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A trip to South Korea. Oh, how I love this country! Toshi-chan met us at the airport so we quickly made our next move and reunited with Michelle after a long while. Then we went to a restaurant called "Pro Soy Crab" which Shimabuku-san recommended to me in her e-mail this morning. I love eating so much that I had to run to this restaurant to try it for myself. I have to admit that it is unusual for a 45-year-old novelist to be described as a "gourmand" in an advertisement on the newspaper. (Do I sound like I'm bragging about myself?) I have to say, this restaurant offered us such great food! The last dish we had, bibimbap, made with crab innards and eggs were extremely and unbelievably delicious!!! I wonder why Korean foods taste so good when you eat them in Korea. I guess I love eating Korean foods in Korea more than any other the food in the world. From what I saw on a streetcar, I got the impression that more shops in Seoul are now owned by the foreign capital. The girls on the street looked so pretty and the boys were well built. The young people here seem to be full of life. The lovers, walking along close to each other, look much more romantic than those I see in Japan. I am not so fond of appearing in public, but that's what I came here for. I've got to do my job, otherwise there's no point in coming here. (or did I come here to enjoy the foods??) I urged myself to go and do my job, telling myself that I can meet the people at Minumsa Publishing. The president, the chairman, Michelle, the young female staff in charge of me, the young PR woman, their assistant, and Ms. Kim, the translator: they are all nice people and I love meeting with them. So I did the proper press interviews a couple times, having a very prized samgyetang in between. I recalled the atmosphere of the past press conferences, when I felt the tension among the reporters in the beginning gradually softened towards the end. Each reporter has his/her own character, while generally men appeared tight, maintaining a fine posture and women looked pretty. I regard South Korea as a very fine country. Many people queued up for my autograph. I shook hands with each one of them, but their hands were all cold because of the weather. I wanted to take more time with them, but you can't help carrying out the task as if it was an assembly-line operation. All those readers of my novels, whom I may not be able to meet again, were all so dear to me. They looked so cute, but nervous, and very nice to me. I was deeply moved when I thought that each one of them had their own parents. I was remembering my friend, Tam's autograph session then. He could not finish in the given time and he was asked what to do with the rest of the people. He simply answered that he would keep signing until the last person. He was asked again what to do when the rental time for the venue was over. Again, he simply answered that he would keep signing outside the venue. Now I feel exactly the same. When I finally completed the autograph session, we were taken to a Korean barbecue restaurant called Cham Sut Gol. Great meats, great vegetables!! Thanks for the great meal!! Toshi-chan started a speech in excitement of the great foods. Ha! The president, who was shy, but very cool, joined us and we all drank a lot of makgeolli, a traditional alcoholic beverage of Korea. Ms. Kim, who translated my novels into Korean, sent me to my hotel with the other Ms. Kim, the interpreter and other staff. It really choked me up, when Ms. Kim the interpreter turned out to be an enthusiastic fan of my fellow novelist, Nobara Takemoto. "I am sorry for talking about Nobara Sensei all the time in front of Banana Sensei, but I am such a big fan of him", she said. How sweet! Certainly, her fashion had somehow a taste of a Gothic Lolita, like Nobara Sensei. Ms. Kim, the translator, was so gorgeous like Han-Sanggung, a character in the famous Korena TV drama, "Dae Jang Geum" (Jewel in the Palace), that a feeling of respect surged up in myself. We had a walk to Doeksugung Palace. In such a vast site, we had to play the "Dae Jang Geum" among ourselves, saying a line like "Jang Geum must have hidden her memo here, which is filled with secret recipes inherited from her mother." We also spent time inside the museum, looking at the photographs by the great photographers until we became hungry enough to savor Sol Long Tang in a restaurant near the Palace gate. It only cost about 500 yen, though it was soooo very good. It was odd to find a traditional town of common-man qualities behind a high-rise building. It looked as if it were built as a set. That reminded me of the time when Japanese cities were developed. Looking back now, this kind of mixing scenery of new and old was very seldom to be seen in Tokyo, which is surprising to me. For example, the Ueno area became clean all over out of the blue. Non-smoking areas seem to be increasing in Seoul as well. I saw many people smoking outside in the cold. I don't smoke and I always sit in the non-smoking area, especially because I easily get bronchitic problems. However, when I see these people who take away a coffee from a place similar to Starbucks (They offer a lot of different drinks on the menu and they are all surprisingly very good) and enjoy the rest of their lunch break smoking outside, I realize that this city is full of life and energy because of all these individuals who secure their own little happiness. |