Biking Jungrangcheon

Sanggye Station Bicycle Rental Free Repair Center

Running today at soccer was only a bit uncomfortable as yesterday Nate and I set out on what, unintentionally, turned out to be about a 40km bike ride.

Sleeping in Saturday morning (there's a trend starting to develop here, get it yet?) we again realized that it was a bit late to head out on some distant excursion. We also noted that while the first day of spring was truly a beautiful one, we might be better off waiting until things start to green up a little before visiting Seoul's numerous palaces. Though this later excuse has a few holes in it as we previously have waited for the leaves to turn and the snow to fall before going to visit these historical landmarks. However, both events have come and gone yet we have still not visited. . .I swear though, spring time is it!

Anyways, we decided to head out for a bike ride along the Han River as Nate mentioned reading about it in the LP Seoul City Guide. The only bummer was that we had a 49 minute subway ride ahead of us just to get to Yeoinaru Station to pick up some bikes. Waiting for the bus to Sanggye Station however I realized that I had seen a building with something about bike rentals on it before. Hmmm, maybe worth looking in to.

Turns out the "Sanggye Station Bicycle Rent Free Repair Center" (as the building reads) was in fact right where I imagined it to be underneath Sanggye Station. We peeked our heads inside and were greeted by an enthusiastic bike shop attendant who did not seem to care what language we spoke but was determined to bark instructions at us in Korean. With not too much hassle we managed to cough up or Alien Resident Cards to her in exchange for two bikes and locks. We tried to fork over some cash but it was refused, so, we assumed that it must be an hourly rate type thing and we'd pay when we returned. With a bit more sign language we deciphered that the shop closed at 6:30pm so we should be back by that time.

Toy Airplane Day on the Jungrang

At about 2:00pm we set out on what we thought would be a nice relaxing cruise. While we had originally intended to ride around the Han in Seoul proper, Nate suggested riding north instead to see where we could get. Good idea. With not too much of a problem we found our way to the 'canal' along which the Dongbu Expressway runs. After a little bit of research I believe this 'canal' is actually a 'stream' known as Jungrangcheon. Though I never knew its name previously, I have run along the nice walking path that lines the stream a couple times in the past.

Under the Bridge

Setting out heading north I soon noticed a 'mile marker,' 18,700km. Well, about an hour or so later we made it to 0km. Not that we planned to but Nate was continually convinced that they end 'has to be soon.' Even after we hit the 0 kilometer mark the path kept going although the soft running/bike trail gave way to a fresh poured concrete path that clearly was added recently as an after though to Seoul's continued expansion. From our ride it's pretty evident how we live in the world's second largest metropolitan area.

A blockade!?

Even though the path extension eventually came to an end, construction crews were feverishly at work building up the stream's banks and extending the path, obviously for expectant, or already occurred, outward expansion!

The End of the Line. . .

We headed up the embankment and found ourselves in a 'small' town that, again, after a bit of research, seems to be Uijeongbu, located in Gyeonggi Province. From our ride we noticed at least two different military bases and spotted a couple soldiers, Korean and American, as well. Turns out Uijeongbu is a hot-spot for bases as it literally stands between North Korea and the South Korean capital.

Riverside Living

Ghost Rider Nate

After a rest stop at a local Buy the Way, we decided to tool around this new town for a while. While everything was still very 'Korean,' we both agreed that the area felt much. . .well, different. I noted that perhaps part of the reason was because the streets here were a) not clogged with students and their tour (meaning academy) buses and b) less than six lanes wide. The later was something that I've lived with every day since being here but never really noticed. I reside on a six lane highway. Thankfully my window faces the back. . .Nate's doesn't, ask him about the motorcycles!

This way to Seoul. . .

Riding along the railroad tracks and past a long row of outlet stores we continued to see signs pointing us in the direction of a 'Stadium.' With no particular place to go we decided that seemed like a good objective. No one told us the stadium was at the top of a hill! We eventually made it to what really is a beautiful structure located in what seems to be the middle of no where. Riding up it was evident that there was something going on as I could hear the hum of people yelling at eachother and the stadium doors were cracked open, just ever so slightly.

