Well, this evening for Christmas I’m heading off on a cruise and going on a trip into a wine tunnel (韓: 와인터널). No, I’m not sure what a wine tunnel actually is but to quote my wife, “I like wine, and tunnels are alright, so it should be okay.” So you probably will not hear from me until after the Christmas holiday. So I’m going to take this moment to just offer up seasonal greetings and wish all of you out there the best. I hope you all get what you want for Christmas…me? I’m going into a wine tunnel!
Anyhow this wine tunnel adventure appeared out of nowhere on really short notice, so I’m aborting the translation project I was working on for this Christmas season. Basically all you need to know about that is Christmas seals were brought to Korea by a Canadian chap named Sherwood Hall in 1932, and in 1940 the Japanese deported him from the country for being a spy. Anyhow here are the Korean Christmas seals from 1932 up through 1939…Merry Christmas!
Oh, and if you are a member of my family, don’t attempt calling me, since I won’t be home. I’ll give you cats a jingle upon my return.
Preoccupation, and not paying attention to the calendar prevented me from actually posting this when I wanted to (yesterday), but hell, it’s still Halloween in California and Hawaii right?
So it’s the 31st of October once again, which means that it’s Halloween. While Halloween isn’t exactly a big deal in Korea (aside from at hagwons and anywhere else foreigners congregate), ghosts are a big deal. Long time readers may recall my 100 level cursory look at the world of Korean supernatural beings. Today, in honor of the holiday, we are going to take a more in depth look at things that go bump in the night in Korea.
Anyone that has worked at, or attended school in Korea knows that Koreans like to rank things and are concerned (perhaps overly so) with levels and standing when compared to others. Perhaps this is why online games are so popular here, but I digress. Did you know that this love of ranking things extends to the supernatural as well? It’s true!
Taking it’s cue from the 한자능력시험, the ranking system for ghosts consists of seven levels, with one being the most mighty, and seven being the least mighty. These various spirits are called upon by mudang (무당) while performing their rituals. Anyhow enough talking, let’s take a look at a list!
Level 7
This rank is reserved for only the weakest ghosts. In Korea, that means 저승사자 (see Fig. 1). The 저승사자 is pretty much the Korean equivalent to the western Grim Reaper in that it is his job to take people to the afterlife when it’s time for them to die. I, myself, am not sure why this ghost is ranked so lowly, since it is death itself, but that’s where my sources have it ranked…and who am I to argue with ghost experts.
(Fig. 1 - 저승사자)
Level 6
This rank probably contains the highest number of creepy members. Among the ranks of level six are 처녀귀신 (Fig. 2) and 몽달귀신 (Fig. 3). For those of you scratching your head right now, the 처녀귀신 is a ghost of an unmarried female that always appears dressed in white (white is the color worn at funerals in Korea) with unkempt hair in her face, much like the ghost depicted in the film The Ring. 몽달귀신? That’s the male version. A bachelor’s ghost so to speak.
(Fig. 2 - 처녀귀신)
(Fig. 3 - 몽달귀신)
In addition, level six is the ranking given to all ghosts of western origin. Dracula? Level six. The mummy? He’s level six as well. Casper? You know that fool’s level six!
Level 5
Perhaps I spoke too soon when I said that level six housed the most ghosts (not to be confused with ghosts with the most), since level five is the ranking assigned not only to 항아리귀신 (a ghost having something to do with the jars used for storing things such as kimchi and soy sauce), but also is the rank assigned to the spirits of deceased ancestors…then again since this only applies to the ancestors of Korean perhaps level six still is the largest since ancestral spirits of westerners would be ranked level six due to the fact that they are western in origin.
Level 4
Begining with level four, we move out of the rank and file of nameless, generic ghosts, and into the named, upper-excheleon ghosts. The ghastly superstars if you will. Among the ghosts award the fourth level are 명성황후 (Fig. 4), Empress Myeongseong, the last empress of the Chosun dynasty who was killed by the Japanese, and the military figure 최영장군, General Choi Yeong (Fig. 5).
(Fig. 4 - 명성황후신)
(Fig. 5 - 최영장군)
Level 3
This is the rank given to 關羽 (Guan Yu), and other figures from the work 「三國志」. This custom of seeking aid from the spirits of famous Chinese generals seems to have arisen after the 1592 Japanese invasion of Korea (임진왜란) during which the Koreans recieved assistance from Chinese generals.
Level 2
This rank houses the 산신 (mountain spirits), including the mountain spirit featured in the 금도끼와 은도끼 (Golden Axe & Silver Axe) legend. Additionally the 장승 (Fig. 6 at right) or spirits that are supposed to protect villages are found in this rank. These spirits are often depicted as wooden totem poles which would be located at the enterances to villages.
