Merry Day After Christmas All! Well, I am now back at work. Although public schools, banks, and government offices are closed on Christmas Day, the rest of the city is up and running. The rest of the week is business as usual. This is the last week of school. I think I have mentioned before that the school year here starts in March and ends in December. So I am looking ahead to three weeks of a special winter camp (it is only Monday through Friday for 3 hours a day so no big deal) and then five weeks of vacation. I love it!!!
So the question on everyone’s mind: What is Christmas like in Korea? Except for the lack of real hype, it’s very similar. Christianity is very strong here. The two main religions are Christian (Protestant and Catholic) and Buddhist. The one notable difference is that unlike the west it is preserved here as a religious holiday. The Christmas Tree at City Hall has a huge cross on top. Something people would complain about at home. Koreans seem to have a better sense of differing religions that we do. If someone states they believe one thing, no one will complain or try to argue them out of it. Now some of you many think this is because the Christians here are not as “pushy” or “open” about their beliefs as people at home. WRONG!! Your religious beliefs are frequently one of the first questions you will get here after your age and marriage status. I have been asked a number of times – once by a teller at the bank. People who are not Christians here understand that this is a celebration for this religion and why should I care if I am not included – I do not believe what they believe. A lot better than people whining about nativity scenes at home.
So for Josh and I Christmas went like this – one Sunday my church had a Christmas party (well the English service did). It was very fun – lots of food and performance from the different groups. Most of the people who come to the English service do not speak English as their first language. Many are from Africa, Europe, and India – and are studying at the universities here. One thing that was very funny was that every time the guy leading music introduced a song he would say “this is a very popular/famous Christmas song”. He would say this for songs like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” or “Joy to the World”. And Josh and I looked at each other with an unspoken “well dah”. Forgetting that “oh yes Popular to us but perhaps not as well known to someone from some place else”. Oops. We did feel really bad when they started singing verses to some of the songs in which the songs are so old that many of the words are not spoken in English anymore. So here are people who do not speak English as their native language, not heard these songs over and over, year after year – and are being asked to sing words and phrases that are 200 years old. Does not exactly roll of the tongue easily. Then on Christmas Eve, I worked during the day so later we went out to eat. We actually went to an Outback for dinner funny as that was. We needed to pick up our train tickets to Busan for Friday so we ran over there real fast and since I use the subway here to traveling through the city most of the time – Josh has had little opportunity to see above ground so we took a cab back to my place. This is where he got his first taste of how ridiculously crowded this city is – traffic was so bad, but cabs are rather cheap here so that was not that expensive.
Now for those of you who have never been around Josh at Christmas time – I am very sorry. He is the best – he gets so excited about everything and will spontaneously start jumping up and down chanting “one more day ‘til Christmas, one more day ‘til Christmas”. It is like being around an excited seven year old except with none of the annoying whining. So Christmas morning we opened presents and went to church. This time it was an all-Korean service. It was rather interesting. Did not understand a word of it, but it was nice just to see how they did a Christmas service which really was not any different than a church at home. The really fun part for me was while singing. They sing the same Christmas songs as us but only in Korean of course. Well, one thing we noticed was that they tend to sing all the verses – even the really obscure ones no one at home knows. So for all the verses we did know we sang them in English, but for all the verses we did not know I sang them in Korean. You see, they were kind enough to project the Korean words on a large screen for the congregation and since many Christmas songs are rather slow – I was able to read the Korean words on the screen and sing along. I felt very smart!!!!!!
After church we went to visit one of the larger palaces – Changdeokgung. I had already gone there (it is the palace where all of the color fall pictures are from). I think it is one of the more stunning places in the city so I wanted to make sure to take Josh there. It was also a nice diversion from all of the crowded streets and shops. Unlike home where public places are pretty much deserted on Christmas Day, Seoul was completely packed. Everyone is out shopping, eating, and sightseeing. No one stays at home - all 10, 356,000 of the cities residences plus their out of town visitors hit the streets. It is wild. Luckily we found a nice quiet restaurant for lunch. Funny things was it was Josh’s first real Korean meal since arriving on Monday.
By this time, it was starting to get dark. All of the downtown/city hall area is wire for light. I have never seen something so involved or, as stated earlier, crowded. We headed over to that area to wait for the lights to go on. The real fun came with the collective gasp and oooooo from the crowd when everything finally lit up. We then walked over to Deoksuggung (another palace) where it was much quieter and had a bit more breathing room. The buildings are all lit up from the inside at night – it was beautiful. It was kind of like walking through a giant Chinese lantern. It made for a very nice end to a wonderful day.
Tonight we are packing for Japan. We will be in Hiroshima Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I plan on having at least a few comments. Take care. I will write again next week.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Josh's Thoughts
Hello All!
Jennifer is at work, but has asked me to post a few thoughts regarding my initial impressions of South Korea, this definitely intreaguing land in which she currently resides. I shall begin with a few comments about my trip here, and then delve into a description of my early experiences.
The trip here was definitely a long one. We left Chicago around 11am this past Sunday. The few days prior had been rather consumed by getting grades in, applications for grad school out (PhD...we're hoping), and presents and such for all the folks at home (hi mom!)...needless to say Saturday night was a long one, and I was enthralled with the idea of being able to sleep for 14 hours, with little but the person next to me to concern myself with. It was an American Airlines flight, legroom was left to be desired (good grief!), and the entertainment feature (flat screen tv's in our chairs)--didn't work...but even though we left an hour and a half late, I brought my IPOD and an 850 page book on the Beatles...so aside from slumber their would be things to occupy my time.
Aside from those few woes, the flight wasn't that bad. We got into Tokyo ahead of time, and I made a connecting flight to Incheon. Interestingly enough, the flight on Japan Airlines had more legroom, but the food was rather questionable. I believe the sandwich was on a whole wheat role, but was a combination of something that looked like potato salad, and a slice of something that resembled salami (although Jennifer states that it was probably fried spam, which is something they enjoy here). Although we were a little late making it in to Incheon, I was very happy at the prospect of seeing Jennifer. After waiting a great deal of time for my bags (which given all the fudge and goodies inside them, I wondered if they'd survived--they had), we met just outside customs and took a bus ride into the city. I wasn't able to see much due to the fact that it was night, and I got in after 9pm on Monday, and had been on a plane or in an airport since just before 11am Sunday--Jennifer noted that we would explore a bit in the coming days.