Back on track

We locked up our bikes and headed on in to catch the final minutes of a pretty serious soccer game. Though obviously neither of us really know anything about the situation, I'd venture to guess it was part of a Korean professional league as it seemed super serious, the teams and coaches were dressed the part, there were spectators (though not many), and, most importantly, a VIP section where 'important' people were watching the match from ornate wooden chairs while wearing business suits. Not the typical scene at my Seoul Sunday Football Club matches!

Uijeongbu Stadium from the VIP Section

As the game ended by the time we made it into the stands I simply snapped a couple pictures and we took off to explore the area around the stadium which seemed to be a giant sports complex. Nate originally pinned it as an Olympic complex while I thought it might have been a venue for the World Cup games. In a brief search of Uijeongbu Stadium, I didn't turn up anything to support, or discredit, either theory. Though, our subsequent discovery helped to support Nate's idea of it being Olympic related.

Self Photography at it's Best. . .

Just as we were heading out I veered off to check out another low lying stadium like building where I had caught a glimpse of activity from afar. As I pulled up to the gate I couldn't quite figure out what was going on as the area where a field or track would be was nothing more than flat concrete yet there was obviously room for spectators. Some sort of temporary outdoor ice rink? Nah, never really stays cold enough here. . .hmmm. Just then, a motorcycle goes whipping beneath my followed by a man on a bike! Whoa! This is definitely worth checking out!

You ever met a team of Olympians?

We ride around the building looking for a way in and sure enough find an open gate. In the middle of this 'stadium' are a silver BMW, a utility van, and a half a dozen men dressed in biking gear sitting around on a blanket. Now, the later seems odd but seeing as how we passed dozens of people in similar biking gear on our ride, it really didn't seem that strange. Perhaps most captivating were the bike and motorcycle whipping around in circles at about 35mph (or more) on a track that had banked slopes that I'm pretty sure I couldn't even walk up! Now that looks like fun!

The guys just hanging out were eager to say hello and introduced themselves as the Korean National Team! They were extremely friendly and obviously excited to not only see foreigners but have foreigners be clearly in awe at their very specialized ability. We tooled around for a while watching the deadly game of chase going on while riding our busted little 'mountain bikes' in circles. I can only imagine how funny this scene was to the guys training for the Olympics on bikes that cost more than Nate and I have made here, combined. Not to mention that we're both somewhat of giants here and wearing blue jeans. . .a wholly unacceptable attire for sporting of any kind in Korea.

A Deadly Game of Chase!

We waited until the motorcycle gave up, though I imagined it might have been the biker who quit from breathing in exhaust fumes for an hour! Realizing what time it was we said our goodbyes then quickly shot down the hill to try and make our way back in to town to find the bike trail. With a bit of luck and some pigeon like navigation, we made it back to the 'downtown' area from where we were able to find the trail head. We did take another small detour to help a trio of young girls carry their bikes up a flight of stairs as they had followed us for some time and we all ended up coming to a dead end at a construction zone.

Time to head home. . .

Back on the path we shot home as quickly as possible along the 18,700km-plus trail! We only stopped once briefly to yell at a guy wearing a green shirt with a big 'S' on the back. Wouldn't you know he and his buddy who were kicking a soccer went to State! What an odd, odd coincidence, especially since we saw no more than a half a dozen foreigners the entire trip, and two were from East Lansing!

What's perhaps even funnier is that biking around MSU is in part what landed us in Korea in the first place. . .kinda. Having just graduated and finding ourselves 'stuck' at home for the summer (not really Mom, I loved being home, thanks for everything) Nate and I would take off on some sort of bike adventure almost every day. In part because neither one of us wanted to sit around home thinking about finding a job, in part because gas was at $4 a gallon (remember when that was the biggest economic worry) and in part because it's a lot more fun way to exercise than anything else. . .well, except for playing soccer, but I tried to do that at home once too and it didn't really work, apparently Arch still doesn't want me on the field. . .but that's another loooong story!

