Dinner with Garry's PE Teacher in Gyeongju

After school today one of the PE teacher's in Garry's school offered to take me and Garry to Gyeongju to see the cherry blossom and have some dinner. Kim Yong Wan is from Gyeongju and he grew up o his familiy's farm just outside the town. Him and his wife now live in Pohang but he still calls Gyeongju home.

They picked us up at 5pm and we drove to Gyeongju which takes about 30 mins. Unfortunately, every other night this week had been beautiful sunshine but it started raining on the drive to Gyeongju, and got heavier. And heavier. So we decided to stop for some dinner first. They took us to this traditional Korean restaurant where, as usual, we sat on the floor. However, this was more unusual as there was no table it the room - but quickly some waiters carried in a table laiden with food. They explained it was easier to clear a whole table than lots of individual dishes - fair enough I say.

Garry, Kim Yong Wan and his wife in the restaurant

The table of many dishes!

Kim Yong Wan and his wife were very kind and chatted to us, in limited English, during the meal. Once again we were struck by the differences between Koreans and Scots. They were the same age as me and Garry but have never left Korea and have no particular desire to, instead choosing to holiday in Korea. They feel it is very expensive to go abroad and that there are plenty of places to visit in Korea. They are also very family oriented, much more so than us, and spend lots of time with family whereas we tend to spend more time with friends. Its admirable they level of respect they have for their elders and their responsibility to their families, a value we seem to have lost in Western societies. It was another example of the collectivist nature of Korean culture.

After dinner it was still raining so they drove us around for a while and then we headed to Bomun Lake, a large man made lake outside Gyeongju which is famous for the cherry blossom trees around the lake. By this time it was snowing, in April, in Korea. We walked for a short while and then they brought us back to Pohang.

The man and his wife walking in the sleet.

Kim Yong Wan with a cherry blossom flower behind his ear - apparently this is a sign that you are 'crazy' in Korea and that is not a good thing for them.

We were invited to their home for some drinks which we readily accepted. Koreans only seem to drink beer or soju and asked us what we liked to drink. We both said wine and they quickly brought out a wooden gift box with two bottles of wine, one white and one red, that they had been given at their wedding. We tried to tell them not to open a gist just for us but, like many Koreans, they do not really like wine and so were happy to get rid of it! Koreans also do not know how to drink wine so four glass tumbers were collected and the red was opened. Those who know me know that I don't like red wine but not to be rude, I drank my glass. They then opened the bottle of white wine , warm white wine, and poured it on top of the remained red. It was a real experience!

Something else we noticed was how red Kim Yong Wan went as soon as he touched alcohol. This is common in Korean males but I don't know why.

Garry and a rather red-faced Kim Yong Wan

Me and the wife

Just like friends back home, we played some Wii and chatted about family, travels and work. They were both pretty drunk when we left at midnight and reportedly had quite a hangover the next day.