Changdeokgung

Today was the first weekend since I arrived that afforded me some free time. I decided to spend today (Sunday) doing some sightseeing and looking for books downtown.

I ended up taking a tour of Changdeok Palace (창덕궁 昌德宮). It's just to the east of Gyeongbokgung, which Erma and I visited last autumn on Chuseok. Although it was not the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty, it served as the principle residence and administrative center of the government after Gyeongbokgung was burned down by the Japanese in the late 16th century. The palace dates to the early 15th century but many of the individual buildings suffered fire damage at various points in history and were later reconstructed.

In order to help preserve Changdeokgung, it is not permitted to tour the grounds without taking part in a guided tour. Luckily I arrived just 10 minutes before the early afternoon English-language tour was about to start.

This is the main entrance gate of the palace grounds.

The grounds are extensive and pleasant, and because of the guided tour policy, mostly empty.


This is our tour guide.


This striking building is Injeongjeon 인정전, the main hall used for ceremonial purposes. It's the tallest and most impressive-looking building in the palace.


These stone markers indicate the positions where the different ranks of officials were to stand during court ceremonies.


Inside is the king's throne. The electric lights were installed in the first decade of the 20th century.


Behind the throne is a painting of the moon and the sun (representing the yin and yang principles, and thus the queen and king) and five mountains (representing the five elements of yin-yang theory).


I took some photos of the exquisite painted exterior decorations and carved tiles of some nearby buildings.



I really liked this little doorway, too.


This is the interior of the building that served as the king's office during the last years of the dynasty. There is some French-style furniture.


This is the queen's bedroom. She's got dragon-headed posts at the foot of her bed.


Out in front of the royal sleeping quarters is this little sundial. I was fascinated by it.


Around the outer edge the 24 directions (and probably also representing 24 hours of the day) are marked using the traditional Chinese system, and the characters are all in the ancient seal-script style. (On the system, see the last section on "Directions" in this Wikipedia article). The 24 seasons of the traditional Chinese agricultural calendar are marked on the rim as well, presumably because the time could only be read properly from the sun's shadow by calibrating with the time of year.


It's a bit hard to see because of the bright sun. I've darkened the image and increased the contrast in this close-up:


Along the top of the rim are some more characters written in the old seal-script style. The first two on the right read 漢陽 (한양 Hanyang), one of the old names for Seoul. (Han is the name of the river that runs through present-day Seoul. The old city was built on the north bank. In Chinese the north bank of a river is referred to as the yang side, yang being the the member of the yin-yang pair representing the male principle, light and warmth. This is because the north bank of a river is warmed by the sun, which is in the south part of the sky.)


You can see these two characters more clearly here (remember, they read from right to left):


After the death of the last Joseon king during the Japanese occupation, the queen moved into this smaller residence on the palace grounds. She lived until the 1960s. Apparently members of the royal family lived here until as late as 1989. After that ownership reverted to the government.


There were some really nice old pine or juniper trees nearby.


This is the way ondol (floor-heating) worked before modern times. Fires were lit in holes like this under the buildings, and the heat circulated through a network of stone corridors under the floors.


A system of chimneys like this one vented the smoke.


Spring was in evidence around the grounds, even though it was a chill gray day.


In the back of the palace grounds is the famous "Secret Garden", a favorite spot of the Joseon kings for quiet contemplation.



This building in the Secret Garden, the Juhap Pavilion (주합류 宙合樓) is the original home of the Kyujanggak royal library.



After the tour ended I walked from the palace to the Kyobo Bookstore. I saw a lot of interesting things on the way.

These first two pictures might only be of interest to Erma. This is where we ate kabobs when we visited Gyeongbokgung on Chuseok. The little Kkio Kabob place is gone.

Apparently replaced by a "Children's Historical Culture School".


I saw an election rally. The presidential election was held last fall, but legislative elections are coming up soon. It seems like a bad idea to have these two sets of elections a few months apart instead of at the same time. If the president elected in the fall, Lee Myung-Bak, is going to be able to put his program into effect, he needs a majority in the legislature. But the mood of the electorate might have changed since he reached office.


I also liked this giant election poster, in part because I could understand everything written on it. "Next Generation Leader!" "The Era of Citizens' Success!" The candidate's name is Bak (commonly spelled Park in English) Jin.


