It doesn't taste like chicken

The restaurant I was taken to.

After last evening's tirade, I woke up a touch late. I did manage to make it to lab in time for lunch, though. One of the young professors here had promised to take me out for dog today, the middle of sambok. He drove us quite a ways out to northwestern Seoul where the average building height decreased to about 3 or 4 stories instead of dozens and rice fields started to become visible. A dirt road led us to a shady grove of small huts behind a kitchen building, each hut an independent sitting area. The four of us sat down and ordered bosuntang, cooked dog meat. It was a very dark meat, but if I wasn't told it was dog I never would have guessed it. I remember my mom telling me she had been tricked into eating it when she was younger, and even Soo-hyuk had the same experience. I guess its common to lie to kids about eating dog here? Anyways my mom hated it but Soo-hyuk really likes it. Turns out I like it, too!

Saenbae treated me to this meal.

Suhyuk pours the beer/soju bombs.

That's it. Dog meat.

About to try my first bite.

I'm trying to think of ways to describe it, but it's difficult. It was meat--the dipping sauce was very good. The skin portions were thick, and the meat was tender without any strong odor. The texture was close to turkey, but the taste was more like beef. Actually, it was quite similar to goat, I'd say. I would eat it again.

Apparently this meal, like so many others, is intended for men's health. Two of the guys joked that the stamina this meal gives you is wasted if you don't stay up all night. They're both regular club-goers, so that might be their plan tonight.

Rice mixed with the leftover soup. Also quite good.

What we got off the menu, in case you want to try!

Back in lab, I'm still proofreading the students journal publications and trying to figure out what I can do in this limited time. And trying to finish this book chapter (oops). It's good to be busy.

Just a random shot of the northwest part of Seoul.

Significantly different

Things were looking pretty pessimistic for my experiment, but after a presentation and lab meeting I'm feeling more confident. I'm still missing some equipment (2 mL vials with O-rings, a pressure-resistant glass container, elastase or collagenase) but I think I can get started with some sample preparation and maybe rig something together to at least practice for when I have the real goods.

Pre lab meeting lunch.

Once a month the students have a meeting to discuss...well, I don't know what, because it was in Korean. In any case we all went out to have shabu shabu for lunch. It's like hotpot but served individually. It's a Japanese food, but we had it Korean style. The meat and dipping sauce was quite tasty, and by the end of the meal I was quite satisfied. The meat is cut very thin so it cooks within seconds of being added to the broth.

All for me.

Wrap it in a veggie, immerse for about 5 seconds,

And it's done. The sauce is the soy/green onion mix there.

I'm liking this constant togetherness the lab maintains. Of course the professors paid for the meal for everyone, and then we all walked around campus trying to find a large enough sitting area for about a dozen people. The original plan was to sit at a coffee shop for the meeting, but it was the peak of the lunch hour so we settled in to the lobby of the business and management institute next door.

In the evening, Professor Lee took the ceramics team out for dinner. We walked to a bulgogi restaurant in Sinchon and he ordered a few bottles of soju. They called this Stage 1. Which was about 5 or 6 bottles of soju. We took a taxi to Stage 2, which was a bar near the Professor's house. Some steamed egg soup and spiced eel dish was served along with beer bombs (pouring a shot of soju into a glass of beer). The Professor retired early and left the lab credit card with us. We cabbed it back to school, made a pitstop at McDonald's for ice cream and burgers (they're all open 24 hours here, and deliver), then Minho destroyed Sungmin and I again in FIFA.

Bulgogi and one of the oldest restaurants in the Sinchon area.

Ceramic team, go!

As you can see, I am already quite red.

A very different culture. Professor Lee bragged about the students in front of them, but also made fun of them. Sungmin, my roommate, in particular. His English got better as he drank, and they joked that he should do his next presentation after a few shots. Minho confided that he disliked the hierarchical nature of the language. It affects him in a unique way because he is the eldest in the lab. The other students are obligated to speak more politely to him, but he would prefer the more intimate speech. I think it alienates him a little, and I can understand what it's like to have people you think of as your friends not feel as comfortable about that idea. The split between male and female standards was also obvious, though in this case not blatantly rude. The one girl that came out for Stage 2 was "given the option" to join us--the men were not. However the others pestered her about finding a boyfriend soon, asking what kind of men she liked and genuinely thinking of people they knew that she could meet. She took it in stride, as I imagine most Koreans must learn to do if they are single and over 26. The pressure on single people ramps up past that age, as I remember Joonghyun often lamenting. Towards the end of the night, the professor was pouring drinks for us, a bit unusual as I understand it. Usually the younger ones are expected to pour for their elders.

