Insadong

In my Korean textbook, there are sometimes mini-articles about Korean culture.  One of the articles talked about Insadong and mentioned that is had many traditional crafts, especially crafts made of paper.  My teacher asked me if I had ever been, and since I hadn't, we agreed to go together.  We are about the smae age, and have many similar interests, so I was really looking forward to going with her.

After class today, we went to Insadong.  But before we could see any crafts, we HAD to eat.  We went to eat Kalguksu.  It was SO delicious.  Kalguksu is a noodle dish, with steaming hot broth and clams.  Here is a picture of the dish as well as a picture of my teacher, serving it. 

It was a perfect dish for the freezing cold, -1 C, temperature that it was that day.  They also had the most delicious kimchi that I have eaten here.  I like kimchi, but I usually eat about 3-4 pieces with each meal.  However, here, I think I ate a whole plate of kimchi.  It was so garlicky and delicious.  If you go to Insadong, you have to eat here.

After lunch, we started shopping and walking around Insadong.  They have many traditional arts and crafts, as well as some very nice museums and upscale shops.  Insadong is also well-known for its shops full of traditional paper, hanji, which is similar to mulberry paper.  While we were walking, I also saw this Starbucks.  There are SO many Starbucks in Korea, so that's not the big deal.  The big deal is that this is the ONLY Starbucks in Korea that says "Suh-ta-beok-suh-Keo-pi."    If you know even a little Korean, you know that there is no "f" sound, so Koreans replace the "f" sound with a hard "p," so that actually reads, if you say it really fast, "Starbucks coffee." (Which I thought was hilarious.)  Of course, I would not drink coffee there, though, because Insadong is also well-known for its Tea Shops.

We went to this great Tea shop, that I think was called "Tea Time."  It was a little off the main street and was on the 2nd floor.  I had cinnamon tea, and my teacher had this tea made out of a small melon-sized citrus fruit.  (I have a friend whose father makes a jam out of that fruit, and it is univerally agreed that it is too sour to eat plain, but it makes really good marmelade and tea.)  Those round colored things, are like crackers.  The look heavy, but they are light and fluffy.  In fact, if you break them little pieces flurry around, like snow.  They are good, but they taste a little like air.

 

I had such a nice day that I can't wait to go back!