Korea page 2 of 3
Dear Faithful Followers,
South Korea�A place Semester at Sea has not visited for more than twenty-five years. Considering this, along with the spread of SARS in East Asia and tensions between U.S. and North Korea, everyone was excited, but yet a little apprehensive about our visit. I was sure that our stay would end up being wonderful, but I really had no idea what to expect. It seems that this unguided, laid back attitude helped make Korea a marvelously adventurous new experience.
For Korea, I decided to get away from the ship and big groups of kids for awhile with one of my best friends, Jimale, who is a very interesting girl who studied in Niger and sings just as much as I do. After consulting the ever faithful Lonely Planet Book, we decided to take a bus to the nearby city, Geongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Empire in Korea, where there are plenty of opportunities to rent bicycles and explore all the artifacts and relics. With the assistance of many helpful Koreans, who barely spoke English, we somehow made it to Geongju after braving city buses, subways and an interesting lunch of liver/lung/unidentifiable animal parts soup. It was certainly quite the task considering that I still can't pronounce Geongju correctly.
Right across from the Busan express bus terminal was a small market we explored before our bus left. Used clothes, colorful embroidered pillow cases, roasted silk worm larvae, roots, the best looking strawberries I've ever seen, fresh fish which in many instances were still moving, and of course the kicker, cages of chickens being killed and butchered right before our eyes. We decided that we would get a good taste of real Korean food by eating at the market. First came the ever famous Gimchi or Kimchi (G's and K's are used interchangeable just as B's and P's) which is some sort of vegetable marinated with spices and chili and left to ferment. It's certainly potent and is an acquired taste (I'm not so sure I'll ever like it) so luckily it was served with a meal. Then along with several other spicy side dishes (most including either seaweed or anchovies) came "the soup". We were sitting at a squished table with several older Korean men who were helping us and making sure we ate just about every single bite. I don't like liver�at all!
Geongju was a relatively small city surrounded completely by mountains and countryside and, of course, tons of history. It's actually referred to as a museum without walls. Right in the center of the city there are several massive tombs built for many of the rulers. They were perfectly shaped grass covered mounds, most standing several stories higher than the stores and buildings build right around them. They made for quite a distinct downtown. Walking downtown that first evening, we came across what we later found out was the Seongdongsijang (see what I mean about pronouncing) Market (I think I would have been happy in Korea if the only thing I did was walk through markets�they were so interesting). Seongdongsijang was basically a food market with piles of smiling pig heads on the ground, the occasional massive cow head, buckets with live eels, and a funhouse display of purple octopus tentacles hanging from the low ceiling and in front of stands as if they were curtains. At one point, Jimale and I were walking down the road and a fish startled us by jumping out of one of the small plastic buckets and forced the store keeper to scuttle after it for a few minutes. Feeling hungry for some unexplainable reason, we decided to eat at one of the many stands set up. After choosing one woman's stand, out of the many summoning us, we sat down on a warm bench, later to realize that it was heated. She brought out the Kimchi and other little spicy dishes, anchovy soup, seaweed that was as green as a Christmas tree and then the main course�cold scrambled eggs, octopus mixed with batter and green onions, and two bright pink mushy circles which we deduced after tasting (once and only once), were either pig feet, brains or testicles. I never thought that cold scrambled eggs would be the most appetizing component of a meal�the seaweed wasn't too bad and we figured that if we ate all of it, the plate would look like it had less food.
After dinner, we bought some safety junk food to remove the taste and hit up the bowling alley for no other reason than to check out a Korean bowling alley. It was not much different from an American bowling alley, except that all the kids there had on their wrist bands and were quite serious (Jimale and I bowled something like an eighty combined score). A Korean movie topped off the evening. It was actually quite difficult to find one, being that most of the movies were American. When we walked into the theatre almost everyone tried to inform us that it was Korean and we had made a mistake, but we just nodded in recognition and smiled. I followed the movie for the most part and the closest form of American entertainment I can compare it to is a movie on Lifetime channel for women. The heroine was sick with probably cancer and fell in love with the doctor taking care of her. Died almost five times, left her boyfriend and became famous and then came back to him at the end to die. The movie and the audience's reactions to it was much much more low key than what we experienced in India, where the characters would break out in song and the audience would react with laughter and cheers. The theatre was silent and the film was relatively simple, significantly based on dialogue.
It was interesting to see how the things we had observed about Korean culture thus far, reflected in the movie. Meals and the utensils they use to eat, the minimal presence of affection between males and females (although much more than in Japan), the apartment living style so many Koreans are familiar with, and what features Korean movie stars have as compared to American, could all be seen in the film. Although they were few, whenever we saw a picture of an American or Western female model, she looked so big, bony and commanding as compare to the Korean women featured, who were always fully clothed, fashionably, of course, and were almost always smiling. From my perspective, it seems that the Korean ideal of female beauty is more along the lines of cute. I realize this is a generalization, but everywhere we looked the women were so pretty and had impeccable senses of classic and refined style, implying that they draw attention to themselves in a different way than showing off their bodies and looking sexy.
The next morning, after a wonderful night's sleep in our adorable youth hostel with heated floors, Jimale woke me up at 7:55 am to inform me that it was my birthday. Yes, it was..my days as a teenager are over. The plan for the day was to rent bikes and ride all around Gyeonnju and then to the neighboring city, Bulguksa, but we were in no particular hurry, so we sat on our lovely lounge, drank tea and talked to the Australian travelers, Tobey and Wayne, who were staying at the hostel. At around 10:00 am, I put on all my warm clothes and put my hood up (it was quite rainy) and set off. As we started to leave the city, the cherry blossoms intensified and we found ourselves riding under a ceiling of pink and white cherry trees on top of a carpet of blossoms, just as the sun came out. Shortly, our attention was turned to masses of Korean school children on a field trip who saw us as a perfect opportunity to practice their English. "Hello!" "Where are you from?" "How are you?" "I'm fine, thank you!" were repeated over and over again as they walked by and sometimes even took their pictures with us. For the rest of the day, we found bus loads of kids at all the major sites.
