. Often Kait and I would be a little lost, and someone would just walk up to us and to ask us what we were looking for. At first I thought such people would try to scam us somehow or sell us something because this was a very common occurrence in Thailand, and it was very hard to avoid. However, if someone came up to us to help us find our way, that is exactly what they did.
There was actually one instance I remember when Kait and I were looking for a cab, and a guy called us over to a line of parked cabs that were waiting for customers. We knew the guy who called us over would probably get some of the profit from our fare, but so we were sure to be careful. Sure enough, the driver told us that our 5-minute destination would cost a lot of money because there was a "traffic problem." He mentioned that he would cut us a deal by charging us a set fee of roughly 35 lira (which is like 21 dollars or something). Luckily, we just looked at each other and politely left the cab because we knew that when anyone offers to give you a flat fee on cab fare, they are usually trying to rip you off. Anyways, once we got out of the cab, the guy who was standing by the cabs asked us what was wrong, and we told him what the driver told us. It was here that I thought he would try to make us get back into the cab, but instead, he told us how to get to our destination by using the public metro. We were very surprised that even someone who was definitely trying to make money off of us had the kindness to show us our way around, and we walked away feeling a little better about the situation.
Malynda-
(Kait's friend who has lived in Turkey for over a year)
Definitely one of the biggest highlights of our trip was someone who knew the city and could show us around a bit: Malynda. It was not merely her wonderful knowledge of Istanbul that we appreciated, however; we appreciated even more her determination to ensure that our stay there was as pleasant and smooth as humanly possible. She did many things such as pay for some of our meals while we were out; she invited us to stay at her house to save on hostel prices; she came with us to the Grand Bazaar to ensure that we got fair prices on things; she took a day off from work in order to show us many of the main parts of the city; she set us up for a couple of nights at her sister's place near downtown; and she even paid for a museum ticket for Kaitlin, herself and me. (I could go on.) All of these things she seemed to do with the utmost joy at simply having us there, and for that we were very grateful. Thanks Malynda!
The Grand Bazaar/Spice Bazaar-
This was a covered (mostly) market in Istanbul that contains over 1,000 shops that sell anything from clothes to jewelry to food. It was here that Kait and I wandered around for a good part of one day just looking for things we might like to take home. True to it's name, the Spice Bazaar specializes in spices and herbs, such as those used both for cooking and for tea. This is where Kait and I bought a whole bunch of dried fruit, some teas that we definitely could not find in Korea, and a hookah.
We originally looked for hookahs in the Grand Bazaar, but we found that the prices ranged considerably higher than at the Spice Bazaar. Plus we found a very unique hookah with a turquoise-colored, ceramic base; after shopping around, we realized that this was quite the find because we did not find another one like it at any of the other shops.
Turkish Delight (or Lokum)-
This was a sweet that neither Kait nor I had ever tried before, and much to our joy, we found that at local markets and at the Grand Bazaar, this was given away as samples for us to try. The texture is very marshmallowy, and it can come in fruit, honey, nut, chocolate, and coconut flavors (many of which are mixed, of course). The outside is covered with a powdered sugar. The fruit flavors in particular are almost like a gummy. Needless to say, it was very delicious.
The Bosphorus-
This is a river that is indeed a wonder. It is literally on the brink of Europe and Asia, so if you asked which continent Istanbul was on, you would get these two answers. We only crossed over from Europe to Asia twice - both under unfortunate circumstances. We crossed over the first time when we accidentally took the ferry boat instead of a boat that takes people out to touristy islands. The other time, we crossed over when we had to take a VERY expensive cab ride to an airport. (We were running low on time because just before that, we went to the wrong airport...I don't want to talk about it...)
Also worth mentioning is the Golden Horn River, which branches off of the Bosphorus. We crossed over this several times when we were touring around Istanbul. It has fishermen who line up and presumably fish for a good amount of time during the day, but when you look at the fish they have caught, they are no longer than 10 inches long...It also has a place just off of the river where you can sit down and have a fish sandwich - fresh caught from the river! Delicious.
