Laura's Visit

During my vacation with Clay, I got word from Dave that our great friend Laura Hermann was coming to visit. Dave and I had been conversing with some of our friends from TU about visiting, and Laura came through. It’s great having people visit, because it allows me to share my experiences with people that share my (American) perspective. Furthermore, my rather leisurely work schedule allows for me to travel around when people visit.

We went to visit the home of Edison, another enthusiastic English learner that Dave and I both had the pleasure of teaching. He lives in Yangzhou, which used to be of incredible importance during the Grand Canal’s hay day, and he reminds any willing ear of this all the time. This makes him a great host. In general, all Chinese people tend to have weighty pride about their hometown (kind of like people from Texas). I’m not really sure why, except that maybe it’s due to a somewhat myopic worldview because most of them are very limited by travel. I always suggest looking to guidebooks or non-Chinese sources when making travel decisions here, or else you might end up at some pile of dirt that the locals claim is the greatest mountain in China. Yangzhou turned out to have a pretty nice garden, which are great places to observe Chinese people being Chinese. Visiting Edison’s high school was really interesting and we even met a cute girl that he was pretending he didn’t have a crush on. Chinese people might be immodest about practicing English, but they’re quite shy about love, relationships, etc. His family was, of course, outrageously kind and generous, even putting us up in a hotel because they didn’t think we would be comfortable in their beds.

The next leg of our journey didn’t go quite as well. To make a long story short, we fell victims to the problems I opined about in this post. I have learned some more about the train ticketing system, which is getting better, but we were out in Guilin and Sichuan provinces in south central China, and those system haven’t been upgraded. The big problem was when we were delayed for seven hours due to a mudslide, making a six-hour trip thirteen. Dave was able to sleep during the delay. Laura and I couldn’t manage it, but were giddy with sleep deprivation, and amused ourselves. This enabled (or forced: depending on your perspective) us to check into an hourly hotel at four in the morning for three hours. The hotel owner asked if we wanted separate rooms, we said no. I can only imagine what he was thinking about the young, lascivious foreigners. Then again, he does run an hourly hotel-which are the hotbed (pun intended) of “illicit” activities in an otherwise conservative and private society.

Eventually, we made it to Chongqing and found Jimmy. Jimmy was the travel agent Dave selected based on his English slogan: “Jimmy makes it happen”. Well, despite all our skepticism, Jimmy did make it happen. He was a great guy, with good English and maybe the most honest travel agent/tour organizer in China. So, after taking in some of Chongqing (hot, dirty, and crowded) we loaded the boat. The cheapest beds were six to a room, and that’s where we were. The room was pretty nice for the price, had air conditioning, and the beds were softer than the average Chinese bed. The shower was small and not exactly clean, but Laura was a trooper and didn’t complain about it too much. We didn’t luck out so much on the roommate card. There was a mom and her son, who we think may have been mentally impaired, and did have some back deformations. This was obviously not a problem, but his overbearing mother who was doing everything to make the room perfect for him seemed pretty non-conciliatory, so we treaded lightly around the room. She didn’t seem eye to eye with Dave’s view on keeping the windows closed when the air conditioning was on. Now, Dave is an expert, he won a Goldwater Scholarship for physics, so I tend to trust him on heat transfer and gas properties questions. But, we took the high road and just sweat it out for three nights. A dad and his young son took the other bed. The dad was adamant about smoking in the room (while covering up the “not” on the “do not smoke in the room” sign, and I lost my temper, but only yelled at him in English. On the other hand, the son was fun to practice Chinese with, as he hasn’t developed an unintelligent accent yet.

Apparently, while on the Yangzi River Cruise, vacation has been redefined as getting up at 5:30 to make the 6:00 a.m. stop to visit some village. This wasn’t really a choice, as the music and announcements were load and I didn’t have earplugs. We only did the tourist stop once, and went on some super cheesy motor dragon boat ride through some gorges. The scenery was beautiful, but I’d argue not worth getting up at 5:30. In case PETA needs a new project, the two monkeys tied to a raft we passed would certainly qualify.

In today’s China, the Yangzi is referred to as the Chang Jiang (Yangzi is another name used in one area, but became standard in English). Jiang means river, and my dictionary says chang means “length, long, always, forever, constantly”. Well, the name’s right, the river is long, and also pretty wide, calm, brown, silty, and has a fair amount of trash. Not a whole lot, but too much; there are actually garbage fishers trolling the waters in some of the more populated areas. Of the three gorges, the first and second were daunting and austere. Gorge number three didn’t impress me as much, but maybe that’s just because I had been through two already. The cruise had a calm, slow feel, perhaps because of the river, or the fact we were stopped almost all day each day visiting tourist villages. Laura may have missed out on them, but Dave and I have become a little desensitized to them.

