Jeju Island

Seung Ah and I decided to go away on a long weekend to Jeju Island. None of us had been there before. We were pretty excited. I organized the logistical part of the trip and made our schedules, while she took care of the reservations.

Day 1

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and the cab company we hired for the weekend was late. But we were really excited and when the guy finally arrived, he was very helpful. We hopped in and headed straight to our first destination.



One of the interminable pictures taken of us



I wanted to see this circus/horse show Lonely Planet mentioned was interesting (I trust Lonely Planet with all my trips) and so when we arrived at the Green Resort we went straight for the horses in the paddock. We were offered a ride for a fee (rather expensive, by the way). Here I was thinking that I would really be able to go for a stroll in the bright sunlight with the fresh green grass surrounding us. It was pretty hilarious, actually. After taking interminable pictures of us on the horses, the men then proceeded to lead the horses down a lane and back again. That was our ride! They were holding onto the reins the whole time! And to add insult to injury, Seung Ah, who had never been on a horse, got to canter in the paddock alone, but they held onto my reigns as my horse cantered regardless of the fact that I had taken horseback riding lessons once upon a time in my youth. I guess they didn’t want to take any chances with the waygook (foreigner)!



After the riding experience, the show was to begin, so we headed inside. The building was a bit run-down, as were the costumes the people wore, but they were amazing. According to Lonely Planet, these are Mongolians, but from what Seung Ah understood, they were Chinese. They didn’t even speak any Korean. The music during the performances ranged from meringue to classical to new age…interesting and strange. The average age of the performers was probably about 16 years old. I had a twinge inside when thinking of the child labor, but what can you do? The acrobats looked really tired, bored or upset and their costumes were both too big and too old, but they were truly incredible athletes. The pictures should prove that to you.



Green Resort Show



After the bedraggled look of the acrobats, the horseback riders seemed like polar opposites. They were positively glowing and that glow was particularly obvious in a six year old boy who rode horses as if he had been raised by them. His pride in accomplishing each feat brought spontaneous laughter and applause amongst the crowd, particularly when he would leap off the horse, raise his arm and smile triumphantly. Though he seemed way too young to be doing this, he also seemed to love it. I don’t know the truth about it, but it was a great show nonetheless.

After the show we headed to the first of two waterfalls we would see on the trip. The first, Jheongbangpokpo, is one of only a few waterfalls in the world that empties directly into the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking. The sun was of the late-afternoon variety so the light was softer and shadows were cast upon the smoothed-out volcanic rock. Upon first sight, the view was reminiscent of those paradisal scenes in movies like The Blue Lagoon and The Sleeping Dictionary with the exception of 20 or so people already there admiring it.



Jheongbangpokpo



We stayed there for a while and then headed off to another waterfall, Cheonjiyeonpokpo. This is the biggest waterfall on Jeju Island, but there wasn’t much water. The rainy season isn’t during spring here, but rather in the monsoonal summers. The waterfall is in the middle of a beautifully tended park which would be nice to visit regardless of the state of the waterfall. As it is currently the rainy season, it would probably be best to see this waterfall now.



In the touristy part of the park I bought a summer bag made of cotton and dyed with onions, persimmons and wormwood. I’ve taken a picture. I also purchased a calligraphy made by a Buddhist monk. The man on the paintings was a well-known Buddhist wise man and the sayings are all related to finding happiness and well-being in your life. Pretty inspiring.

Seung Ah insisted we go to the Sex Museum afterwards, so we did. Among the other drawings and things, they had pictures of natural formations from around the world shaped as genitals. The most interesting thing for me was a reproduction of a traditional Korea home long ago where houses were still made of papyrus, like in Japan. When newlyweds would retire to their honeymoon suites, people would sneak up outside and wet a finger with their tongue. Then they would place that wet spot on the papyrus which would dissolve, creating a tidy little hole from which they could watch their own little live porno show. It’s was hilarious! As conservative as Korea is, there are those moments when you are surprised by these little stories.