Food-
After coming from Asia, our west-acclimated taste buds celebrated with joy with all of the foods Turkey had to offer. Surprisingly, Korea does not have a ton in the way of just salad, unless we really go out of our way to buy all of the ingredients (at least half of which go to waste because they come in such large quantities) and mix them ourselves. We also enjoyed all of the "village" cheese, butter, and yogurt, which are all actually made in a village outside of Istanbul. (Malynda said they were made in the old style - by hand/churn/whatever.) The cheese was a white cheese akin to Brie or Camembert, and the yogurt tasted very un-messed with, like Nancy's Yogurt back home. There was also an abundancy of western dishes in general such as pasta and sugar-dense desserts. (Korea has rice cake, which is like cooked, ground rice that is very lightly sweetened - but not much - and it has the consistency of marshmallows. So we sometimes do miss a nice, sweet dessert.) Baklava was easy to come by, and we definitely took advantage of that fact while we were there.
Teas were also in abundance. It is a sort of Turkish custom to invite people into your house for tea, and Turks drink tea in the outdoor markets, in the airport, and even in a large square where you can find vendors walking around with large thermoses and plastic cups for you to use. The most common was black tea, but apple tea was also very popular. We took some apple, mint, cinnamon/clove, mixed fruit, and rosehip tea with us before we left.
We were delighted to find a large amount of fruit and nuts there. We even picked up a good deal of dried fruit, like figs, apples, dates, apricots, and more. Walnuts and almonds could be found for very cheap.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. I did not cover Cappadocia, so expect a post soon from Kait about what we did there. It was gorgeous and VERY fun!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thanks to Ace for updating for me! I’ve been slacking. We did indeed have a really nice Valentine’s day, though Ace wasn’t entirely truthful when he said we didn’t buy any couplewear. There was definitely some couple-socks purchasing action. They’re pretty adorable. There’s a stick figure boy on his sending hearts over to the stick figure girl on mine. When we put our feet together the picture is completed….hey, stop gagging! I have to admit, the excessive cuteness in this culture is starting to grow on me. You have to appreciate a country where it’s perfectly ok for officers in uniform to hold hands and for super-tough middle school boys to have fuzzy stuffed animal pencil cases and wear SpongeBob Squarepants backpacks. Yay Korea!
This week has flown by, as usual. With the same schedule and same classes every week, the weeks seem to just roll past us. Everything has been pretty uneventful at work- I don’t have any major discipline problems at the moment, and I’m really getting to know and enjoy some of my kids. I seem to alternate between being annoyed by and amused by my more rambunctious classes, but like I said, no major discipline problems- just a few hyperactive, good-hearted kiddos. The repetition does get a bit much if I think about the fact that I’ll be teaching in the exact same format for the next six months, so I try not to think about it. If I take things a week or a month at a time, it’s no problem, and fortunately I’m still certain that this is the best job I’ve had.
I just got back from the swing club. I’ve been taking jitterbug classes (that’s where I met my friend Rosemary). It’s a little strange being the only foreigner in the class- it’s taught in Korean, and only a few people speak a bit of English- but it’s already been a great way to make Korean friends. As long as I’m feeling confident enough to be the one person in the room not laughing when a joke is cracked, I have a really good time. Tonight we had class (it’s a bit easy, but I’m looking forward to the lindy hop classes starting soon), some open dancing, then went to a nearby bar and had a few drinks.
As Ace mentioned, I went to the animal shelter for the first time on Tuesday. I recruited 3 friends to go with me, and we all had an awesome time. The shelter (KAPS) has been run by a woman named Sunnan for the last 25 years or so- she bought the property with her own money, and says that it was the first animal shelter in Korea. I believe it, as some of my Korean friends didn’t know that animal shelters exist- Rosemary thought I was talking about volunteering in a pet shop That’s unfortunate, as I get the feeling adopting abandoned animals is pretty uncommon (at least in Daegu). KAPS is really different from the US shelters I’ve been to. It’s much less sterile- in good ways and bad. The kitties have two communal outdoor shelters where they can roam about as they please. I’m sure kitty colds get passed around more this way, but it’s so nice to see them all moving about freely, climbing stuff, scratching and socializing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The place seems to be patched together with a lot of love- you can tell the few staff members really love the animals and are really doing the best they can with what they have. In one room, I saw cats perched in cupboards and on shelves on Sunnan’s old armoire. All the cat trees and scratching things seem to be homemade. Sunnan mentioned that she has multiple litters of kittens in her apartment right now- she keeps them there until they are strong enough for the shelter. There’s also a ton of adorable little doggies, and the staff was happy to let us take out armfuls of puppies and play with them all together. A lot of them are really in need of a good bath, some brushing and some play time- Sunnan really just wants people to come play, and give them treats and/or baths. My friends and I are so excited to go back. We’ll be going every Tuesday for a few hours. I’m especially excited because it seems like the kind of place where you can really make a visible difference.