Since then we have had some time to explore, and it has been rather wondrous. I have explored a little on my own while Jennifer is at work, and when she is not, we have ventured to a few places together. My impressions of Korea have been formed a little by MASH, but rooted more in the pictures and stories she has provided. Infrastructure is a bit different here, social organization is also a bit different. While their is a slight acknowledgment to the presence of Western institutions, Seoul seems to still be rooted with a sense of itself...Ok, the driving is nuts, people wear masks randomly on the street if they've got a cold, there's so much pollution its very hard to go on a run, and 14 year old boys at Jennifer's school referred to me as 'handsome.'
Their is definitely a Western presence here, not just with the US army, but things such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and I saw someone on the Subway with a container of Krispy Kreme's. Portions are smaller when it comes to things, and they do cost a little more. I'm guessing it has to do with the novelty, being imported, etc...but it's still different. Although I haven't yet ventured into a Dunkin Donuts, Jennifer has explained that they aren't held with the same regard of "oh yea, Dunkin D" that we hold them at home, but rather they are 'chic' shops to explore.
The driving is crazy, Jennifer explained that you can not only ride bicycles on the sidewalk here, but you can ride motorcycles on the sidewalk here. People ride motorbikes and scooters quite a great deal, which was typified by the man I saw taking his 3 daughters to school on a scooter yesterday. One girl rode in front of him, the other 2 held on from behind making a chain.
They wear masks if they have a cold and don't want to infect anyone, and Jennifer has informed me that the elderly at times wear them as well. Now I guess I can understand it, but being well informed on the futility of masks worn by people during the Spanish Influenza years ago (and being an historian that being my only frame of reference), it strikes me as odd.
In the past few days, Jennifer did have a day off, and we used the time to go to the Korean National War Memorial Museum (not sure of that's the proper word for it, but hey), and it was a rather good time. I know very little about Korean history, was definitely interested in many of the technology advancements, and was quite giddy at the model castle/redout that had been constructed--and we could walk on! Jennifer expressed interest at my giddyness, as well as the myriad of clothing advancements we saw. We spent hours there, and are planning to return Saturday.
Additionally, Jennifer brought me to her school yesterday for lunch, and to view the kids. I headed up the hill, and met her there...and was immediately taken in to see the vice-principal, principal, and then to lunch with the teachers (including her friend Sarah from Ireland). The food was good, I'd just gotten back from a run (the hills will definitely help the amount of chocolate I've been ingesting), but I did try the little bit of octopus...which b/c of my sinuses, I really couldn't taste. Jennifer then proceeded to bring me around the school--and the kids were a bit animated I must say. Some lept out of windows, others screamed...a collective gawking if I've ever seen one. The girls giggled, referred to me as 'handsome,' and the boys followed suit. I've never had 14 year olds refer to me as handsome, but it was all in good fun, and Jennifer and I went to Starbucks later in the evening.
Alright, well those are some of my initial experiences and impressions, I'm sure I'll return soon, but I must say it has been rather delightful to see Jennifer these past few days, and I'm looking forward to the rest of my trip and time with her.
Jennifer is at work, but has asked me to post a few thoughts regarding my initial impressions of South Korea, this definitely intreaguing land in which she currently resides. I shall begin with a few comments about my trip here, and then delve into a description of my early experiences.
The trip here was definitely a long one. We left Chicago around 11am this past Sunday. The few days prior had been rather consumed by getting grades in, applications for grad school out (PhD...we're hoping), and presents and such for all the folks at home (hi mom!)...needless to say Saturday night was a long one, and I was enthralled with the idea of being able to sleep for 14 hours, with little but the person next to me to concern myself with. It was an American Airlines flight, legroom was left to be desired (good grief!), and the entertainment feature (flat screen tv's in our chairs)--didn't work...but even though we left an hour and a half late, I brought my IPOD and an 850 page book on the Beatles...so aside from slumber their would be things to occupy my time.
Aside from those few woes, the flight wasn't that bad. We got into Tokyo ahead of time, and I made a connecting flight to Incheon. Interestingly enough, the flight on Japan Airlines had more legroom, but the food was rather questionable. I believe the sandwich was on a whole wheat role, but was a combination of something that looked like potato salad, and a slice of something that resembled salami (although Jennifer states that it was probably fried spam, which is something they enjoy here). Although we were a little late making it in to Incheon, I was very happy at the prospect of seeing Jennifer. After waiting a great deal of time for my bags (which given all the fudge and goodies inside them, I wondered if they'd survived--they had), we met just outside customs and took a bus ride into the city. I wasn't able to see much due to the fact that it was night, and I got in after 9pm on Monday, and had been on a plane or in an airport since just before 11am Sunday--Jennifer noted that we would explore a bit in the coming days.
Since then we have had some time to explore, and it has been rather wondrous. I have explored a little on my own while Jennifer is at work, and when she is not, we have ventured to a few places together. My impressions of Korea have been formed a little by MASH, but rooted more in the pictures and stories she has provided. Infrastructure is a bit different here, social organization is also a bit different. While their is a slight acknowledgment to the presence of Western institutions, Seoul seems to still be rooted with a sense of itself...Ok, the driving is nuts, people wear masks randomly on the street if they've got a cold, there's so much pollution its very hard to go on a run, and 14 year old boys at Jennifer's school referred to me as 'handsome.'
Their is definitely a Western presence here, not just with the US army, but things such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and I saw someone on the Subway with a container of Krispy Kreme's. Portions are smaller when it comes to things, and they do cost a little more. I'm guessing it has to do with the novelty, being imported, etc...but it's still different. Although I haven't yet ventured into a Dunkin Donuts, Jennifer has explained that they aren't held with the same regard of "oh yea, Dunkin D" that we hold them at home, but rather they are 'chic' shops to explore.