We spent most of our time on the cruise doing what you should do on vacation, chilling. I bargained for beer at the stops, and Dave got a big bag of sunflower seeds, and with our VIP passes to the upper deck (which wasn’t exactly what you think of when you hear VIP) we were set. We hung out a lot with Huang Can, a 16-year-old girl from a town in Sichuan (where the cruise started). She is on the list of the most courageous people in China. Her English was at conversational level, and with Dave’s Chinese and cell phone dictionaries, we were able to have some great conversations. Not only courageous, but also precocious, hanging out with her was a blast. She was traveling with her mom and grandmother on what was her first trip outside her province (albeit Sichuan is pretty big). She actually ended up taking the bus with us to the next big city and gave me and Dave Chinese practice time, and gave Laura a chance to ask all the questions that being in a foreign country stirs up. We also met some British travelers, and as they were the only other foreigners on the boat (except a creepy southern European looking guy) we naturally gravitated towards them and shared stories over some meals.

On the last day we visited the Three Gorges Dam. Dave and I were both really excited about this, but Laura isn’t nearly as into potentially catastrophic infrastructure and social engineering projects. It’s big, and the locks were pretty impressive. There was no funny “dam tour guide” ala Vegas Vacation and the visitor’s information center should’ve been labeled gift shop. I was disappointed that I couldn’t learn more about it (read: Ken needs to learn how to read Chinese) but it is the world’s largest hydroelectric plant, and they are in the process of adding four more turbines to the 28 current. The overview pamphlet did recognize the “achievement of relocating 1.3 million people. I’ll let you make the judgment on classifying it as an achievement. There were markers on the banks throughout the cruise marking 175 meters. This is the level the river will reach when the dam and reservoir are filled to capacity, which is supposed to be this year. It was easy to see even without the markers, as construction stops well above the bank, and in some places you can see where whole towns used to be. The heightened level is supposed to reach 500 kilometers (310 miles) upstream. Oddly enough, there was Mao Zedong merchandise for sale everywhere around the dam and at all the lookouts. The plans for this damn have been around for a long time, but I am pretty sure it was the development and industrialization that come from not running an autarky that allowed for the damn to be built. On the other hand, sell what sells: I can’t argue with that.

The People's #1 Hospital

At the end of Clay's visit, he got an experience that he certainly did not bargain for. Clay, Dave, and I went over to Steve's house for some Monopoly and beer on Clay's last night. I hadn't been feeling too great that day, but felt good enough, I figured some of the food I had during our trip wasn't sitting too well with me and it would pass. Well, it turned out I was wrong. It ended up being food poisoning, which led to dehydration and low electrolytes, which somehow caused all the muscles in my legs to convulse/tingle/hurt/lock-up. Needless to say, I got freaked out, called Clay, Dave, and then Xingxing, who called the ambulance.

All in all, I made it through my stay in the hospital better than I entered. I'll spare the not so glorious details that no one wants to read, and instead give some observations I have about my stay at what is said to be the best hospital in Changzhou. First, having a sickness with flu like symptoms when China is aggressively trying to prevent H1N1 from entering China is not a good idea. On the ambulance ride and during the first two hours I was there they did nothing to treat or even ask me about my symptoms. All that occurred was a few different rounds of interrogations about where I had traveled, who I had been in contact with, and other questions to determine whether it was the swine flu. The first blood test they did was for the swine flu.

Almost every one of the nurses I had was very kind, attentive, and excited to be taking care of the foreigner. The emergency room was pretty clean and sanitary, and had plenty of nurses. The room I spent most of my time in, though, could've of used a few sanitary upgrades, and most of all, could've used some more nurses...it's not like China's low on labor supply or anything. The bathrooms lacked, as most do in China, any sort of sanitary devices. Now, normally I don't really mind this, but at a hospital, a little cleanliness could go a long way. The thing that upset me the most, and trust me I got pretty upset, was the smoking. In China, you can pretty much smoke anywhere you want to, and the 2/3 of males who do smoke tend to do so. But, I figured (wrongly) that the hospital was somewhere smoking wouldn't be tolerated. Of course, there are no smoking signs up everywhere. But, no one seemed to really enforce this or worry about it. Well, Teddy (my advisor) and I became the no-smoking enforcers during my short stay. My other main complaint was that the Chinese attitude to healing seems to be to "wait it out". I don't deny that time and rest help with recovery, but when I had a high fever, I wanted to combine hydration and fever medicine with time. The nurses didn't agree. I won out after waiting for 12 hours didn't do anything but raise my fever.