Besides Tuesdays at the shelter, we have a lot of other great stuff to look forward to. This Wednesday is our two year anniversary, and to celebrate we’re spending the weekend in Seoul. We don’t have any big plans, other than staying in Itaewon, eating lots of foreign food, and doing some shopping and wandering around. Itaewon isn’t very Korean, as it’s the foreigner district of Seoul, but it’s a great change of scenery. The following weekend is our vacation…to Turkey! We’re THRILLED to be taking a week of vacation, visiting Malynda and her sister, and getting to know Istanbul and Cappadocia. We’ll be staying with Malynda for most of our trip, but we will be flying to Cappadocia and staying in a cave hotel for two nights. Awesome!
This week has flown by, as usual. With the same schedule and same classes every week, the weeks seem to just roll past us. Everything has been pretty uneventful at work- I don’t have any major discipline problems at the moment, and I’m really getting to know and enjoy some of my kids. I seem to alternate between being annoyed by and amused by my more rambunctious classes, but like I said, no major discipline problems- just a few hyperactive, good-hearted kiddos. The repetition does get a bit much if I think about the fact that I’ll be teaching in the exact same format for the next six months, so I try not to think about it. If I take things a week or a month at a time, it’s no problem, and fortunately I’m still certain that this is the best job I’ve had.
I just got back from the swing club. I’ve been taking jitterbug classes (that’s where I met my friend Rosemary). It’s a little strange being the only foreigner in the class- it’s taught in Korean, and only a few people speak a bit of English- but it’s already been a great way to make Korean friends. As long as I’m feeling confident enough to be the one person in the room not laughing when a joke is cracked, I have a really good time. Tonight we had class (it’s a bit easy, but I’m looking forward to the lindy hop classes starting soon), some open dancing, then went to a nearby bar and had a few drinks.
As Ace mentioned, I went to the animal shelter for the first time on Tuesday. I recruited 3 friends to go with me, and we all had an awesome time. The shelter (KAPS) has been run by a woman named Sunnan for the last 25 years or so- she bought the property with her own money, and says that it was the first animal shelter in Korea. I believe it, as some of my Korean friends didn’t know that animal shelters exist- Rosemary thought I was talking about volunteering in a pet shop That’s unfortunate, as I get the feeling adopting abandoned animals is pretty uncommon (at least in Daegu). KAPS is really different from the US shelters I’ve been to. It’s much less sterile- in good ways and bad. The kitties have two communal outdoor shelters where they can roam about as they please. I’m sure kitty colds get passed around more this way, but it’s so nice to see them all moving about freely, climbing stuff, scratching and socializing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The place seems to be patched together with a lot of love- you can tell the few staff members really love the animals and are really doing the best they can with what they have. In one room, I saw cats perched in cupboards and on shelves on Sunnan’s old armoire. All the cat trees and scratching things seem to be homemade. Sunnan mentioned that she has multiple litters of kittens in her apartment right now- she keeps them there until they are strong enough for the shelter. There’s also a ton of adorable little doggies, and the staff was happy to let us take out armfuls of puppies and play with them all together. A lot of them are really in need of a good bath, some brushing and some play time- Sunnan really just wants people to come play, and give them treats and/or baths. My friends and I are so excited to go back. We’ll be going every Tuesday for a few hours. I’m especially excited because it seems like the kind of place where you can really make a visible difference.
