Question for the Day: What Can You Do With Beans, Sugar, & Dough?

A phone call, Tuesday May 25 at 11:00 - "Come over right away. Dr. Chung is taking us out for lunch."
I call them adventures, Dr. Chung calls them "pleasures". Today, our pleasure was "cold noodles". This particular dish comes from North Korea, where noodles are much more prevalent than rice. The restaurant is famous, its founder the father of the man you see in the picture that follows. He escaped to the South after the Korean War and started a restaurant fashioned after the one he owned in NK.His son took over when he retired, and now his grandson runs the restaurant. Apparently unwilling to totally retire, the grandfather directs traffic and helps patrons park. He also likes to have his picture taken, as you can see.The place was packed at lunchtime (we had to wait in line) and holds over 200!!!!  Cold noodles are just what they are - cold noodles. Need I say more?

Eating noddles in Korea is always a challenge. Slurping works best and Koreans do it well!

Today, (May 27) another unexpected surprise - lunch and an afternoon excursion with Dr. Chung Doug-Young. At 12:00 we were wisked off for yet another Korean lunch experience - or as Doug Chung calls it - "afternoon pleasure". This time a restaurant known for its buckwheat noodles. A new noodle soup. And what does buckwheat noodle soup taste like, you ask? Mmmm. Difficult to capture the essence in words.Soup was accompanied by tofu squares with germinated soy beans, and kimchi, of course.
Take a look.

Buckwheat noodle soup!

After lunch we spent the afternoon touring the area around Daejeon. Seok JangNi Museum, an exhibition of prehistoric Korean culture based on paleolithic sites excavated between 1964 and 1992 was our first stop. There have been humans near Daejeon for more than 700.000 years based on geologic evidence at this site. Then, off to Gongju City and seven ancient tombs in Songsan-ri where Baekje Kings are buried. Huge mounds cover the tombs of the kings and royal families from the age of Ungjin. The tomb of King Muryeong, 461-523 - is the most significant burial chamber and when discovered, contained relics that supplied important insight into the Baekje culture. Relics from two of the tombs are on display.

Tombs are mounds made in the mountain side and look just like regular terrain.

Path to tombs.

Actual tomb entrance.

Tomb museum entrance.

Brick tomb interior.

Dragon guardian in tomb.

Brick wall with lamp holder spaces.

Ornate bricks lining the king's and queen's tomb

Tiger guardian in tomb.

Queen's gold diadems found in the tomb.

King's and queen's head rests and king's sword.

Stone tomb guardian ( What prompted this choice, I wonder?)

Path to the tombs.

In answer to today's question - dough, filled with sugared mashed soy beans, and cooked by steaming.

Like we always say....always an adventure!

As Dr. Chung would say, "An afternoon pleasure!"

Finally, we took a brief tour of the National Cemetery located in Daejeon. On the side of a mountain, incredibly lovely, thousands and thousands, and thousands of gravestones all, I'll say that again, ALL having beautiful floral bouquets placed in front of each stone.I thought they had to be silk flowers, but right there in the booklet they give you, and I quote -"Voluntary activity offers a chance to meditate the patriotism of the deceased by keeping the grave site tidy through cleaning the tombstones and collecting witherered flowers throughout the year." So Korean!!! ( A small photo is included in the pamphlet showing an enormous number of women wearing yellow vests and hats tidying each site.) The cemetery itself serves as a site for worship, educational visits, walking tournaments, song festivals, "weekend patriotism movie viewing", and meditaton. One thing has become very clear. As we meet Korean friends and observe Korean culture the importance of patriotism is always at the forefront.

On the Ski Slopes of South Korea

After lunch with  the Kims, Doug and I boarded an express bus along with three CNU students, traveled up and down the mountains, switched busses, and finally landed at an enormous ski resort northeast of Daejeon near the town of Hongcheongun.(I'm going on record here to say that someone in SKorea has lots of money!) Beautiful facility. While there, Doug presented a paper and was one of the key note speakers for their National Soil Science Conference. I was a "good Korean wife", listened to Doug and then, togehter we listened to Korean speakers for the rest of the morning. (The words I so often spoke to my students when I suspected an upcoming presentation may be boring came back to haunt me..."If you get bored, daydream!") After lunch, we walked around the facility and then rode a gondola to the top of the mountain where we could survey the complex. A number of huge high-rises to accomodate skiers, hikers or golfers - 3 golf courses all built along the side of a mountain (see if you can figure out how that works) - an enormous waterpark, stores, restaurants, playgrounds, coffee shops, etc. dotted the landscape. We spent our time enjoying the scenery and watching native craftsmen ply their trade. Thursday night's banquet was, as all Korean meals served for guests, over the top with an endless variety of dishes and good food. For those who aren't crazy about kimchi, there were lots of other choices! Friday noon we jumped on a bus heading back to Daejeon - relaxed and refreshed. We've said this before, but being here is an amazing adventure.You're never quite prepared for what you encounter.
And so, for those of you still in the throws of winter, I leave you with this thought; the sun is out, everything is greening, and the temperature here has hovered between 75 and 80.

The lobby. Note - NOT ONE CHAIR!

The complex....but wait, there's more! More buildings were being built.

Handmade crafsmen were at work in one of the buildings on top of the mountain. This man made bamboo screens. The picture doesn't convey the beauty of these screens, but we thought about buying one - price - $1000.00!!!!! On second thought....

As far as we could tell, you golfed your way down the mountain. At this point, (early May) it was dry (as you can see), but I'm guessing things have greened up now that we've had a fair amount of rain. In fact, now that I look at the picture, it looks like a desert, but really, it was just dry grass.

