The Crab Princess

We’ve started a new session at school, which means my schedule changed. I now have Wednesdays and Sundays off. I’m very happy to have Sundays off. Sundays equal lazy.

This being my first free Sunday in quite a while, I wanted to take a trip. Where to go? I pulled out my new best friend, my Lonely Planet. Hmmm. Conflicting desires. I want to go on an exciting trip, but I also want to sleep in. Where can I go that’s close by?

My friend Sang Jae had originally said he wanted to come with me. But then, on Friday, he said he needed to study for an upcoming test. As I was researching on Saturday night, he called. “Where we go tomorrow?” But, I thought you said you needed to study. “Later. Trip close. Near. Where?” Wellllll, I was thinking of going to Juwangsan National Park – it doesn’t appear to be too far away and there are spectacular waterfalls there. Let’s not leave too early, though. Call me when you wake up tomorrow.

We left around noon. We agreed that he would drive until the first rest area, then I would drive, so he could study his English phrases. As he was driving, I picked up his English phrase book. The odd numbered pages had English phrases, the even numbered pages had the same phrases in Korean. I picked out some that I thought would be useful and tried to pronounce them. More than once he turned to me and said, “What language you speaking?” Korean. Your language. Good? “Ani-oooooo. Not Korean. Some strange island language, only you speak.” He would correctly say the phrase in Korean and I would repeat it, over and over and over. He finally took the book away from me.

We arrived to the rest stop – we were both starving. We ordered our favorite – dolsot bibimbop – mixed rice in a stone bowl. We finished the meal with instant coffee from a vending machine then I was in the driver’s seat.

We passed a large yellow sign, “Police Enforcement.” “Don’t speed. Smile.” and with that he leaned over, gave a peace sign and said “kim chiiiiii.” What are you doing? “Police. Camera. Take picture.” There were radars and cameras mounted over the highway to catch speeders. I had never thought of smiling for a law enforcement camera before, but I guess it makes sense. I mean, if they’re going to post your picture everywhere as a potential criminal, you may as well look good…

We drove and drove and drove. Where was this park? It looked so close in the book. We exited from the expressway. Sang Jae asked the toll booth clerk which way to Juwangsan. She said go straight, then pass the university, then veer left. And then a bunch of other stuff. Okay, easy enough. As I was driving, Sang Jae said, “Yeongdeok, only one hour past university.” Yeongdeok? What’s that? “Oh. Famous for crab.” Changmal? Really? Oh, my god. I love crab. “Let’s go there. Beach. So good.” Awesome!

He continued to practice phrases in English. “I’ll be right back. That sounds very interesting. Do you need to see some identification? I need a reservation for two.” Every now and then I would say the phrase, emphasizing the correct accent on syllables. He would repeat. I would repeat. He would repeat again. I concentrated on the road, we were getting closer to the mountains. The road became more narrow, and more windy. And the scenery more green. Everywhere, walls and walls of green. The day was overcast, so if I blurred my vision I felt as though I was entering into a world of moss. I drove slower and slower as the road became curvier and curvier. “I think I will bomb it.” What? What does that mean? “I think I will bomb it.” Bomb it? Bomb what? “Bomit.” Vomit? That’s in the book? “No. The curves. So sick.” I glanced over. Oh, my god. Should I stop? Are you okay? “Okay. I’m okay.” Thankfully the road straightened soon after that. We had crossed the mountain and were nearing the coast.

Soon thereafter we entered the town of Yeongdeok. We stopped to ask directions to the crab. At that point Sang Jae took over driving responsibilities. We drove down a long road bordering a river. There were buildings in the distance. As we got closer, we realized they were the crab restaurants. Old women stood in the road, motioning and barking to come eat in their restaurant. We drove slower and slower. We passed huge tanks of crabs in front of the restaurants. Huge tanks of huge crabs. All alive and snapping this way and that. I squealed. I love crab. I haven’t had it since November. Oh, the anticipation!