Level 1
This is the top level, reserved only for the best of the best of the supernatural world. Who, or what exactly falls into this rank? Well 玉皇上帝 (옥황상제) (Fig. 7) for one. This figure (commonly refered to as the Jade Emperor) was the supreme deity in Taoism, and is involved in numerous myths and legends in the Chinese tradition, some of which became part of the Korean tradition as well.
(Fig. 7 - The Jade Emperor)
Anyhow that about does it from here. I hope this trip into the realm of the supernatural has been both frightening and enlightening! Happy Halloween.
This is the Chuseok Redux, you’re sitting in a jazz club wearing a beret. Oh wait, that’s the Slow Jam Redux…the Chuseok holiday wrap up looks more like this:
Wednesday, the day before Chuseok, was spent making songpyeon (송편). The early stages of songpyeon construction are a lot like the early stages of bread making, only like 100 times stickier. That dough has the consistance of gum, and I now understand why people from the times of yore used a big ass hammer to make this shit. Anyhow we made an assortment of songpyeon in both green and white. I was personally in charge of the chestnut filled ones. We made the green ones first, and man were mine ugly. They were huge, cancerous behemoth looking pieces of crap, but I leveled up quickly, and by the time we made the white ones, mine were indistinguishable from the ones the seasoned veterans were making.
Other junk that happened on Wednesday involved me riding a bike around my immediate area attempting to score some sort of paper that was needed for ancestral memorial rites to no avail. Also my wife (along with my sister-in-law, and mother-in-law) cooked a lot of other non-songpyeon type food stuffs.
The following morning at way too early o’clock, I was roused from my slumber to clean up the house, and set the table so that Chuseok could commence. With such things taken care of, it was time for Chuseok related festivities, which were pretty much the same as Lunar New Year related festivities, only instead of eating rice cake soup we ate taro soup. Guests came to our house, chowed down on some food and drank some brews, and then they headed back from wence they came.
After quickly cleaning up our homestead we headed out to Jinhui’s grandfather’s house (her mother’s father), where since she was technically no longer part of the clan didn’t have to do any work. Me, being a man, only had to drink soju and eat food, so I did that. We then went with a totally awesome posse that included three random kindergarten students, some old Korean mens, me and my in-laws, and one of Jinhui’s cousins who totally looked like he could kick some ass (the dude was huge…like Hulk Hogan sized arms and junk). There we offered dried fish and poured one out for our dead homies our deceased ancestors.
With that out of the way we headed home, where I promptly fell asleep. It was 5:00 in the evening. At 10:00 Jinhui (who apparently had fallen asleep in the living room), and I both woke up and for the next 4 hours watched a ton of really random junk on TV and ate some ice cream. All in all it was a decent day, but I’m glad for Jinhui’s sake that this was probably her last Chuseok. I really feel bad for women on these holidays. All day long they cook and clean, with few chances to rest. Quelle domage! Anyhow that’s pretty much the end of my poorly written Chuseok related rant. There’s not really much else to say. Oh, I wore a hanbok (한복) because I own one and figured Chuseok would be a good excuse to take it out of the closet. Really now, this is the end. There is nothing else for me to say that I can think of at this time. But probably if someone leaves a comment I will remember more anecdotes of the events of the day. So…I’m finished now.
I’ve been reading some Korean history books / books on Korean culture as of late, so primarily due to the fact that I want to work on some simple translating, and secondarily because I want to occassionally provide some insightful information about Korean culture outside of the realm of indie rock and 1980’s ice cream commercials you are going to occassionally be subjected to poorly translated passages about various aspects of traditional Korean culture.
Today you are getting a passage from 김경훈’s book 「뜻밖의 한국사.」 I translated another passage from this book many moons ago, and I’m electing to do so again primarily because it deals more with strange and unusal aspects of history (particularly daily life) as opposed to simply bellowing about dates, politics, and battles. Today we are going to take a look at the origin of 연지곤지 (from this point on known as yeonjigonji), the red dot make-up traditionally used by brides.
Is Yeonjigonji An Indication That A Woman Is Having Her Period?
“Today I Can’t Be Of Service To The King”
Yeonji is a kind of make-up that is used to give red color to the lips and cheeks. If this make-up was applied to the forhead that dot was known as gonji. It is clear that yeonjigonji didn’t mix well with ancient Koreans’ traditionally simple tastes and style, as the color is very vivid and the shape is very pronounced. So why did they use this make-up?
There are several theories, and among them, the most interesting theory is that yeonjigonji was originally used to indicate that a woman was having her period. Middle class women most likely would not have needed to indicate this, but women of the royal court would use yeonji on their cheek to indicate, “Today I can’t be of service to the king.”
Since these women could not boldly declare, “Sorry, but today I’m having me period,” to a strict king they would use yeonji as an indication of that very thing. That way, the king could look upon the woman’s face with dignity and be reminded of a period simply be seeing the red mark on her face. This practice of applying yeonjigongi to the face spread to the middle class where it became all the rage. It is likely that if these middle class women knew of the fact that yeonji make-up was used to represent a period, they did not believe it.