 

After that busy afternoon, we were pretty hungry. We wanted to try some local food and the cab driver suggested we try horsemeat. Interestingly enough, I had spent 3 years in France and had never tried horsemeat though they sold them in supermarkets, but I was all for it here. Jeju Island is known for its horsemeat. We went to a restaurant that specialized in horsemeat and God help us, that’s all they served! We had the most insane experience! We ate everything they served us and believe me, they served us some pretty crazy things; from bone marrow tonics to raw vocal cords, raw liver and raw testicles (yes, you read correctly, and they were actually pretty good!).



Our appetizer: raw horse pieces



Day 2

On the second day there, we woke up at 6:15a.m. in order to get ready to hike up the tallest mountain in South Korea. This sucker is not a steep climb, but oh my God is it ever a bitch! For some reason I am still unable to understand, the trail we went up was lined with volcanic rock (by the way, Jeju is a volcanic island). So imagine hiking uphill for 4 ½ hours on a trail that is made up of craggy and sharp volcanic rock. What were they thinking?! If you ever go there, keep in mind that this is the Songpanak trail. I was cursing it the whole way up! When we got to the top we were soaked through with sweat, but the sense of accomplishment on reaching the summit was awesome. We could see three quarters of the island as well as the surrounding sea and that’s when I realized how small the island really is. In fact, Lonely Planet suggests that you take about 5 days and bike around the island. I’m not a biker, but in theory it sounds nice.

Finally survived the hike!

After a simple meal we were pretty beat, so we decided to head back down. This time we took another trail down which was actually even harder on the legs because, by then, we were so weak that each step jarred the knees, put stress on the ankles and forced us to rest on the way down in order to stabilize our shaking legs. It took us another 3 hours to get down. Every time we though we were done, there was another slope to go down and even some uphill moments every time we exited a ravine. We were practically crying from exhaustion by the time we got back to the entrance of the park.

It was 4pm by then and a new cab driver picked us up taking us to a place called mysterious road. This is a road that seems to be going downhill, but when you stop the car, it seems to be rolling backward up the hill! It’s a pretty cool optical illusion. After that little hiatus, the driver told us that Mini Mini Land was a worthwhile trip. We were so tired we just let him take us. That was probably the only regret I have about the trip. This place is like a Legoland except for the fact that the buildings aren’t made of Lego. Definitely not something you want to walk through after having hiked for 8 hours.

After that walk-through was abbreviated (I could barely walk, regardless of the fact that I was grinning through it), we headed to Songsan Illchulbong, hands down my favorite place in Jeju. It is a small coastal town and we stayed in a minbak there (the Korean name for apartment style rooms with their own kitchens). It’s the Korean equivalent of a bed and breakfast. Below the minbak was a restaurant and, for lack of interest or ability to walk far, we had dinner there. We were the only customers, but I had the best broiled fish of my entire life in that place. It was mackerel and it just melted in my mouth. I’ve eaten it since returning to Seoul, but have yet to taste one as good as the one on Jeju Island (it could also have been the fatigue rendering me delirious, but I doubt it). We also had a seafood soup and I ate my first sea snail in its shell. The shell was so beautiful that I adopted it. It tastes like lambi (conch). We also had what was my first taste of Raspberry wine (bokbuncha). It’s very sweet, but quite good. Later that night we crawled into bed and fell into an exhausted sleep, knowing we would have to get up at the crack of dawn the next day and hike up a crater.

Day 3

We woke up at 4:45a.m., slipped on our clothes and hobbled up the quiet, dark streets towards the looming mountain. We were in so much pain, but you know what they say. Get back on the horse. Songsan Illchulbong is known for its spectacular sunrises. The idea is to get to the top of this mountain crater and watch the sun rise, hence the early start up the mountain. What was good about this place is that they have placed steps the whole way up and it’s a fairly small mountain, in comparison to Halla mountain. But imagine the pain we were in as we walked up flights of stairs for about 30 minutes. All the adjumas (middle-aged women) and adjoshis (middle-aged men) were speeding by us. It was as though we had exchanged bodies for that walk up there.