We did make it back in time but only barely as we got stuck in some heavy, heavy traffic in downtown Nowon! We pulled up off the stream outside of Nowon Station as I wanted to show Nate the 'downtown' area that I had discovered the other day on a run. From there we decided to follow the elevated subway line one stop down to Sanggye. Turns out this is where we made our biggest mistake. Following the line meant we had to pass by Nowon's 'Culture Street' which is the hub for nightlife in the 'Hub City of Northeast Seoul,' as Nowon refers to itself.

As only a mindless blind daredevil would brave the streets in Seoul, we were forced to stick to the sidewalks. Think trying to drive a Big Wheel through the sidewalks of lower Manhattan at lunch time on Friday. This was not easy. It took us almost a half an hour to travel the mile or so to Sanggye where we finally dropped off the bikes, just before closing time. The same attendant lady took the bikes, locks and keys from us in exchange for our ID's. Never once did she ask for any sort of payment. So, either we got the super foreigner discount, or the 'Free' in the middle of Sanggye Station Bicycle Rental Free Repair Center refers to both the rental and repair! Good deal!

Free Bike Rental Here!

We washed up in the first floor bathroom of the Sanggye Station shopping center (as all public buildings over six floors have to have open public bathrooms, or so I once read). Then, outside, to refuel we split a box of strawberries on sale for 2,000won. After plowing through the top layer it became evident why they were on sale. Oh well, we ate through about half of them and I boldly continued in to the 'is this really a strawberry' category before dumping out the final third of the 'there's no way this is or even once was a fruit.'

We spent the next few hours wandering Nowon and alternating fuel stops between street food (hmmmm giant hot dogs and chicken-on-a-stick) and restaurants (samgyeopsal and galbi). We were even lucky enough to catch a bit of a performance on Culture Street that was evidently part of the Nowon Art Festival. Finally, as it began to drizzle out, I decided that a movie and comfortable chair were in order for the evening. Thus, we headed over to the Lotte Department Store where Lotte Cinema is located on floor 10.

Nowon Art Festival on Culture Street

'Frogs' in Nowon

In typical fashion we arrived just as a round of movies were starting. So, we decided to buy tickets for later and just wander until then. We ended up catching the 10:55pm "Grand Torino" with Clint Eastwood. Whoa. Now that is a powerful movie. Neither of us knew what it was about though I had seem a brief preview before, in Korean, and Nate heard something, from his family, about it being in Michigan. Well, it certainly took place in Michigan, which was somewhat, I dunno, comforting?!

Neither of us knew what to expect which made it slightly more interesting and, well, a bit surprising. The first half of the movie is simply a comedy, yet, not one of jokes. Clint Eastwood's character is a bitter old Korean War vet whose neighborhood is being 'taken over' by Asian immigrants. Thus, the majority of the 'comedy' comes in the form of absurd racial slurs and stereotyping. While it was laugh out loud funny at times, this did grow awkward, as we were sitting in a theater of Koreans. No clue how the majority of jokes, or slurs, translated but it's pretty evident that the part where he warns his Asian neighbors not to eat his dog was not that well received by our neighbors. . .or at least Nate's gut busting laughter wasn't, but hey, what do you expect! Anyways, I don't often really like movies but I thought that this was very well done and certainly worth watching, though it doesn't become, what I can only describe as, well, intense. I dunno, I don't write movie reviews, just long winded blogs.

A Ride with a View

So, that capped off my adventuresome Saturday. Where are all the beautiful pictures from this amazing bike ride you ask? Well, sometimes you're just too busy to take photos. As I mentioned to Nate, there's thousands of things that I want to photograph but to do so I'd have to stop and get off the bike, which, in a way, kind of destroys the beauty of the constantly changing scenery. The majority, if not all, of the pictures from our ride were taken in motion as I just whipped out the camera on the run. It's not that I didn't want to capture the ride but, in a sense, don't think I could have properly. I believe it was Robert Pirsig who wrote, in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," that the view from a motorcycle is infinitely times better than that from a car as a car window frames and thus limits the scenery. When on a motorcycle, which I obviously am equating to a bike, there is no such limit on one's view as the entire world rushes by at the speed of, well, however fast you want to pedal! So, I'd love to show you more of Jungrangcheon but, if you wanna know, you might as well come visit and take a ride for yourself!