I mentioned Teddy, and I will mention him again, because he took a day out of his life to sit by my side at the hospital. He went above and beyond his job duty of managing the foreign teachers and spent a sleepless night with me at the hospital as well as served as translator and cultural difference explainer to me and the Chinese nurses and doctors. He was great. Likewise, Clay, Dave, and Xingxing were absolutely awesome for staying with me the first night, and Xingxing did a spectacular job translating some pretty specific medical terms. After my experience, I'd say that a stay in a Chinese hospital might not be worth the 'experience' or the stories you get to tell later.

Baoying & Dafeng (Clay's visit)

After hitting up Qufu, Clay and I headed down to Baoying, a district belonging to the greater Yangzhou district. Baoying is in central Jiangsu province, on the Grand Canal (still in use, not as grand these days) North of the Yangzi River. This is the poorer, less developed, much more rural part of Jiangsu province. We went to Baoying to visit Jefferson (real name Wu Meng) one of David's students, but a guy I got to know because of his stellar attendance at English corner and great enthusiasm for learning English. I took Clay to visit him for many reasons. Jefferson lives in the country, as do half of the people in China, so it's good to see that. Chinese people (or all that I've met) are some of the most hospitable and caring people I have ever visited. Very cold, reserved, and sometimes off-putting in public, once you get inside their circle, the Chinese are wonderful, if not occasionally quirky, hosts.

Trying to get to Baoying reminded me again of how much Chinese I have to learn. We had some McDonald's with Kerrin and Ashley in Xuzhou, because we had to switch from train to bus there anyways. I had a blast sharing stories with them, as they were headed home in a few days. I'm not sure if Clay got tired of the crazy Chinese stories or not, but sadly, that's about all we wanted to talk about. We got to the right bus station; but the ticket buying did not go smoothly at all. After three non-sensical exchanges (for the teller and me both) I headed over to the customer service window, trying not to hold up the line. There, it seemed like I was able to buy the tickets, but there was some complication in buying them. There was a key word, lukou, that seemed to very important to the woman helping us. Turns out it means highway exit, which I should have figured out (lu means street, kou means opening), but eventually someone in line who spoke English helped us out. It turns out that the big thing was that the bus didn't go into Baoying, but just dropped us off on the side of the road near the exit...yet another Chinese traveling adventure.

Our time in Baoying, after walking off the highway and meeting Jefferson and his dad by the toll booth, was great. Jefferson has worked very hard at improving his English, and he was a great host. He showed us around the area near his house, as well as walked us into the small town near his village, which was very interesting. We checked out the meat/seafood market, which slightly trails American grocery stores in cleanliness and selection. When walking around the small town, we noticed a group gathered in front of a store. It was a big traveling promotion for selling refrigerators (*note-the Chinese stimulus package includes rebates for appliance purchases by rural residents). What makes this mentionable is that just as we approached, we noticed something very out of place in rural Jiangsu province (or China in general): a Thai ladyboy came out to sing a song or two. Now, transexual Asians have never really convinced me to buy home appliances, but apparently it's worth trying in China.

Next on my trip with Clay was Dafeng, the hometown of Zhao Min, one of three senior English majors with whom I have made very good friends. Zhao Min is a lot of fun, mostly because she's a "traditional" Chinese girl (her words, not mine) so it's pretty easy to shock and embarrass her with certain comments. Jefferson's family showed us off with a quick but plentiful meal that almost made us late for our bus. Zhao Min met us right at the bus station, and her sister drove us to their house in her new Honda Civic. It was decked out in major Hello Kitty style on the inside. Zhao Min's sister's financial success is a story of how many of the free market reforms have allowed all sorts of people to get rich in China. Her sister dropped out of school after junior high, but put in long hours, worked diligently, and now is very successful selling large manufacturing equipment to factories and farmers. Visiting Zhao Min's house was very nice, we stayed in her parents room (which is air conditioned) just like we did at Jefferson's. We had a good time walking around the village and seeing some of the peanut and soybean fields which her mother and father still farm. Her parents also run a small hardware store...which was quite a juxtaposition to the big box mammoths back home like Home Depot and Lowe's. We had delicious frog legs (cajun style...but I bet they call it something else in Chinese) as well as astoundingly good crawfish. Clay said he was reminded of some crawfish boils he's attended down in Houston. Like I mentioned at the top, I can't say enough for the wonderful hospitality we received from my students and their families during Clay's visit.

