Samsung Anyone?

July 22nd, 2009...

Today was our last field trip in Seoul as part of the summer program. We made a visit to Insadong, a very charming, pedestrianized street in Seoul that is notorious for its traditional Korean arts, crafts, antiques and many various tea and coffee shops. While it has remained traditional, it has become infamous for its modernized spiral building, called the Ssamziegil Center. Winding around this building one can find a multitude of expensive shops and various types of foods to taste, including my favorite...the ice cream-filled waffle. That's right folks, ice cream encompassed entirely by a large, sugary-crusted waffle.

After buying souvenirs we visited the Samsung Gallery. To be honest I wasn't very excited to visit the gallery, because I have never had much interest in electronics. I feel like my parents sometimes when I try to navigate my way around the newest technology (no offense to them of course!) :) South Korea is very proud of Samsung though, so I was a good sport and walked through the gallery, trying to fake an interest in the billions of computers and televisions that filled three floors. I was envisioning my brothers, Pat and Brian walking through and staring at each individual tv, and trying to decipher the very best one (even though they all look exactly the same to me!).

We continued to walk through all the tv's and feeling somewhat bored...when our tour guide led us to something truly amazing....a complete kitchen set, chock full of Samsung-like gadgets! I have never seen anything like it! It even had a wine cooler built into the wall, that played a very elegant sound when it was opened. It even had a special kimchi cooler, so that the kimchi didn't have to be buried underground. So if anyone feels generous, has hundreds of thousands of dollars at their disposal, and wants to buy me a gift...then I would greatly appreciate this completely electronic kitchen. I would never be greedy though...you can omit the kimchi cooler. I'll just continue to store my stash underground in case anyone gets a craving for spicy, sour pickled cabbage.