Ruddy Cheeks: The Symbol Of Youth And Virginity
We have all seen countless traditional weddings in historical dramas broadcast on TV in which the bride sits quietly with yeonjigonji applied. Interestingly enough, in this old custom, women who were remarrying were not allowed to paint their cheeks or forehead. Accordingly due to the differences in first in second marriage customs we seem to be able to find the original meaning of yeonjigonji. If this is the case, then isn’t yeonjigonji a manifestation of virginity?
Young virgins’ cheeks would appear red without make-up. Furthermore, a little shame would also cause cheeks to become ruddy. Therefore ruddy cheeks are a symbol of the freshness and youth of a virgin. It is unknown if yeonjigonji was applied to the cheeks and forehead due to this association.
The Korean people traditionally prefered clean, white faces. It is recorded in the Song Chinese text, “Goryeodogyeong 高麗圖經” that noblewomen of the Goryeo royal court did not often apply yeonji, yet it was standard for them to apply facial powder. It wasn’t dark make-up, but rather faint make-up with a light tone that these women liked to use. Due to the opposition towards dark make-up, there was resistance towards applying this kind of facial make-up. Therefore yeonji was a special make-up that was only used on special occassions, namely weddings when people needed to give a symbol of their youth. Yeonji make-up began to be used in earnest during the Shilla dynasty. It is therefore the case that yeonji is a Shilla invention.
If we look to ancient records we will find that there were two methods by which yeonji was produced. One method utilized a natural dye while the other method made use of a chemically produced material. The natural dye used was the safflower. The petals of a 1-2 year old safflower, originally yellow would turn slightly red. These safflowers if ground up and soaked in water would have the yellow pigment melt away and only the red pigment would remain. If this red pigment was further treated, red yeonji would be formed. On the other hand, chemically produced yeonji was created using cinnabar. With mercury as the primary ingredient of cinnabar, yeonji was created by mixing an egg yolk with the cinnabar in a boiling cauldron. Cinnabar yeonji was both redder and glossier that safflower yeonji. However much like the current problem with overdosing on some types of make-up, people that used this cinnabar yeonji for extended periods of time ended up suffering from mercury poisoning. But instead of being sensibile, place ladies and kisaeng used cinnabar yeonji frequently.
A funny thing happened to me on the way to Gyeong-ju (경주). After a day spent living it up in Busan, 진희 and I awoke to find that during the night the weather had gone from glorious to far less than glorious. The sky was an ugly gray and a steady rain was falling. We had already bought bus tickets to the city know as Gyeong-ju, so we decided to simply head out there and hope for the best.
Gyeong-ju is a city chock-full of Silla (신라) era historical junk, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the weather) most of them are huge buildings or monuments located outside. Therefore a trip to Gyeong-ju could quickly start to suck much ass if the weather was not great, as it appeared to be that Saturday morning.
Anyhow 진희 and I showered up, returned our room key, and then headed off to the bus terminal. In the terminal we purchased some breakfast and canned coffee and sat down to wait for our bus to arrive. This is the point at which something completely insane happened to me. I sat in a chair by the area my bus was set to depart from and was attempting to open a sandwich which was oddly wrapped in plastic. Somewhere in the station was some slightly obese woman clad in Buddhist monk gear, with a visor approved by the 아줌마 Board of Fashion, and a “top pony tail” sprouting out of the top of the visor. She was walking through the subway station chanting something.
I paid this woman no mind, and had just opened the wrapper on my sandwich when something was slammed into the top of my skull. I looked up and there was the woman, clasping the object which she had just smacked me in the head with. It was a set of wooden Buddhist prayer beads, each the size of a small child’s fist. I was more surprised than anything else, though if I were to say it didn’t hurt at all I would be a liar.
I glared at the woman, and shouted a stream of Korean profanity at the woman which summed a security guard who was standing a few feet away. As the guard dragged this woman away she did that “You wanna go?” arms to the chest move to me. You know that move that white trash warriors on Jerry Springer are want to do before throwing chairs at people. At this point I kind of had to laugh, especially when two other people waiting for the bus looked over at me and then the woman, and then both did the universal sign for a nut-job (the single finger rotating about the ear).
With my morning skull crushing out of the way we got on the bus and headed off towards Gyeong-ju. Again the bus ride was fairly uneventful, mainly because I was unconscious most of the time as a result of blunt trauma to the head. After an hour or so we were there…in Gyeong-ju, and somehow the weather seemed to be alright. Sure the sky was a little overcast, but it actually looked like it was going to clear up. Boy was that a misconception!
From the express bus terminal the wife and I hopped on a local bus bound for Bulguksa (불국사 / 佛國寺).