Then I saw this colorful motorcycle gang.


Here's what Gwanghwamun looks like now. You can compare it with these pictures I took last December.


This is the American embassy, which is under heavy security at all times. Those are riot police vans lined up beside it. You can also see Korean guards on the left side of the frame.


This is a mystery shot. Can you identify this sculpture?


That's right, it's Hammering Man, photographed from directly below!


This is a sign in the food court of Kyobo Books.


The spelling reminded me of a very old, classic joke. (If you don't know it, I'll be happy to tell you. Post a comment.)


On the subway ride home, I really enjoyed this sign, which says that inappropriate physical contact makes everyone uncomfortable. On the right side we see a couple making out while the guy next to them fumes. On the left side, a man is groping an unwitting female passenger's butt, making a third passenger uncomfortable. What I find amusing about the picture on the left is the suave look of utter nonchalance on the man's face.


In four small circles at the bottom of the ad, additional behaviors are sanctioned. They are: drinking from a cup, selling things, reading a newspaper without folding it in half, and spreading your legs wide when you sit.



I got off two subway stops from home, at Sadang 사당, walking a section of town I hadn't seen before. I thought this building was interestingly named. It's the Dat Keom Officetel. That's the Korean rendering of ".com".

Beigeul

Consider the humble bagel and its amazing journey across geographical and cultural boundaries. Invented in Eastern Europe some time in the 17th century, the bagel came to North American shores with Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century, and remained almost exclusively a food known to and enjoyed by American Jews until the 1970s or so.

The bagel is usually recognized by its doughnut-like shape, a round ring with a hole in the middle. But what distinguishes it from other types of bread is its two-step cooking process: first boiled and then baked. This results in a dense, chewy interior and a tough, crusty skin.

When I grew up in the Boston suburbs in the 1970s and early 1980s, bagels were found almost exclusively in Jewish delis in cities with sizable Jewish populations like New York, Boston, Montreal, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. We ate them with lox (cured salmon) and cream cheese. If non-Jews had any familiarity with bagels, it was usually the flavorless frozen Lender's brand available in supermarkets.

Then in the late 1980s and early 1990s the bagel suddenly leaped free of its ethnic confines, shedding its Jewish associations and becoming a common American snack food. Bagel chains proliferated, and bagels became widely available almost anywhere sandwiches and pastries were sold. As bagels spread, they diversified. Many were not cooked in the traditional way, and flavors proliferated. Suddenly the lure of the bagel had become irresistible -- everyone wanted to eat them.

At that time, though, the bagel was still almost completely unknown in Asia. I once took a 90-minute bus ride across Taipei (this was September 1993) because I'd heard a rumor that one could get a bagel in the cafeteria of the Taipei American School. (I had to talk my way into the school building, trying to explain to the guard what a bagel was and I was so desperate to get my hands on one.) According to email I sent to friends the next day, "Sure enough, the snack bar sold bagels: blueberry, cinnamon-raisin, and garlic. I bought five garlic bagels for about $4. They weren't very good."

How things have changed! Now, in the first decade of the 21st century, the bagel has become a truly global food. In Seoul you can hardly walk down the street without tripping over one. Adaptive as ever, the bagel has taken on forms that I dare say have never been seen in Eastern Europe or North America. At first glance these don't really seem to be particularly Korean; I've seen no kimchee bagels, for example. But on second thought, they are typically Korean, products of the new cosmopolitan Korean penchant for embracing and re-imagining various foreign culinary traditions.

Let's take a little tour of The Bagels I've Seen in Seoul.

We'll begin with the café chain A Twosome Place. There's one on campus where I sometimes sit and do my homework when I feel like forking over $4 for a cup of coffee. They also sell focaccia sandwiches, cakes, and bagels:


Their New York bagel is prepared in an interesting way:


The bagel innards are scooped out, and apple cream cheese is spread into the depression. New York readers: have you ever had a scooped-out bagel?

While we're on the subject of A Twosome Place, here's something interesting I don't think you'd see on an American campus. It's a little seating area reserved for the use of professors.


It's tempting to attribute this to Korean society's greater focus on hierarchy and the esteem in which teachers are held there. But it could also just be a way for this particular café to try to attract more faculty diners.

One other thing to notice in the picture above: Koreans seem to think that the English name for Switzerland is "Swiss". I've seen this usage elsewhere too.