View from Songsan Illchulbong

Unfortunately, the sky was too cloudy to see the sun rise, but there was a peace and a beauty on the top of that mountain that I’ll never forget. We could even see Halla mountain, the mountain we had climbed the day before, in the distance. It made the trip and the pain and fatigue completely worth it. We stayed up there for a while before finally headed back. This was our last day here and we wanted to make the best of it.

We returned to the minbak, took a nap and then headed out to the pier where we took a ferry to Udo Island (Cow Island). This island is an absolute pearl. Absolutely beautiful and pristine. By then it had started to drizzle (our luck had held until that time). The bus tours going around the island were a bit disorganized and there didn’t seem to be any maps of the island, but the drivers were dynamic and funny (Seung Ah was my translator during the whole trip to Jeju, bless her!).

There are three main beaches that Udo is known for. On that small island they have a black sand beach, a white sand beach and a coral beach. When we got to the coral beach we didn’t understand why it was called this, but we were told that during high tide when the sun is shining, the water takes on a coral color from the crushed coral/sand floor. We were a bit disappointed because we didn’t get a chance to see that.

Haenyos resting

The best part of this trip was the haenyos. Haenyos are part of the history of Jeju and Udo Islands. These are among the hardest working women in the history of this country. Traditionally, only women could become haenyos, or free divers. They would dive for fish and shellfish and could hold their breath for up to two minutes. Over the last 50 years, women have stopped carrying on the tradition and have opted for jobs that are less difficult. As a result, the only haenyos left these days are in their 50s or more. They are still diving. We saw a whole group up them under a gazebo; resting I guess. There must have been a good 40 of them. It was so exciting to see these legendary women in their wetsuits, with their masks on their heads. Later on, we were even luckier to see them working! They were splashing about in the water, the flippers making flapping noises as they reached for the seafloor.

After seeing that, (which was my reason for wanting to come to the island), we headed back to the ferry. By then it had started to rain steadily and heavily. We had an uninspiring lunch of seasoned galbi from a black pig (grilled pork; I’ve eaten way better in Seoul; I think it’s safe to say that if you go to Jeju, focus on the horsemeat and the seafood; don’t bother with the rest). I did get a chance to try yet another new thing that afternoon, an alcoholic drink called mackoli. It is made from rice and some kind of corn meal, I think. In any case, I wasn’t crazy about it because it tasted similar to beer, which has that bitter starchy taste. For those beer lovers, you should enjoy this.

After lunch, we went to a traditional Korean village which has existed for over 400 years. People still live in these villages and keep them in beautiful shape, offering to give free visits in exchange for your willingness to buy something from their little store. I was all for that. The folk-village was called Song-Eup and it was beautiful. It was raining quite steadily and we were given umbrellas for the trip. There we saw the legendary Harubang, which are statues dating back over 250 years that are spread out throughout the island of Jeju. The harubangs’ purpose is a bit of a mystery. They are quite reminiscent of the Easter Island sculptures. People don’t know why they were made, but they are really cute and the theory is that if you touch the nose of a harubang, you will have a boy. If you touch its ear, you will have a girl. It is also said that the harubangs that have their right hand placed above their left represent government workers and the educated population. The ones with the left hand over the right represented the warriors.

Harubangs

I gladly bought something from the store, a concentrated form of tea syrup that you’re supposed to mix with hot or cold water. It is called Omidjacha, or 5 flavors tea. It’s delicious: sweet and tart at the same time. It’s supposedly good for colds too. I’ve been drinking it cold, very refreshing!

After the folk village we headed to Stone Park. By then the rain was lashing away at us and our pants and jeans were soaked through, but we pushed on and into a beautiful world of ancient rock croppings and volcanic remnants. It was very green and very peaceful and interestingly enough, the rain meant that there were few people there and so I felt as though I had stepped into an enchanted land, devoid of others save Seung Ah; a world a thousand years old. It was really magical. We went to the Rock Museum there, but unless you are into geology, I wouldn’t recommend it. There was a lot of focus on the volcanic history of the island and the age of the rocks etc… Those of you Discovery Channel fanatics would probably love this, but it was a bit boring for me. I love science, but I prefer living things.