See you soon!?!

Ridin'

You may now. . . take pictures with the bride!?

What an (un)interesting wedding that was! Nate and I just returned from Elle's wedding and reception, the whole of which lasted no longer than an hour and a half.

We rose early (Korean time) this morning to meet outside of Dootaville where Anna had arranged to pick us up. She arrived exactly at 10:00am as she had promised and we only had to wait a few minute for Julie to show up; Punctual Princess, obviously. . .

We barrled down Dongbu Expressway 61 towards Seoul for the first time ever in daylight hours. The drive was surprisingly scenic as fall in Seoul appears to be the time for wildflowers to bloom. Both sides of the canal we drove along teemed with bright reds, oranges and yellows, none of which I recall seeing during our initial commutes from Daechi. Even with such a wonderful view I managed to catch a few minutes of shut eye while Julie and Anna chatted it up Korean style in the front seat.

The wedding took place in a large hall, apparently owned by the electric company for which the groom's father works. After parking the car, which Anna managed to do surprisingly well, the four of us headed towards a large group of Korean's congregated on the patio of this enormous building. The majority of the women appeared to be dressed 'business casual' (what they would go to work in, while all, and I do mean all, of the men were in suits and ties; Korean style of course meaning suits of shiny silver and ties with glistening rhinestones! This was a bit awkward at first as Nate and I had both dressed neatly, but were certainly not in a suit nor wearing an awesome Korean power tie (as I can't seem to locate the one tie that I swore I brought in my 200 square foot apartment).

Inside we gave our DYB envelop, Elle's present, to a man standing behind a long folding table. Anna then ushered us to sign our name in a book open on the table. Everyone before us had written their name neatly, and apparently vertically, in perfect block Korean letters (possibly to ensure the receipt of a thank you?). I felt bad destroying the aesthetics of the page with 'Adam Saper' scrawled out horizontally. . .how American of me!

After signing in we went searing for Elle who Anna had wanted to meet with before the ceremony began. No time no however! We arrived only minutes before the wedding was to begin (despite Anna assuring us that we were ten minutes early). Elle went rushing by us with only time to wave hello, so we took our seats in the main theater. Of note here is that this ceremony was held in a concert hall type arena, not a Church, and was seemingly devoid of any and all religious symbols. . .unless I just totally missed them!

Nate and I made up about one percent of the wedding's total attendance and two thirds of the foreigner count! As we waited (no more than five minutes) for the ceremony to begin, Anna explained to us that it is very boring and usually she skips the ceremony to attend only the lunch following, which is apparently, 'the best part.'

Elle and her soon-to-be husband waited off to the wing while the two mothers approached the stage, in traditional Korean garb, lit two candles and embraced before taking their seats aside their husbands; with the extended family of each sitting behind their respective parents. A trio of violin, cello and piano played the entry music (a Koreanized 'here comes the bride') as Elle and her husband strolled into view.

Waiting in the Wings

Meeting of the Mothers

The two took the stage, backs facing the audience, where they stood for the next 15 minutes or so. During this time, the master of ceremonies (for lack of a better term) stood on a podium in front of the two, reading something to the audience that was all but understandable to us. We clapped when others did and manged to blend in perfectly. Again, while I do not understand Korean, the service itself seemed to be devoid of any religious practices of symbols which seemed very interesting, mostly because many Koreans are now devout Christians.

During their time on the podium, Elle and her husband was constantly illuminated by photographers flashes. A pair of photographers buzzed around the couple continually, as neither the wedding party (which consisted only of the two to be wed) nor the MC seemed to notice or care. One women, seemingly in charge of just the bride, kept close tabs on Elle making sure that her dress was splayed out just so, continually readjusting it as Elle shifted. Also moving around the stage were at least to cinematographers(?) filming the couple and the audience. On more than one occasion did Nate and I look over to find a video camera pointed directly at us, certainly one of the more interesting facets of the audience!

Photographers and Dress Lady

Karaoke is so popular even the groom can't resist an opportunity to sing!

Newlyweds!

