Reminiscing Korea

I got to lab today at a moderately good time -- around 9ish -- but couldn't do much of anything because one of my coworkers beat me to the cleanroom. So after checking my email, glancing at my calendar, and browsing through my rss feeds, I decided that I really should finally get around to posting some pictures from my trip to Korea over the summer. Here are a selection of my favorites, not in any particular order:

Fishing on the ocean, near the longest bridge in Korea. Fortunately no North Korean subs out that day. Although I may look like a seasoned ajashi fisherman -- collared shirt, baseball hat, face stubble and all -- I did not in fact catch any fish on this particular trip, despite being out on the water for 12 or so hours. Halmoni next to me caught about 7 fish, much to my frustration, and Minho brought in one or two 4 inchers. I enjoyed eating other people's fish, however, along with a couple shots of soju.

The early morning sunrise made the fishing trip worth it.

This was my favorite: the jimjibang. Put an arcade, restaurant, spa, one room common bedroom, movie theatre, and screen golf all together, and you get one of these bad boys. Note that the uniforms were mandatory, but I thought they definitely added to the atmosphere. It felt like we were all family. This definitely wouldn't work so great in the states. Too many weirdos would show up, I'm pretty sure. Minho's on the left here, and his best friend Jun is on the right.

Me and Jun eating delicious soup. It seems I took most of my pictures while eating. Guess which animal's in there? Clue: woof.

I wonder if people plant these rice plants by hand.

After a 4 hour hike to the top of a volcanic mountain at Jeju-do.

Minho's future ride. Shown in rental form above.

Eating pig guts at a late night hang-out. Loving the apron.

Left to right: Minho's sis, Minho, yours truly, Jun. First Korean match of the World Cup. Pouring rain. Sat in a puddle.

This is usually a major expressway full of cars.

Posing at a yellow rectangle. The temple variety.

These are some of my fellow program participants hanging out at a traditional Korean village.

Jars for kimchi.

A friend I met on my previous visit to Korea in October '09. She took us to check out a botanical garden at Jeju-do.

Minho and I on the top of Hala-san.

We were exhausted from our hike. And then we had to climb down the mountain, which took longer.

Fortunately, the same friend got us a free meal of black pork, an expensive Jeju specialty.