We decided to ride the 14 kilometers to Bulguksa where one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Korea is located, stopping on the way to explore tiny pottery villages, look at the ubiquitous tombs and Buddhas carved into rocks and eat a lovely, but more importantly, safe birthday lunch of rice and green tea. Jimale somehow communicated to the restaurant owner that it was my birthday and I ended up with a candle and ice cream. The Bulguksa temple, which is much more than a historical site for Buddhists, was overrun with elementary and middle school aged kids, Korean tourists, and some actual worshippers. I could hardly imagine such a scene at the Sistine Chapel, St Pat's Cathedral in Manhattan or any other famous worship site for Westerners. There were vending machines strategically placed on the grounds and bustling photo booths. Regardless of the commotion, the temple itself was beautiful. Intricate colorful designs were painted on the roofs and structures, large golden Buddhas sat within the elaborate sliding doors of the buildings, surrounded by bright banners, as well as flowers and cherry blossoms and other greenery complimented the layout to form an atmosphere reminiscent of the temple's history and importance.
The ride back to the city of Gyeonnju was longer and more arduous, but the scenery was much prettier. The mountains in Korea were present everywhere I went, except in the larger cities, and are very rolling. Looking at them you see rows and rows going back to the horizon, similar to the mountains on those cups drinks are served in. The trees on top are very high and look like fringe as the sunlight shines through the slits. On the way back, we passed a stage with several ethnic drums and a tent where food was being cooked. After finding out the show began at seven, it looked as though we had found our plans for the evening.
We showed up at around 8:30 pm to see an event a little different than what was expected. Three performers, one dressed up like a hobo, another like a cowboy and the main singer in fluorescent cheaply made traditional Korean garb were dancing around on stage to the synthesized sounds of Korean pop and occasionally hitting the drums.
When the cowboy transformed himself into a one man band, I knew we had hit a jackpot. For my birthday dinner, I enjoyed some more anchovy soup, an octopus green onion pancake and a little bit of Korean booze, which tastes like straight vodka. As we finished, the main singer came over to speak with us. He knew almost no English, but we managed to get across that we were students from America and gave him our e-mail addresses. When the performance resumed, we made sure to get front row seats to watch our new found friend. Our new friend soon invited the American girls up on stage to sing an American song. In desperation, Jimale and I quickly picked something that looked easy. We sang "My Girl" for about 70 Korean moms and dads and then went back into the crowd to dance with them. For those of you who can understand, I felt like I was at the show at the band shell at Knoebels Amusement Park with my Nanny, Mom and Aunt Lorraine, which, of course, in nothing but fun..in an adult sort of way. I could not have asked for a better birthday.
The morning of day three was spent outside of the city at the Yangdong Folk Village where Confucian culture is kept. It was quite isolated, as we had to take a city bus to the end of the line and then walk 1.5 kilometers to find it nestled in a hill. It consists of antique tile roofed houses gathered closely together that are still inhabited for the most part. It was a nice, peaceful, relatively empty place to walk around and later make plans for an out of the blue surprise trip to Seoul.
We weren't quite ready to go back to Busan, but wanted to see something new, so we decided to catch the next express bus to Seoul (Soul). After four and a half hours and many crunky balls (chocolate and rice crispy candies), we arrived in one of the biggest, most influential cities in the world. As we walked out of the bus station, we were confronted with busy streets that seemed to be a mile wide, huge colorful TV screen atop buildings, and all the Starbucks, McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts you could ever want. It was only around 9:30 pm and we were just walking around in search of a cheap place to stay when we ran into Eddie. Eddie, who is Korean in case you are fooled by the name, was an Economics professor who studied in Princeton for many years and spoke pretty good English. He informed us that we wouldn't find a place to stay for under 400 dollars and said "If you don't mind, you can stay with my family and me." The conversation was a lot longer than I just described it, so Jimale and I decided to take him up on his offer.
We drove down active, brightly lit streets until we reached his apartment. There are so many high rise apartment buildings in Korea that all look exactly the same that Jimale and I were particularly interested in finding out what was in them. Definitely an upper-class apartment, Eddie had a beautiful view of the city, hardwood floors and plenty of room for his wife and three children. We met Lucia, his 23 year old daughter, who was particularly shy, but did everything she could to make up happy, Sophia, who was 21, and a music major, who spoke almost perfect English, 20 year old John and their adorable bunny rabbit, "Ing". They were all so hospitable and did everything to help us plan for a great day in Seoul, as well as teach us about Korean culture. It was so funny how Eddie would point out everything we did, sleeping on the floor, eating Kimchi, as being a taste of Korean culture.
The next morning Lucia prepared a traditional Korean breakfast, which was quite familiar to all the other Korean meals we had eaten, except for the addition of eggs and rice (Korean take of eggs and toast). We exchanged addresses, Sophia gave us music recommendations and then some of her own cds and Eddie took us to the bus stop, where he waited with us until the bus came to take us downtown. Only having a day in Seoul, we just treated it like a day trip to NYC and walked around, shopped and stared at the tall buildings. It was an incredibly open, clean city that was very urban and modern, but not suffocating. No one crosses streets, as underground tunnels are built and equipped with little shops and restaurants. We came across one of the several palaces and witnessed the changing of the guard in an elaborate procession of colored banners and traditional drums.
The train ride home seemed to take forever, but it was also a way to relax after being on the go for several days. I read an entire international Newsweek from cover to cover, bought a few snacks from the guy and his cart, just like in Harry Potter, and learned my body parts in French from Jimale. For dinner that evening, we really wanted something that wasn't fish or Korean in general, we actually ended up with some Ramen noodles and more junk food.
Our last day was spent doing touristy things in Busan, including a trip to the modern art museum and the Busan Aquarium. There wasn't anything really unique or special about the contents of the museums, although I really liked the modern art featured in the art museum. We did come across some more field trips, though this time they were tiny, tiny little kids. The teacher led groups of kids that looked to be five or six through the museum in single file lines. They all stared at us with blank faces and some would shyly wave. They all wore yellow jumpsuits and acted like electromagnetic confetti thrown from above. They ran and bounced around, climbing all over benches and each other. Man, I wish I was a student in Korea�it seems like they are never in school. At the aquarium, we observed the opposite age group that acted in a similar manner. Old people would crowd together at the glass and do the unspeakable, TAP ON IT! It was interesting how they pushed us out of the way all the time. This was one of many of the instances that I was pushed out of the way, as it happened in public bathrooms and store lines. My best guess is that it is an issue of respecting elders, being that Korea is a country with prominent Confucian ideas that emphasis the formal relationships between the young and elders.
