Scott on Life

A Recap of Our Trip to Korea

This summer has involved a lot of travel. It started with a two-week trip to Korea followed by a 71-day road trip. We're back home now for a short break before the final leg of this summer's journey: a 23 day, 220 mile backpacking trip along the John Muir Trail that takes us from the floor of the Yosemite Valley to Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,494 feet.

Our trip to Korea was a blast. It was my first time to any Asian country and the first time my wife had been back since she was a toddler. We went with my mother-in-law who grew up in Seoul and still has most of her family there. Going with my mother-in-law was a great experience for a variety of reasons. The most helpful day-to-day one was that she spoke the language, whereas my Korean is limited to foods I like. My wife is the first to admit that she speaks and understands very little Korean, but as the trip progressed her understanding of it greatly improved to the point where she could translate conversations for me. Unfortunately, her speaking abilities did not improve during the trip so we were pretty reliant on her mom for communicating with others. In addition to serving as a translator, my mother-in-law also introduced us to many aunts, uncles, and cousins I had never met before. Also, while exploring Seoul it was neat to have my mother-in-law's perspectives. Since she grew up in the city she was able to share anecdotes and personal stories and history that we would have otherwise missed out on.

Our two weeks in Korea were divided evenly between a cross-country bus tour and exploring Seoul, the world's most populous city with 10.2 million people. The bus tour circumnavigated the peninsula and included a plane trip and two-night stay at the extraordinarily scenic Jeju Island. Outside of Seoul and Pusan, Korea's two largest urban centers, Korea is largely rural. The eastern and northern portions of the country are very "mountainous" while the western portion contains more lowlands ideal for farming. I use the word "mountainous" in quotes because the mountains are really more like hills: none rise more than 7,000 feet. Even in these rugged areas, though, there are crops growing wherever possible. Every little patch of ground where the mountains relent - even if it is just a few square meters - will contain rows of rice, ginseng, spinach, cabbage, or other crops.

The most scenic stretch of the tour was on Jeju Island, a volcanically-formed island off the south coast of Korea. Due to its scenery and tropical climate and flora, Jeju is a popular honeymoon destination.

I also enjoyed the western coast. While it was not as scenic as the eastern coast or Jeju, it was where my father-in-law grew up and also home to the types of Korean food I was more accustomed. The cuisine on the eastern coast was very seafood heavy. The main dish in virtually every meal there (and on Jeju) was some kind of fish. Back on the western side we dined on some of my favorite dishes: japchae, bibimbop, and bulgogi, among others.

For those that have never enjoyed Korean cuisine, let me explain how it's served. The Korean meal is one that is rich is variety. Rather than serving just a single dish or two for a meal, the Korean meal includes banchan, which are a plethora of side dishes. These are usually small and simple items with a single main ingredient and can include things like: kimchi (typically cabbage, but can include radish and cucumber varieties), soy bean sprouts, plain soy beans (the bean, no sprout), tofu, seaweed, sardines, and so forth. Sometimes these include a small fish or small crabs or other small meat portions. Each diner also is served a bowl of rice and a bowl of seaweed soup (which is probably my favorite Korean soup). Then there's the main dish. This could be a fish or beef or pork or one of the above in a soup. It's usually a meat of some kind.

A lot of people also wondered if I like the food, or if it left me longing for food from back home. I already get a fair helping of Korean food here in the states. There are a couple of really good Korean restaurants in San Diego as well as some well-stocked Asian supermarkets (99 Ranch and Zion Market, to name a couple). And my mother-in-law is a very skilled cook. The constant seafood through the first five days or so was the only complaint I have. But seeing as I like rice and the seaweed soup, I was content to just eat that and pick at the banchan dishes I liked when I didn't feel up to having seafood for dinner.

The last week of our trip was spent in Seoul, which is an interesting city. There's a lot of history in Seoul, as you might imagine, and the city has several old parts as well as many new parts. The only old residences left are the palaces and other royal properties, which today function for tourist and historical purposes. In the old sections there are still some of the old streets - narrow, winding, and lined with small shops. Several of these have been closed off to motorized traffic and offer a bustling street market scene. The new parts are more modern and less interesting. In some parts there are rows upon rows of identical high-rise apartment buildings. Here's a view of one of the new sections, taken from the observation deck of Seoul's tallest skyscraper.

One of the most interesting parts of this trip was observing Korean society up close. My impression is that it is a culture that puts much more emphasis on the group and on conforming so as not to step out of line of societal norms. Everyone pretty much looked alike. Sure, there were different ages and classes and physical appearances, but I don't think I saw a single tattoo, outrageous body piercing, or distasteful article of clothing in our entire visit there. And these are things you'd see within minutes of visiting any American urban center. There's also very little ethnic diversity in Korea. More than 98% of Seoul's population is made up of people born and raised in Korean, so you see very few Caucasians, Africans, Latinos, or Middle Easterners. And in the countryside, I'd wager that 99.99% or more of the population were natural born Koreans. In short, as a goofy looking white guy I really stood out.

I don't know if we'll ever go back to Korea. I liked the country and had a great time visiting, but there are many more countries that we've yet to visit that I'd like to visit first before returning to Korea. But it was definitely worth visiting!