Even Korea Makes Cheese!

Jen and Jake in the Drunken Basket - Click to Zoom

The introduction to today’s entry will be written by Jake….

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Hi everyone!  It is really fun here is Seoul.  Today we went to Lotte World.  It is basically like a Korean Disneyland, but smaller.  It was really fun.  We started by going on a ride called The Drunken Basket.  It was kind of like teacups, but the platform rose diagonally and we still spun.  My dad kept on spinning the middle wheel really fast to make the basket spin around fast.  I thought I was gonna yack.

That dog has a steering wheel in it's back! - Click to Zoom

Then we went to an arcade and I found this giant stuffed dog that you could drive.  It was really fun because it was so hard to steer.  Then we went to a shooting range where I shot a gun that shot airsoft pellets.  On another shooting range game I put my head behind the butt of the gun and the recoil was so powerful I jacked myself in the face. Next we went to a bug exhibit where I saw 2 inch beetles!  I saw two of them fighting.  It looked like they had crowbars on their noses.

Dad, what's this for? - Click to Zoom

We sat down for lunch and there were a couple of girls behind me that were my age and kept on saying, “hi…hi…hi”.  I said “hi” back to them and they all told their parents the American boy said “hi”. After lunch we tried to find this one ride.  It took us about 20 minutes to actually find the ride when we figured out the wait was 45 minutes!  Then we went back down to the outside park where there was a castle and a knight on display, which had a huge crotch cup (see photo).  Then we strolled around there and looked at the mall that was attached to the amusement park.

Then we got back on the subway and took the half hour ride back to our “apartment” (I slept most of the way).  So after all, the cheesiness was pretty fun.  I’m really excited to see Halle again on Monday and get back home with her on Tuesday.  Bye for now!

Jake J.

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President of Jake's Fan Club - Click to Zoom

Thanks to Jake for that insight into the day’s activities.  So, as Jake accurately described, Lotte World is a small Disney World that is fun with a high cheese factor…like most American amusement parks.  Some of it actually seemed like a direct rip off of Disney.  One thing he didn’t mention is that when we were walking around, a cute Korean girl stopped me and asked if I would take a photo of she and Jake with her camera.  Jake was on cloud nine!  I managed to snap one with my camera as well (see photo).  Jake is like a rock star to the young girls here.  He gets TONS of stares.  I feel they might steal him away from us if I turn my head for a second…gone in a cloud of cute Korean schoolgirl giggles.

A couple of more observations that we have made in the last couple of days. These are not fact…only wide spanning observations.

1. Everyone has these dangling charms on their cell phones.  I’m not sure what purpose they serve.  I think some of them are used as payment devices for the subway, but others just look decorative.

Sucker - Click to Zoom

2. Most men carry their girlfriend’s/wife’s purses. Suckers.

3. The doors for shops aren’t so automatic. Ask my forehead (jk).  You have to press a button to open them.  I guess that’s because of all of the street traffic…they would be opening all of the time. Sometimes my grip of common sense amazes myself.

4. Koreans don’t give return smiles.  I was warned about this, but didn’t believe it.  I believe it now.  I don’t think they mean anything by it, they just don’t do it.  I think I remember this was the case in New York too….so no one gets free smiles from me here anymore.

Good Aerial View of the inside of Lotte World - Click to Zoom

5. Koreans don’t have a sense of personal space.  Last night at the lantern festival I came to grips with this and pushed my way through hordes of people.  I felt like taking a bath in Purell afterwards.

6. There is no equivalent to Minnesota nice when it comes to the subway.  Today I watched a girl head to a seat and two other girls sat right where she was about to plant her rear end.  She didn’t say a word, but she did give them a pretty harsh bitch stare.  I giggled…yes, sometimes I can giggle too.

Playskool Korean Food Set - Click to Zoom

7. Koreans put plastic versions of their food outside of a lot of restaurants.  It creeps me out a bit because it looks like that plastic food you had when you were a kid cooking up fake bacon and eggs in your Playskool kitchenette.

8. Koreans love their surgical face masks and there is Purell everywhere.  I would say about a third of the people are currently wearing surgical masks here.  Different colors and materials.  Even hipsters wear them.  I totally want one that has a silly mouth drawn on the front…maybe some redneck teeth or something.

Outside at Lotte World - Click to Zoom

9. One more thing I realized today.  I have always known that when I am in America and I eat Italian, Chinese or Mexican food, I am eating an Americanized version of that cuisine.  What I didn’t think about is that other countries probably have their own version as well.  Well, I now know that Korea has come up with their own version of foods from other nations.  I looked at a Chinese restaurant menu and can honestly say that I didn’t recognize much from it.  Italian food has chili sauce on it and I didn’t want to get near the Mexican offerings.

Almost good enough for a Christmas card, just missing one person - Click to Zoom

Tomorrow, Jen and I celebrate the fact that she has put up with me for 12 years of marriage.  We will be visiting a palace, another market and hopefully we can make it to this bookstore that would make a Barnes and Noble look like a newsstand at the airport.  We will be going out to eat with our neighbors here at the guest house (also from Minneapolis).  They are very cool and Jake loves them.  No new news on Halle today.  We are still scheduled to see her on Monday at 3pm.  Can’t wait!