Well, I'm sure I have written probably more than you wanted to read�I'm sorry, but my e-mails have almost doubled as my journal because, as finals approach, the work load is increasing to the maximum level and I like to kill two birds with one stone. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes. I really appreciated them and I'm sorry I can't personally thank everyone�I certainly want to. I will conclude by saying that I am dead serious about all that food.
Love,
Julia
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Erin F item [19]
I had an amazing time in Korea. I did a lot of sightseeing and shopping around Pusan, and then I also got away for a couple days to this really gorgeous island off the coast. Korea was very much like the United States � it was very industrialized and the city of Pusan was a zoo just like any other major city.
The very first day Jackie and I hopped on an SAS bus to tour Pusan. The city is huge and traffic is horrendous in the city, as we later found out all too well.
The tour first took us to Tongdosa Temple where we walked around the Asian style temples and walked down the path to enlightenment. I found it the most interesting to watch the Buddhist worshipers bow before the elaborate statues and take off their shoes outside the temples, kneel down on the straw mats and praise their gods. They had roof tiles that you could purchase and sign your name on, and it was believed that these tiles would then be used to roof a new temple and you would be blessed for eternity. I thought that was an interesting method of donating money.
Our next stop was Yongdusa Tower which looked similar to the Seattle Space Needle (I think- I haven�t been there�yet), and we were able to take an elevator to the top to see a magnificent view of the entire city. The city seemed to go on forever on each side. We then went to the UN Memorial Cemetery that honored victims of the Korean War. It reminded me, on a much smaller scale, of Arlington National Cemetery with rows and rows of equal, symmetrical graves. It was interesting because we could pick many of the country flags out as countries that we had visited.
Our last stop on the tour was the international market that we loved and went back to each day that we were in Pusan. The market reminded me of New York City. It was just a maze of streets lined with shops, with different vendors lined up on some of the streets. There were several American restaurants in the area and lots of coffee shops which made me happy! It was tons of fun bartering with the vendors and we stopped at many of the food stands to try different Korean foods.
On our second day in Korea, we went to the smaller market right across from our ship which had a lot of raw fish, crabs, and sting rays for sale. They also had these brown bug-looking things for sale in bushels and they smelled absolutely horrible. People sold them on the streets as snacks and we later found out they were butterfly larvae�. YUM! At the market you could also buy utensils, clothing, fruits and vegetables. One of my favorites was the sock stand�I know it�s funny but they had the coolest socks there for so cheap. Also, for some reason I came home with this 4 foot long pillow with teddy bears all over it. I decided it would be good so I can sit up in bed and study for hours and hours before finals, like I LOVE to do. I think the best part was seeing all the weird looks I got from the crew as I�m trying to carry this monster of a pillow through security. My steward, Efren, especially loves it - he comments on it every time I see him.
That afternoon I jumped on another SAS trip to see a Korean tea ceremony. We took the bus to a women�s university in Pusan and got to tour the college. It was very interesting. First they took us to the cosmetology department. I guess they wanted us to see the classroom � it was equipped with individual mirrors so that they could learn makeup application, but really it felt like we were just paraded up and down the aisles so that the students could giggle and laugh at us. It was like we were all on display! Another unique aspect was that they had a comic book library and reading area. They are very much into animation and comics and it was cool to see the volumes of comic books.
The tea ceremony was really neat. As is customary, we had to take our shoes off before we entered the building that was equipped with a heated floor. The students in the class learning the correct way to present tea did a demonstration for us in the front of the room and then they came around to us individually and served us tea. It is a very precise art and each hand motion used to prepare and serve the tea is very refined. They wore very elaborate, colorful dresses that had a large bow in the front and music played in the background to help them keep time with the serving process. To be honest, I really didn�t like the green tea they served us or the cold rice ball (I think that�s what it was) but the ceremony was very interesting.
That evening we wandered around the international market again and went to see the movie �Chicago.� Seeing a movie here is different because you have assigned seats and have to make sure to buy the tickets with the person you go with. The movie was in English but was subtitled in Korean.
The next morning I left with Jackie for our island adventure! This was definitely the highlight of my time spent in Korea and one of my most memorable times on SAS. We took the public bus part of the way to the ferry terminal with this maniac driver. But there were no signs at the bus stops so we really could have been riding around town in circles and we never would have known. So we got off at some random stop and took a cab the rest of the way to the terminal. There we bought tickets for the next ferry to Kojedo Island.
The ferry ride to the island was incredibly choppy and Jackie got a little seasick. After we got off the ferry, a woman at the information desk gave us information and had us talk to her English friend who translated for us. They booked us a hotel for the night, and their English friend who didn�t know much about the island even gave us the business card of her friend who lived on the island who we could call and ask about nightlife. We got to our hotel room which had a heated floor and a balcony over the ocean with an incredible view.
Around dinner time we walked around the area where our hotel was. Apparently in the summer it�s a huge beach resort area, but now it looked like a deserted fishing village. We went in about 6 different Korean restaurants in search of an authentic meal, but left each one more discouraged because all the menus were in Korean characters and the owners didn�t even understand the paper we gave them that had �I am a vegetarian� translated into Korean characters. We continued to walk down the deserted street when out of nowhere we came across a �Chicago Pizza�! It was funny because as soon as we walked in, the workers turned up the old 50s and 60s music that was playing for us. I tried asking the waiter, who was about our age, what there was to do around there but he couldn�t speak English that well. I do think he had a crush on us though and we didn�t realize it until later but he didn�t charge us the full price for our meal.
The town we were staying in was absolutely dead so I decided to be adventurous and convinced Jackie that we should take a taxi to the next town to see if there was anything to do. I�m so glad we did! We went into a bar named �Hooligan�s� that was advertised as a �Western Bar.� The two bartenders turned out to be the nicest Korean women ever. The owner of the bar was 30 years old and the other one was 25. We talked with them for about two hours about their life in Korea, owning the bar, school and politics. They were so nice and the bartender gave us this shot to try called �Broken Brain� that looked really cool � it actually looked like a brain. Then they bought us these little teddy bears from a vendor who came into the bar. They were so adorable and just the friendliest people I had met in Korea.