The driving is crazy, Jennifer explained that you can not only ride bicycles on the sidewalk here, but you can ride motorcycles on the sidewalk here. People ride motorbikes and scooters quite a great deal, which was typified by the man I saw taking his 3 daughters to school on a scooter yesterday. One girl rode in front of him, the other 2 held on from behind making a chain.
They wear masks if they have a cold and don't want to infect anyone, and Jennifer has informed me that the elderly at times wear them as well. Now I guess I can understand it, but being well informed on the futility of masks worn by people during the Spanish Influenza years ago (and being an historian that being my only frame of reference), it strikes me as odd.
In the past few days, Jennifer did have a day off, and we used the time to go to the Korean National War Memorial Museum (not sure of that's the proper word for it, but hey), and it was a rather good time. I know very little about Korean history, was definitely interested in many of the technology advancements, and was quite giddy at the model castle/redout that had been constructed--and we could walk on! Jennifer expressed interest at my giddyness, as well as the myriad of clothing advancements we saw. We spent hours there, and are planning to return Saturday.
Additionally, Jennifer brought me to her school yesterday for lunch, and to view the kids. I headed up the hill, and met her there...and was immediately taken in to see the vice-principal, principal, and then to lunch with the teachers (including her friend Sarah from Ireland). The food was good, I'd just gotten back from a run (the hills will definitely help the amount of chocolate I've been ingesting), but I did try the little bit of octopus...which b/c of my sinuses, I really couldn't taste. Jennifer then proceeded to bring me around the school--and the kids were a bit animated I must say. Some lept out of windows, others screamed...a collective gawking if I've ever seen one. The girls giggled, referred to me as 'handsome,' and the boys followed suit. I've never had 14 year olds refer to me as handsome, but it was all in good fun, and Jennifer and I went to Starbucks later in the evening.
Alright, well those are some of my initial experiences and impressions, I'm sure I'll return soon, but I must say it has been rather delightful to see Jennifer these past few days, and I'm looking forward to the rest of my trip and time with her.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Naked in North Korean Part 2
Next comes the Onjeonggak Village. This village is located in the Kumgang Mountains that straddle South and North Korea. They have allowed a tourist village to be built there. As you drive up to this Tourist Village, you pass a few small villages and cross over civilian road. When you do cross over such a dirt road you can see the soldier posted on either side. You can also see the random soldier standing out in the fields. Mixed in with this scene are the residents of these villages walking along or riding bikes (there are no cars except for military vehicles). Now in this village there is a mixture of South and North Koreans working there – various hotel, shop, and restaurant position. I am really not sure how that all works, but you know who is a NK because the have to wear this red lapel pin with the government leader’s face on it all the time. You of course can talk to those that work there but are told to avoid any topic that would be remotely interesting such as politics, daily NK life, religion and so on – after all of that I am pretty much left mute. You are told that you can definitely not talk to any resident that you may cross paths with. Being that in order to get to the hotel spring or this painting of the leaders at this one hotel ( I will tell you about this later) you have to cross one of the main village roads these encounters are very possible. But being that once again there are soldiers on either side of the road, it is really best not to make eye contact with anyone. And it should by this time go with out saying that you cannot take a picture with a NK. Okay there is one loop hole in this – you can ask a NK who works in the village if they would have their picture taken WITH you, but it must then be taken by another NK.
In this village there are about three hotels and another that is being built. These hotels are very, very nice – a stark contrast to the town beyond the gate with building that look like they took a few rounds of fire 50 years ago. There are also a few restaurants, souvenir shops, and a culture center building where that North Korean acrobatic performance company does their shows – I went to see one of the shows and once again I will get to that later. This place really looks no different than any other hiking resort you might find anywhere else (with the exception of uniformed guys with guns around the fence). So we got there around noon-ish, grabbed some food and headed off to our first hike. We were going to go up about 4 km to this water fall, and we were warned that it would be rather ice so I rented spike for the bottoms of my shoes (I am so glad I did because 2/3 of the way up it was nothing but ice). The hike was cold and very wind but beautiful. Everything is so very clean – the color of the water alone takes your breathe away. Going up was rather annoying because it was very crowded and Koreans take their hiking very seriously here so they so not leave much room for standing and enjoying the surrounding. What was really cool to see was all the places where Korean and Chinese writing has been done in the side of the mountains. I have a few great pictures. It is not obtrusive at all – it even kind of adds to the experience. I met a very nice young girl from Busan as I was walking up. As a SK teenager she was very excited to be on this trip with her parents. Now Busan is quite a big warmer that Seoul and much warmer than where we were – so poor thing was freezing. We walked most of the way up together. I first met her as I was rounding a corner. I stopped to take in the view and she walked up to me and pushed a candy into my hand. It was one of these very yummy peanut flavored candies they have here. She said, “Here traditional Korean candy eat.” Okay. And we started talking from there. She was very excited to learn that I was from the US. She had a friend studying in New York and said she was very jealous and that she wanted to go there someday. I giggled and told here “No don’t go to New York- it smells funny – go to Chicago!”
Coming back down was lovely because by then everyone was rather spread out so there actually moments where you were all alone. So we come back down to the bus, and in order to get to the parking lot you walk passed this restaurant and rest station (I have a picture of it – it is the one white building with the rounded side and blue accents – not to be confused with the another building of the same exact design by the lake). Outside of the building people are making various types of food for people to buy. One of the girls walked up to one of the stand to order these pancake looking things. The woman behind the counter is NK – you know this because of the red pin she is wearing. The girl comments to her how cold it was and the woman replies by tapping her fist to her chest and says “Makes you strong”. I laughed.
