bugs!

Maybe we're weird, but one of our favorite things about summer in Korea is the appearance of cicadas...except when they land on our balcony screens early in the morning. We don't have cicadas in our part of the U.S. and the most dominant species in the U.S. have very long life cycles, so they only appear every seven years or more. The Korean cicadas apparently employ a method of survival called "predator satiation," meaning that there are so damn many of them, some are bound to survive. And there are so damn many of them. And they're loud...at least the males are. They're the ones who make the crazy "whaa-whaa-whaaahaaahaaahaaahaaa...." noise. (Explanation of cicada song and sample sound recordings here.)

The Korean name for cicadas is 매미 (may-me), and the kids around our apartment complex hunt them with butterfly nets. Matthew picks them up with his bare hands to show them to Liam, which I think horrifies some of the kids. Seriously, Koreans of all ages are pretty skittish around bugs. (To the point of silliness. I had to "save" a college-age girl from a fuzzy caterpillar last summer, which her boyfriend was trying to beat off of her pant leg. Pregnant foreigner saves caterpillar. Classic.)

cicada blending in with tree:


and his not-so-bright cousin standing out on a rock at Mt. Seorak


the cicada I startled off a tree, which decided Matthew looked like a good spot to hang out...for several blocks:


me holding that same cicada after we got it off Matthew's shirt:


Dragonflies (draggy-plies in Liam-speak) are also abundant here in the summer. They're friendly little guys, very curious about human beings. Our friend J.E. tells a great rendition of her battle through a swarm of dragonflies at Mt. Seorak. It involves her covering her face to keep them out of her orifices.

Here's one lone dragonfly hanging out on a bridge at Mt. Seorak:


random weird bug on a tree near our apartment:


the white things are caterpillars:


There are a ton of different caterpillars here, ranging from flashy to brilliantly camouflaged. Matthew took his hands-on "after class" class on a "nature walk" (quotations used because it was down the sidewalk) one day to see a variety of insects (cicadas, caterpillars, etc.) that blend into their environs. He had randomly discovered at least three varieties of caterpillars skillfully blending into the sparse landscaping in front of a bedding shop.

The exception to the general queasiness about bugs here are boys and their beetles. Japanese rhinoceros beetles (AKA "fighting beetles") are sold in the pet department at E-Mart (and I'm sure other places, too). While we were out taking pictures of the cicadas one morning, we came across a boy and his pet beetle at the playground. He even posed his beetle so that I could take a better picture of it:


...but this picture gives a better perspective of the actual size of the beetle (it's perched on the boy's thumb) as it "meets" a cicada held by Matthew:

baekdamsa: third time's a charm

Our first attempt to visit Baekdamsa, a temple on the other side of Mt. Seorak National Park, was last year during our summer vacation. We would have had to wait hours for a bus that really wouldn't have taken us very near the site at all, so we caught a bus to Gangneung instead.

We tried again last fall. We rented a car and stayed at "Happy Road" with J.E., but it was while the autumn leaves were changing colors and half of Korea seemed to have the same idea. Saturday, we couldn't even get near the shuttle bus parking lot. Sunday, the traffic was backed up onto the highway.

Since this week was our summer break, we avoided both of our prior mistakes by going on a weekday and renting a car, and actually made it to our destination.

After parking, we stopped to pick up some snacks and let Liam explore the river. Matthew ended up buying a bottle of beer (Hite, which tastes like shite, rather that Cass, which tastes like ass...), which we drank at one of the tables over looking the river,


while Liam played,


then Matthew joined him for old fashioned rock throwing.


Cars are not allowed on the road leading to the temple, and for good reason. Most of it is narrow and winding. I have never heard people applaud a bus driver's skills before, but then again, I haven't spent any time on Korean tour buses. We did pass a few people who had chosen to walk up or back, but most pay the W2,000 per adult (W1,000 per child) EACH WAY to take the bus. (So we paid roughly $10 for Matthew, Liam & I. Highway robbery.)


Liam and I (with Rowan sleeping in the Ergo) at the entrance.


Liam inspects the wishing candles. We had to convince him that he was not supposed to blow them out like birthday candles.


These are the tiles which people pay to write a message on: a prayer, a blessing, "KimTaeHoon wuz here," etc.


Liam's first attempt at flashing ubiquitous peace signs, or as J.E. calls them, "kimchi fingers." Isn't five better than two?


Liam getting water from the temple spring.


A peak inside the temple, while my child glows in an unearthly manner.


I love the roof details on Korean Buddhist buildings.


The unusually cool, wet summer has been good for the flora.


Overall, the temple was a disappointment, after all the hype. The most remarkable feature was the mostly-dry river bed. Koreans have this obsession with stacking rocks and this locale provides them with ample opportunity to do so. From our understanding, it's a Buddhist practice to illustrate the idea that everything is temporary; anything humans build will eventually fall down. Liam tries to help them learn that lesson, but we usually interfere.


Liam explores, while a family in the background builds together.


Liam puts into perspective the height of some of the stacks.


Finally, he finds something a little more his speed: throwing rocks into the river with "hyung" (older brother).


Rowan wakes up from his nap.


Matthew poses with an unwilling Liam.


A rock carved with hangul on the way back to the shuttle bus.


Since we were already running late to meet J.E. at Happy Road, we didn't even attempt the hike beyond the temple. Apparently, this is quite impressive, and might have made the trip more worthwhile. Instead we waited in line for too long, with a smug old man who seemed to be talking schmack about us, before riding the bus back to our car.