Besides Tuesdays at the shelter, we have a lot of other great stuff to look forward to. This Wednesday is our two year anniversary, and to celebrate we’re spending the weekend in Seoul. We don’t have any big plans, other than staying in Itaewon, eating lots of foreign food, and doing some shopping and wandering around. Itaewon isn’t very Korean, as it’s the foreigner district of Seoul, but it’s a great change of scenery. The following weekend is our vacation…to Turkey! We’re THRILLED to be taking a week of vacation, visiting Malynda and her sister, and getting to know Istanbul and Cappadocia. We’ll be staying with Malynda for most of our trip, but we will be flying to Cappadocia and staying in a cave hotel for two nights. Awesome!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Valentine's Day and more
On Valentine's Day, Kait and I had very nice day just going downtown and hanging out. We wanted to buy "couple wear," but nothing struck our fancy. (Couple wear is when a couple - as in two people who are dating, etc. - buy the same pair of clothes together. Sometimes, however, the design on the clothing is split between the two pieces, so you must have somebody else wearing the other half in order for it to make sense.) So we wandered around downtown for a while just checking out shops and immersing ourselves in the Korean fashion - though not taking a part in it just yet. From there we went to the arcade and played a bunch of games for less than 5,000 won ($3.50) and got our pictures taken in one of those small photo booths. We also went on a fun, simulated "roller coaster" ride downtown. We wore 3-D glasses and sat in a fake roller-coaster seat that was set up with hydraulics and air hoses that blew air into your face during the "fast" parts of the simulation. We had fun. We finished the night by going out to one of our favorite restaurants in our neighborhood and watching a movie at home. (The movie was "Milk" and we thought it was great - one of the best movies we have seen in a while.)
Two weekends ago, Kait and I traveled with Kait's friend Rosemary (whom she met in a dance class) to go to nearby Gyeongju. Since Rosemary has a car, we were more than happy to accept her offer to drive. We had lunch and dinner together. One dish was a delicious "kimchi chigay," which is basically a kimchi stew.
Just yesterday (Tuesday,) Kait went with some friends to an animal shelter to volunteer and play with the cats and dogs. Kait mentioned that the shelter was started at the very grassroots level with close to zero funding. Apparently it was actually the first animal shelter in all of Korea, and the woman who created it is a bit of an advocate for people to stop eating dog. (I will let Kait post more on this later, as she went there herself.) Next week I will also start volunteering there as well, and I definitely look forward to it.
Just this last weekend Kait and I decided that we needed to cook more because we were going out to eat almost every day, so we prepared dinners such as a ginger stir fry and an Indian curry dish. We have been feeling much better about this and hope to keep it up as time goes by.
Other than that, I am just starting to look for a job next year at a university here in Daegu so that I can be happier with my level of autonomy in the classroom. I just started looking, but I think I have a decent chance, so I will give it a go. Anyways, Kait and I wish all of you at home the best from our part of the world. Regards, Ace
Two weekends ago, Kait and I traveled with Kait's friend Rosemary (whom she met in a dance class) to go to nearby Gyeongju. Since Rosemary has a car, we were more than happy to accept her offer to drive. We had lunch and dinner together. One dish was a delicious "kimchi chigay," which is basically a kimchi stew.
Just yesterday (Tuesday,) Kait went with some friends to an animal shelter to volunteer and play with the cats and dogs. Kait mentioned that the shelter was started at the very grassroots level with close to zero funding. Apparently it was actually the first animal shelter in all of Korea, and the woman who created it is a bit of an advocate for people to stop eating dog. (I will let Kait post more on this later, as she went there herself.) Next week I will also start volunteering there as well, and I definitely look forward to it.
Just this last weekend Kait and I decided that we needed to cook more because we were going out to eat almost every day, so we prepared dinners such as a ginger stir fry and an Indian curry dish. We have been feeling much better about this and hope to keep it up as time goes by.
Other than that, I am just starting to look for a job next year at a university here in Daegu so that I can be happier with my level of autonomy in the classroom. I just started looking, but I think I have a decent chance, so I will give it a go. Anyways, Kait and I wish all of you at home the best from our part of the world. Regards, Ace
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Great Wall of China, Tienanmen Square, and The Forbidden City
While on our China trip, in order to get to the Great wall of China, we first had to get up very early (about 6am) to meet with our tour group in the morning. It was totally worth it to get up even a little earlier so we could beat the crowd down to the full-service breakfast that had so much good food. So after feasting like kings on French-style pastries, fresh fruit, baguette French toast (delicious!), bacon, and other breakfast foods, we met with the bus to leave for the Great Wall of China.