We come back to the tourist village and checked into our hotel –let it be stated again very nice hotel. And the rest of the evening was free time. So I decided to go see the acrobatic show. This is definitely where the full force of the weirdness that is NK hit. As nice as everything else is in the tourist village, the inside of this cultural center looked like an old high school auditorium. But okay no big and then the show begun. Now mind you anything that was to be spoken would be in Korean – so these impressions are strictly taken fro the visual and emotional sense. A gentleman came out to welcome everyone (I knew that much Korean) and make a few announcements – one of which was no Photos until curtain call – understandable. Well what I noticed about him first was that he was wearing a rather nice dark grey pinstriped suit; however, he had on the rattiest – I have been farming in these – pair of brown shoes. It was just odd. And way the lights go down and the music starts and the best way I can describe the next hour and a half was that I had been sucked back in time to German or Soviet Union cabaret in 1932. Everything from the clothes, to the make-up on the men, the music, and even the way they moved (particularly the very creepy slow motion twist of the wrist hand wave that the women did) – It made my skin crawl. They show was very good, but it was good in that I am watching a piece of living history good. Definitely no creativity or imagination in the presentation. Now this leads me to the following question: With the preserve the Korean way idea, is the show this way out of tradition or has no one been able to smuggle in a copy of Cirdus Soule? Both are very possible. After the show I made my way up to the Hot Spa. Man that felt good and definitely not for the shy. I will not go into great detail except for – it is very cool to sit out under the stars in NK while relaxing in a mineral hot spa. I could have stayed in there forever. Anyway being that we had driven all night and started our day at 6:00 AM, hiked, and would be getting up at 7 AM to start our next day - that day I was out before 8 o’clock.
Our next day, after breakfast, we had the choice of two different hikes. The first went up another part of the mountain, but the second (which one of my friends had told be about) went over to the East Sea and over to a lake for a short hike. Now I already knew I would go on the second. I had been told by my friend that in order to get to the sea and to the lake the buses had to go right through one of the actual villages. Once again there was the no picture rule while on the bus or in the parking lots. But there I was in arms length and you are not even comfortable enough to wave at the people you see looking at you from behind wall and buildings and from windows. At one point the caravan of bus slowed to an actual stop – I look out my window and see that we stopped less than five feet from a building – and staring at me from the corner of this window is a boy maybe 10 years old. I really wanted to know what that kids was thinking. What has he been told about the foreigners who he sees in these buses on the weekends?
It was also on the second day that I get in trouble – twice. I mean really folk what else did you expect. The first was on the beach. I was moving my way down this very, very rock shoreline, and I see this little concrete shelter with three rectangular hole along the top standing against the rock face. OOHH cool that is for shooting guns out of. Now no where in my mind was I concerned about here being anything in the shelter. I was simply curious and there were a couple people standing right in front of it so I figured no big let’s take a look behind. Well as I was rounding my way back five tour guides yelled out over the beach for me to get away. Okay no big at least I tried but really did not understand why an old concrete shelter was so taboo. Then I also hear them tell other tourists that they cannot take pictures in the direction behind and to the right of the shelter. The rock face was very nice so people were trying. Turns out there is a military base just behind that rock face – AAHHH Jennifer says. I could not go in so I slyly took a picture instead. You think I would have learned my lesson, but alas friend who are you talking to. After the shoreline, we went over to this lake for a hike. Very lovely. The view from up on the hills there is comical. On one side you look back over the forest you have just walked through, and on the other is this barren mixture of winter farmland and rocky mountains that have been stripped bare. Kind of like a bad slight of hand artist. OOHH and AAHH at my magic hand to the right but ignore the coin I just dripped on the floor from my left. Anyway, as you walk along the guide in the bright jackets are pretty good about keeping you from going in a direction you should not. Except for this one little cliff where me and two of the people in my group walked over to. Now it was not like we wandered off into the woods and jumped a fence – we simple were on a cliff that was up a well-traveled and clean path not 20 feet off the main path. It had a great view of the fields below. Also right below us at the time is a little traditional building and you can here saws being used. Well as we are up there taking picture (mostly of the farm) this man in a pair of grey pants and a black puffer jacket comes out from a rock below. He yells at us to back away and motions for the one guy’s camera. He gestures to be shown how to look at the pictures and instructs the guy to delete certain ones. Now as this is going on, I start deleting pics on mine just in case he asks to see it – I was rather bummed because he did not. Yet as he was looking through the guys camera I notice his clothes (of course) the jacket is wearing is open and as he moves around I can see the banned Mandarin collar of his grey jacket underneath as well as the red bars and insignia on the right side – oooohhh lovely he is NK government. Long story short – he had the guy delete pics, never asked for my camera and walked us back to the main path. As Jennifer breathe a big sigh of relief and then relates her clothing observation to the two people she was with. hahahahaha oh what fun.
Anyway we go back to the tourist village, eat, do some shopping – by the way everything to buy is actually made in South Korea – it is from the mountain region there but it is still SK. Yet another oddity of this magical place. We then had a bit of time to walk around the tourist village more. Me and two other ladies decided to walk up to one of the other hotels where there is the bizarre painting of the NK leaders. Now to get a picture of the painting you must be in the shot and it can only be taken by one of the doormen of the hotel. Okay ?!? That makes sense but sure. The really interesting part was the walk up to the hotel. The walk takes about 15 minutes at a very slow pace. And the path you walk up runs along side a road and this space is about equal to four city lanes wide defined by bright green fence that separates you from the NK villagers. It was really nerve racking walking up there because although you know you are allowed to walk up here as long as you follow the green signs, you still are worried you are doing something wrong. At one time we passed a group of soldier listening to opera and working on a building, and we really wanted to stop and take the moment in, but then we realized that they have all stopped and are now staring at us. We started walking again, but not too fast because you do not want to be thought of as suspicious. Crazy way to live. Oh, our way back as we came up to the intersection with the NK road, one of the guards started blowing his whistle and waving his flag. The three of us look at each other – all with the same question in our eyes – What? What did we do? The next minute lasted ten. We could not figure out what was going on and what we were supposed to do. And you did not want to stare at the soldier because you did not know if you could. So realizing that the NK residences were not moving - we just stood there. Then we heard the goose steps (I am not kidding you) of five NK soldiers coming down the NK road. Once a again we looked at each other – Crap what did we do? Well in fact it was not for us – they were doing some kind of inspection of the guards there, but man that was freaky. When we could finally move forward we bolted out of there. We were ready to go.
