Nau speak: Korea: Ssamji Filming, mascots and snacks, oh my!

While working as a caricature artist for the Fun Caricature company in Korea, I was able to rotate shifts between different locations which meant that I never got too bored or stuck at an underperforming location for too long. One of my favorite locations to work was the Insadong location, tucked into the Ssamziegil shopping center. The building itself is a unique concept, with minimal stairs and the floors laid out at a gentle incline so that you can comfortably wind your way around and up the building until you arrive at the uppermost deck. There was a palpable energy to the area that I really enjoyed, and the surrounding Insadong is a neighborhood robust with arts and crafts and old-school winding cobblestone streets surrounded by charming restaurants, hostels and museums tucked into classical style buildings. You can easily walk over to the Bukchon Hanok village to take in the history and shopping, and there's tons of other sights to take in nearby too! For me, though, I thoroughly enjoyed working in the Insadong area and taking in the ever-changing craft fairs and flow. Some days we'd get parades of people marching down the main central walkway, banging on drums and singing in traditional garb as they make their way through a historic loop, others flocks of youth protestors campaigning against the dog-meat industry and raising awareness. Naturally, there are so many options for food throughout the area that you'd have no reason to go hungry- whatever your budget. If you're feeling a little spend-thrifty, there's ample convenience stores and street food to fill your belly with something warm and quick, whether it's chicken skewers or instant ramyun. For those with a little more won to their name, you can wander the seemingly endless alleys of Insadong and find everything from fermented skate fish meals to fancy Royal court cuisine, which was once prepared exclusively for the Joseon Dynasty, considered one of the peaks of historic Korean royalty culture. I must admit, I never got around to trying the royal cuisine, due partially to the cost and partly due to the sheer volume of food presented. It's definitely a meal meant for sharing with friends! It's on my bucket list, though, so next time Antho and I happen to be in Seoul it's definitely going down. On this particular day, though, I kept it simple with some cheap convenience store snacks and enjoyed the entertainment. Not every day a mascot shows up to your job, right?

Steamed dumplings with puffy wheat buns and savory or sweet fillings were a particularly tasty snack on the chillier fall days! My favorite was the pizza flavor, though that typically sold out pretty quick so I rarely ever saw it available. Another snack you'll encounter pretty regularly throughout Korea are these room-temp packaged hot dogs or sausage-like amalgamations of processed protein. They come in a wide variety of flavors, from a "healthy" octopus style tube with a squeaky bite and vaguely sweet seafood essence, or the spicy bastard I purchased on this particular occasion. They all have that rubbery bite to them, to some degree, but I found myself growing oddly fond of them. I mean, the "healthy" ones were an easy portable snack that comes hermetically sealed, like string cheese without the string or the cheese, in a sense, and a whole lot of mystery meat.