Stone Park

After leaving the Rock Museum and Stone Park, we headed to the Manjanggul, an underground lava tube. It was really cool but the steps going down were really hard on us because of the pain that we continued to experience. The pictures I’ve taken didn’t turn out so well because I didn’t bring my big flash with me, but hopefully you’ll get an idea of what it’s like to be walking through where lava once flowed. The ground and walls had smooth and rough grooves running through them and there was quite a bit of explanation as to what the different kinds of lava flows were called. I didn’t know there were different names, but I’m here to inform you that yes indeed, there are! I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if we hadn’t been so exhausted and in so much pain, but I’m really happy we got to go.

Manjanggul: striations left by a lava flow

We returned to Seoul that night and had an extra day off the next day to sleep and stretch. Just to let you know, my legs, especially my calves, were on fire for a week after that trip. I’ll never climb that mountain again! ;)

If you ever go to Jeju Island, a word of advice, climb Halla mountain on your last day; this will help you avoid being in pain for the rest of the trip.

P.S. Check out these pictures and another album full of pictures from our day in Everland, the most famous amusement park in South Korea. I went with Seung Ah, Jong In and Jae Jin. It was a blast. There are tons of pictures of this trip. Jae Jin went on a shooting spree!

A City of Beauty and Culture

In March, I was excited to check out the Cherry Blossom festival in Youido, an island in the middle of the Han River in Seoul. I was dissuaded from going during the festival as it would be too crowded, but I was determined to go anyway. As fate would have it, I ended up being too sick to go during the festival and had to wait until after it to go. Son Mi, Jae Jin and I went on the Sunday after the festival was over. It was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon and the trees were covered in delicate white flowers bruised with pink blushes. It was a sight to see (click on the Kodak Gallery link to see more pictures). It was a wonderful day followed by a delicious lunch a 20 minute walk away.

Seoul is a humongous city chock full of cultural stimulation, if you know where to look. Unfortunately, I often miss the opportunities because the tickets are sold out or I’ve found out too late.

But I have been lucky enough to catch a few awesome things. Here they are:

Thanks to Jong In, one of the close friends I’ve made here, I was told about a Rene Magritte exhibit in downtown Seoul. I knew of Magritte because of the famous bowler hat paintings he had made. I was excited to see what else he had to offer. There was a lot. What an amazing man; so much symbolism in his art and the mixture of surrealism and symbolism reminded me of Dali’s work (which I had seen much of outside of Barcelona back in 2005). It was totally worth the trip.

Just a few days later I had the chance to see the Cirque du Soleil in all of its glory. I remember thinking to myself that it was funny that I had lived in Montreal for over 3 years, just steps away from the original Cirque, only to watch it for the first time half way around the world. The production was called Quidam, a wonderful mix of fantasy fit for children, comedy that was international in its humor, and acrobatics that left my mouth open in amazement. The beauty of Cirque du Soleil is the fact that there are no words and therefore no need to translate or adapt the shows to the different cultures. If any of you have the opportunity to see any of the Cirque du Soleil productions, I highly recommend it.

On June 24th, I went with Jong In and Son Mi to see a Korean musical. It is called Subway Line Number 1. It is the longest running musical in South Korea, having existed for about 15 years. Twice a week they have the show subtitled in English so we went on a Sunday evening. The show is actually a rock musical and you could see the musicians behind translucent screens in the background as the actors and singers performed for us. It was an awesome show and I’m glad that I saw it after I had been here for a while. I think it would have been a mistake to see it right away as I would have missed a lot of the subtleties of the humor in reference to the Korean culture. As it was, I laughed quite a bit and it was really cool. It ran a bit long, but I would definitely recommend it.

Last weekend I went to see the Orsay exhibit. Though I lived in France for three years and had been to the Louvre, I hadn’t had the opportunity to go to the Orsay museum in Paris. So, it came to me here! There were fewer paintings than I had expected, but the paintings that were there were definitely worth it. There were paintings from Van Gogh, Manet and Monet, but the best part was my discovery of some new artists. I fell in love with some of the paintings by Albert Bartholome (Dans la Serre), James Tissot ( Le Bal), Henri-Edmond Cross (L’air du soir), Paul Signac (Femmes au Puits) and Odilon Redon (Portrait d’Ari Redon au Col Marin). The colors and the pointillism movement which I had heard about but had yet to see live, were breaths of fresh air that I had badly needed. Check these out when you get a chance and let me know your own thoughts.