After this we then make our way back to NK immigration – same annoying music but no Brown Bear – I was sad. We get back to our NK bus and head through the DMZ to SK immigration. You could actually here the collective sigh on the bus as we passed into SK territory and waved at the SK soldier who was smiling and waving back.
It was definitely an experience. If you ever have the chance to go – do it. I am still trying to get my mind wrapped around it all. There is supposed to be another NK village that is opening up in February. Supposedly you will have more access to the actual village. I am going to try and go there as well. I cannot imagine this being my life everyday. But then again if that is all you know. Begging the question again – what has that little boy in the window been told?
The other interesting thing was to see the similarities in the SK and NK way of thought. For many Koreans the idea of asking why you are told or expected to do something is never a thought. You do this said thing because you were told to. And does the person who told you know why it is to be done. No not really – they had been told by someone else. Example: Last month one of the female teacher got married. The thing that struck Sarah ( they other English teacher) was that this guy’s family had A LOT of Money, and this could be a draw for a young woman, but this teacher did not seem to be that kind of person. Then on top of this she is very well educated, has a great sense of humor (something hard to some by with some of the women here), and beautiful – this guy although wealth and educated was quite lacking in other areas. Why was she marrying him? Sarah made this to one of the teachers that we know rather well – and her reply? “Well, it is an arranged marriage.” What?! Are you kidding me? This teacher did not seem to be someone who would go in for something like this – but apparently it had been arranged long ago. And when we asked the other teachers why would this still be done – they shrug their shoulders. Or the hitting of students thing. Children here do not ever seem to learn to discern right and wrong for themselves – they only know what will get them smacked. They are told do or do not do the following things, but are never told why it maybe the right thing to do. How are you ever expected to know how to figure out new or unfamiliar situations if you never have models to base anything off of? North Korean is very similar in the you do this because you have been told and do not worry about the why.
Okay that is all for now. Check out the pictures. At the end of this month I am heading to Hiroshima, Japan with Josh, so I am sure I will have a word or two about that.
Take care all.
In this village there are about three hotels and another that is being built. These hotels are very, very nice – a stark contrast to the town beyond the gate with building that look like they took a few rounds of fire 50 years ago. There are also a few restaurants, souvenir shops, and a culture center building where that North Korean acrobatic performance company does their shows – I went to see one of the shows and once again I will get to that later. This place really looks no different than any other hiking resort you might find anywhere else (with the exception of uniformed guys with guns around the fence). So we got there around noon-ish, grabbed some food and headed off to our first hike. We were going to go up about 4 km to this water fall, and we were warned that it would be rather ice so I rented spike for the bottoms of my shoes (I am so glad I did because 2/3 of the way up it was nothing but ice). The hike was cold and very wind but beautiful. Everything is so very clean – the color of the water alone takes your breathe away. Going up was rather annoying because it was very crowded and Koreans take their hiking very seriously here so they so not leave much room for standing and enjoying the surrounding. What was really cool to see was all the places where Korean and Chinese writing has been done in the side of the mountains. I have a few great pictures. It is not obtrusive at all – it even kind of adds to the experience. I met a very nice young girl from Busan as I was walking up. As a SK teenager she was very excited to be on this trip with her parents. Now Busan is quite a big warmer that Seoul and much warmer than where we were – so poor thing was freezing. We walked most of the way up together. I first met her as I was rounding a corner. I stopped to take in the view and she walked up to me and pushed a candy into my hand. It was one of these very yummy peanut flavored candies they have here. She said, “Here traditional Korean candy eat.” Okay. And we started talking from there. She was very excited to learn that I was from the US. She had a friend studying in New York and said she was very jealous and that she wanted to go there someday. I giggled and told here “No don’t go to New York- it smells funny – go to Chicago!”
Coming back down was lovely because by then everyone was rather spread out so there actually moments where you were all alone. So we come back down to the bus, and in order to get to the parking lot you walk passed this restaurant and rest station (I have a picture of it – it is the one white building with the rounded side and blue accents – not to be confused with the another building of the same exact design by the lake). Outside of the building people are making various types of food for people to buy. One of the girls walked up to one of the stand to order these pancake looking things. The woman behind the counter is NK – you know this because of the red pin she is wearing. The girl comments to her how cold it was and the woman replies by tapping her fist to her chest and says “Makes you strong”. I laughed.
We come back to the tourist village and checked into our hotel –let it be stated again very nice hotel. And the rest of the evening was free time. So I decided to go see the acrobatic show. This is definitely where the full force of the weirdness that is NK hit. As nice as everything else is in the tourist village, the inside of this cultural center looked like an old high school auditorium. But okay no big and then the show begun. Now mind you anything that was to be spoken would be in Korean – so these impressions are strictly taken fro the visual and emotional sense. A gentleman came out to welcome everyone (I knew that much Korean) and make a few announcements – one of which was no Photos until curtain call – understandable. Well what I noticed about him first was that he was wearing a rather nice dark grey pinstriped suit; however, he had on the rattiest – I have been farming in these – pair of brown shoes. It was just odd. And way the lights go down and the music starts and the best way I can describe the next hour and a half was that I had been sucked back in time to German or Soviet Union cabaret in 1932. Everything from the clothes, to the make-up on the men, the music, and even the way they moved (particularly the very creepy slow motion twist of the wrist hand wave that the women did) – It made my skin crawl. They show was very good, but it was good in that I am watching a piece of living history good. Definitely no creativity or imagination in the presentation. Now this leads me to the following question: With the preserve the Korean way idea, is the show this way out of tradition or has no one been able to smuggle in a copy of Cirdus Soule? Both are very possible. After the show I made my way up to the Hot Spa. Man that felt good and definitely not for the shy. I will not go into great detail except for – it is very cool to sit out under the stars in NK while relaxing in a mineral hot spa. I could have stayed in there forever. Anyway being that we had driven all night and started our day at 6:00 AM, hiked, and would be getting up at 7 AM to start our next day - that day I was out before 8 o’clock.