Across the bar, these three older European-looking guys had been staring at us all night. Finally, one of them came over to talk to us and we found out they were French workers for the Daewoo shipping company. They were out celebrating on that Wednesday night because they had just come from a corporate �welcome� dinner honoring one of their co-workers that had just came to Korea. The other two had been there for a year and a half. They spoke English very well and were very happy to talk to us, saying that we were the first Americans they had met on the island since they had been working there. The new guy, Gil, left the bar but we stayed and talked to GiGi and Eduardo. The first thing Gigi asked me after finding out my name and nationality was �What do you think about the war?� He was strongly against it and we debated politics for a few minutes� he just wouldn�t give it up. He said ever since the war started he hadn�t set foot in a McDonald�s. That was his way of boycotting the war. Also, he said he had lost a lot of faith in the English government because they supported the U.S. When we finally got off the topic of the war, we talked about Axelle, the French exchange student who lived with us for awhile and her city in France. Eduardo was a quieter character who was an exact replica of �Mr. Bean.� He was hysterical and the faces he made left us dying laughing. Gil, the new co-worker, was newly married and had lived for several years in China, where he met his wife.
After awhile they decided they wanted to take us out somewhere so we told them we wanted to go sing karaoke and then afterwards we planned to meet our Korean bartender friends at a dance club after they closed the bar. Our quest for a karaoke house was quite interesting. There was a bright neon sign with a silhouette of a woman singing in a microphone so we thought it was a karaoke advertisement. Boy, were we wrong. It appeared to be some kind of whore house! We walked down the stairs and there were these low, brightly colored doors. Eduardo knocked on a door, opened it, and then turned right around. When Jackie and I tried to peek around him he pushed us back up the stairs and said it wasn�t for us. We finally found a karaoke house and spent an hour singing Rolling Stones, Madonna and The Beatles at the top of our lungs with these hysterical, old French guys. It was the most random thing ever. We had to skip out on clubbing because it had gotten so late, but took some really funny videos with our French lads.
The next morning we took a boat tour of the surrounding islands and the rock formations that protrude out of the water around them. The island, Oedo, was gorgeous and called �Paradise Island� for obvious reasons. Oedo was covered with these beautiful gardens and statues that we strolled through along the island path. Although the tour was very scenic, the boat ride there was absolutely hysterical. The two of us were the only white people on the small boat that seated about 150 Koreans. It must have been senior citizen day or something because they were all older and stared at us like we were some strange species. Korean music was playing overhead and for the entire hour and a half they clapped, off beat, to the music. When it was time to choose seats on the boat ride home, the seats next to Jackie and I were the last seats taken. It gave me a very different view of how even mature adults view foreigners. I was very much aware of our differences in appearance and the fact that in their culture, I was the minority.
The next day when we returned to mainland Korea we walked around the markets, doing some last minute shopping. We wanted to eat at this really nice Korean barbecue restaurant across town where they cook the beef in front of you at the table. Well, the problem is that we hit major traffic. Under normal conditions, we would have been able to get to the restaurant, eat, and get back to the ship with an hour to spare. The traffic was so bad it took an hour to get across town to the restaurant. We jumped out of the cab in the middle of the four lane highway that was stopped in traffic, grabbed a quick bite at Subway only to get in a different cab with a much slower driver. On ship time was 9 p.m. At 9:06 we ran up the gangway to clapping and cheers of �dock time� from the 100 students gathered along the ship�s deck. Due to our tardiness, our punishment was that we had to be back on the ship in our next port of Osaka, Japan two hours earlier than everyone else. It brought me back to the days of late passes at Mercy every week and having to serve detentions for them� Only it was much funnier this time because Jackie and Jana, the two girls I was with, are the most prompt people ever so they were flipping out.
So that�s my journey in Korea! Although it may not seem all that exciting, our overnight trip to the island was one of the most rewarding things I�ve done on my whole trip. Not being able to speak Korean or understand their characters made it very challenging to get there but it made it even more meaningful once we were there. We went there without any expectations or plans and had an extremely exciting, random night while meeting and getting to know several local and foreign people. I think that�s what this trip is all about!
Love, Erin
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Unknown item [20]
Traveling to Pusan, South Korea with only a day of rest after departing Nagasaki, Japan permitted little time to learn about Korean culture and time to make plans for independent travel. I was too burnt out from traveling the Kyushu countryside, so I decided not to make the four hour trip to Seoul. Without preparations, I did not know what to expect or do in Pusan. I spent the first day in the densely peopled metropolitan area, so for the second day I wanted to contrast that experience with a dose of nature. After a half an hour of indecisive deliberations among a group of five people who exhibited signs of not wanting to travel together, although no one would say it, we split up, and I left with Danielle for the bus station with slightly more than halfhearted intentions to go to a national park.
We had in mind Taejongdae Park, which we thought was about an hour and a half away, because our Pusan map reading skills had not developed yet. We took the bus from the harbor to the subway station, and then took that to the bus station, which was actually the train station. As it turned out, that mattered little, because Taejongdae Park was only a half hour ride south on a city bus.
Burning to spend the extra money saved by the pleasant surprise that our trip would cost us only the 700 won bus fare (the exchange rate was about 1200 won to the dollar), we decided to get lunch and take the bus to Taejongdae. We wandered the street in search of appetizing street vendor food, and were a little set back by the purchase of a definitive failure, a dumpling containing some unidentifiable, slippery, semi-transparent coil of simply bad flavor. In some combination of desperation and fascination we ended up in a Korean fast food restaurant. Danielle ordered a rice burger and I bought a kimchi burger. Hers was a hamburger, but with a bun replacement made of sticky rice. I had the same rice bun, but instead of beef there was kimchi, the staple Korean side dish, which usually consisted of pickled vegetables such as cucumber and cabbage. Knowing what you are eating generally allows for more enjoyment.
We took the forty minute bus ride to the end of the line, and pointed to Taejongdae Park on our map, and bus driver pointed vaguely down the road. We walked past some carnival games, and we saw a Ferris wheel in Jayu Park, an amusement park complete with empty swimming pools and a golfer�s driving range. The park and parking lot were deserted, yet the huge, bright wheel spun tirelessly. On the other side of the gate into Taejongdae Park there was an immense war memorial honoring the medics sent from other countries to aid injured Korean soldiers in the 1950�s.