Qufu (Clay's visit)

As a mid way stop between Beijing and Jiangsu province (where I live) Clay and I went to Qufu, which is best known as the home of Confucius, the ever important ancient scholar. Because he lived 2500 years ago, there’s a fair amount of confusion (or distortion) about the specifics of Confucius’ life (even as to exactly if ‘he’ existed). Regardless, his descendents did a fantastic job of promoting his legacy and spreading his philosophical/religious teachings across China and other parts of Asia. He is revered throughout the country, and thus Qufu, where he (supposedly) lived, taught, and is buried, has been restored and is filled with museums and shops. From what I’ve read or heard, I pretty much disagree with all of Confucius’ teachings, but that’s beside the point.
At the center of Qufu is a walled in old city, which contains the Confucius palace, ancient home, and all the shops, etc. It has been rebuilt as a traditional Chinese village, and offers a very nice respite from the wide streets and white tile buildings that are the norm in the rest of the country. We had a really nice time walking around, mostly people watching, and enjoying some of the snacks from the various street vendors. The Confucius Temple was pretty interesting, and had a fair amount of English signs. It was pretty similar to other temples I have visited, but I think Clay really enjoyed it. I had to remember that I have been here for a year, and seen a few ancient Chinese temples, so they don’t seem as neat to me. After checking the temple out, we bought some beers, some tasty food from a street vendor, and sat on one of the park benches and watched the town shut down. I may get tired of temples, but I’ll never get tired of people watching the Chinese.

Clay got to see just how sketchy of hotels I am willing to stay in while we were in Qufu. It was in the guidebook, and as we sauntered through the hallway after climbing some unmarked stairs, a guy came out of a room, and after I asked, walked us into a souvenir shop out on the street. I chatted with the young girl (presumably his daughter) who was super shy and apparently couldn’t speak in English (despite 6 years of English classes). The room was outrageously dusty, the air conditioning didn’t seem to work, our view consisted of a bundle of wires and scrap metal on a roof, but the naked woman image on the tile in the bathroom made up for it all.
We experienced the best thing Qufu has to offer early the next day. We headed to the Confucius Forest, which is located at the edge of town. It was absolutely awesome. The forest is filled with the tombs of almost all of Confucius’ ancestors, as well as his supposed burial area. There are pretty cool, iconic statues at various places near the trail. It seemed as if you couldn’t look in any direction without seeing a large gravestone. For most of our walk, we were the only people around; it was really nice to get out of the bustle, hear the birds chirp, enjoy nature, and the smallness/historical perspective that seeing graves from forty generations of a family gave me.

The funniest thing we saw in Qufu occurred as we walked on some of the outer streets at night, sipping beer and checking out the city. We heard a loudspeaker blasting from some store on a corner. I listened as well as I could and it seemed like there was some sort of contest or games going on. We crossed the street for a better look. Indeed, it was a children’s birthday party inside a restaurant. This restaurant was China’s Best Chicken, or CBC, an almost perfect copy of the widely popular KFC. If the Chinese are good at one thing (and they’re actually good at many) it’s copying American/Western businesses. It’s done in all industries, to many different levels of proficiencies. You’ve heard of fake iPhones or fake purses, but Qufu is boasting it’s very own fake fast food restaurant chain.

A Visit from Clay

In late June, Clay Padgett, a good friend from college, and my Kappa Sigma pledge dad came to visit me and visit China (I think mainly China). Clay has an interesting job, he’s an engineer for BP working on the North Slope of Alaska. Because living on the North Slope isn’t really sane of healthy, he works two weeks on with long hours and then has two weeks off. So with me as a free (if not qualified) travel guide, we headed around China. Below are a few of the more interesting occurrences from our travels.