Fortunes and Futures Part 1

About one week after Solal weekend, Seung Ah took me to my first fortuneteller! I’ve always wanted to go to one, but I’ve never had enough money and was always wondering whether it was worth it. This experience was very interesting. He wasn’t a fortuneteller per se, instead he did Chinese fortunetelling which is basically mathematical. He asked for my date and time of birth and with that gave me information about my past, my present and my future.

I’ll let you decide whether he’s any good. Here are his predictions about me.

My Past:

- He thought I moved or changed jobs in 2005
- I haven’t had a boyfriend since 2005
- I started to try to make money on my own since 2002 and I didn’t have any real financial trouble
- The financial trouble I perceived I had stemmed from the fact that I was unwilling to accept help from my parents so that’s why I struggled
- I had some trouble in 2006
- I was fated to leave my home in Haiti
- I have had bad luck with men

Who I am/My Present:

- I’m good at managing and teaching; I’m good at conveying information to others
- I have a hard time getting close to men
- I have a strong sense of justice, but society has a hard time following me
- I have a strong personality and I need to control my environment
- I don’t want to have children unless I’m in a stable relationship
- I’m more interested in happiness than in money
- My luck is described by two seasons: Summer and Spring
o Positive, active personality
- I’m eager to learn and to work
- When I meet a guy, I push him away, that’s why it’s difficult for me to be in a serious relationship
- Being a teacher is a good job for me


My Future:

- I won’t have a boyfriend in 2007, but my luck with men will slowly improve in the coming years
- I’ll meet a new group of people this year
- I’ll be studying and will keep learning things for the rest of my life but I won’t get any recognition for it from outside sources
- In 2008-2009 I’ll have a good man and boyfriend in my life, but it will only last for two years
- In 2012-2013 I will meet the man of my life and will ‘marry’ him (keep in mind that in Korea, living with someone implies that you are married because it is not acceptable to live with someone without being married)
- The boyfriends I will have in the future will be friends who will develop into more because I have a hard time getting close to men
- I’ll be traveling a lot in my life; journalism is a good job for me; I’ll never stay in one place for long
- I’ll be changing jobs every 2-3 years because it is what I will wish to do
- I’ll have financial luck in the future
- By the age of 40, I’ll be dissatisfied with my job and will have many offers with different companies that I will refuse because they will not mirror the kind of life I will want
- I will have kids, but I won’t want to depend on men
- I’ll have some problems with my colon and my joints and lungs, but nothing serious
- I’ll be traveling my whole life
- I’ll live a long life

So guys, what do you think? The only extra information I gave him about him was the fact that I came from Haiti. I also objected to his statement about my finances in my past. I found that a lot of the things he told me about my past were not accurate and I told him that I did have financial trouble and that’s when he added the bit on how it was because I refused help from my parents. He also knew that I teach here and that I want to be a journalist, but I didn’t tell him about all the traveling I’ve done nor about the traveling I wish to do in the future.

I didn’t tell him a word about me and my relationships so that came purely from him.

It was quite interesting all in all. I’m not sure I felt as though he was the real deal, but to be fair, he wasn’t quite the fortuneteller with a glass ball etc. He used the Chinese astrology counting system so he did a whole bunch of calculations and this is a field that people study, not that they are naturally born with. In addition, the fortunetelling was done in a brightly lit café where people order drinks and chat with chill music in the background…not at all the dark dingy little corner room I was expecting. I know, I know, I’m a bit on the overly creative side of things.