Once inside the park, we were confused as to what exactly this place was. We realized the full name was Taejongdae Recreation Park. There was one loop of road stretching about two kilometers and lining the road were hordes of buses carrying elderly Koreans. Our image of this place, an image fueled by a tiny description and picture of dense forest and sheer cliff overlooking the bay, was not being fulfilled. Two young, strong, lively youths in hiking gear trekking the same path as a cane-toting, hunchbacked 70 year old Korean gentleman didn�t disappoint us, but likewise didn�t excite us.
We begin walking the beautifully cemented and sidewalk-fringed path, knowing that at least we would enjoy the scenery, even if we were out of place. Some thirty yards into the park, we passed the second bathroom facility so far, and made a brief stop before beginning the actual trail. Near the bathroom and the soon-to-be-ubiquitous food vendor (always offering some kind of meat on a stick lounging in tepid yellow water) were stone steps descending to the coastline.
There seemed to be many red and yellow tents or umbrellas at the bottom, possibly more vendors, maybe fishermen; either way weren�t too interested. We then noticed next to the steps a path that cut through the woods behind the bathrooms, so we took it. We wound around to the edge of a cliff overlooking the bottom of the steps and the red and yellow domes, but what held our attention was a panoramic view of miles of coastline, and the waves crashing on the rocks below us. We climbed down a rock path until we were about 10 feet away from the pounding waves. We sat and admired the ocean for a while, seeing it from a different, more humble perspective than the one offered from sailing across it on a cruise liner holding over a thousand people.
Returning to the main paved path and continuing around the park, we noticed that there was a restroom facility about every 25 yards, and food vendors even more frequently. There were also several sparsely spread out, brilliantly painted, multicolored Buddhist shrines reminding us that we were in Asia, in South Korea. The vendor�s food selection including insects and dried octopus helped remind us, as well. We took a right off of the main path again, downward past a few of these vendors, and a few stalls selling souvenirs.
We continued blindly on the path; our map was an exaggerated cartoon written in Korean so we couldn�t really trust our reading of it. Twenty minutes down the mountain, we realized that the path would take us all the way to the shore. There were people in shacks and tents set up on the rocks, and outside each place were buckets of live eels, sea leeches, sponges, and other sea fauna that, frankly, scared me. It wasn�t the animal itself that scared me; it was the people sitting around on picnic mats presumably eating these animals. At this point in time, the thought about whether or not they were cooked did not even enter my mind.
We ambled by this fisher folk, astonished at their catches, and continued past them to the shoreline of a beach. This beach was different from every beach I had ever seen in that it did not consist of sand. Instead, the tide rolled over a bed of large rocks, ranging in size from pebbles to boulders, but primarily consisting of smooth stones the size of baseballs, only flattened and elongated. The sound of the tide flowing back into the ocean, trickling through the stones reminded me of the infinitely soothing sound of a garden fountain. Danielle and I collected small smooth stones and pieces of glass that were slowly being ground back into their original state of sand.
Further along the beachfront, we noticed a group of middle aged Koreans in dressy clothing doing what seemed to be the equivalent of sandcastle building. Two were on the ground making single towers of the elliptical stones, starting with a large one, with each above it decreasing in size. Another man was making a complicated arrangement on a shelf on the side of a huge boulder. He saw us watching him and motioned us to join him. We picked up a few rocks and started stacking, but he scoffed at us mildly, seemingly amused. He corrected our mistakes and taught us his techniques. We added a few spires to his growing fortress, thanked him, and proceeded along the beach.
There was no way back up the mountain on this path, so we turned around to go back the staircase we came down. On our way back, the group of four adults, including the man who we made a stone castle with, beckoned us to sit on the mat and join their snack time. We hesitantly went to the edge of their mat, took off our shoes, and sat cross-legged facing their plate of squirming, tentacle-bearing, raw, very-recently-alive creatures. I immediately thought the way both pieces of a worm continue to move after it has been split in two. The man who had befriended us earlier offered us each a pair of metal chopsticks. Korean chopsticks were flat and harder to use than the rounded Japanese style chopsticks. This trifle mattered little next to the insistent offer in front of us to try a bit of their food and culture.
They attempted to assuage our apparent wariness with a few shots of soju, Korean rice liquor somewhat similar to Japanese sake. Danielle and I each drank a shot of the liquor, primarily to let them know we appreciated their hospitality. Every time one of them motioned for me to try the oversized, sea-insect treats, I smiled, shook my head, and looked down shyly. I could not overcome my cowardice in the face of this intimidating Korean cuisine.
Our stone-stacking friend picked up a piece of grayish-blue appendage, or was it a torso? He dropped it into the ashtray sized dish of red sauce and stirred it around. It had wriggled the last bit of life out of itself. He lifted it within two inches of Danielle�s mouth and urged her to try it. The situation was perilous: to refuse and insult this man, or to eat the unknown, slimy, suction-cupped tube and possibly spit it out or even get sick? I watched in gagging awe as she took the whole piece into her mouth and started to chew. Immediately, I knew that the texture and taste of this foreign food were not pleasing to her. She was struggling with it, and forcing back the urge to spit it out and run away, jump into the ocean, and swim to the United States. That of course would be tactless, insensitive, and tiring, so she continued to chew with a grim smile. Fortunately, they offered her another shot of soju to drink. She used it to immediately swallow the entire wormy bite.
�You like?� they asked.
�Uh huh,� she said hesitantly, yet motioning that she desired no more of this food.
I knew there was no hope for me to try this, so for about five minutes, we discussed the most grateful way of exiting, while the four Koreans had their own conversation. They spoke very little English, and we even less Korean. Despite the language barrier, we were pretty sure that they were laughing at us. We said �gamsa hamnida,� �thank you� in Korean, put on our shoes and left.
We made it back up to the main path and continued walking, but soon took a break to eat some snacks that we had brought with us. Danielle needed to cleanse her mouth with the more familiar flavor of some Korean junk food.
The rest of the park was beautiful, and the other temples were interesting, but everything following had difficulty in making an imprint.
