Time to say goodbye

It is my last day here, the bags are packed, I checked out of my room, got back my deposit, could not even use my internet last night, am a little scared how much I will have to pay for my excess baggage tomorrow...
The last days we had an all-German get-together in a bar in Shillim with a bit of beer and lots of typically American sweets: a brownie and an ice cream cake and lots of donuts. The day after we decided to visit the highest bar in Seoul in the 63 building to have some cocktails accompanied by fried king prawns to waste my leftover Wons. Today, I am in the office for the last time and had lunch with almost all group members. Now we are saying the last farewells before I leave for home to rearrange some of my luggage and trade pictures with everyone in the evening. Tomorrow morning I will have to head to the airport and leave for Germany. I wish I could stay here longer, since there is still so much more left to see and do. It was definitely a very nice time and I can only recommend Seoul and Korea to anyone who might get the chance to go there. Now my only hope is that Germany will be nicer than German artist Paul Snowden expresses in his work, which Claudine came across at an art exhibition. The last sentence has already turned into a running gag here for those of us about to go back. PS: The weather also sucks. Optimistic, that the rest will not, this is my last blog entry from here. Goodbye Korea, until next year.

Farewell dinner

I couldn't possibly leave Korea without another truly amazing dinner prior to departure. So we decided to visit an all-you-can-eat restaurant previously discovered and recommended by Peter and Niko. The praise of the restaurant was well deserved, as it offered a taste of many favorites: california rolls, sushi, deep fried shrimps, spring rolls, calm showder, beef as well as shrimp goulash, "German" sausages, tomato gratin, different types of mandu and countless cakes, fruits and pastries. In total I ate five wonderful plates all of which are shown here. I have to apologize, though, because on two of them I started eating prior to taking the picture. What a dinner...

7th hike (Baekundae)

After two days of rain, the sun broke through the clouds and made way for clear blue skies and the best visibility in Seoul I have witnessed since my arrival, i.e. the perfect weather for hiking. We decided for Baekundae, which is a little bit closer to Seoul and hasn't been frequented by us as much as Dobongsan. We did not go straight fof the Baekundae peak this time, but instead headed for the ridge leading there, which was fortified by a stone wall offering a mezmerizing view over Seoul. One could not only see all of downtown, but also the Han river sparkling in the sun shine, building 63 towering on its peninsula, the antennas on top of the Gwanaksan near the SNU and the rolling hills beyond the southern reaches of Seoul. To make a perfect day even better the leaves showed all imaginable colors from yellow to bright red and green with some trees near the top already almost bare due to the strong winds. It may have been the last weekend to enjoy the autumn colors , it certainly was the prettiest I've seen. Sadly, it was also my last hike here - at least this year.

Two days of rain

The last friday in the office. Last subgroup meeting, concluding presentation in the group meeting. The end of my time here is drawing near. Sadness engulfs me as I realize that next Friday, I will be sitting on the plane to Germany again, while rain pours down outside from morning til night. It sure was a great time here in Korea and after the group seminar, almost everyone tagged along for exciting dinner, different types of Korean wine, singing at a Norebang and finally some beer again. It was so fun I actually forgot (!!!) taking pictures. The next morning, the rain still has not ceased. Pouring without mercy, the national museum sounds like the perfect place to go after lying in bed a bit longer than necessary. In front of the museum the reflecting pond was almost alive as rain drops beat down on it, a few steps further under the shelter of the museum's roof, there is a folklore musical performance. Inside, we learn about the beginnings of life in Korea from the stone to the bronze and iron age. Our initially slow and fascinated progress hastens as we grow weary and time wears on. We see porcellaine vases, golden Buddha statues, ancient scriptures, buddhist stupas and countless other things before we leave the permanent exhibition without even getting the chance to see any of the special exhibition part of the building. Definitely worth going to and coming back a second time. After so much culture, we stopped by a different shopping area, shared a huge sushi plate along with ramen soups and finally hit a krispy kreme donuts for a correspondingly lovely desert.

Weekly meals

I figured, since I posted so many different food pictures up to now, I have to post some of the most famous and well-liked Korean dish Bi Bim Bap and of the university dining hall. So here they come. First is Bi Bim Bap - a traditional rice dish. Served in a large bowl there is a huge variety of vegetables almost always topped by a fried egg and sometimes accompanied by pieces of meat. The rice may be underneath or - as in this case - has to be added by hand. Next step is to add some red sauce and mix well. Enjoy :-)
Second are pictures of a typical lunch and dinner at the dining hall. They are to stand in contrast to most other food pictures posted here. And while the food is also good in the dining hall, it still might correct the impression that we are always eating in heavenly places here. The Bi Bim Bap picture by the way were taken in the upper class dining hall.