Bulguksa is a large Silla era Buddhist temple, and is probably the most famous of all Buddhist temples in South Korea.
After a 50 minute or so bus ride we arrived at the temple, just in time for the rains to begin. At first the rain was not that bad, but as we wandered around the temple grounds the rains became increasingly heavier.
The temple, inspite of the less than ideal weather, was simply beautiful. The buildings, paintings, and stone work was all outstanding. At the temple we saw a large number of foreign tourists, who oddly enough were all senior citizens. I want to give mad props to those people, who were seriously trucking around in crappy weather, seeing the world. It was awesome!
So my wife and I checked out the grounds, took some photos and then decided that we would head to the nearby Seokkuram (석굴암) and check out an extremely famous piece of Korean Buddhist artwork.
As we headed toward the bus stop we first stopped at 아줌마’s cart to purchase some yellow garbage bags…or rather yellow rain coats in an effort to prevent our clothes from becoming even more saturated, but it was too little too late.
“Are your shoes wet?” 진희 asked.
“I don’t even know…probably.”
Anyhow I digress. We headed to the bus stop and got on the bus that would take us up the mountain to Seokkuram.
The bus started up the rain slicked mountain roads. Clearly the bus was in Korea. The bus driver floored it up the mountain, whipping around curves like it was a sports car.
At was at that point when a car coming down the mountain crossed over the yellow line and came inches from smashing into the side of the bus. The bus driver cracked the window open and cursed out the driver of the other vehicle. Everyone on the bus kind of held their breath recovering from the shock…everyone except 진희 who was calmly munching on Pringles.
“Why are we stopped?”
Near death experiences aside we arrived at the temple grounds, and after a brief mountain hike in driving rain we were at the statue…kind of.
The statue was located in a cave with a small building attached to the front. It was the main attraction of this area and everyone wanted to check it out. The only problem was, the small ante-room could only hold so many people.
So we waited in a line, in the rain, to see a statue. Anyhow I’d seen pictures of this venue in books, and somehow the statue seems much more impressive in photos than it does in person. In the photos the statue seems massive, but face to face in doesn’t seem that huge.
Anyhow we checked out 석굴암 and headed back to the bus stop in order to head down the mountain. The rain was still coming down in buckets, and by this point everything we had with us was completely drenched.
We decided that it would be in our best interest to head back to our hometown. So we went back to the express bus terminal, got some tickets, and headed back north. We were wet, but had a great time.
Again, for those of you that enjoy photographs of historical monuments and pictures of me standing with said buildings check out the complete set of these pictures here.
This past Friday (May 5th, 2006), in South Korea, there were not one, but two national holidays: Children’s Day (어린이날) and Buddha’s Birthday (부처님 오신날). Due to these holidays, neither 진희 nor I had any work to do. Therefore, we reserved some bus tickets to the southern reaches of the Korean Peninsula.
The day started for us at the crack of dawn. The bus we were taking to Busan left the bus terminal at 6:30 in the morning, so we were up at 5:00. Showers were taken, final packing was done, and then we were on our way to Busan. We walked to a bus stop. We took a bus from the stop to the subway station. We took the subway to the express bus terminal, and from the terminal we were off to Busan. The trip from Bundang to Busan was completely uneventful. The wife and I slept most of the way there, save for the short period during which the bus pulled into a rest area for a quick potty / eat stuff on a stick break.
Approximately five hours later we were at the bus terminal in Busan. It wasn’t long before my ears were assaulted with the local regional dialect. I am still amazed that a country as geographically small as Korea can have such diverse and different dialects from region to region. I suppose that the different regional dialects can be attributed to the mountainous geography of the country. Anyhow back to Busan’s dialect…I personally found it extremely difficult to understand and had to really focus to understand what people were saying. It’s really difficult to explain it, so I’ll turn your attention to this here website explaining the dialect of the area.
From the terminal we got on a subway train and headed towards Haeundae (해운대), a beach area. The subway system in Seoul is much easier to use than its counterpart in Busan. The Busan system seemed to have only three different lines, with very few stations at which one could transfer. Additionally the subway trains seemed to be much more narrow and definately shorter than those in Seoul. None of this was really a problem, since we got from point A to point B (b is for beach) with no problems what-so-ever.
Haeundae was simply amazing. The entire area had a very laid back and relaxing vibe (good God I sound like such a hippie). Due to the fact that the beach area was surrounded by large buildings and such, Haeundae and the surrounding area kind of reminded me of Repulse Bay in Hong Kong. 진희 said she was reminded of San Fransisco for the same reason.
After a walk on the beach and a quick snack of the regional delicacy, 어묵 / 오뎅(ohmook / odeng) we decided to head to the nearby area known as 달맞이길 (Moon Viewing Road).