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Liesel item [21]
April 7, 2003
We arrived in Pusan (Busan was the old name of the city) Korea today at about 8am. Customs flew by and we were off the ship by 10am. Semester at Sea has never docked at Pusan before so some city reps came on before they cleared the ship and presented the captain with flowers and a gift. The reps were really friendly and seemed quite excited to see us (who wouldn�t be excited to see an organization that brings over 1 million dollars to their city?) The person who presented the gift was dressed up in some kind of huge outfit and had this big bobble head like thing � �she� was in traditional dress and had quite a hard time maneuvering around the ship when everyone mobbed her for pictures. As a gift they gave us all guide books and Korean fans (they were fans from the Busan metropolitan City Tourism promotion division) but it�s the thought that counts.
The downtown area is 40 minutes from the dock by bus and we really did not have any clue what we would find downtown. We really had not been well prepared for this port at all. We had Korean boot camp day the one day we were on the ship between Nagasaki and Pusan, but that was more the history of Korea and not tips on what to do in Pusan. So my friends and I decided to just wander � sometimes that�s the best way to do things. One of the girls wanted to get a dress made so she asked a lady right outside the dock where a tailor could be found. The very friendly lady wrote down an address and told us to take the #11 bus. There was a huge line for the bus when it pulled up and I was last in line. This, apparently, is not the best place to be in line. Everyone else was on and I was halfway on (one of my feet was on the step and the other was still on the ground) when the bus lurched forward and began to go. Being halfway on a bus and halfway off a bus is definitely not the best situation to be in. Luckily the driver did not go too fast and I was able to swing my other foot on and hang on to the railing things while the isle cleared out. The buses in Korea become packed with people. I got mobbed at one stop by people trying to get off the bus � these people just push you if they want to be where you are � I thought I was going to be caught up in the mass of people and just carried right off that bus and far away from my friends (don�t worry I held tight to the handrails and was fine). We met a friendly woman on the bus who told us which stop to get off at and pointed us in the right direction of the tailor. We were very proud of ourselves when we finally found the tailor, then we discovered she could not make the type of dress that my friend wanted � quite a disappointment to her.
We had no other plans so we decided to walk down the street, back in the direction of the dock. We wandered in and out of random stores and began to search for an Internet caf�. We stopped in one store and asked the woman if she knew where we could find an Internet caf�. She was so kind to us. She walked out side and walked up the street and pointed to it. We were not sure which building it was so Greta walked up the street and kept pointing to buildings until she finally found the right one. We found the caf� and went inside only to be shooed out by the man inside. There was a huge room full of computers but this guy just did not want us there. I don�t know if it was closed, or not working, or what but he was not the friendly type. We discovered that some Koreans are really friendly and some don�t want anything to do with you. There is a huge language barrier here, just like there was in Japan. Very few people speak English. Most that due are extremely helpful though.
The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets of Pusan. We did not see one other SAS student the whole day! It was great. You might be thinking, dang she�s harsh. But it makes a country so much better when all you see and experience are that countries people. It�s really a different experience when you run into Americans every few blocks. I loved the fact that the four of us could walk around Pusan and never once see another SAS face. We randomly found an internet caf�, this one had friendly people working there, and paid the hefty fee for the internet use (it cost 1000 won for 1 hour � that�s less than a dollar!!!) As we were leaving the Internet caf� an older Korean man approached us. He finally got the point across that he was 63 and he wanted to know if we were students and how old we were. We told him and he kept saying �grandman� (this was supposed to mean �I could be your grandfather!!!�) he kept saying Korea and then giving us the thumbs up sign. Then he said �North Korea� and threw his fist at the ground. After repeating the grandman phrase 5 or 6 times he said US, then he said Iraq. We didn�t catch it at first, we were not sure what he was saying. But he kept repeating it and then we finally caught on. So he said US! And gave us a quizzical look. Then he said Iraq! And just starred at us. We were a little uneasy at this point. The man was quite animated in his actions. Then he said it again �US! Iraq!� we kept walking but he kept following us and repeating the phrase. Then we said it �US! Iraq!� then we gave the thumbs down sign. A huge smile came across his face and he headed down the stairs to the subway, thus ending our conversation.
We decided to diverge from the bus route and walk through a little market area. Let me just tell you that I have been to fish markets before and I have tried my fair share of strange fishy foods, but I have never seen so many different types of fish lying around ready to be cooked up. There were dead fish, live fish, and some things that I were not sure if they were fish. There were your regular run of the mill silver fish of all sizes, squid, octopus, eels (yes, some were swimming around in buckets), crabs, and even stingrays. It was pretty interesting, the smell was not too inviting though. They also had other animal parts � including heads and intestines (which, by the way, splatter when they are pulled from a bucket full of intestines � my personal recommendation � DON�T STAND TOO CLOSE)
Korea is a very fast paced country. The whole bus ride was an experience and I got my fair share of exercise just trying not to be thrown onto the guy next to me � it was like being on the monkey bars during an earthquake. If you are walking too slow and someone wants to get by, you won�t hear �excuse me� you�ll just be shoved out of the way. Korea was very, very fast paced. It took me a few hours to figure out that they drive on the same side of the road as we do � I kept looking the wrong way to check for cars � oops! We decided to walk back to the ship, after all it was pretty close to where we were now. Ok, so we were wrong about that one. We forgot the fact that bus routes don�t go as the crow fly�s � they wind and bend and go randomly in the longest possible route. Part way back to the ship we stopped in at Top Mart (Korean Wal Mart? Yes, I do believe so). We bought some of the most delicious strawberry�s I have ever had and we decided they would hold us over until dinner. After walking for another 45 minutes, 30 of which were in the rain, we hailed down a cab. It was good we did that! The cab ride was probably about 5 miles and we arrived back at the ship just in time for dinner. We never would have made it if we had tried to walk back. There really isn�t anything to do near the ship so we called it a night and went to bed early to get some rest before our early departures tomorrow.