On Clay’s second day here, we were checking out the People’s Park in central Shanghai. As we turned the corner into what we assumed would be another pleasant path, we encountered hordes of people, almost all of them old. Concurrently, we noticed pieces of paper everywhere, on the ground, taped to poles, pinned to trees, or attached to wires strung between the trees. I couldn’t quite make out much of what was written on the pieces of paper, but they seemed to be descriptions of people. Some of them even had pictures attached. My first impression was that they were missing persons forms, and these were parents trying to find missing children. This was because most of the descriptions were for people in their twenties or thirties. Luckily, a group of three young Chinese people asked me if I knew what was going on. I told them what I thought, but they informed me that no, these weren’t missing children, this was a live personal ad fair…or rather, more accurately, arranged marriage fair. I say this because the parents were advertising their children, and from what I later gathered, the children weren’t all aware of this. The three young Chinese weren’t there to find mates, but rather were visiting it as tourists, as they weren’t from Shanghai, but had Shanghai friends that had recommended they check out the spectacle.

And a spectacle it was. There were probably between 750 and 1,000 papers advertising potential wives or husbands. This may seem crazy, but understanding that Chinese people place large value on the family, and that with the one child policy being thirty years old, there are lots of Chinese people in their fifties and sixties waiting on the one daughter or son to produce the cherished grandchild. So, I had some fun with it, and talked to two different fathers about their daughters. After I walked up, one father busted a folder out of his bag and started showing me more pictures. Unfortunately, when he found out I was 22 he quickly rebuked my offer, as I was far too young (and they say love knows no age). As I talked with him, an entrepreneurial Cupid imitator came up and showed me a few different pictures on her cell phone. She was quite the businesswoman, with folders full of the advertising sheets, and digital photos to match on the cell phone. She offered me her sister, but I am hoping that she was using the term in the Chinese way (loosely, for affection) and wasn’t really going to give her sister’s hand to some foreign dude who speaks pre-school level Chinese.

More on the romantic and awkward front occurred in Beijing. On three different occasions, Clay and I were approached by pairs of young Chinese girls. It happened when we were heading to or out of popular tourist sites. They kind of sauntered up and asked where we were from or if we spoke English. Two of the three pairs said they wanted to practice English and talk with foreigners. This is absolutely normal and common. They seemed pretty believable when telling me where they were from or what they did. The desire to speak English is certainly normal, but coming up to foreigners, especially in a place like Beijing-where foreigners aren’t such a novelty, isn’t. Each time, they would suggest that we go join them for a cup of tea or bear or something similar. I have read somewhere to be careful for people in China who will invite foreigners to tea, and then the foreigners get stuck with a hefty bill (which is then kicked back to the inviters). So, Clay and I denied all the invitations, but did chat with them as far as we were walking. I’d like to think that they were being honest, but there’s definitely something inside of me that thinks they may be swindlers, or possibly even prostitutes (or hairdressers as they act as here).

My tour guide services almost failed big time when we were leaving Beijing. We bought the tickets at the main Beijing station upon our arrival. Before when the train leaves from another station, the ticket sellers have warned me of this. Not this time. I was a fool and never looked at the ticket. As we entered the station, I couldn’t find our train on the board, and Clay goes “It says Beijing South, does that mean anything?” I cursed to myself and said, “yep, it means we’re moving”. So we raced out of the station, into a taxi, and made our way across the city, and ran to our train with three minutes to spare. On an “I am an idiot” side note, I’d like to say I haven't done this again, but did it just three weeks later in Shanghai.

Last Day in Korea

The beginning of our last day in Korea was quite odorous. We decided to check out the biggest fish and seafood market in Seoul. The directions from the metro stop in the guidebook weren’t correct, so after getting some help from a street vendor, we were on our way. As we approached, the signs were all in Korean, but our noses led us there. And quite the fish market it was. There were huge octopi, all kinds of snails, a plethora of squid, giant crabs, and endless stalls of myriad fish. We then took the metro back to the world’s best airport; just having a metro there is a great sign for me. We enjoyed the Samsung lounge at the airport, which had laptops and PCs connected to the Internet and phone chargers (for Samsung phones), all free of charge. The sales ladies standing by the water cooler did not even once try to sell us anything. So we caught up on some emails and news. As we were making our way to the gate, I noticed a sign that said “Korean Traditional Culture-Free Event”. I of course wanted to check it out. We had plenty of time (Danthemanstan-not me-is very punctual), so we both made a traditional Korean desk out of balsa wood. They also had Korean fans, but they took longer (and weren’t as cool). I had a nice chat with the cute worker-who was wearing a traditional Korean dress. I will say that my craft skills are better than Danthemanstan’s, but he didn’t forget his craft on the plane like I did, so he wins in the end.

