Trip to Korea, Fourth Day

It felt odd not to be able to talk to my brother, or even exchange emails real time. At the time I was writing it was eight-thirty p.m. but only six-thirty a.m. in Texas.  I wrote, "By the time you get to work I will be sleeping like a baby.  Hah--not likely. I'll be sleeping like a grown-up.  Babies wake up crying in the night."


Apparently I was too tired to remember that it was only Sunday to him.

 


I jogged around the complex twice, stopping in the middle to use (play on) the exercise machines in the courtyard. Then Ed and I took a walk and ended up at a cool monument called "The Castle". We were welcomed by these guys

and paid homage to the stern dude on the high pedestal.


 

The legend said it had been used three times but the only one which stuck in my head was to defend against Japanese pirates.  Since it wasn't even in sight of the ocean, I didn't see how that would make sense, but later I looked it up and saw that there is a major river outlet to the ocean there. Pirates could have sailed up and moored fairly close to the city.

I saw rice growing--up close--for the first time in my life. (I've seen it from the highway in Louisiana, of course, but never so close I could munch a grain or two).

After all that exercise, Ed and May had to go off to register the baby's existence with some government office and they left both kids with us. Number One Grandson--I'll just call him E Junior--is in a phase--the hopelessly clingy phase. The minute his daddy went out the door he started to cry. Mournfully. Painfully. Loudly. My ears got relief only when I picked him up and walked around holding him, singing and letting him look out the window.

Fine--I didn't mind...for the first half hour. The second half hour of carrying and walking and sing-stepping was murder--I swear, this baby gained twenty pounds in twenty minutes.

Finally he fell asleep and I lowered (okay, dropped) him into his bed.  He drew up onto belly and knees, stayed asleep, and peace reigned. Ten minutes later his parents returned.

In the mid-afternoon we headed out to walk to the farmer's market near the army base. It was great! I bought some spinach for dinner next day and the kids bought a huge bag of hard candy. They'll be eating that junk until they die.  It wasn't that they wanted such a big bag--they only wanted a little--but the seller had a minimum weight.

Year's supply of garlic? I wasn't even tempted.

 

Then we walked to a bus stop and rode to still another market in Pyeongtaek. (Or so I thought--from the map, we appeared to be in still another suburb of Pyeongtaek.)  We walked around that for a short eternity and I ate a red bean doughnut (yummy) and some mixed vegetable fritters (needed salt). 

Then we walked into the rich, trendy area of town to get to a Korean Barbeque joint.

 (rich, trendy area)


 


Here's how the whole Korean Barbeque works--or at least, worked for us. You load up a plate with strips of pork belly (uncured bacon), chunks of raw duck, marinated chicken, onion and garlic and such. Then you take it to a table which has a grill down the middle. You grill the meat yourself, cut it into chunks with scissors, and eat it rolled in lettuce leaves with kimchi and dipping sauce.

I ate a little, by which I mean I ate more meat than I usually do in six months, while the others stuffed themselves silly. I was embarrassed for their sakes.  But then, how often do you get to put away a big plate of thick-sliced pork belly?

 
Between the walking and the gorging, I was exhausted.  I went to bed at 9:00.