April 8, 2003
Today I left in the morning to go to Seoul � the capital of South Korea. The train ride was 5 � hours and I spent much of that time catching up on lost sleep. When I looked out the windows I noticed that all of Korea really looked the same to me. There were huge apartment buildings everywhere (these buildings are the main housing for Koreans) and then there would be some wooded areas. I did not notice much contrast like I had seen in many of the other countries. We had lunch on the train and I really don�t know what I ate. That was pretty much the theme of my meals in Korea � if it�s food eat it, but you�ll never know what it is. One item they serve with every meal is kim-chi (I know I�m spelling that wrong), but it�s basically pickled cabbage in some kind of hot sauce. Sometimes I liked it and sometimes I didn�t, the taste varied everywhere we went. When we arrived in Seoul we went straight to Jogyesa Temple, a Buddhist Temple. There was a lot of construction going on around the temple and some of it was threatening to destroy the temple. Because of this there was a monk who was �on strike� as our tour guide said. He had been meditation for something like 40 days and had been fasting for about 29 of those days � he was just sitting under this little tent meditating when we got there, when we left he had not moved. This temple was originally built in 1910 at a different location with the different name �Gakhwangsa Temple.� It served as a spiritual backbone for Korean people under Japanese occupation. In 1936, its main Buddha hall was reconstructed at its present site (Jongno, Seoul). Our guide told us that the way the pray is to bend down, with your hands in prayer position, kneel and put your head to the floor. She then told us that the number of times you do this will vary, your next life will be that much better if you do it more times.
After the temple we stopped for a quick shopping spree (we had too many of those on this trip) and some Korean school girls ran up to me and asked for a picture with me. I still can�t believe just how excited these people get when they see an American. I took a picture with them, these pictures included peace signs again, and then gave them all postcards � let me tell ya, they love those postcards. By this time we had been travelling around for quite some time and I realized that I had to go to the bathroom. I�ve had mixed experiences with Korean bathrooms so when I spotted Starbucks I knew I would be safe. I went in and immediately saw the sign for the restroom. I was rushing straight for it when I heard a very enthusiastic �HELLOOOOOO!� I met a Korean girl who was studying English and had to interview 3 foreigners. I promised her I would do it, but explained that I had to use the bathroom first. I sat down with her, yes � after I used the restroom, and she gave me a beautiful orchid and bought me a coffee! I couldn�t believe it, I tried to buy her one but she just kept telling me no and saying it was her treat. From the second I met her I had a hunch that I knew what the survey would be about, I ended up being correct. There were about 5 questions pertaining to the war with Iraq. I answered the first four with ease, by this time I had a pretty good grasp on how I felt about the whole thing. But the last question was different. She wanted me to pretend I was Korean and she wanted to know if I would send in Korean troops to assist. I had no clue how Koreans felt about the war so I asked her. Her face went straight and she put her arms across her chest in an �X� shape � that explained it all. After that was all through she of course wanted a picture with me, then she took a picture just of me � I thought she was going to keep it, but she gave it to me (so if anyone wants to know what Starbucks in Korea looks like I�ll show ya a picture, no surprises though � they all look exactly the same).
After checking into the hotel we headed off for dinner. My roommate ended up being this girl Friday Werner who I had never met before. I asked here where she was from and she said San Francisco so I of course responded �really! I�m from Napa� then she said �in that case I�m from Los Gatos.� It�s funny how that happens. There are a ton of people from the San Francisco/Bay Area/Oakland/San Jose area on the ship and we all generalize where we are from until we meet someone else from that area who will actually know the city we mention. I then discovered that she dated a guy I went to high school with, crazy stuff! Dinner was at a traditional Korean restaurant named Nolboojp and it was absolutely delicious. First of all we sat on the floor on little pillows. These floors were amazing! You wouldn�t think of a floor as amazing, but let me tell you these Koreans are dang inventive people. The floor are kind of bouncy, not too bouncy, but kind of like one of those spring mats that gymnasts use AND they are heated!!!!!! It was great, you guys all think heated seats in cars are wonderful, trying heating your floors. This isn�t a new Korean invention either. They have been doing it forever. We went to a Korean folk village and you could see the vents for the smoke that was from heating the floors. A very exciting discover y for me. Anyway, they bring you this table with the food already on it (when you sit down there are just 4 mats on the floor and no table) and they just set it down in the middle of all 4 of you and you dig in.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel but Friday and I were not ready to go to bed so we decided to check out their shopping mall. We weren�t really in the mood to shop but we figured we had to go to a Korean shopping mall. This may sound strange to you, you may think that a Korean shopping mall is just like any other shopping mall � my friends you are wrong. First of all this mall is 8 floors. Second of all every shop is connected so it�s very overwhelming because you never get a break from the stores, they all blend together. The exciting part about the mall is that it�s open very late. We must have arrived at the mall around 9pm, in the US this would not leave much shopping time. In Korea this gave us 8 � hours of time (add that up on your fingers and you�ll find that the mall is open until 5am). That�s the main reason we went. We had to find out why the malls were open so late. It was a Tuesday night so there were not too many people at the mall, but it was definitely an experience. Friday found some leather pants she wanted to try on, but this created a problem for us. We looked around and noticed that there were no dressing rooms. Koreans use what I like to refer to as �the beach dressing room.� You know when you�re on the beach, in your swim suit, your freezing cold and you are about to leave � you realize you have a one to 1 � hour drive home (these are Northern California beaches for those of you who are already lost) and you really don�t want to sit in a cold, wet suit for that long. However this beach has no changing rooms, so you wrap a towel around you and fidget for a bit and soon get your suit off and your sweat pants on (of course half the time they are on backwards and all crooked, but they are on). This is the same idea. They give you a �skirt�, that is really just some material with an elastic top, and you put it on (just like that towel) and you try on your pants. It was a different experience, I guess it saves a lot of room.
After walking around 8 floors of a shopping mall and wandering around outside at the market we realized we were tired and freezing. We wanted to get some hot chocolate before heading back to the hotel, so we wandered the back streets of Seoul until we came across a coffee shop. We had the best hot chocolate of our lives at this place. I�m telling you this stuff was amazing. We tried to tell the guy behind the counter that we wanted to buy some of the hot chocolate powder, just the powder and not more hot chocolate. He had no clue what we were saying. We finally got the point across and he ended up giving us an entire cup full of the powder for free! Then he went in the back and guess what he came out with. He brought out a camera and asked if he could take our picture. I figured he wanted to show his friends the two weird American girls that couldn�t get over just how good that hot chocolate was. We left the coffee shop and hailed down a cab, actually we hailed down 4 cabs. The first 3 kicked us out and told us they had no clue where our hotel was (Even when we showed them on a map) but the fourth guy knew where it was, so we finally got back.
April 9, 2003
This was the day I really discovered just how freezing I will be when we arrive in Alaska. When we left the hotel it was about 40 degrees outside, but don�t worry it warmed up to 50 degrees by mid afternoon. I was not planning on going to Alaska so I only have one long sleeved shirt, one sweatshirt and one raincoat (that will work well as a windbreaker but won�t bring much warmth).
