Food, only to say I did

This is a special washer/dryer for sneakers/shoes! I was fascinated by this option, even though I only have one pair I am wearing for now. It's hard to be a non-dressy person in a culture that requires women to be made up and presentable in a way that I just cannot. Dress shoes alone throw my back out, so who knows what will happen when I actually need to be out of sneakers. This was at a laundromat that I found five minutes away from my current hotel in Seoul. I went there early Saturday morning, after traveling the previous day, and was so happy to finally be able to wash (and dry! This is big, as most people hang dry here) clothes for the first time in a month (I had been hand washing the entire time).

Many friends asked me to send pictures of food in Korea. I generally don't like being asked to send pictures of anything because I'd rather be in a place, not worrying about documenting it for everyone who is not there at the time. Some people I love most in the world, though, are visual folks and will never, ever come to Korea. So this is a detour post of my reluctant food pics (I don't like to be seen taking pictures of food, or really taking pictures of anything beyond research) to show my recovery. I had thrown up so much and so violently on Mar 4 that I fasted for 40 hours. I did worry about the virus, but because I was so grossed out by the smell of the man next to me (who had been drinking a lot the prior night, apparently) on the 4-hour bus ride back to Seoul, I figured I still had my sense of smell. The first thing I attempted to eat was juk, a rice porridge that all Korean moms make for their sick kids. I went to a juk chain for this, flavored with a little soy sauce. The pink liquid is from dongchimi, or radish pickled with water.

Because I didn't want to go back to the same place for my dinner, I looked for another chain location but then stumbled upon a local market up the street, so I had juk there instead. This is pumpkin juk, with pickled cabbage on the side. It was too sweet for me but I figured the extra nutrients would be useful. All I wanted was more of the salty water during both of these meals, so I got some Gatorade after dinner because maybe it was an electrolyte deficiency.

Though I probably could have eaten that first day, I wanted to be careful because the vomiting had been so extremely unfun and exhausting. On the way to the juk place, I had noticed a haejangguk place that looked very dirty but inexpensive. That's hangover soup, and it sounded like a good idea. So on Sunday morning (Mar 7), I stepped inside and found myself to be the only woman besides the one cooking. Also, everyone had already started drinking well before I arrived, which was about 7:50am. Those places open early, and this one had been open since 6am. It was packed. Soup is my jam so this was a welcome way to start eating food again.

This is a chain coffee place that I went to for the wifi. One of the great joys of being in a country that is still relatively open during pandemic means I can go to cafés with my computer and be extremely productive. This was a late lunch or something that day, and while I doubt eggs are the best thing to eat after being this type of sick, I thought the toast would be useful. Mostly I like the design of the food prep. Dinner that night was at my family's house, so welcome!

The next day, I had been curious about how dead exactly some of the big shopping neighborhoods had become, so I went to Myeongdong. It was really dead with tons of vacant shops for rent, but then again, it was also morning. I had wanted to go to a department store for food court food but it was closed, so I went to the top of a building that advertised lots of non-Korean food. This is what passes for Indian food but it is not even close. The rice was the most hilarious, because it's regular sticky Korean rice! Thankfully I had arrived prior to noon because as soon as lunchtime rolled around, the place filled up so quickly that the one server turned the sign from "open" to "closed" (people still came in). Koreans do not play with meal times, so you eat right at meal times, no waiting or putting off or eating late meals.

My cousin was on her one day off a week that day, so she called me in the afternoon and I invited myself over. We ran some errands together and on the way home, she pulled over to this chicken place and yelled out the window to see if we could get the one fully roasted chicken to go (it was on the spit where the 5 new ones are at the very top). They are stuffed with chapssal (a very sticky rice, sometimes called sweet rice even though it's not sweet) and served after slicing the bird in half and searing the rice.

It was delicious. Partly because it was, and more likely because because I was with my beloved cousin, who basically taught me to speak Korean again when I was 20 years old one summer during college when I lived with her and her family. This one particular branch of my family is like my parents/siblings away from home, and we start right up as if no time has passed. I never would have been able to do what I've done in Korea without them.

I didn't take pictures of my meals the next day (noodle soup and teriyaki chicken) because I was with friends who are normal Koreans (not exactly, as both have spent time abroad and understand what it means to be a strong woman who makes her own career—which both have done admirably). The following day, I went to a market that is known for certain food but then ate other stuff, which is probably dumb but I was hungry. This bibimbap and mandu were extremely lackluster. Again, this is because for me, eating alone is not my preference. Luckily, I was able to join my family for dinner that night; home cooked meals are all I want these days, because I can't cook for myself in the hotel.

The next day, I didn't get out until the afternoon because of a lot of checking out and checking in and packing and repacking and unpacking (at the same hotel, because I originally thought by now that I'd be further south doing research but I can't go until next week due to various logistics). I had noticed the corn at a street vendor across from the hotel but this time, while buying waterproof aprons at Namdaemun market, I walked past another vendor. I kept going but when I saw two little children eating corn in the street, I turned around and got some for myself. I didn't appreciate this very chewy corn as much when I was a child visiting Korea but I really wanted some. This corn is nothing like the stuff back home, extremely chewy, so I had a headache afterwards because my jaws are already a mess but had to do a lot of work. I don't regret it!

I finally got to the department store for food but always make the mistake (almost intentionally...) of not ordering what the place is famous for. I wasn't in the mood for naengmyun (cold noodles) so I had gukbap ("soup" + "rice") instead. By the time I got home, I was exhausted, and I've generally felt like I get more tired by doing less than usual. I would never ever normally spend so much time in Seoul with no appointments, but I've done it intentionally to try and recover before I start traveling again on Monday. Hopefully then I can finally stay in one place and unpack completely out of my suitcases, instead of constantly weighing in my head and hands what to take or not take. And once I can go from dormitory to office on campus, I can start to write in earnest.