Inspite of the fact that we visited the Moon Viewing Road in the middle of the afternoon, the place was still quite nice. Basically it was a walkway up a hill, and at the top of the hill there was a pavilion overlooking the ocean. All in all it was really quite pretty. After seeing the lack of a moon at the summit of the Moon Viewing Road, we decided to head back into the city proper and then onward to an island in the south where there were ferry rides. So we jumped on a bus and took off for further adventure.
BUSAN FUN FACT: Just as there is a brand of milk known as Seoul Milk which can be purchased in Seoul, Busan has a similarly named milk. Dubbed Busan Milk (or 부산우유 in Korean) it is virtually identical to all other milk. As a quick aside, Seoul Milk is also sold in Busan.
After a quick bus ride we disembarked near Busan station and began making our way towards Taejongdae (태종대), the afore mentioned island with ferry rides. As we walked we asked various citizens of Busan for directions, all of them responding with vague, “It’s that way. No, it’s not too far,” type directions. So we walked and walked. We went past the area dubbed 상해문 (上海門 / Shanghai Gate), which inspite having a Chinese theme going on with the street lights was extremely Russian (all manner of Cyrillic signs were there). We walked past the dry fish market with a sign with a giant cartoon character squid statue attached to it. Oh what smells rose from that area! We crossed a bridge. On and on we walked. “That way! Not more than 10 minutes!”
Apparently Busan residents have some sort of The Flash-esque speed going on since after walking a good five kilometers or so, we gave up and got on a bus. The bus to the island took approximately 15 minutes. Anyhow we unfortunately arrived a little to late to ride the ferry since the stop running at 6:00 in the evening. Therefore instead of riding on a ship, we sat on a dock and took some more photos. After a short period of looking at waves, we decided to head back towards the city and stop in and have dinner at a fish market.
Vegetarians, animal rights activists, and those of you that can not stand the thought of consuming sea creatures, please skip this next Busan Fun Fact.
BUSAN FUN FACT: In Busan (and perhaps other coastal areas in Korea) it is possible, and fully legal to eat whale meat (which is exactly what the picture to the right is a picture of). That’s right, while in Busan I chowed down upon Shamu. So how does whale taste? Great! It doesn’t have a real fishy taste to it, and it’s not quite a meat taste. It’s kind of hard to explain. The blubber is kind of buttery tasting, and the skin is really chewy. The only draw back to whale meat is the cost. The small plate shown in the picture cost 20,000 won (roughly $20US).
Ok…it’s safe to come back now! In addition to the above, we also had some extremely fresh 회 (raw fish). Submitted for your approval is the following video of our dinner plate.
That pink, moving stuff on the plate is 해삼 (海蔘 / haesam) also known as a sea cucumber.
With dinner out of the way we decided to check out the area known as 용두산공원 (龍頭山公園 / Dragon Head Mountain Park). This park is the home of the Busan Tower and is very similar to 남산 (南山 / South Mountain) in Seoul…only there were palm trees, a statue of 이순신, and a statue of a dragon with a light in its mouth. On the mountain, 진희 and I had a soft drink and looked out over the night skyline of Busan. When we decided that we had had enough, we got on a subway train and headed back towards the bus terminal to get a room for the night. Since we had to be on a bus out of the city early the next morning, we thought it would be best to stay near the bus terminal.
We ended up staying in a fairly sleazy place. It was the kind of hotel where the only things on the television were Japanese porno films (and to the person that left a comment about 현영 voice, I know now what you were talking about when you brought up porn from the land of the rising sun). Anyhow we drank some brews and then headed off to sleep. Thus concludes day one of our southern pilgrimage.
The complete photo set can be located here, in the event that you wish to examine other photographs of my wife and I in the city of 부산.
Yesterday was a nonstop party during which the wife and I rocked it to the break of dawn! The day began with a trip to 창덕궁. Since spring has sprung we decided to head off with a tripod and take some pictures while standing infront of the natural beauty…or man made beauty that is 비원 (the Secret Garden).
So there was a bus ride and we disembarked in 종로. Before we headed to the palace we grabbed ourselves some lunch. The day’s menu was 오무라이스 that was simply outstanding. I had a unit of 오무라이스 with a carbona sauce, and the wife chowed down on one topped with fried bananas / sweet potatoes. Both were top notch, and apparently we were extremely hungry since we were in the restaurant for about 15 minutes (from ordering to paying the bill).
From there it was off to 창덕궁 in order to snap some pictures. Somehow between the last time I visited this venue, and this time, the powers that be became a lot more strict. After buying our tickets we had to wait 30 minutes or so for the next guided tour to begin before we were allowed in. After that, armed guards (armed in the sense that they all had two arms) were stationed around the area to prevent people from wandering off and examining the grounds at their own pace.
