One thing I see that I put into the notes I jotted down for myself in January about this trip to Namhansan and then forgot to include in the narrative was that on the way back down the youth soccer team was using the path for training. Coaches were positioned on strategic outcroppings so that whenever a boy faltered someone would see him and yell at him, but they didn't have to actually move at all. I did kind of want a picture but decided to adhere to the "people are not scenery" directive.
The next day was the last day. I guess it was the 13th. I didn't do much. I got up in the morning and went to the shopping mall that I had visited briefly with my advisor. I had formed the opinion while in Pohang that the clothes being worn by fifty-ish Korean women reflected an aesthetic which was pretty close to where my older sister's fashion sense was moving the last time I checked in. My younger sister's fashion sense is something I have less of a read on. So, anyway, I wanted to at least have a go at picking up some fabulous fashion you won't get in the states. But I was going to have to be a bit careful since neither sister was there to try anything on. Also I had at that point not bought a single Korean souvenir, or gift for anybody, so I wanted to look into that a little bit. And I thought that if I saw a nice teapot I would pick it up for my advisor and his wife.
The first mall was pretty much a bust. Mostly the aesthetic presented there was that of the teenie boppers in the POSTECH cafeteria (which I saw skewered somewhere as "Punky Brewster + Kelly Bundy"). But there were several items which I wondered whether one of my sisters would have liked to try on. But nothing that it seemed like it didn't matter that they couldn't.
Next stop was Itaewon, which is, I guess the most "international" part of Seoul. In particular, clothing stores there fairly reliably have sizes appropriate for westerners (according to tour2korea). As far as fashion, Itaewon was also a bust. Custom suits, custom leather jackets, and US brand shops. But they did have a couple of good stores for souvenirs, with good teapots. Incidentally the first of these that I visited was run by a South Asian. And speaking of South Asians, there were pictures of Aishwarya Rai here and there. To be precise, there was one particular image one saw replicated here and there which incorporated a photo of Aish. I have a photo of it somewhere. Did I already post that? I think I did.
So, in Itaewon, I got some souvenirs and a teapot, but no clothes. But by this time I was prepared to give up on clothes. I decided that I was ready to eat, and went to a nearby restaurant for Kalbi. It was brought to me sizzling on a fajita plate, but not cooked in front of me, which disappointed me a bit. For leaves I got only lettuce but some of the side dishes were resting on a bed of whatever the better, spicier leaf is, so I picked it out and ate that up first. It was very good. At this point I would say it was around 2pm. I decided that next I would check back at the craft village to see whether they had reenactors there by day. They did not. They had recently finished shooting a TV show there, though, and were breaking down the lighting setup. The next stop, I had decided, was a museum, and I decided the one next to Gyeongbokgung was a reasonable choice, although the guide had made it sound like it wasn't the best one. I was short of time and since I'd passed it on the way to Gyeongbokgung the other day I knew I wouldn't have trouble finding it so off I went. I guess the name of this place is the Palace Museum. It's pretty small but reasonably nice. I have no difficulty believing that there is another museum elsewhere in Seoul with a larger collection of Choseon artifacts. Mostly I remember jade books, and ceremonial robes, with their giant sleeves, and a display of the queens ceremonial hairpins and what the ceremonial hair arrangement would be-- it's really unbelievably huge.
By the time I was done there it was maybe 5ish. I decided to have another go at the river park. I had looked up a good place and how to get there. It was on a little island where most of the production companies are headquartered and sometimes they shoot soap operas there. I got there at sundown, though. It was a good way to say goodbye. There were steps down to about three feet above the water level, then kind of a sidewalk, and you could sit on the curb and dangle your feet over the river, which is what I did. The sky was blue-grey and the river was approximately the same, and they stayed approximately the same as the light drained out of them, getting darker together. Across the river was a flashing neon "Hite" sign that became more obtrusive as the darkening progressed.
Perhaps I ought to somehow rearrange the narrative or omit stuff to put that last for aesthetic reasons, but of course the way it happened there were a few more things between my ceremonial goodbye to Seoul and Korea and my actual departure. For one thing, I impulse-bought some clothes for my sisters in a little shop between KIAS and the subway stop. I had spotted this cowl-thingy in the window a few days before and thought that it looked reasonably one-size-fits-all. It basically consists of a gigantic turtleneck without the rest of the sweater. Well, part of the rest of the sweater is there, but not all of it. I don't think it covers the whole chest, and I did not realize there were sleeves until someone pointed it out to me. And the turtleneck part is big enough it can be something like a hood. When I came back the last day, it had been joined by a little jacket thing. This looked to me like it was supposed to be worn over the shoulders. That is, the sleeves looked ceremonial or vestigial to me. But how it is worn is the business of its new owner, my older sister. (The younger one took the sweater part).
Also, at some point I decided that while I did not really have time to keep my promise to SH that I would try makkoli, I could manage it. That is, it would mean I got less sleep than I ought, not that I missed my flight. So I headed out the back gate of KIAS, and after asking at about 4 places, found one that had makkoli. This dipped out of a big vat in the back, by the kitchen, giving the strong impression that the guy makes it himself. I couldn't really tell the difference from dongdongju, but anyway I kept the promise.
I guess that's it. From here on out, just pictures.
