I’m freezing my ass off here in Korea. It got down into the lower twenties today (about -4 to -5 C). Thankfully, the place I’m staying is literally a block away from two of the places in Seoul I wanted to visit.
My “cold weather clothes” consists of a t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, a button up long-sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, and my rain jacket (no insulation). I have a hat, so my head and my body core are fine, but my hands and arms are numb if I spend much time outside. I honestly wasn’t planning on ever spending time in this sort of weather.
Today for lunch I walked past a restaurant that sold friend chicken. They had the Monday Night Football game on live with the Pats vs Ravens, so I figured I’d go and be an American for an hour, have some wings and watch the end of the game.
The problem I have going into many restaurants is communication. Most places do not have menus in English or photo menus. All I wanted was a few pieces of chicken and some fries. That’s it. Pretty simple I thought. There was a photo on the wall of exactly what I wanted, so I pointed to it. They guy said “potatos ?” and I said “yes” to confirm that I also wanted potatos.
What I was given was a huge plate of fries and tater tots with no chicken. There must have been some sort of mix up in expressing what I wanted. Oh well. That happens and I wasn’t going to get upset. I guess I’m going to have fries and tots for lunch.
I ate most of my potatos and was pretty full.
…then came the big plate of chicken. So after eating a ton of fried starch, I had a big plate of fried chicken.
So, now I’m really full….and cold. Tomorrow I’m going to visit two sites, the next day I’m going to visit the DMZ, and then I think I’m heading out to HK. Current temperature according to the internet is 70F (21C).
I really wish I had come here when it was warmer. I was planning to stay overnight at the Haeinsa Temple and get to spend a day with the Buddhist monks, and I would like to have visited Cheju Island. That will have to wait for another time.
Are you going to be near the spot on the DMZ where the North Koreans have constructed an entire fake city, whose only purpose is to deceive South Koreans into thinking the North is a wonderful place?
I figured you’d be cold. When you mentioned seeing snow in old episodes of M.A.S.H., I immediately thought “What you mean was, you remember Radar and Hawkeye huddled around a wood stove, and entire episodes revolving around the theft of mittens.”
If it makes you feel any better, it’s -14 C outside right now, and we got 45 cm of snow yesterday.
Toughen up, princess! ;-)
I’m about to head home to Canada and I’m living in fear. I think I’ve forgotten what true coldness really is. I’m pretty sure South Korea comes close so I feel your pain. There’s certainly something to be said for following the summer around.
Enjoy the DMZ, I’m curious to read about that.