The food from Stage 2. Omelette soup good, seafood dish not so much.

On our way back to school, the Professor sent a text message to Sungmin telling him "not to go to Stage 3" and that we should be careful to all make it home safely. From that and many other things that I saw, I think he is fatherly concerned about his students. But, maybe only when he's drinking.

A great way to end any evening of debauchery.

StarLeague semifinals at I-Park Mall

Viktor has been visiting Korean churches, so we met with Joonghyun and Jisue in the morning to check out his family's normal Sunday hangout. Afterwards Joonghyun drove us both to Yongsan.

Outside JHK's church near Namdaemun, one of the oldest churches in Seoul.

We went to watch the StarLeague Season 2 semi-finals at I-Park mall. The e-sports stadium was small, but packed with people and still pretty exciting.

The e-sports stage. Three announcers, two players, one loser.

The far right one is a real-time view of the player's screen. It's very difficult to follow.

In the standing section. All seats are free, but once claimed people get them for the duration.

SK Telecom's team, who won this day's tournament.

These games were the 2nd to last semi-finals to be played, between SK Telecom and Wemade FOX. I saw Bisu play (!) but the protoss player lost despite some nice micro against a slow tank push. I made some videos, but only this one of the end of a game was worth sharing. They're serious--they have coaches, mascots, uniforms...it's sort of awesome.

Viktor was standing towards the front and got some screen time (1:06), and I was in the background of another shot (1:19). This was televised live across Korea, so I'm sure the local talent search agencies will be calling us anyday now.

I managed to catch Viktor when he got onscreen.

Afterwards we went to Insadong so we could all do some gift shopping. I picked up a lot of various traditional Korean wares, but really didn't spend that much money (considering the quality of gifts and number that I bought...). I still need to get some new clothes. Not just because I want to look stylish but because I only have one comfortable pair of long pants I wear almost every day to lab. And I just spilled some chemicals on them that stained them. This is why you always wear a lab coat--not to protect your skin from harmful chemicals, but your clothes. I won't talk too much about the gifts because if you're reading this you're probably getting one. Yes, you.

We returned to Yongsan station to get our bags from the fingerprint security dropbox we left them in. Our group parted ways from here, off to begin another week of work.

Suwon fortress

Five of us met at Suwon Station to do some sightseeing. We checked in to our motel and walked to Hwaseong Fortress. After a ludicrously steep stair climb, we were greeted with a great panorama of the city of Suwon. Others with much better cameras and artistic talent took great pictures, so I stole those and posted them below as my own.

The main gate to Hwaseong, called Paldalmun.

Only about a third of the way up.

Who would make something so steep?

Looking out for the enemy.

Group shot at the halfway point.

What a contrast.

Dragon tram. Of course.

Towards the end of our 5.7 km hike we took a break to shoot arrows. The short bows had more of a kick than I expected and could really get distance on the arrows.

Champs, one and all.

After completing the circuit, we went near Ajou University where Lindsay is working to find dinner. Suwon is famous for its galbi, and we learned too late that it's mostly the size of the portions that makes them different. We put away what we could, then went to find an ice mug bar.

Galbi at a large venue called Bonsuwon.

After finishing your beer, you get to throw the ice tube at a target and can potentially win prizes. Of course, my hand-eye coordination drops precipitously after just one beer, so I wasn't able to land any free nachos.

The ice beer mugs, at a German bar outside Ajou.

Getting in the zone.

There's the target. Too bad I can't throw so well.

It was after midnight when we finished, which means the buses had stopped running. We took a taxi back to the motel and planned our transportation for the next day.

Lunchtime exploration

My labmates took me out for another lunchtime expedition. We went to Yongsan station, which has the I-Park mall built on top of it. I wanted to look at the electronics stores there and see what the e-sports stadium was like.

The outside of the mall. It's pretty gianormous.

Yongsan train station was built into the middle of the mall, or maybe vice versa.

Oh yeah.

A wall of past winners. Of course, the likes of Boxer and Garimto are there at the front.

The empty stadium.

There were 3 stories of just electronics for sale, with tons of awesome cases and the tiniest USB drives I've ever seen. The crazy part is that this mall (which is enormous) is surrounded by dozens of other stores 1/3 the size but completely dedicated to electronics!