6th hike (Hallasan)

On the final day in Jeju, we decided to climb the 1900 m high Halla mountain towering over the island. The weather was nice and warm, the trees featured leaves of all colors from green to yellow to bright red and the black lava rock underneath made for a beautiful contrast. Since we had to catch a plane in the evening we decided for the slighly longer, but easier climb through rolling hills covered with dense forest. After quite a few hours of walking an a Ramen soup for lunch at the shelter below the crater, we started the final ascent. We arrived just in time to see the crater for a few minutes before it disappeared in dense clouds. Temperature had dropped throughout the hike forcing all of us decided to put on some warm jackets at the top - well, almost all of us anyways. Our pleasent stay at the top was shortened by the beginning of drizzeling rain, which quickly increased to substantial rain and stayed with us almost all the way down. Completely wet and unable to dry or change, we decided to have a good sashimi (hoi) dinner in Jeju harbor before leaving. We got more than we asked for on this one. Accompanying the plate with the tasty slices of raw fish, which had been taken out of the aquarium, killed and sliced for us the second after we ordered, we were also served a plate of raw specialties, which turned out to be hard to identify. Another highlight were the snails, served with burning fire in the center of the plate. Some of these exotic ocean inhabitants were quite tasty, others required some water or soju to help them on their way down.

Island tour

Of course, you don't travel to a far away tropical island to leave it again after two days of conference. So, we booked the flight back on Sunday evening instead of Friday. To explore the island a car is absolutely essential and due to lacking an international drivers licences for a while it seemed that we wouldn't be able to get one. However, to our luck Shang Yik - actually born and raised on Jeju island - decided to stay a day longer and show us the island by car. We started looking at Oedolgae rock and continued from there to the Cheonjiyeon waterfall, a rainbow showing in the spray. We then visited Seongeup folklore village. This village - in contrast to all others we heard of so far - actually preserved the old life style and people still live in the houses, so it is not a museum as the traditional Korean village in Seoul for example. Houses on Jeju were traditionally made of stone and the roofs are also unique in Korea, since Jeju has to withstand heavy rains and storms unrivaled on the main land. They even held some of the famous black pigs in the back. After having a late lunch there, we continued to Seongsan Ilchulbong, known as sunrise peak. First we stopped at a botanical garden featuring a lava cave below, to then continue to a beach near sunrise peak to get an impression from afar, before finally driving up to it and climbing to the crater at the top, offering a magnificant view. Finally, we travelled to the mysterious road south of Jeju city, the only slight disappointment of the trip, since it did not rival the mystery spot in Santa Cruz, CA. Our tour guide than sadly had to leave for his plane and we went to have dinner and relax from an exciting trip.

Conference - part II

Waking up to blue skies, tangerine trees beneath my window, the ocean in sight already put me in a good mood. On the second day of the conference we decided to use the generous lunch break for a small trip to the nearby grotto inside sanbang mountain. It took a quick ten minute hike to get up and offered a lovely view of the surrounding area. Inside was a Buddhist statue and a pond collecting water dripping from the ceiling, which we could not decline trying. Below the grotto lay a beautiful sandy beach, over which the Hamel monument towered. Hamel was a dutch merchant, who stranded on Jeju in the 16th century. He and his surviving crew members were the first westerners ever to have encountered Korea. They were brought before the king and denied return for almost thirteen years to keep Korea a secret. In the afternoon coffee break we wandered a little further down the paths behind the ICC and encountered impressive columnar lava structures nearby.

Jeju

Thanks to the Korean Chemical Society Meeting at the International Conference Center (ICC) Claudine, Mark and I were granted the opportunity to travel to the beautiful, subtropical island Jeju. Upon arrival in a tiny propeller plane, we were already greeted by blue skies and a wonderful view of the island. The ICC turned out to be an equally impressive building, shaped to resemble the shape of Jeju, built right next to the shore. After an exciting check-in using English, pieces of Korean and sign language, we again visited all English talks available, all theory-based posters and finally an exhibition by a few industrial companies. The brave conference attendance was rewarded by a little buffet including scraps of famous black Jeju porc meet. Afterwards we explored the area with our Korean colleagues, visiting the best hotel on the island (Lotte Hotel) and sitting on Jungmun beach watching the moon.