Best of Korea

THE PEOPLE It was wonderful reuniting with former students, colleagues, and friends and seeing how well everyone is doing. The Korean people are warm and friendly and welcoming, and they were absolutely the best part of the trip. (And I didn’t have time to spend with everyone, alas.) THE FOOD You’ve seen the photos. Enough said. SOMETHING NEW If your exposure to Korea is limited to Incheon (international airport) and Seoul, it’s easy to get the impression that the country is all concrete and skyscrapers. This time I went to the Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art, which is in a park-like setting outside of Seoul. The drive and museum grounds provided views of the mountains and countryside that are much more typical of the Korea. Then on Thursday afternoon a colleague treated me to a walking tour of a quaint neighborhood in downtown Seoul. The scale changes completely there—I’m talking narrow alleyways and small buildings with old tiled rooves—and I completely fell in love. After catching the sunset from a neighborhood lookout, we rushed to a tea house for warming drinks and a treat. Thank you, Sae-Jun, for completely changing my impression of your city!