So I leave it up to you to decide what you think of what he said based on what you know about me. Seung Ah will take me to a palm reader she knows in the near future. I’m curious to compare both people’s prognoses about me. How similar or how completely different will they be? In addition, I’d be really interested in delving into the more obscure and naturally psychic world of fortunetelling to see what those people, with the natural talent, will have to say about me. Are they mind readers, do they really sense something from another world? Are they pulling things out of their asses? What’s the deal? I hope you enjoyed my little experiment. Tune in next time for Part 2 of Fortunes and Futures.

Love,

L

Solal Weekend - February 2007

It has been an eternity, I know. I apologize. I would like to announce that I bought my first computer about a month ago and I’m extremely proud of myself. This is the first time I have been able to purchase something such as this with my own hard earned money. I have arrived! I am an adult! Yeehah!

So I write this on my new HP laptop and it is sweet. It took me a while to get down to the nitty gritty of writing this because I had a computer but no Microsoft Office which I have just recently acquired. Goodbye Notepad!

The subjects of interest this time around will give you an overload of cool stuff to digest. As most of you know, the Lunar New Year usually occurs around February of every year. My Korean students all looked at me quizzically when I asked them what they planned to do for the Chinese New Year. They didn’t know what I was talking about. You see how we Westerns are so ignorant in so many ways? What was I doing saying the "Chinese New Year"? It’s the Lunar New Year and yet in the west we merely associate it to China because we know more about their culture and Japan’s than any other culture in Asia. In Korea, it is called Solal and we got to have a four day weekend.

I hadn’t had any intellectual stimulation for a while at that point and decided to get my act together and do something different. I booked a tour for the DMZ (demilitarized zone) which separates North Korea from South Korea. It was a half-day tour instead of the full-day I had initially wanted, but interesting nonetheless.

To be honest, I had expected to get to the point where you see the South Korean and North Korean guards staring each other down. I was not able to get as close as that. We were actually fairly far away from North Korea and could only catch a glimpse of it in the distance. The experience here was not so much seeing North Korea, but rather all the lengths both governments go through to kind of keep you away from North Korea. I have thought somewhat seriously about visiting North Korea, under no illusions about how controlled the visit would be. I was naïve, however, about the DMZ trip. I thought that by being on the South Korean side things would be a bit more lax. I suppose that, in theory, this is true however things were so incredibly restricted that many times we were wondering what we could possibly take pictures of that would be compromising.

Let me breakdown the weekend for you. The holiday lasted from Friday the 16th of February to Monday the 19th of February included. On that Friday morning I had to wake up at 6:30 to get to the pick-up spot for my DMZ trip. We drove roughly an hour north of Seoul and stopped at an area where the Freedom Bridge is located. This is a bridge that used to be the only access road between North and South Korea. At the end of this bridge is a fence where Koreans and foreigners alike have posted notes of peace and love in light of the situation between the two sides of this divided nation. Under the bridge was a little park where people could sit. In the distance we could see that a family had set up a shrine to which they were praying. The tour guide mentioned that many families would come here to pray for displaced or missing family members from the Korean War. In addition, Solal is the period in the year when people honor the family members who have passed away. This holiday, along with Chuseok, is the most important in terms of family gatherings.

After the Freedom Bridge, we went to an area where we saw a video about the divided nation. It was so commercial and so ‘Western’ that I had no doubts the Americans had helped them develop the video. It was a bit on the cheesy side, to be honest. We then walked through an area where we could read about different situations that had occurred between the two Koreas, the conflicts and plots the North Korean government had to build and eventually attack and overtake South Korea through a series of tunnels. Four tunnels have been discovered up to today, the most recent having been discovered less than ten years ago. People have no idea how many other tunnels may exist. We had an opportunity to go down into one of the tunnels but we couldn’t take any pictures. You could see holes in the walls from dynamite which had been set off to create the tunnel. It was wet and cold down there and fairly interesting.

After the tunnel, we went to Dorasan, a mountain that overlooks North Korea. There was a beautiful view and we had a soldier give us a little presentation. We were not allowed to take pictures from inside, but could from the balcony. But, there is a catch. You could only take pictures from behind the yellow line. You guys, the yellow line was about 5 meters behind the edge of the balcony. It was a joke! The only thing you can see from there is the North Korean mountain range. It was so funny that I took a picture of the line so that you could get an idea how ridiculous it was. But again, that’s part of the experience.

