Sokcho trip

This past weekend we took a trip out east to Sokcho, a seaside city close to the DMZ. We visited the city once before in the winter and loved the small town atmosphere and fresh seafood and vegetables served there.

On our first day we visited Seoraksan mountain, the third highest mountain in Korea. We were feeling kind of tired, so we decided to take the cable car up to Gwangeumseong peak. It was foggy, but when the breeze cleared the sky, we were able to see all the way out to the sea. When we visited the mountain in the winter, the park was nearly empty and very peaceful. This time it was pretty crowded and the park was filled with tourists more interested in checking their cell phones than looking at the scenery. We even saw some people doing video chat on the mountain peak ... pretty weird, but that's 2011 Korea for you, I guess.

On the second day we hung out at the beach and went swimming in the ocean. The waves were much stronger than in Busan, but the water was the perfect temperature. It was so nice to get away from polluted Seoul for a few days and take in the seaside air.

We ate a lot of great food on the trip including North Korean-style naengmyun (or cold noodles in broth), ojingosundae (squid sausage), grilled fish (including melt in your mouth, freshly caught Chilean sea bass), wild greens bibimbap (vegetables and rice), and Sokcho-style sundubu (soft tofu stew). We also tried a corn-based liquor that was like makgeolli. It was incredible how fresh all the food tasted ... and how reasonably priced it was. Sokcho is only a 3-hour drive from Seoul, but somehow the produce and meat in Seoul is twice as expensive and less flavorful.

A few funny notes from the weekend. On our second day in Sokcho, we randomly chose a grilled fish place to eat at for dinner. It turned out that some acquaintances from Seoul were eating there too, though they were almost finished with their dinner. The incident reminded us of just how small this country is. It seems that we're constantly running into other expats that we've met during our two years here, even when we're not in Seoul.

Secondly, there were some funny stores in the downtown area of Sokcho. The first is "Bar Dumb," which is pretty self explanatory. The second was "Parma" -- a hair salon that copied the Puma logo. Parma means "perm" in Korean, so we thought that was a pretty clever rip-off.

After The Beep

After having lived and worked here for over half a year now, I feel like I've earned the right to complain about Korea publicly (privately is another matter, as Nissa can attest). Anyway, I know I haven't necessarily earned all my stripes yet so I'll start small.

Ah, voicemail. I think back fondly to the days when I may not have heard my phone ring, or was in the shower, or was sleeping, or maybe just didn't feel like picking up the phone (gasp). Nevertheless, I would eventually return to find a little digital envelope waiting for me on an LCD screen. No, it wasn't quite as satisfying as receiving a real letter, or even an e-mail, but it was a message nonetheless. And I could listen to that voicemail, hear the voice of a friend, have a work appointment confirmed, or find out my landlord couldn't come by to fix the broken window until next week. Anyway, at least I learned something.

But Koreans don't use voicemail. The option is there, oh yes, because I've heard the beep before. But there's no point in trying. I have never received a voicemail here, not even heard the abrupt click of a voicemail thought twice. And even if I were to receive a voicemail, I would have no idea how to listen to it because I have not yet had the opportunity to use that function on my phone. And I know well enough not to leave a voicemail for someone. That would be like stuffing a letter into a bottle, sticking the cork in, and then throwing that bottle into hot, molten lava. And no, the bottle is not lava-proof. Sometimes you don't even have a choice. A kind, recorded operator will tell you the line is busy and to try again later. Then hang up on you.

It's amazing to me that in a country so technologically advanced the voicemail phenomenon has not caught on. And I don't dare to say "yet" because I don't think it will ever catch on. Text messaging is so common here that, in some ways, there is no point to using voicemail. You can probably get just as much accomplished with a few button presses, all while avoiding the awkward feeling of talking into a machine, and then fumbling toward some kind of conclusion that doesn't make you sound crazy. So, yeah... But voicemail does have its benefits -- namely, knowing why the heck someone called. And I think that if everyone here just experienced that one time, this country would be on the road to a saner future.