My advice: If you want to visit Baekdamsa, allow the better part of the day, bring decent beer, and do the hike up past the temple.

the haps

Interesting (to me, anyway) and random events from the past few weeks:

Crazy Weather
We had a solar eclipse (about 70% here in Korea) yesterday, but it was so overcast that you could barely even tell. I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this, but we've had unseasonably cool (read: livable) weather so far this month. Last year, July 5th was the beginning of almost two solid months of "air conditioning weather": hot, sticky, yuck.

Couch Surfing 101
After Matthew invited home a random Dutch backpacker he met at the bus stop several weeks ago, we decided that hosting couch-surfers actually works okay for our family. Since changing our status to allow guests, we've had a Swiss tourist and two expat English teachers from Seoul stay with us. Since Matthew's profile clearly states that we have two young children, we've had guests who like kids. We have another American coming this weekend, and could easily end up hosting all summer unless we decline.

When Halmonis (grandmothers) attack:
One Saturday afternoon, we got on a bus going downtown. Since Matthew was carrying the stroller, I was carrying Rowan and holding Liam's hand. There were no open seats and no one moved to give theirs up, so I instructed Liam to hold on to the handle corner of one seat, while I held one of the handle ring hanging from the ceiling. I heard the voice of an older woman, and caught a few familiar words including "baby" before one of the middle school boys right by us got up. I helped Liam sit down. The voice became a little more persistent and another boy surrendered his seat. I sat down and turned to the woman who had been speaking. I thanked her, which let her know that I understood at least some of what she was saying. That was all the encouragement she needed. She became louder, haranguing the boys for all to hear. The gist of her lecture was, "When a woman with children gets on the bus, you give up your seat now, now, NOW!" They didn't look at her, but kept their eyes downcast, which is the proper way to respond to a scolding. When she got off the bus, I gave her a little nod (head bow) and smiled. Sometimes halmonis totally rock.

And I learned...
...Fenugreek (a "galactagogue," which sounds like something off of Star Trek) is apparently illegal in South Korea. (That doesn't mean that foreigners don't bring it in, or that they aren't willing to share extra.)
...how to say "It's not f***ing cold" really, really politely. Will I ever actually say that to an overly-pushy halmoni who insists my child is improperly dressed? Probably not, but knowledge is power, right?
...it feels really good to squirt kids with a super-soaker when they call me waegook (foreigner). (It was a one-time thing. Liam was using some girl's super soaker and I had just finished helping him with something on it. These kids have seen me many times before, so it was just ridiculous. Maybe I should start carrying a squirt gun with me for that purpose.)
...gim is really good wrapped around rice and tuna salad (tuna + mayonnaise). It's my minimalist/ghetto version of chamchi (tuna) gimbap.

obligatory cherry blossom post

Many foreigners in Korea have blogs and they all seem to be posting pictures of the cherry blossoms. It makes sense. After a long, cold winter, the cherry blossoms are a sign that spring is finally here. Oh, and they're gorgeous. Unfortunately, strong winds have wiped out many of the blossoms, just like they did with the changing leaves this fall. Despite this, I was able to get some decent pictures as we walked around the lake with our friend Julia and her son JeongHyun on Saturday.

Okay, this first picture has nothing to do with the blossoms. I snapped a picture using the mirror at Julia's between the wonderful lunch she prepared for us and our hike. Rowan (in the baby carrier) is just too stinkin' cute to leave this out, though.


Matthew & Liam walking in the bike path






Liam checking out a fish statue, which he proceeded to "feed" rocks.


I don't know why the Sokcho mascot looks so angry as he tells you how far it is to BeomBawi (Tiger Rock).




I tried to be subtle in snapping a picture of old people picking weeds. Wash them, toss them in some sesame oil and gochujang (red pepper paste) and you have a very inexpensive side dish.

first sunday of spring

Spring has come to Sokcho. For the past month or so, the Korean saying, "Spring is arriving, but Winter is jealous," has held true. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying this, but it does look like the warm weather is finally here to stay.

Sunday, our friend "Jenny" (her English name), one of the Korean teachers at AP and one of Liam's favorite people, took us on an outing. We first met up with her after her horse riding lesson at Yeongnang Lake. She thought, correctly, that Liam would enjoy seeing the horses.



Jenny's favorite horse, who didn't bite Liam, although it looks that way. He was actually just surprised that the tiny human stuck a finger up his nose.




From there, she took us to Geomgang-sa, a temple we had not previously visited, as it's not on a bus route. The temple itself is small, but the surroundings are beautiful. Walking up from the car, we crossed a bridge over a river with a waterfall just downstream and a very old stone walking bridge just upstream.

We were able to enjoy "pumpkin fermented rice tea" at the tea shop on the grounds. Served in an oversized, handmade tea cup and meant to be consumed with a small, wooden spoon, the sweet, icy concoction isn't what I would normally consider tea. It's thinner than a Slushie, with small, but discernible pieces of rice and sweet pumpkin. Quite delicious and refreshing, the drinks were accompanied by pieces of boiled potato.

the road to the temple:


the temple itself:


the bell tower and "rice rock" where the founding monks were given sustenance from the gods


Jenny, Liam & Matthew descending the stairs up to the temple


the bridge over the ravine


Liam checking out a cool water fountain


Liam making friends with a native Korean "jindo" dog


the ancient stone foot bridge


the tea house as seen from the access road

Sokcho's (non-fatal) Fire Festival