WHERE WAS I?

Days flow past full of event and place and talk and sensation that I hardly manage to register and don’t write down, even in my little yellow notebook. What happened Friday, for instance? Was that was the morning, our peanut butter nearly gone, we decided to go out for breakfast? At Bean’s Cook, a small shop on the main street, we held up 2 fingers and ordered “2 caffe latte”. Came the routine question: “Hot?”, and we nodded. Bean’s coffee is excellent, the muffins good, the décor an assortment of coffee paraphernalia on high shelves, the young man behind the counter shy and sweet. The sound system spills out quiet jazz, it’s not crowded at 8:a.m., a good place to be then.

I remember nothing about the rest of the morning, but after lunch I made my first solo trip on the subway, to Insadong, an area of downtown Seoul crowded with small galleries and stores selling handmade paper, lacquerware, fans, clothing inflected by traditional designs, ceramics, antique furniture, teas, and Turkish ice cream. (Is Turkish ice cream different from regular ice cream?)

Nancy was waiting for me at Anguk Station, and we tried to find Poet’s Corner—a spot noted in the Lonely Planet’s Seoul guide but apparently not known to anyone else, including the wandering tourist information people—before heading along Insadong-gil (gil means lane or alley, ro means street I’ve learned). On weekends the lane is closed to traffic, but weekdays pedestrians need to be alert. Sidewalks are crowded and it’s easy to step without thinking into the narrow street and its steady traffic. Everywhere you look windows are rich with colour and texture and goods spill out onto the sidewalk while people stream past, It’s easy to forget to watch for cars.

The paper shops were irresistible. Papers of different colours and textures, some plain, some with patterns, some with elements laid in, hung over rods. I wanted it all but settled for several large sheets that will pose a challenge to get home. I wish I’d bought more! Further along the street I found packages of coloured envelopes, perfect for the letters I imagine writing … some day …

Handmade paper in an Insadong shop. (my photo)

The clothing was also irresistible. I was drawn to skirts and tops modeled on hanbok, the traditional Korean dress of loose-fitting skirts/trousers with wide-sleeved jackets. (On our way to the Peter Brook performance we’d seen a woman on the subway wearing a striking hanbok dress.) But what I bought looks very modern—a short, dark green jacket (a subtle shade, perhaps like dark jade) with a lovely drape curving the bottom of it, and hidden pockets. It doesn’t look at all like hanbok, but somehow suggests a Korean sensibility. Now of course I need trousers or a skirt to wear with it …

Nancy then took me to her favourite tea house, the Flying Bird, where a small bevy of finches fly free and sometimes perch on the side of your plate. They sang and called as we sat down, then kept to the branches above and beside us, dozing, while we drank out tea.

Live birds at Flying Bird Tea House, Insadong (my photo)

Our teas. (my photo)

I ordered pear tea, at Nancy’s glowing recommendation, and she had watermelon 5 flavours. The pear tea was so sublime it reduced my conversation to: “This is delicious!” uttered after every mouthful. For a more adequate response read Nancy’s note in her blog: http://web.me.com/hellonancykim/site/my_blog/Entries/2010/6/20_Making_Baesuk.html

At 4:00 it was time to meet Peter at Anguk Station for a walk around Samcheong-dong. But before leaving the tea house I went to the bathroom—which had a floor of dark grey and white pebbles with a small but heavy fishbowl sitting on it.