Korean Connection in California

Korean Bell of Friendship, San Pedro, California
©Johannes Bjorner 2014

We left Cincinnati mid-morning and, as it happens when you fly non-stop from east to west across much of the expanse of the Unites States, we arrived shortly after noontime at the Los Angeles airport. We had packed light (carry-ons only) and it took little time to get to the car rental and to drive  the half hour to our motel. Finding it was no problem, as we had brought Gladys Philips Smith, our disembodied GPS lady, with us.

Finding a place to eat a late lunch, which was closer to our normal dinner time, presented more of a challenge. And we wanted to stretch our legs. We walked beyond the chicken take-out next to the motel. We crossed the street and passed McDonald's and Jack-in-the-Box. Then we went around the corner and saw a Korean restaurant. I don't think I had ever eaten in a Korean restaurant before, but we could tell it was authentic: we could not understand the conversation from the other occupied table, and our table was set without western cutlery. Fortunately there were English descriptions on the Korean menu.

Our luncheon combination plates (one broiled mackerel and one braised chicken) sounded innocuous and they were. It was the eight different small dishes of completely unknown condiments that arrived first that threw us. We never did determine whether they belonged to the mackerel or to the chicken, or to the table at large. They were almost all spicier than one of us wanted. Our server told us that there were broccoli and spinach and pickles, and some other words that we did not understand well enough to even try to remember. It was an interesting lunch.

Paseo del Mar, San Pedro, California
©Johannes Bjorner 2014

On our last full day in southern California we drove along the Paseo del Mar in San Pedro and spied a pagoda high on a hill. It was a gorgeous fall afternoon, breezy and sunny, and we had to park the car and walk up the hill. The intricate structure housed the Korean Bell of Friendship, we discovered. This massive bell and pavilion were donated to the people of Los Angeles in 1976 by the people of the Republic of Korea on the bicentennial of U.S. independence, to honor veterans of the Korean War and symbolize friendship between the two countries. The peaceful pavilion looks out over the calm waters on which U.S. troops have sailed into wars in the Pacific.

Korean Pavilion and Bell of Friendship, San Pedro, California.
©Johannes Bjorner 2014