Moving on now, to FANCO, the little café inside the building where I take my language classes. (You can see a picture of the outside of the café toward the end of this post.) The morning of my placement test back in February I had a plain bagel and cream cheese there for my breakfast. There were several bagel items on the menu.


The grilled bagel (tomato/pineapple) seemed the most unusual. Pineapple?

On a later visit I noticed this display of FANCO food products:


There's a detailed description of the grilled bagel under its picture.


Apparently you choose either tomato or pineapple. On top of that goes a layer of cheese, then the whole thing is grilled. I saw one of these being prepared, and as the pineapple slice came out of the can and, dripping syrup, was placed onto the bagel, it suddenly occurred to me that in terms of shape and size it was the perfect topping: a ring with a hole in it.

The last bagel item I want to show you was discovered in Paris Baguette, one of many fancy French-style bakery chains that have taken over the city.


It's strawberry season right now in Korea. Fresh, tasty, sweet strawberries are everywhere (including my refrigerator and belly). The sign identifies these ttalgi beigeul 딸기 베이글 (strawberry bagels) as part of the store's "Strawberry Festival". It goes on to describe the 1800-won (a bit less than US $2) product as a "New York morning bagel with strawberries inside", made from flour (from the US or Canada), custard cream (from Korean milk), and strawberries (Korean grown).

This does not look good to me. Bagels are savory foods, and in my personal opinion should not be served with fruit and custard. Now here's an attractive picture of a bagel the way I like it, with cream cheese, lox, capers, red onions, and tomatoes.

Maeni Ramireseu

The 2008 American major league baseball (MLB) season has just begun. In order to build interest in Japan for American baseball, the MLB has, once every few years, arranged to have its opening day game played in Japan. This year my beloved Boston Red Sox played the first game of the season there two days ago, against the Oakland Athletics. The game was broadcast live here in Korea. After all the trouble I had last fall trying to watch Boston play, it was really nice to watch a game on TV at a normal evening time.

The free paper The Daily Focus, which I excerpted a cartoon from earlier, had a small article yesterday on the game, which Boston won thanks to the heroics of Boston's star player, Manny Ramirez. The headline reads (more or less, I think) "Boston's Ramirez: 'I'm the cleanup hitter!'"

I reproduce this here not because I think you are all interested in the details of the game, but because there is something of linguistic interest in the photo caption. It says:

보스턴 레드삭스의 매니 라미레스가 연장 10회초에 역전 2루타를 날린 후 세리머니를 하고 있다.

Boston Red Sox' Manny Ramirez celebrating (?) after smashing a clutch double in the top of the 10th inning.

I've put a question mark after 'celebrating' because I'm not sure it's the best word. The Korean is serimeoni 세리머니, which is clearly a borrowing of the English word 'ceremony'. It's typical for Manny Ramirez to make that two-armed pointing gesture after a good performance, but in English the word 'ceremony' would be inappropriate to describe it. I can't find the word in any Korean-English dictionary. If you copy the Korean 세리머니 and paste it into Google image search, you get these results, which mostly show athletes engaged in similar activities.

Can anyone suggest a better English translation of the Korean?

Mopoyeom

The Korean word for 'folliculitis' was not one I anticipated learning during this trip, or indeed ever. But there it is, titling this blog entry.

I had my follow-up visit with the dermatologist today. The antibiotics have done wonders. I'm pleased to be able to show you a normal-looking (more or less) picture of my face.


My nose is no longer swollen and is pain-free. There are no more sores or pustules. As you can see, there is still some discoloration -- darker spots -- at the sites of the infection, but the doctor said these will fade to normal color and there will be no scarring.

This is after seven days of oral antibiotics and application of a topical antibiotic. The doctor prescribed another five days of antibiotics to be on the safe side. Apparently minor outbreaks of folliculitis are common -- a pimple-like swelling around an irritated follicle -- especially among men who shave, it's just that they don't usually spread aggressively like mine did. He suggested that if I use a fresh towel each time I bathe, and aggressively treat any new sores that might appear with topical antibiotics, I should be fine.

Like you, I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging about things other than my skin.

Oh, I took some pictures of the parking guys at St. Mary's Hospital. As you would have predicted if you'd seen this and this earlier entry, they were wearing cowboy hats.