So the first 20 minutes or so of the tour was spent trying to evade capture so we could go at our own pace, see things we wanted to see, take pictures, skip the stuff we had no interest in, and so on. I’m not saying that the guided tour is pointless, far from it. It was quite informative the first time I listened to it, and I’m pretty sure that in the past six or seven months, the history of the palace hasn’t changed much.
Finally sneaking off, we made our way to 비원 (aka the Secret Garden) which in all honesty was the reason we made the pilgrimage to that venue. “Let’s go to 비원 with a tripod and take some pictures with decent scenic backdrops.” Which is just what we did. The photo evidence is avalible here for those who care to see it.
After throughly wandering about the venue and seeing all that we cared to see, 진희 and I headed over to the bookstore known as English Plus so that she could pick up some sort of book about testing English vocabulary. We we’re then planning to take a bus home, but some farmers from out in the provinces and college students had another idea. Their idea was to get pissed off about the government’s plan to import some food stuffs at much cheaper prices (therefore making it harder for farmers to make money), come to Seoul, march in the street, set fire to stuff, and have the police block off the streets to allow this behavior (instead of busting farmers in the skull). I snapped a couple of low quality photos mostly because I thought their protest wagon was rediculous (see photo to the right).
The flow of traffic was seriously messed up, so instead of taking the bus home, which on a normal day takes about 40 minutes, we had to take the subway (which takes roughly an hour and a half). So I was a tad pissed off, and took this annoyance out the random middle aged women who attempted to push their way onto the subway as the wife and I were attempting to get off to make the first of the transfers we had to make. I seriously close-lined one of them and she got all indignant, but I felt no remorse what so ever.
Jerkass farmers aside the afternoon was outstanding, but the day was far from over. Once back in our home area, we decided to go check out a film at the movie theater. 진희 wanted to see 뻔뻔한 딕 & 제인 (Fun With Dick & Jane), so we went to go check out some tickets. There was a showing at 9:00, but we would have had to sit in seats away from each other, and where’s the fun in that?
There was another showing at midnight, so we purchased tickets which (due to being for a showing at midnight) were 50% off. We headed home to kill some time before the showing, and to pick up some snacks to bring to the theater with us. In a clear sign that I have been in Korea far, far too long, the snack I personally selected to bring with me was not chips, or popcorn, or a candy bar of anysort, but dried squid. That’s right, I brought the very same snack I once loathed to encounter in the movie theater.
Anyhow, 11:15 rolled around and we headed back to the theater, and took in the film. Our seats were outstanding. We had “couple seats” (which is basically one big seat for two people) up on a balcony away from everyone else in the theater. So we sat there, ate our squid, drank our beers and enjoyed the movie. Personally, I thought the film was not that bad. Jim Carrey often annoys the hell out of me with his manic behavior in other films, but here he was more subdued and therefore a lot funnier. All in all the film was pretty decent: a comedy that required very little work to enjoy, which is the right kind of movie to watch at midnight I suppose.
The film ended and 진희 and I walked back home. Sometime between 11:15 and 1:30 or so, a cold wind had picked up and the air was crisp and a tad chilly. We returned home, had a cup of tea and a chat, and then headed off to bed. When all was said and done, it was a fantastic day.
Oh ho! It’s 2006 buddies! The new year was rung in as it should always be rung in: brews and card games!!!!!
Earlier in the day yesterday 진희, Mr. Lee, a character dubbed “Navigation,” my sister and I traveled to the northern most edge of South Korea and looked across the boarder with telescopes. Also I bought 평양소주 (Pyeongyang soju), which is for show, not for go. After checking out what the commies were rockin’ the posse went out to dinner at some crazy fancy Chinese restaurant.
And then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!?!!?! It’s 2006!!!! WOOHOO!!!! AHHHHWOOOOGA!!!
Because it is totally the year of the dog in the event that you didn’t know such things.
Also if you like to look at pictures and junk, then you will definately want to check out this crap.
A couple of days ago (on Tuesday evening to be precise), I recieved a phone call from 진희.
“My father has the day off and wants to go up to Namsan Tower with us if you have time.”
“Alright where should we meet?”
“Come to Jongoro 3ga, my dad will pick us up there.”
So I headed off to Jongro and rendez-voused with my girlfriend, who informed me that her younger sister would be coming along as well.
We found her father standing by his cab and headed off for adventure with her father explaining how very cold it was that day (it was true), and offering cookies and canned coffee and gum to those riding in the cab.
A short while later we arrived at Namsan, where we were going to ride a cable car up to the tower.
After a short way too crowded ride in the cable car we were at the tower. The tower and the view of the city from the tower were quite spectacular at night. One really doesn’t grasp just how large a city is until one can see the entire thing. The only problem is you don’t get to see the entire, inspite of the fact that I took countless pictures. Apparently my camera is like a kindergarten student in that it is deathly afraid of the dark, and any pictures taken under these conditions look like utter crap.