Our next day, after breakfast, we had the choice of two different hikes. The first went up another part of the mountain, but the second (which one of my friends had told be about) went over to the East Sea and over to a lake for a short hike. Now I already knew I would go on the second. I had been told by my friend that in order to get to the sea and to the lake the buses had to go right through one of the actual villages. Once again there was the no picture rule while on the bus or in the parking lots. But there I was in arms length and you are not even comfortable enough to wave at the people you see looking at you from behind wall and buildings and from windows. At one point the caravan of bus slowed to an actual stop – I look out my window and see that we stopped less than five feet from a building – and staring at me from the corner of this window is a boy maybe 10 years old. I really wanted to know what that kids was thinking. What has he been told about the foreigners who he sees in these buses on the weekends?
It was also on the second day that I get in trouble – twice. I mean really folk what else did you expect. The first was on the beach. I was moving my way down this very, very rock shoreline, and I see this little concrete shelter with three rectangular hole along the top standing against the rock face. OOHH cool that is for shooting guns out of. Now no where in my mind was I concerned about here being anything in the shelter. I was simply curious and there were a couple people standing right in front of it so I figured no big let’s take a look behind. Well as I was rounding my way back five tour guides yelled out over the beach for me to get away. Okay no big at least I tried but really did not understand why an old concrete shelter was so taboo. Then I also hear them tell other tourists that they cannot take pictures in the direction behind and to the right of the shelter. The rock face was very nice so people were trying. Turns out there is a military base just behind that rock face – AAHHH Jennifer says. I could not go in so I slyly took a picture instead. You think I would have learned my lesson, but alas friend who are you talking to. After the shoreline, we went over to this lake for a hike. Very lovely. The view from up on the hills there is comical. On one side you look back over the forest you have just walked through, and on the other is this barren mixture of winter farmland and rocky mountains that have been stripped bare. Kind of like a bad slight of hand artist. OOHH and AAHH at my magic hand to the right but ignore the coin I just dripped on the floor from my left. Anyway, as you walk along the guide in the bright jackets are pretty good about keeping you from going in a direction you should not. Except for this one little cliff where me and two of the people in my group walked over to. Now it was not like we wandered off into the woods and jumped a fence – we simple were on a cliff that was up a well-traveled and clean path not 20 feet off the main path. It had a great view of the fields below. Also right below us at the time is a little traditional building and you can here saws being used. Well as we are up there taking picture (mostly of the farm) this man in a pair of grey pants and a black puffer jacket comes out from a rock below. He yells at us to back away and motions for the one guy’s camera. He gestures to be shown how to look at the pictures and instructs the guy to delete certain ones. Now as this is going on, I start deleting pics on mine just in case he asks to see it – I was rather bummed because he did not. Yet as he was looking through the guys camera I notice his clothes (of course) the jacket is wearing is open and as he moves around I can see the banned Mandarin collar of his grey jacket underneath as well as the red bars and insignia on the right side – oooohhh lovely he is NK government. Long story short – he had the guy delete pics, never asked for my camera and walked us back to the main path. As Jennifer breathe a big sigh of relief and then relates her clothing observation to the two people she was with. hahahahaha oh what fun.
Anyway we go back to the tourist village, eat, do some shopping – by the way everything to buy is actually made in South Korea – it is from the mountain region there but it is still SK. Yet another oddity of this magical place. We then had a bit of time to walk around the tourist village more. Me and two other ladies decided to walk up to one of the other hotels where there is the bizarre painting of the NK leaders. Now to get a picture of the painting you must be in the shot and it can only be taken by one of the doormen of the hotel. Okay ?!? That makes sense but sure. The really interesting part was the walk up to the hotel. The walk takes about 15 minutes at a very slow pace. And the path you walk up runs along side a road and this space is about equal to four city lanes wide defined by bright green fence that separates you from the NK villagers. It was really nerve racking walking up there because although you know you are allowed to walk up here as long as you follow the green signs, you still are worried you are doing something wrong. At one time we passed a group of soldier listening to opera and working on a building, and we really wanted to stop and take the moment in, but then we realized that they have all stopped and are now staring at us. We started walking again, but not too fast because you do not want to be thought of as suspicious. Crazy way to live. Oh, our way back as we came up to the intersection with the NK road, one of the guards started blowing his whistle and waving his flag. The three of us look at each other – all with the same question in our eyes – What? What did we do? The next minute lasted ten. We could not figure out what was going on and what we were supposed to do. And you did not want to stare at the soldier because you did not know if you could. So realizing that the NK residences were not moving - we just stood there. Then we heard the goose steps (I am not kidding you) of five NK soldiers coming down the NK road. Once a again we looked at each other – Crap what did we do? Well in fact it was not for us – they were doing some kind of inspection of the guards there, but man that was freaky. When we could finally move forward we bolted out of there. We were ready to go.
After this we then make our way back to NK immigration – same annoying music but no Brown Bear – I was sad. We get back to our NK bus and head through the DMZ to SK immigration. You could actually here the collective sigh on the bus as we passed into SK territory and waved at the SK soldier who was smiling and waving back.
It was definitely an experience. If you ever have the chance to go – do it. I am still trying to get my mind wrapped around it all. There is supposed to be another NK village that is opening up in February. Supposedly you will have more access to the actual village. I am going to try and go there as well. I cannot imagine this being my life everyday. But then again if that is all you know. Begging the question again – what has that little boy in the window been told?
