Get in my mouth!

So the weekend saw me take a trip to other side of Korea, to Yeongdeok, an area famous for it's snow crabs (also called Bamboo Crabs - 대게 in Korean).  There was a festival on celebrating everything crabby, and it's on the north east coast of South Korea (where the ocean is named, depending on your nationality, either the Sea of Japan or the East Sea - you really don't want to say Sea of Japan in Korea, Koreans get a little touchy about it).  The group I went with was organised through the university and seems to have been sponsored by the Korean fisheries department, as there was an official with us, and we did lots of 'foreigner promo photos' and were asked to recommend the festival to other foreigners and Koreans.  Here are some photos I took:

 Vanessa - late, running onto the bus.  She's notorious for lateness, and we were laughing the night before about all the things she's missed because of her sleeping in through her alarm - and she swore she'd be on time for the bus.  It was funny, but she had to run from the dorm to the bus which would have really sucked.  But she made it!

We went boating when we got to Yeongdeok. It was meant to be about where the fishermen catch the crabs, but really it was just an excuse to go out on the water.  I was lucky as I went on the speedboat (on the left) while two other groups went on the yachts.  The yachts were nice but kinda boring, as the people on the speedboat got to hoon around instead of slowly sail.  It was a lot of fun, but I do recall thinking to myself, that in Australia, if we did the kinds of speeds and maneuvers we did on the boat, someone would be arrested for endangering lives.  That said, it was a lot of fun.  

At the festival - so many crabs for sale.  You could either buy them to go (alive and kicking) or they'd steam them for you then and there and you could eat inside the tent (and have a little drink while you're at it).  My friend Yeojin and I were walking around in a daze and were pumped about the 'crab party' that had been organised for us later that night.  We came to eat to eat a lot of crab.  Below is a picture of a man doing tradition calligraphy with a giant brush (aka mop).  He was really good.

So there was an acupuncture stall at the festival (for free) and so Yeojin, Vanessa and I all decided we'd get acupuncture (on the provision that I went first of course).  The lady who did it was lovely and spoke no English, but I managed to understand in Korean that all the points on the hand related to various parts of the body, and that she said I had bad circulation as my hands were so cold (though I have to say, it was cold, therefore my hands were cold, but anyway).  She also mentioned something about a man, but I didn't fully understand her.  After getting the needles put in, we had to wait 10mins then have them removed and then had little heated metal disc things with incense on them put where the needles were.  Overall it was an interesting experience, but I can't say for sure if it helped my circulation, though it was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy seeing a foreigner getting pricked with needles.

In order for our 'crab party' to take place that night, we were told we needed to first catch some crabs. So around a big pool in the middle of the festival grounds, people had flimsy fishing rods to try and catch as many of the crabs thrown in their direction as possible.  Being that we were foreigners, we were given a bit of special treatment (to the annoyance of many locals!) and lots of crabs were thrown our way by the organisers.  Three people from my group were also told that they'd get a box of crabs each if they got in the water and helped throw the crabs, so a couple of the guys took one for the team and did it (it was freezing cold water).

After the festival we did a quick trip to a park to check out the view and then headed to our accommodation for dinner and to get ready to party.  And party we did.  We ended up with about 100 crabs for 38 people, and Yeojin and I did Australia proud.  We definitely ate our fair share, along with help from Vanessa, who was representing LA.

So we had a great time eating crab, and then drinking.  A lot.  I have realised that soju makes me feel really hot and flushed (and not in a good way) and also results in a major headache the next day.  It's a dangerous drink, but it's so cheap and everyone drinks it here, so i'm just going to have to learn to tolerate it.  After our crab party, we all went across the road to a noraebang (aka karaoke) and partied for awhile.  It was good, though they didn't have Sean Paul or Beastie Boys or Run DMC, so I went with Wham, but by that time our time had run out and we had to go.

The following morning, I woke up to see how close we actually were to the ocean.  It's weird but the air didn't smell like salt, more like seaweed.  The place we stayed at was the first crab fishing village in Korea.  they were the first to figure out you could eat crab and many still fish it for a living.

I like this last photo.  The pavillion in the background, before the crab season, fisherman come from all over and pray for a good crab harvest and safe sailing.

So it's back to school.  It's week three already and I've suddenly got a lot of work to do.  I have a presentation on Thursday, plus a heap of readings, one essay due in a week and a half, plus I'm now taking an English conversation class twice a week which I have to prepare for as my students are quite good and I need to be organised.  Very busy! I'm out for dinner tonight with my Singaporean friend Grace.  One of my Korean mentors told me about a good Indian restaurant in Shinchon so I think we'll go check that out.  Tomorrow night Yeojin and I are going out for Greek food.  We were both talking about foods we missed from home, and the kebab came up (along with real meat - a solid steak as well as proper cheese and bread, plus cheap fruit and vegetables).  So it should be good!