After Dora Mountain, we went to Dora Station, the last train station in South Korea, which in theory should connect both parts of the country if and when they are ready to re-merge. The station is beautiful, but empty. It’s pretty useless for the moment. Over there is a picture of the former South Korean president and President Bush who are both inaugurating the station. I took a picture of that picture. Look closely at it, there is something odd in the picture. I look forward to getting news from you to see who has found the oddity.



The next day, I met up with one of the guys from the tour and one of the teachers from YBM and we went to see an awesome traditional sport: Ssirreum, Korean style wrestling. It was really interesting. An interesting and strange thing: the wrestling is separated into only two weight categories: under 100kgs and over 100kgs. So you ended up seeing someone who was 110kgs wrestling against someone who was 160kgs. That’s a huge difference! An interesting twist to Korean wrestling is that each player has a piece of twisted cloth that is wrapped around his waist and thigh. The opposing player can use only that twisted cloth to throw his opponent. This means that they cannot touch their opponent with their hands. They are required to hook their hands in the cloth and hold on to that and to use that grip to throw his opponent down. This is a very difficult system and it was really cool to watch. There was entertainment between each set where North Korean dancers performed for the audience. It was interesting to see and listen to traditional North Korean entertainment. There was a particular dance called the 4 Seasons where the women changed the colors of their clothes in front of our eyes! I know that there is an explanation to it all, but they would go behind a wall of girls and come back out in different colors. I don’t know how they managed.

At the end of the competition, the winner received some money and a traditional gift, a cow. In the past, cows were given to the winners. Normally the winner would ride on the cow but seeing as this was a calf, he couldn’t possibly do that. He was placed on a throne and was carried around by six high school boys who were very obviously suffering from the weight. It was pretty cute, actually. They were so out of it!

After the competition, Seung Hyon and I went to meet up with some of the other girls at Doksu Palace, another one of the oldest palaces located in Seoul, where we hung around. Afterwards, we went to have dinner in Itaewon (the foreign neighborhood), where we dined at a nice Thai restaurant. Some of them had never eaten Thai before. It was a success. After dinner, we went to Namsan Tower, the Korean equivalent of the CN Tower or the tower in Seattle. We took a cab up the mountain and it was all lit up. The lights were changing on the tower and it was absolutely beautiful. We watched the view from the top of this mountain and it was priceless.



All of Seoul was spread out before us and we could see the Han River weaving through the multi-colored lights. Afterwards we walked down to the spot where we were to take the cable car down the mountain and we walked by something quite fascinating. You know the smoke signal system from Lord of the Rings? Well, Korea had the same system in the past. They had a set of smoke signals spread throughout the country for the same reasons. I took a picture of the historical information about that. You can read it if you’d like.

So that was my Solal weekend! Enjoy the pictures on Kodak Gallery!

March and April: Spring Fever

The month of March was a busy one, filled with work and a sense that things were just going from bad to worse. Throat infections have emerged, relationships have disintegrated and the pace of life has become work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep. Quite the monotonous lifestyle. My first four months here were pure heaven, typical of travels. I’ve experienced this in almost every new place I’ve been to. 2006, a year which had been so unhappy for me, seemed to end on a beautiful note. I had a new country, culture and language to sharpen my teeth on and my experiences continued to be beautiful. I maintain those impressions of Korea.

Of course, it is not perfect. There are aspects to the culture that I think I will always have a hard time dealing with. Those include the incredible rudeness people display in crowds. Apologies are non-existent 95% of the time so you just have to bite your lip and move on. Though in the West I would immediately demand an apology, regardless of the person’s age if they pushed me or cut me off in line, here I’m learning to keep my mouth shut and it is a difficult lesson for me to learn. I don’t want to be the abrasive foreigner who comes to a new country and expects everybody to be and act the way I do. The Koreans themselves don’t say anything when these things happen to them so I follow their example, though it pains me to do it.