We had lunch at KFC, probably the first American fastfood I've tried here. One of their combo meals was for 2 people, with the usual side of french fries replaced by a piece of chicken. Glorious.

I've been seeing a lot of StarCraft ads around town. I saw a few on the side of the blue buses but never got my camera out in time. I've also seen that Korean Air has emblazoned their aircraft with Jim Raynor in marine gear. They're sponsoring this year's StarLeague tournament, so I guess it makes sense.

Some advertisements outside a random PC bang I passed.

This one was near the city capitol.

After seeing the wedding hall (right next to the gaming section!) we returned to lab for a few more hours of work.

For dinner, Woo Hyun drove us to a local place famous for its steamed kimchee, noodles, and mackerel dish, go dong uh jo rim. It was delicious. Probably my favorite surprise food besides the pork intestine stew. Surprise in that I wasn't sure what to expect, even though the guys all said they liked it. Wasn't too spicy or salty--a good blend, and the fish just melted in your mouth.

Woohyun drove us here and got us ice cream afterwards.

Looks bad. Tastes awesome.

All that's left to try now is dog. Eww.

Always about the health

Today was the first of three sambok, days set by the lunar calendar to indicate the beginning, middle, and end of the summer. Koreans eat a certain meal for stamina, called samygetang. To give you the stamina to last the hot season, they eat this white chicken soup where a whole chicken is stuffed and boiled. It wasn't bad, but somewhat bland. The bones of the chicken were so tender I ended up eating more marrow than I realized. Only the larger long bones and spinal sections were too tough to accidentally chew.

Chicken ginseng stew.

The bones I was fortunate enough *not* to eat.

Hello, labmates.

I went to the gym in the basement of my building (in the parking garage, actually) and paid 30,000 won ($25) for a one month membership. It's great! The place is small but cool, clean, and quiet. The equipment is fairly new, and they provide a clean shirt, running shorts, and towels for everyone. All I need to bring is shoes and I can exercise, shower, and leave with only my socks getting sweaty. The hours are a bit odd; noon to 2pm and 5pm to 9pm, but the price certainly makes it worth it. I'll definitely be trying to come here 3-4 times a week for the duration of my stay. Several of my labmates go there regularly, another good motivating factor.

Um, I don't have pictures of the gym. But this was tasty!

My final chemical came in a day early. I'm a little bummed out because I was hoping to go do some shopping today at Hongdae, another university just one stop away. I'll have to wait until after Wednesday I think, once I've finished my presentation on scaffold fabrication. For now, I should run my assay and see if I can figure out how it works.

My assay! Too bad it's not working as expected yet :(

Cousin Jincheon

I left lab early (5 pm) on Friday to meet Jincheon near his office at Gangnam station. He drove me to his house in Yongin, which took a little over an hour to get to. I met his wife and his daugter, Hannari (Skye), and she's everything he warned me about. The strongest, most boisterous 4-year old I've ever met. I guess she likes me, because she's always trying to feed me and have me sit next to her.

Jincheon and his wife.

Hannari and me!

Hannari has been going to an English school so she can speak Korean and English quite well for a girl her age. She taught me how to say eyes, mouth, neck, shoulders, and ears in Korean and kept singing Happy Birthday because it was the latest song she learned in English. Eventually she expanded her song list to Rain, Rain, Go Away and her ABC's, complete with compulsory slurring at 'L M N O P' (el el el ah peh).

Their dog peed on my backpack, so all my stuff is on the bed while it was washed.

On Saturday I had my first Skype call with my parents. I really thought I would be doing that more frequently, but none of my weekends have allowed me to set aside the time for that yet. After checking in with the family we drove to Caribbean Bay, a water park right next to Everland. It was raining, but the place was still very crowded with Asians in swimming suits, hats, and t-shirts. A large Chinese tourist group was there and they had all purchased or rented life vests.

She was usually this excited.

Caribbean Bay, the Samsung-owned water park next door to Everland.

The next day he drove me back to my dorm. I slept the entire ride back, exhausted from playing with his daughter all that time.

A late dinner of galbi at an all-night restauraunt.

I managed to stay awake the rest of the day and met up with some students at Insadong just in time to catch dinner. We went shopping at Namdaemun, then went to Sinchon near my school for dinner. We just chilled in the Sinchon area afterwards where I have, ironically, not yet had time to explore.

Deciding where to go next in the subway.

Hey...it actually makes sense (in Russian).

Ice cream and waffles. How can you go wrong?