The other interesting thing was to see the similarities in the SK and NK way of thought. For many Koreans the idea of asking why you are told or expected to do something is never a thought. You do this said thing because you were told to. And does the person who told you know why it is to be done. No not really – they had been told by someone else. Example: Last month one of the female teacher got married. The thing that struck Sarah ( they other English teacher) was that this guy’s family had A LOT of Money, and this could be a draw for a young woman, but this teacher did not seem to be that kind of person. Then on top of this she is very well educated, has a great sense of humor (something hard to some by with some of the women here), and beautiful – this guy although wealth and educated was quite lacking in other areas. Why was she marrying him? Sarah made this to one of the teachers that we know rather well – and her reply? “Well, it is an arranged marriage.” What?! Are you kidding me? This teacher did not seem to be someone who would go in for something like this – but apparently it had been arranged long ago. And when we asked the other teachers why would this still be done – they shrug their shoulders. Or the hitting of students thing. Children here do not ever seem to learn to discern right and wrong for themselves – they only know what will get them smacked. They are told do or do not do the following things, but are never told why it maybe the right thing to do. How are you ever expected to know how to figure out new or unfamiliar situations if you never have models to base anything off of? North Korean is very similar in the you do this because you have been told and do not worry about the why.
Okay that is all for now. Check out the pictures. At the end of this month I am heading to Hiroshima, Japan with Josh, so I am sure I will have a word or two about that.
Take care all.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Naked in North Korea Part 1
Oh yeah that’s right. This past weekend I took a very guided tour to the Mount Kumgang area near a town called Onjeonggak in North Korea. This is a place just a few miles north passed the DMZ that they have opened to foreigners. Now I must say I went on the trip expecting to see amazing thing and was simple excited about the idea of being in North Korea and getting to go the Hot Spring Spa there (yes that is where the Naked in North Korea comes in – traditional Korean public baths are completely nude – gender separate but nude – I had no problem with this but watching some of the young western girls get so squeamish was a hoot). However, I spent the weekend amazed, speechless, wanting to cry, wanting to scream, and laughing at how ludicrous the whole thing is, and I only got myself reprimanded twice – for me I think this is a pretty good figure.
I apologize now for the lack of pictures. I did get a few; however, what and where you can take pictures is VERY, VERY, VERY controlled. You are not allowed to take any photos while traveling in the bus after you leave South Korea. You can only take pictures in the tourist village and hiking area. In fact as you go along in the bus you look out the window and about every 20 meters you will see a North Korean soldier standing at stone like attention with a red flag in his hand. They are there to watch the buses as they go from place to place. If they see anyone taking pictures or what they think looks like someone taking a picture, they stop the caravan of buses – they will board the bus the one soldier saw – they will then go through everyone’s camera – the offender will get at least a very heavy fines and can be removed from the tour and detained by the military. Sounds fun huh – so please forgive me for the minimal pics. So let me start at the beginning of this whole adventure.
I met with a group called Adventure Korea. It is a company that caters to English speaking foreigners. They do various types of trips every month. Most are outdoor activity based. For example, over December they are doing a skiing trip, an ice fishing trip, and a DMZ trip. Two of my co-workers had gone on the North Korean trip and were both very impressed and awed – so I decided it was my turn. Now to go on the trip I had to turn in copy of my passport and employment info so that they could get clearance and the special papers needed for passing into NK. I met up with the tour group at 11:30 PM on Friday night. We drove until about 5 AM when we reached the last rest stop before the South Korean immigration. We rested there for about an hour waiting for your time to head to immigration. This was a very easy process, and they have a very nice, new and shinny building that kind of looks like a jet engine. From there we changed to the tour bus that would take us in to NK. No, the SK bus we came over with was not allowed passed immigration. This is where life turned very surreal for two days. As we left immigration, we entered the DMZ. The difference from South and North was night and day. First, the simple things like uniform and physical behavior of the military. As you drive passed the SK soldier they are in very western looking camos – scary yet relaxed posture and they waved as the buses passed by ------ Then you cross over to NK. The soldier are in very tailored German/Soviet uniforms, with scowls on their faces, and at a stone like attention. From this point forward you are not allowed to take any pictures except in the designated areas. And how I wish I could as we crossed the DMZ into NK. The thing that struck me most was the hills. now if you have seen any of my other pictures, you have seen that Korea is very mountainous. And what every bit of land that is not city or farm is covered in trees. It is wonderful to look up from this concrete ugliness that is Seoul (it really is not that attractive of a city) and see the tree covered mountains that surround me. However, this drastically changed as we entered NK. The mountains very abruptly changed to barren piles of brown and white rock. Every once in a while there was a tree or a clump of three trees, but I am serious when I say there was nothing – simply rock. It looked more like a desert country than a place that should be covered in forests. I really wish I had pictures to show you. Later that day someone else who had noticed the changed asked one of our SK guides why this was so. He said that according to NK, the land was cleared on purpose to make it easier to watch for SK spies who might try to cross over – yet as you might be already down this road as well – he then commented that this also makes it very hard for any North Korean who might try to escape NK. Holy Crap!! And I am telling you – anyone crossing this area is am easy target.
So we get off the bus at the North Korea Immigration Station. They stop the line of buses and tell you to take all of your belongings with you to be scanned. You must walk from your bus to the immigration building, and for those of us eat the end of this line, it is a little strange to walk down the road of this desolate land looking up at the frozen soldiers scattered around you. And then you hear it – a sound that makes you think you have just stepped into some movie about Wiemar German or a propaganda film from the USSR – Music. Over the PA system they are playing this overly sentimental, ultra- traditional Korean music that sound like it is coming from a victrola AND they are playing it over and over and over and over. Same song ! Over and over and over and over. You really wanted to laugh, but did not know if you should. I laughed on the inside.