I have, however, started to put my foot down when it comes to my apartment building. When people make too much noise after midnight on a weekday and that noise continues for long periods of time, I have decided to knock on their doors and ask them to keep it down. They don’t often open their doors, but they keep it down afterwards. That’s all I want, really.

But I think that this problem stems from an immense city with a large population. Saying sorry to strangers seems to be too much to ask because that would mean that you would have to constantly apologize and I definitely think that Confucious had a say in this attitude as well, especially when regarding how the elders treat younger people.

As I’ve mentioned before, however, once you get to know these people, they make a 180 degree change. They become the sweetest and most generous people I’ve ever met. It is a strange and sometimes confusing country to live in. But I don’t regret a minute of it.

Interestingly enough, my biggest issues and problems here have revolved around, not the Koreans, but the foreigners. I have had more drama in one month with foreigners than I have had in 8 months with Koreans. Yes, that’s right. I’m in my 8th month here. Crazy, right? Time flies.

I never thought about it in quite this way before, but in the end, most relationships have a shelf life. I had made some friends with whom I thought I’d be close and form a strong bond. But each of those relationships reached their expiration dates, much to my dismay and I had to re-evaluate my status here.

I have been able to count on the Korean women at work. They are awesome. We go out to see movies together. We have lunches and dinners and last weekend, we even went to Yoido, an island on the Han River where the cherry blossoms are in bloom. It was a beautifully sunny and warm day and we strolled along the avenue taking pictures of these trees. We then went to have lunch together followed by some frozen yogurt in yet another part of Seoul. It’s such a huge city!

And though I love these friends, there is a point which you cannot cross. The kind of intimacy of conversation that I was able to have with my friends in the West, I cannot have here. There are some invisible barriers that are erected that are not wise to cross. When people have problems here, they tend to keep it to themselves. When they talk about relationships, they give the absolute minimum information and then the conversation is over. And you know how talkative and analytical I am. I need to talk things to death in order to deal with problems. These are the types of issues I’ve been dealing with. Nothing too serious, but a definite sense of solitude that I will have to adjust to. Traveling is wonderful. Exploring a new world is pure magic, but along with those wondrous experiences also come the more sobering aspects of adjusting to a culture not your own. It is a humbling experience that never fails to keep me on the right track.

But separate from the challenges of a new cultures are the challenges that people face around the world, in any situation, at any time. And that is the shelf life theory of relationships.

A person recently told me that he no longer wanted to know me. He merely crossed me off his list. This is the first time anyone has ever wanted to eliminate me from their lives in such a way. It was a very difficult thing to swallow. I started to question myself as a result of his words. I was in shock, wondering how someone could think that I’m such a bad and mean person that they would not want me in their lives anymore. A friend gave me a figurative slap in the face. He became almost impatient with me as he told me that I should not even question my worth or myself as a person. And he’s right. He was part two of my wake-up call. Part one was a lovely Australian friend who let me ramble on until there were no more words. And he reassured me that my honesty, though perhaps a bit difficult to hear at times, is what makes me the person that I am. I have never hidden who I am. I am an open book and those that choose to ignore that side of me will do so to their detriment. I have nothing to apologize for. I have never set out to hurt others and that is a creed that I have promised to uphold. When someone asks for the truth, they must be prepared to hear my version of it as I must be when I ask it of others. So, I have to thank these lovely people in my life; people with whom I see no expiration date: thanks to Ben and Steve.

It is always a humbling experience when others indicate that their ideas of your worth fall far below your own perceptions of your worth. It is definitely important to listen to others and try to understand peoples’ reasons for acting in certain ways. It is also important to determine whether these words are words that you hear repeatedly from others. If they are, this is a reason for pause, but if those words are unique and negative and don’t represent a general impression of what others consider you to be, you must gather your wits about you and maintain your dignity and the trust that you have in yourself. Pain, as difficult as it is to believe at the time of infliction, does fade and we must take that to build upon and learn from.

This is undoubtedly an unusual entry. I have turned the camera away from the country and onto to me. I promise, it shall not always be this way.

Keep reading, I’ve got lots more to say about this fascinating country in upcoming entries.

Love,

L