Anyhow after strolling around on the observation deck of the tower for awhile it was time to eat. We headed off in the cab to a 설렁탕 restaurant, and from there I returned to my homestead where I discovered my lack of heat…
Sunday afternoon Jinhui and I met up at Moran station and headed off to the library to return some books. As we walked towards the library she informed me that on the docket for today we would be traveling to Hwaseong in the city of Suwon after our library adventures.
For those of you with limited knowledge of Hwaseong allow me to get all historic upon you. Hwaseong is / was a fortress constructed under the orders of King Jeongjo in the 18th century. The structure took approximately two years to complete. I learned that among the parties responsible for the construction was a fellow named 金大老味 (literally 김대노미). In learning this I discovered that in antiquity, 놈 (which at present means ‘bastard’) could be written in 漢字 as 老味, and it’s always awesome when one learns such nonsense. Anyhow back to the history lesson…during the Korean War the place was severely damage and or totally destroyed (depending on the sources you read). In 1975 the Korean government rebuilt the entire structure. The site is now a UNESCO World Hertiage site. Wow! That seems exciting. Let’s check it out!
Basically it’s a wall. A long wall. A really long wall. So what is there to see and do at good old Hwaseong? Well you can walk. There’s a spot that offers a really nice view of the city of Suwon. There are some statues and monuments to various wars, generals, and kings. There are flags and cannons. But the thing that blew all this history right out of the water was the bathroom.
Being a UNESCO World Heritage site sure offers up some nice perks. The bathroom was seriously nicer than my house. There was hot and cold running water, soothing music piped in, a shower, and an outstanding view…which is more than can be said for the place I’m living now.
The streets of 신촌 (Shinchon) are eeriely quiet at 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning. Completely devoid of human life, one might mistake it for a ghost town if it were not for the piles of vomit that dotted the sidewalk. In the early morning light, I made my way to the subway station and headed off towards 청량리, where it had been pre-arranged that I would meet 진희, board a train, and head out of the city and spend the day on the island. All in all it seemed like a perfectly lovely plan, but life is weird and so and I.
Part The First: “I’m On The Corner of First and First”
I was riding the rails bound for 청량리 and had just finished eat a ham and cheese sandwich I had purchased at a convenient store. With breakfast out of the way, I was hard at work studying some 漢字. The middle aged man seated next to me glanced over at what I was doing, and then began to write 漢字 on the palm of his hand with the index finger of the opposite hand. As the man and I practiced writing 興 (흥할 흥), he on his hand, and I in my 漢字 notebook, my cellular phone rang.
“Hello?” I answered.
My girlfriend’s voice responded to my greeting, “Hi honey!” and then enquired, “Where are you?”
“Uhh…” I struggled to see around the head of the large woman seated across from me, “동대문 I think.”
“Alright…I made a mistake. There are two 청량리 stations.”
I took my trusty subway map from my wallet and unfolded it on my lap. She was right! There were in fact two 청량리 stations. My girlfriend went on to explain that I did not need to go to the first (closer) 청량리, but instead had to ride to the station after the first 청량리 to the next station (회기) and transfer to a different line, and then ride one station to the second 청량리. It seemed simple enough, so I told my girlfriend that it would be fine, and that I would see her shortly.
The train rolled into 청량리 #1, but instead of carrying on the 회기 the train driver decided it would be as good a time as any to have a cup of coffee and a smoke and kicked everyone off the train. I looked at my watch. It was a little after 9 o’clock, so I still had more than enough time to get to my destination. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Nearly fifteen minutes passed before the next train arrived. I boarded the train and we headed off towards 회기. On the train I noticed some students doing quadratic equations, so I decided that I should probably work out some math problems on the palm of my hand as well.
As I was trying to solve for x the train came to a hault. The conductor bellowed something, but I could not hear him over the tunes that were pumping on my mp3 player, but I assumed the announcement was something along the lines of, “You jerks could probably walk to the station faster…HA! HA! HA!” Ten more minutes pass and then the train limped to the next station. I rushed off to transfer and was able to catch the train with fairly little difficulty, which kind of surprised me. The train rolled down the tracks at the speed of something of moderate speed, and a meer 5 minutes later I arrived at my destination…or so I thought.
In reality, I did not end up in some second 청량리, but back at the same station I had departed some 15 minutes earlier. I called my girlfriend and was throughly confused. She had apparently arrived at the other version of 청량리, but I was not sure how she was able to do so. She told me to go check out. I looked the station map over and saw that there was a train station at exit number four. I exited at met my girlfriend outside. Apparently the two different 청량리 stations were about a two minute walk away from each other…
We went into the train station and purchased our tickets. Two one way tickets from Seoul to 가평 (Gapyeong), a town located about an hour and a half away, ended up costing us ￦7,000 (about $7US), which leads me to this proclaimation, “Amtrack you guys suck! $40 to go from upstate New York to the City? What the (make sweet sweet love) is wrong with you?!” After waiting around in the train station for a bit someone screamed “All aboard!” (or something similar in Korean) and it was time to board the train headed for Gapyeong.