We drove past restaurant after restaurant after restaurant. Umm, why don’t we stop? Let’s eat. “You, you just want crab. Me, I want to see ocean. Ocean, then eat crab.” Oh, okay. Sounds good. The restaurants ended, we had entered a commercial fishing area. Palettes and palettes of fish and squid lay drying by the side of the road. Slow down, I want to get a picture! He slowed a bit, then sped up. Then came to a screeching halt. We had reached the ocean. It was beautiful. The road dropped to craggy rocks where the surf pounded at irregular intervals. We watched the ocean from the car. C’mon, let’s explore. “Too cold.” No, c’mon. It’ll be fun. We carefully made our way down and over the rocks, avoiding slipping into the tidal pools of algae and ocean critters. The sea spray felt wonderful. It was cold, but a crisp, clean, refreshing cold. The overcast sky gave the ocean an ominous gray color. We watched the waves crash upon the rocks then whooooooosshhhhhhhhhhh! An especially strong wave had crashed and splashed into the air, sending spray a good 15 feet into the air and only inches from our faces. We both screamed with delight. We wandered back over the rocks to the car. Destination – dinner.

Sang Jae picked a restaurant that had a huge model of a crab on its exterior. We walked in and were ushered to a table upstairs by the window. We sat on the floor and stared out at the boats, docked for the evening. The waitress came by, he talked to her for a bit, then she left. What did you order? “Crab.” I know crab, but what? “You’ll see.” Eating has never failed to disappoint me here. Never. This was no exception.

First came the tiny side dishes. One of a crab meat and egg and maybe potato concoction. A dish of fresh kelp. A platter of boiled peanuts. And a plate of live things in shells. I’m not sure what. I’ve seen them in the ocean, but I don’t know what they are called. We used our chopsticks to poke its sluglike body then tug, tug, tug til it resistingly slid from its twisted shell. Dipped in a hot sauce, and popped into our mouths. Not bad. At that point, the waitress came over, laughing. We were doing it wrong. She picked up another shell and a spoon. She tapped the shell till it broke, leaving the sluglike animal exposed then used a dainty forklike utensil to pull it from its home. Sang Jae was all over it. He picked up the next shell and started tapping. “Baby, baby, ba-by….” I couldn’t stop laughing; he was enjoying this process so much.

No sooner than we had finished these treats did the main course arrive. I stared in amazement. There, on a platter, was the hugest crab I have ever seen. Huge. The legs were at least a good 12 to 18 inches long each. I watched as the waitress took scissors and began to cut the legs and other parts, placing them in front of me. I waited until she finished, then gingerly pulled some meat from a leg. It was so tender and flaky. I placed it in my mouth and it simply melted. It needed no accompaniment. No butter, no salt, no spices, no sauce. Just fresh, boiled crab. We ate in silence, picking as much of the tender meat as possible from the legs. A couple of times a scrap of crab meat would fly across the table from Sang Jae’s fork and land in my lap – I think we were both unaccustomed to using the scissors and poking materials placed before us. After we were done, I picked up a shell from a leg and examined it to make sure there was no meat left in it. Sang Jae laughed. “No more. Good?” Oh, soooooooo goooooood. So delicious. Thank you for bringing me here.

But our meal wasn’t over. The waitress took away the carnage we had created and replaced it with a small cauldron of spicy seafood soup. More small dishes arrived. Spinach, pickled radish, spicy squid, turnips, and a delicious crab, seaweed and rice mixture. We finished it all, then were brought small cups of instant coffee. We sat looking over the sea. Happy? I asked Sang Jae. “Oh, yes. So happy. This was delicious.” I think so, too. “But you scare me.” What? What are you talking about? “Crab come. You so serious. I never see you not smile. So serious. I not know you like crab so much. You scare me.” We laughed. “Ke kong joo.” Did you just call me a dog princess? He laughed. “No. No. Crab princess. You, princess of crabs. I think, 100 years before, you crab. That why you love so much.” Yes. You are right.

We got back into the car. Sang Jae, I think we should drive down the coast to Pohang, then cut across to Daegu. I think it will be faster than going back through the mountains. “No. No. Back same way.” Okay…. He looked at the map for a while. I was navigating through the narrow streets lined with crab. Annyong hi kay ship shay yo, beautiful crabs! I love you! He laughed. “Lori, go this way. Let’s go Pohang. Then take Expressway to Daegu.” I stared at him. I know I said that last sentence out loud. It makes me wonder how much of communication is really understood. I decided not to argue. Good idea.

An hour and a half later we were back in Daegu. Perfect day. This was a perfect day. Thank you. “Really?” Of course! We went for a drive, we saw the mountains, we ate crab, we saw a beautiful sunset on the way home, what else could we ask for? “I think, I think the USA people know how to enjoy leisure time. I think that is good.” Yes, it is. Yes, it is.