Now along with your passport, you are to present a special NK Tourist visa that you have been given earlier by the tour guides. Although South Korea will stamp your passport that you have left the country – North Korea will not stamp your passport as this may cause a problem for some people who later travel to other countries such as oh let’s say the USA. Instead you are given a separate paper that has your picture and other information on it (I took a picture of mine and it in the “Life in Korea” section) – this is what they stamp. Also you are given an ID tag that looks almost like the visa. You must wear this around you neck at all times – you can be fined or possible taken in for questions if you do not. We are warned that the immigration officers like to try and trip people up so make sure you know everything that is on your visa. Those of us that were American (Especially Korean-American) were told to be on guard. But no worries all when well. They stamped my papers, scanned my bags, and I was on my way. Now let me take a moment to describe this “building”. It basically was a long box like building (kind of like what you would see on a construction site) with a large tent on either side. The tent reminder me of the one used at the waiting area for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. So as I passed through security and entered the other tent, I looked crossed to see this Big Brown Bear waving at me. Oh yea, there was someone in a bear costume waving at all the smiling faces – wishing one and all a happy fun time in the great mother land. Please I am not making this up. And still we were not allowed to take a picture. It was like some redneck trailer park white trash version of a communist Disneyland. Anyway we all then headed onto our bus – which has just been searched by the military.
Next comes the Onjeonggak Village. This village is located in the Kumgang Mountains that straddle South and North Korea. They have allowed a tourist village to be built there.
I apologize now for the lack of pictures. I did get a few; however, what and where you can take pictures is VERY, VERY, VERY controlled. You are not allowed to take any photos while traveling in the bus after you leave South Korea. You can only take pictures in the tourist village and hiking area. In fact as you go along in the bus you look out the window and about every 20 meters you will see a North Korean soldier standing at stone like attention with a red flag in his hand. They are there to watch the buses as they go from place to place. If they see anyone taking pictures or what they think looks like someone taking a picture, they stop the caravan of buses – they will board the bus the one soldier saw – they will then go through everyone’s camera – the offender will get at least a very heavy fines and can be removed from the tour and detained by the military. Sounds fun huh – so please forgive me for the minimal pics. So let me start at the beginning of this whole adventure.
I met with a group called Adventure Korea. It is a company that caters to English speaking foreigners. They do various types of trips every month. Most are outdoor activity based. For example, over December they are doing a skiing trip, an ice fishing trip, and a DMZ trip. Two of my co-workers had gone on the North Korean trip and were both very impressed and awed – so I decided it was my turn. Now to go on the trip I had to turn in copy of my passport and employment info so that they could get clearance and the special papers needed for passing into NK. I met up with the tour group at 11:30 PM on Friday night. We drove until about 5 AM when we reached the last rest stop before the South Korean immigration. We rested there for about an hour waiting for your time to head to immigration. This was a very easy process, and they have a very nice, new and shinny building that kind of looks like a jet engine. From there we changed to the tour bus that would take us in to NK. No, the SK bus we came over with was not allowed passed immigration. This is where life turned very surreal for two days. As we left immigration, we entered the DMZ. The difference from South and North was night and day. First, the simple things like uniform and physical behavior of the military. As you drive passed the SK soldier they are in very western looking camos – scary yet relaxed posture and they waved as the buses passed by ------ Then you cross over to NK. The soldier are in very tailored German/Soviet uniforms, with scowls on their faces, and at a stone like attention. From this point forward you are not allowed to take any pictures except in the designated areas. And how I wish I could as we crossed the DMZ into NK. The thing that struck me most was the hills. now if you have seen any of my other pictures, you have seen that Korea is very mountainous. And what every bit of land that is not city or farm is covered in trees. It is wonderful to look up from this concrete ugliness that is Seoul (it really is not that attractive of a city) and see the tree covered mountains that surround me. However, this drastically changed as we entered NK. The mountains very abruptly changed to barren piles of brown and white rock. Every once in a while there was a tree or a clump of three trees, but I am serious when I say there was nothing – simply rock. It looked more like a desert country than a place that should be covered in forests. I really wish I had pictures to show you. Later that day someone else who had noticed the changed asked one of our SK guides why this was so. He said that according to NK, the land was cleared on purpose to make it easier to watch for SK spies who might try to cross over – yet as you might be already down this road as well – he then commented that this also makes it very hard for any North Korean who might try to escape NK. Holy Crap!! And I am telling you – anyone crossing this area is am easy target.
So we get off the bus at the North Korea Immigration Station. They stop the line of buses and tell you to take all of your belongings with you to be scanned. You must walk from your bus to the immigration building, and for those of us eat the end of this line, it is a little strange to walk down the road of this desolate land looking up at the frozen soldiers scattered around you. And then you hear it – a sound that makes you think you have just stepped into some movie about Wiemar German or a propaganda film from the USSR – Music. Over the PA system they are playing this overly sentimental, ultra- traditional Korean music that sound like it is coming from a victrola AND they are playing it over and over and over and over. Same song ! Over and over and over and over. You really wanted to laugh, but did not know if you should. I laughed on the inside.
Now along with your passport, you are to present a special NK Tourist visa that you have been given earlier by the tour guides. Although South Korea will stamp your passport that you have left the country – North Korea will not stamp your passport as this may cause a problem for some people who later travel to other countries such as oh let’s say the USA. Instead you are given a separate paper that has your picture and other information on it (I took a picture of mine and it in the “Life in Korea” section) – this is what they stamp. Also you are given an ID tag that looks almost like the visa. You must wear this around you neck at all times – you can be fined or possible taken in for questions if you do not. We are warned that the immigration officers like to try and trip people up so make sure you know everything that is on your visa. Those of us that were American (Especially Korean-American) were told to be on guard. But no worries all when well. They stamped my papers, scanned my bags, and I was on my way. Now let me take a moment to describe this “building”. It basically was a long box like building (kind of like what you would see on a construction site) with a large tent on either side. The tent reminder me of the one used at the waiting area for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. So as I passed through security and entered the other tent, I looked crossed to see this Big Brown Bear waving at me. Oh yea, there was someone in a bear costume waving at all the smiling faces – wishing one and all a happy fun time in the great mother land. Please I am not making this up. And still we were not allowed to take a picture. It was like some redneck trailer park white trash version of a communist Disneyland. Anyway we all then headed onto our bus – which has just been searched by the military.
Next comes the Onjeonggak Village. This village is located in the Kumgang Mountains that straddle South and North Korea. They have allowed a tourist village to be built there.
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