Our flight was uneventful and I had a nice chat with a Chinese girl who was coming back from a year studying Korean in a city near Seoul. But, after we landed, things got fun. We had had to fill out health questionnaires just like we had arriving in Korea. But, China takes the swine flu a little more seriously than other countries (as they should, as China has every ingredient for a fast spreading epidemic). On came a team of medical officials, in full body white suits, with facemasks and hairnets. They even had a metal briefcase with the thermometers on the inside. So, we all had our temperatures taken with a thermometer gun on the forehead. Then, those who didn’t pass the test had their temperatures taken with a normal thermometer. They were then escorted off the plane. What made this so fun was that Danthemanstan and I were joking the whole time about how funny it would be to be quarantined. Alas, neither of us had a fever, and we returned to Changzhou safe and sound.

Back in Seoul-DMZ

I was up early to go on the DMZ tour on the penultimate day of our trip. I wasn’t too happy, and not because of the early rise, but because the tour I was on wasn’t the one I wanted to be on. More or less, Internet confirmations meant nothing, and me not being at a computer at all times (to make an email confirmation because apparently the Internet one wasn’t valid) led me to not be on a tour that went through the Panmunjom joint security area, which is the coolest part of the DMZ. Danthemanstan was able to get his tour confirmed, so he was fortunate to be able to check it out. Nonetheless, it was a pretty cool experience. But, the Panmunjom area allows one to take lots of good pictures, whereas some of the places I went don't allow it.

Our first stop was the third tunnel (of the four discovered tunnels North Korea has dug under the DMZ). The highway there was heavily fortified, with armed stations every half kilometer or so. South Korea has two year compulsory service for males, so they’ve got plenty of soldiers to fill the outposts. The tour of the tunnel was okay, I kind of leeched onto the guided tour in front of me to learn more. The most interesting thing is that the entire tunnel was, and portions still are, covered in a black paint. As the North Koreans dug the tunnel, and as they retreated, they covered the walls with a black, coal paste, to disguise it as coal exploration. Of course, the South Koreans were smart enough to know there is no coal there, and that the tunnel was designed as a secret military passageway and not a coal mine. In the tunnel I was 170m away from North Korea, which is about as close as I really ever want to get.

Our next stop was Korean Army Base #1, which is located right outside the DMZ, but inside a five-mile military protection area. Telescopes provided views of Panmunjeon, the demarcation line/fence, and the Kaesong industrial park. Kaesong is a place where South Korean companies use North Korean workers to manufacture products. They do this because the North Koreans will work for considerably lower wages than the South Koreans, and many South Koreans see it as a way to reach out to North Korea (many value the idea of ‘one Korea’) because there’s not much political reaching out to be done. I was surprised at how big it was, having the size of a pretty sizable town.

The next stop was Dorasan railway station. It could be better described as a tourist attraction that could be a train station, (when Kim Jong-Il-or his son-decide so). It is built right to the border and connects with all the major lines coming out of Seoul and the rest of South Korea. The may on the inside shows how Korea, via China and then the Trans-Siberian line, could be connected with Paris or Rome, if only that pesky neighbor to the North would open up. There is even a big sign for departures direct to Pyongyang. In reality it’s only used once or twice a day for workers at the Kaesong complex. After this our tour took an annoying turn, and we headed to both a Korean amethyst and Korean ginseng stores. As any good tourist knows, you’re not getting your money worth on a tour if you don’t stop for handicrafts! But I had a good enough time making sarcastic remarks with a couple from San Francisco and a South African flight attendant (making the most of her stopover).

Danthemanstan and I met back up and had a great dinner of grilled pork with kimchi and other typical Korean side dishes. We then headed to the N’Seoul tower, a tower built on one of the taller hills in the city offering great views. Seoul is a huge, modernized city, and it looked like it from the top of the tower. Evidently, it is the ideal location for a romantic getaway in Seoul, as most of the other people in line and on the cable car were couples, some with flowers, cake, or stuffed animals. Don’t worry; I didn’t buy a Teddy bear or flowers for Danthemanstan. Back at the hostel, we caught some TV before bed, which provided for an intriguing look at one aspect of South Korean culture. The TV stations consist of a good share of American crime/drama shows, a large sampling of educational channels-from basic reading to calculus proofs, a couple channels of go (the Asian board game), two channels of Starcraft, the typical Korean news, drama, and soap opera channels, and a few channels with really bad Western movies-“Churchill: The Hollywood Years” for example.