The area we went to was actually a very refurbished section of the wall, so it was very tourist-friendly. However, many of the steps were fairly uneven, some higher, longer, or steeper than others. So it was a very beautiful part of the great wall, and a fairly non-challenging hike. Once we got there, Kait and I decided to book it up to the top so that we could beat the crowds of people that would come before very long. This way, we could do our photography and videos on the way down. Once we got to the top, we felt like out-of-breath heroes (because apparently, according to the tour guide -- and Chinese legend -- only heroes hiked all the way to the top).
All along the wall were several guard towers that were no doubt constructed to fend off Mongolian invaders. It was clear that some of these were for show in that there was no actual roof access to them, which would have been a major design flaw with any defensive building like that. But it was okay because we could get on top of at least a couple of them, albeit by taking some very steep, narrow stairs. Also on the way down, we noticed a sharp difference in the willingness of the tourist shops to barter with you. Kait wanted to buy a t-shirt that said something to the effect of "I climbed the Great Wall of China," but the first shop we went to refused to lower his prices to something that was actually reasonable. (He wouldn't go below US $25 or so for a regular, screen-print t-shirt.) So we went to a tourist shop that was just a little further down the hill, and found the same shirts for roughly half the price, which seemed a little weird to us, but we just rolled with it.
Once we met back up with the bus, we were ready for a lunch in another tourist-trap restaurant that sold, well, vases. That's right, we got a tour of a vase shop, which was neat and all to see, but probably not altogether worth our time (in my humble opinion). During the lunch, we had what I like to call "hero juice," a kind of liquor that, apparently, only heroes drank. It was a 56% alcoholic drink that burned like crazy and had a particularly awful taste. I just had one small shot, then I dumped the rest of the contents of the bottle into a glass (no one else wanted it either,) and pocketed the cool-looking bottle as a souvenir.
Later we went to the Forbidden City. This is where the emperors and their numerous concubines lived. It has immensely high walls, and it has several different layers of walls inside. Apparently, one emperor lived in the inner court while the outer court was allowed for public use for a period of time. Sadly, we did not have much time with our tour group to spend in the Forbidden City, so we walked in a straight line from the entrance to the exit, taking pictures along the way. There were still a lot of cool things to see, like giant water vases used for fire, giant bronze lions and other animals, and giant incense burners as well as stone carvings all throughout.
Once we were finished here, we went straight to the Tienanmen Square, which is located directly south of the Forbidden City, a 5-10 minute walk. It was here that we found ourselves in the middle of more people per square foot I have ever experienced in such a large area. Once we were in the square, we took a bunch of pictures of Mao Tse Tung's mausoleum, the national museum, and the parliament building that surrounded the square. On the gate to the Forbidden City, there is a large picture of Mao, left as a memorial to his period in office and the changes for the better that he made for the Chinese people. While on our tour, the guide spoke nothing about the atrocities of Tienanmen Square nor those of Mao himself; he spoke nothing about these things because even if he were aware of them, it would be illegal for him to talk about it. I read online that most of the youth in China today don't know about the uprisings that took place in Tienanmen Square.
Once finished with this day, we went back to the hotel to get a good night of rest - after some sauna action - before our very early flight in the morning.
All in all, we had an excellent trip. The best thing was that we really didn't have to worry about anything; it was completely low stress. The bad part was that we were taken to a lot of random places that we really didn't care to see all that much, and that were total tourist traps. These include the jade and pearl markets, a tea house, the vase shop, and a "kung fu" show that we went to. It would have been nice to have used this time at the end of each day to go to someplace - perhaps an open air market or a row of authentic restaurants - where we could just wander around and actually experience a place in China that had local Chinese people in it who weren't directly connected to any tourist service. (This is something that we really did not do throughout the whole trip!) So in hindsight, I think it will be a while before we do any kind of tour like that again, but at least we had a very good time.