This morning we hiked up part of Hwaseong wall. This is the wall that surrounded the Hwaseong fortress that was built in the city of Suwon around 1776. Much of the wall has fallen by now but some of it still stands and the four main gates can be found around the present-day city of Suwon. After our hike we went to a Korean folk village. All of us were reminded of colonial Williamsbrg in the US, it looked much like a Korean version of that. After we walked around for a bit we saw an acrobatics show. Two women would propel each other into the air on this see-saw type thing and they would do flips and hit tambourines and do lots of crazy stuff. Then there was the tightrope walker. it looked like the guy was just gliding across the rope. Then he would take a couple of steps sit down and bounce right up again. It definitely took a lot of skill, I asked how old the tightrope walker was � he was in his 70�s!!!!!
Next we went to the Olympic Park and Olympic stadium of the 1988 Olympics. The gate to the park was supposed to represent the hope for unity between North and South Korea. We almost got run over a million times at the park � no it wasn�t by cars. There is a paved track like area around the outside of the park and there must have been close to 100 Koreans skating around. Rollerblades are still a big deal in Korea. They really got into it too. It wasn�t your leisurely rollerblading. They looked like the speed skaters in the Olympics and some of them even had those skintight suits on � very popular, but quite dangerous for spectators. We also saw the eternal flame and some of the statues donated by different countries. Then we headed to Olympic stadium. We got to go inside and stand on the track. I can�t even imagine what it would feel like to be down on that track or on the field with more than 80,000 people watching you.
Dinner was interesting. Let me just tell you the name of the restaurant��..Carne Station. So as you can probably guess there was quite a good amount of meat at this place. There was a buffet of soups and salads and then there was a buffet of meat � but it was uncooked meat. There was a whole row of raw meat laid out on plates just waiting to be cooked up. Don�t worry, you don�t eat the meat raw. You take the meat that you want back to your table and you cook it on a little grill in the middle of the table. It was quite an interesting experience. The whole time our guide was asking us if we liked our bbq, I guess it was kind of a Korean bbq.
After dinner we were all exhausted from being dragged around all day so we decided to see a movie. Most of the movies in Korea were in English, but Korean drama (as they call it) is a growing field. We, of course, saw something in English. We watched �Tears of the Sun� and it was somehow even more real to me after taking my class on the International Criminal Court and reading about such ethnic cleansings. We took a cab back to our hotel and our driver spoke no English. The whole time he was speaking Korean and laughing, sometimes I would really love to know what those people are saying.
April 10, 2003
In the morning we went to Gyeongbokgung palace (yeah, try to pronounce that and you can see why we struggled with saying hello in Korean). This palace was built in 1395 and later destroyed during the Japanese invasion in of 1592. Then it was rebuilt to its original state. After it was rebuilt the emperor began to use it as the seat of government instead of the palace. Again in 1910, when Korea was annexed by Japan, most of the buildings were torn down, only about 10 buildings were left. Since 1990 the Korean government has been trying to restore and rebuild many of these buildings. Because of this there was a lot of loud construction going on and some of the main buildings were covered up. On the roof of every building, but one, was a dragon. The one building without a dragon was the kings quarters. In Korea the dragon is a representative of the King. The Kings quarters could not have a dragon on them because if they did that would mean there were two dragons present and this would create conflict. The buildings we could see were beautiful though. The architecture reminded me a lot of the temples in Japan and the designs on the buildings were gorgeous.
On the way to the airport we drove by Blue House, built 150 years ago, which is the home of the President. We stopped at a fountain near the Blue House that represented the hope for unity that was lost when the Korean family was scattered during the war. Lunch that day was amazing. It was not Korean food but it was delicious. We ate at a restaurant called Chalet Swiss and had salmon, potatoes and green beans in some kind of lemon pepper sauce. We also had fresh salad and it was soooooooooooooooo good! Then it was off to the airport and back to Pusan. We got back to the ship around 7pm, but the center of town (where there is actually stuff to do) is a 45 minute bus ride so I just crashed on the ship for the night and got some rest.
April 11, 2003
Today was a very cold day. It was raining all day long � non stop, I kid you not. It�s been awhile since I�ve seen so much rain and I loved it, but I was soaked to the bone by the time the day was over. I got up early to get a good start on my Pusan exploration but soon discovered that the information lady on the ship didn�t come on until 9am, so I went back to bed for an hour and then headed out at 9. I got directions to the two places I wanted to go and headed out on my way. This whole trip I have been surrounded by hundreds of people, so I took a day to myself. We were finally in a country where it was safe to wander around alone, so I took advantage of it and took the day to myself. I got on the bus to Yongdu Park and tried to see the tower from the bus � that is what the tour lady told me (you can�t understand what the announcements on the bus are, so she told me too look for the tower and said I would definitely be able to see it). On a rainy day, in a bus packed with people, you CAN�T see out the windows. So I pulled out a map and quickly tried to match up the names of the subway stops with what it said on the street � that didn�t work so well. A man came up to me, looked at my map and figured out where I wanted to get off. He told me to get off with he and his wife and they would show me where the tower was. I only had a rain jacket on and every Korean had an umbrella. I don�t know how many times people asked me where my umbrella was. When we got to the mans store he offered me one of their umbrellas and tried to buy me coffee. Everyone in Korea was so nice and offered so much help, it really made it easier to find your way around. When I arrived I noticed that the tower looked just like a smaller version of the Seattle Space Needle. It was surrounded by a really nice park and had it not been raining I might have spent more time wandering around the park. It was really foggy so I couldn�t see too far but it was still a great view of the entire city.
I was ready to leave so I pulled out my directions to the UN Cemetery which was pretty far away. I had been told to take the Subway and I would be able to get off right near the cemetery. I searched and searched for the subway but never found it. So I decided to back track on the bus I came on and get off at a subway station that I had seen earlier. Once on the bus I pulled out my map to situate myself and within seconds there was a man looking over my shoulder and asking if he could help me. I told him where I wanted to go and he ended up taking me there. He had never been before so he didn�t really know where he was going but through his being able to read Korean and my map we finally found the cemetery. He said he was an English and a math teacher but his English really wasn�t too good. I was surprised by t