OOPS! Here comes your cart. It travels up the mountain and waits for you at each hole!!

Need More Land? Chop Off a Mountain, Haul It To the Sea!

Sat. morning, May15, Dr. Jin Ho Lee, ( a formerKorean student Doug met and worked with years ago at SDSU) and his lovely wife, June, picked us up and whisked us off on yet another whirlwind adventure. This time to their home town of Jeonju and the surrounding area.Our itinerary:
1. The world's largest dike. ( Saemangum Dike -Recently completed and opened)
2. Lunch
3. Jeonju Folk Village (Hanok Village) and shopping
4. Tour of Chonbuk National University, Dr. Lee's labs and Office
5.  Maison Top Temple
6.  Dinner
7.  Home
It is almost impossible to describe how generous and hospitable these people are! The Lee's ( not related to the artist) spent almost 14 years in the United States and are both very adept in their use of the English language. As with Dr.Lee (artisit), it is so inertesting to travel with someone who can explain what we're seeing. Once again, we're going up, down, around and through tunnels throughout the day. Koreans need all the land they can get, so instead of going around a mountain - they just go through it! Miles and miles and miles of tunnels. In other words, if they need to get from one side of the mountain  to the other, blasting through seems to be the method of choice.
Number 1 on our agenda, Saemangum Dike, the largest dike in the world,  - amazing. Despite protests over ecological concerns, sides of mountains were literally cut away and the enormous project went forward. Not everyone here is pleased with their government's decision, but the end product is something to behold. The dike is 34+ km (24 miles) long and it reclaimed an area of 400 sq km (90,000 acres). The project was started in 1991 and completed in 2009.The average height of the dike from the sea floor to the top is 14 stories. The average width at the base is 1000 ft and reaches widths as large as 1800 ft wide. The top od the dyke is wide enough to hold a 4 our lane highway. There are 18 steel gates that allow water to exit in low tides. Each gate consists of 2 steel plates that are each 100 ft long and 50 ft tall. Each steel plate weighs 500 tons. This quite an engineering fete. The total cost of the project is $21 billion. By 2020 there will be resorts, a new harbor, and new farmland.

Satellite view of area in 1990

View in 2002, three years after starting the project.

Nearly done in 2008

Wall completed in 2010.

Water release gates. Both steel doors on each side of the highway are raised to release water to the sea. There are 10 sets of 2 doors in this spillway. Each of the 20 doors is 100 ft by 50 ft and weighs 500 tons.

Fishing nets

Fences, gates, benches, railings - here in Korea, a majority are made from steel.

Practical, durable, easy to take care of, this particular railing on the "dike highway " is one of my favorites. As you drive, the railing itself seems to be rolling like a huge wave. 

"Burlap" screens are placed over "reclaimed" land to prevent erosion and give grass time to grow.

The newly built dike has created a haven for fishing boats.

Hanok Folk Village - item #2. -  We plan to go back and see more if we get the chance. A settlement of traditional Korean buildings filled with traditional crafts, the village itself seemed to be quite large.  Handmade Korean paper crafts, lovely scarves, pottery, textiles - too many things to take in at one time. Jin-Ho and his wife selected various items, filled a shopping bag, and gave it to us as a gift. We protested, but to no avail! We'll never be able to repay them for the wonderful experience they've given us.

Oops! Watch you head! Koreans are considerably taller now than they used to be.

Beautiful chests, gilded, painted, and or inlaid with mother of pearl have been crafted here for centuries.

This is a gilded door that has been surrounded by mirrors creating an optical illusion.

Item # 4 - Chonbuk National University. After the folk village, we toured the university where Jin-Ho teaches  and does his research.. A beautiful campus (voted as one of the ten prettiest in Korea), it's a private university, started and supported by the Presbyterian church. One of the unique features of the campus is a small group of traditional Korean houses, built to help foreign students understand and appreciate Korean culture.

 The four of us in one of Dr. Lee's labs

Number 5 - Mai Tap-sa Temple  Up, down, around and through, we ended up at yet another Buddhist temple high in the mountains between two tall peaks. ( horse's ears they're called ) Built by one monk over a thirty year  period, its unique feature is that it's constructed primarily of rocks and stones. The fact that one man built it adds to its uniqueness. As with most temples built in the mountains of Korea, the setting was breathtaking.

The temple itself sits in between the two peaks (referred to as horses ears) you see in the background.

On the way

As you approach the temple, a gold Buddha sits on a ledge on the side of the mountain.

Note the satellite dish several meters away. (This looks small, but the Buddha was fairly large.) way down

There must have been hundreds of thousands of rocks (or more) that were moved by this one man to build the temple and surrounding prayer rock piles.

 

Look for the indentation top left hand side of this mountain. It's difficult in a photo to capture this, but the side of the wall was a sheer drop and so high it made us dizzy to look up. Check out the next picture. There were two of these "caves" on the side of the wall - each had four or more carved figures sitting in them. The figures themselves are larger than a person. The question - how in the world did he get up there????

These prayer piles were everywhere and seemed to be part of the planned design.

And here he is - he builder himself.

In Korea, you're either going up or down!

Number 6 - Dinner at a restaurant nestled in the mountains ended the day, I don't know how we ever got there, but when we did, dinner was waiting! The photos tell all, but I will mention this. Our rice was served inside chunks of bamboo! Look for it on the table. What a clever idea. (I took all four home)

Number 7 - Vowing never to eat again - home to bed - what a day!