While on our China trip, in order to get to the Great wall of China, we first had to get up very early (about 6am) to meet with our tour group in the morning. It was totally worth it to get up even a little earlier so we could beat the crowd down to the full-service breakfast that had so much good food. So after feasting like kings on French-style pastries, fresh fruit, baguette French toast (delicious!), bacon, and other breakfast foods, we met with the bus to leave for the Great Wall of China.
The area we went to was actually a very refurbished section of the wall, so it was very tourist-friendly. However, many of the steps were fairly uneven, some higher, longer, or steeper than others. So it was a very beautiful part of the great wall, and a fairly non-challenging hike. Once we got there, Kait and I decided to book it up to the top so that we could beat the crowds of people that would come before very long. This way, we could do our photography and videos on the way down. Once we got to the top, we felt like out-of-breath heroes (because apparently, according to the tour guide -- and Chinese legend -- only heroes hiked all the way to the top).
All along the wall were several guard towers that were no doubt constructed to fend off Mongolian invaders. It was clear that some of these were for show in that there was no actual roof access to them, which would have been a major design flaw with any defensive building like that. But it was okay because we could get on top of at least a couple of them, albeit by taking some very steep, narrow stairs. Also on the way down, we noticed a sharp difference in the willingness of the tourist shops to barter with you. Kait wanted to buy a t-shirt that said something to the effect of "I climbed the Great Wall of China," but the first shop we went to refused to lower his prices to something that was actually reasonable. (He wouldn't go below US $25 or so for a regular, screen-print t-shirt.) So we went to a tourist shop that was just a little further down the hill, and found the same shirts for roughly half the price, which seemed a little weird to us, but we just rolled with it.
Once we met back up with the bus, we were ready for a lunch in another tourist-trap restaurant that sold, well, vases. That's right, we got a tour of a vase shop, which was neat and all to see, but probably not altogether worth our time (in my humble opinion). During the lunch, we had what I like to call "hero juice," a kind of liquor that, apparently, only heroes drank. It was a 56% alcoholic drink that burned like crazy and had a particularly awful taste. I just had one small shot, then I dumped the rest of the contents of the bottle into a glass (no one else wanted it either,) and pocketed the cool-looking bottle as a souvenir.
Later we went to the Forbidden City. This is where the emperors and their numerous concubines lived. It has immensely high walls, and it has several different layers of walls inside. Apparently, one emperor lived in the inner court while the outer court was allowed for public use for a period of time. Sadly, we did not have much time with our tour group to spend in the Forbidden City, so we walked in a straight line from the entrance to the exit, taking pictures along the way. There were still a lot of cool things to see, like giant water vases used for fire, giant bronze lions and other animals, and giant incense burners as well as stone carvings all throughout.
Once we were finished here, we went straight to the Tienanmen Square, which is located directly south of the Forbidden City, a 5-10 minute walk. It was here that we found ourselves in the middle of more people per square foot I have ever experienced in such a large area. Once we were in the square, we took a bunch of pictures of Mao Tse Tung's mausoleum, the national museum, and the parliament building that surrounded the square. On the gate to the Forbidden City, there is a large picture of Mao, left as a memorial to his period in office and the changes for the better that he made for the Chinese people. While on our tour, the guide spoke nothing about the atrocities of Tienanmen Square nor those of Mao himself; he spoke nothing about these things because even if he were aware of them, it would be illegal for him to talk about it. I read online that most of the youth in China today don't know about the uprisings that took place in Tienanmen Square.
Once finished with this day, we went back to the hotel to get a good night of rest - after some sauna action - before our very early flight in the morning.
All in all, we had an excellent trip. The best thing was that we really didn't have to worry about anything; it was completely low stress. The bad part was that we were taken to a lot of random places that we really didn't care to see all that much, and that were total tourist traps. These include the jade and pearl markets, a tea house, the vase shop, and a "kung fu" show that we went to. It would have been nice to have used this time at the end of each day to go to someplace - perhaps an open air market or a row of authentic restaurants - where we could just wander around and actually experience a place in China that had local Chinese people in it who weren't directly connected to any tourist service. (This is something that we really did not do throughout the whole trip!) So in hindsight, I think it will be a while before we do any kind of tour like that again, but at least we had a very good time.
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