Eventually Elle and the groom walked together back down the 'aisle' (more like, down the steps of the stage) where the paused with their respective families for more photo opportunities. From here, both families were ushered together by the photographer who lined everybody up on stage for one big photograph.

The Whole Fam. . .actually both of 'em

By this point, the wedding seemed to be over, but, we weren't quite sure how, or when! We asked Anna if that was in fact the case and she told us that we were correct. Well, where was the kiss, we inquired? Oh that comes later, said Anna, pictures first!

So, we waited patiently as group after groups took pictures with Elle and Hubby until it was finally time for friends! Anna and the other Korean teachers in attendance beckoned us to join them as they headed towards the stage. Towering over the majority of Koreans, especially Korean women, Nate and I made our way towards the back of the picture where we were eventually told to stand on the topmost step. The photographer snapped away at this large group of Koreans surrounding their recently married friends, tilted just out of balance by three enormous Caucasians (the other foreigner, a relatively plump gay man from San Fransisco) standing awkwardly in the background, smiles just beaming outwards!

Finally, after a few adjustments, the photographer called for Elle and Hubby to step forwards. As he counted down for the picture, they were told to embrace and eventually kiss, though the majority of the audience at this point had already retired to the dining hall! We too moved outwards towards lunch, following Razer who reassured us that this was the best part of the wedding.

On the way out of the main hall, Nate and I paused at a wedding photo to admire the recently wed couple: Awwwwww. Razer quickly corrected us, informing us that the pictures was just random and not of Elly and Co. . . .oops!! Our bad!! I mean, they kind of looked the same?!

Downstairs we entered an enormous congregating hall, lined with tables already filled with people and food. We wasted no time getting to the food as we followed Razer and the other Korean Teachers who literally dove for the buffet. I quickly stuffed my plate full of salad (the first I've had since being in Korea), deep fried shrimp, dirty rice, mussels on the half shell, Chinese-ish glass noodles and a chunk of beef rib meat.

We wandered for a moment, following Razer and literally had to wait for someone to get up before sitting down, as the hall was the full! Small cans, ice cold thankfully, of Pepsi and Cider (ginger ale) were placed across the table and more were brought while we ate. We quickly worked our way through our first plate and followed Razer's advice to have 'one more.' My second time around I stocked up on more of the same, adding a few pieces of sashimi, tuna and salmon, to the mix along with some sliced hot dogs in mustard!

During our second course, I commented on the small, whole, octopus sitting on Razer's plate. . .which he then quickly dipped in some red sauce and handed over to me. Well, I can't use Nate's excuse that I'm allergic and I'm not gonna offend anyone at a wedding. . .plus, when else would I pop a whole, seemingly still alive (but thankfully not) octopus in to my mouth! So did. . . .I chewed for a good half minute before deciding that I had perhaps just swallow whatever was left in my mouth, simply because I was beggining to be aware of the fact that I had eaten all, literally every single part, of this poor creature. . . .ugh!

Nate and The Octopusettes

Cutting the Cake!

Luckily, I was able to chase down the octopus with a decent helping of chocolate ice cream that Razer located for us! Elle and Hubby (now dressed in traditional garb as well) came around to say hello and thank you! Nate and I quickly jumped up to take a picture with our teacher and recent bride which you can find below!

Us and the Newlyweds

Razer suggested we come with him instead of Anna, perhaps because he does not get much male company as the only male teacher in DYB. . .or perhaps to discuss the recent dismissal of Harry, our favorite New Yorker-Korean All American Badass (which will be discussed in a subsequent post)! Either was, the drive back up to Junggye was much quicker and I was more awake having gotten something in my stomach. Oh, and to top it all off, we got to listen to an awesome demo of a Westlife (some English boy band?) cover that Razer recorded with a woman from church whom he described as either 'repelling' or 'repulsive,' I can't quite remember!

Which reminds me, we have our first band practice next week. . .though I still don't have an amp. . .hmm. So far we have me on guitar, Cleo (I believe on bass), a keyboardist, David on drums, Razer singing, and of course, Nate and Sunny rapping while dancing! Now doesn't this sound fantastic! I'll do my best to try and record the actual performance if it occurs some day!

But for now, Happy Saturday!