Part The Next: “Goin’ Off the Rails on a Crazy Train!”
At approximately 10:15, 진희 and I were pulling out of the train station bound for 가평. The train ride in and of itself was fairly uneventful, though the train was kind of crowded. Apparently the ￦3,500 ticket does not insure one will get a seat on the train. Fortunately the tickets we had purchased had seat numbers so we did not have to stand for the hour and a half it took to travel there. For some reason the guys in front of us decided to have a feast while taking the train out of the city. There were hamburgers, 김밥 (kimbab), eggs, and oranges…all within the course of an hour.
After some time, we were in 가평, a town which made the berg I teach in look absolutely metropolitian. A wind blew clouds of dust into our faces as we walked from the train station to the bus depot to catch a bus the the island we were planning on visiting. As luck would have it we got to the bus stop as the bus was pulling out. We checked the bus schedule and learned that we would have to wait two hours for the next bus, so we decided that it would be in our best interest to take a cab.
Apparently the city of 가평 failed 12th grade economics. Everywhere I have ever been in the world works on the economic principle that living in a city is going to drain your money, while living in the countryside gives you more bang for your buck. It’s the basic reason why people live in the suburbs and commute to work in major metropolitian areas. Taxis in Seoul have a base fare of ￦1,800 (the last time I checked), while cabs in Gapyeong started at ￦2,800, which was kind of odd, since chances are people in Gapyeong are making less than those working in Seoul.
A short, five minute cab ride later we were at the docks purchasing tickets for a ferry bound for the island known as 남이섬 (Nami Island). As I plunked down my ￦10,000 on the counter for two tickets I noticed a small sign warning, “산타조 조심하세요 (Please be careful of the wild ostriches),” complete with a cartoon drawing of an angry ostrich. I scoffed at the sign and 진희 and I boarded the ferry boat.
The short cab ride lead me to wonder why was it that the buses only ran every two hours. Even if there was only one actual bus, the round trip from the terminal to the island would be roughly 10 to 20 minutes…a far cry from the two hour time table they were running on. These thoughts were short lived as we were soon docking on a island.
Part The Part After Part The Next: Asian Tourists A Go-Go
Arriving on the island of 남이섬, my girlfriend and I disembarked from the ferry and heard a din of foreign languages that neither of us could not understand in the least.
“What’s going on here? Why are there so many Japanese and Chinese tourists on this island which is seemingly in the middle of nowhere?” I inquired of my girlfriend.
For those of you not living in Asia, 겨울연가 was a Korean soap opera that for some reason was viewed as being the greatest thing since sliced bread rice across much of Asia. A lot of this popularity was due to the male star of the show, one 배용준 (Bae Yong-jun). More commonly known by his Japanese title, Yong-sama (even in his home country), Mr. Bae is extremely popular with the middle aged women of Japan and Hong Kong for some reason, which made the island on which we stood quite the tourist spot for people of these lands.
However there was a lot more to the island than simply, “That’s where (insert plot item X from 겨울연가) happened!” 진희 and I traveled around the island, which was actually quite pretty. There were a lot of things there that living in a city, I haven’t seen in quite some time…things like trees, and grass, and animals. So we took a lot of pictures, which those of you inclined to do so can see here.
But like I said, there was a lot of other junk going on at this island. Forget the nature, forget Yong-sama…you know what every tourist attraction island need? Ostriches! That’s right kids, this island was home to a clan of ostriches…ostriches that walked around amongst the general population. Earlier in my life I had some experience with large flightless birds, but apparently Koreans did not. The ostrich on the loose proceeded to scare the (bowel movement) out of various Korean women with its pile of hay-like body, reptilian legs, and stupid snake Muppet looking neck and head (complete with rediculous beak that sounded like castanettes when opening and closing). Words and pictures could really not do justice to the insanity which was this encounter, which is why I bring this shocking footage to your attention.
But that wasn’t all! If Yong-sama, nature, and ostrich attacks aren’t quite your thing, perhaps you would enjoy the traditional folk music, or old school Korean junk food (stuff that went back at least as far as 진희’s childhood), or the bicycle rides, or even the countless benches that are scattered across the island. After spending a good 3+ hours wandering around, wondering why this island also housed a museum dedicated to Thomas Edison and his inventions, we decided we’d had enough and it was time to take a ferry back to the mainland and get some dinner.
Part The Part After The Part After…Aw Forget This!: Talk About A One Trick Pony
It was roughly 5:00 in the evening and I was sitting in the bus terminal in the podunk town of Gapyeong. Again we had just missed a bus and would have to wait 15 to 20 minutes for the next bus to arrive. I sat waiting in a chair next to some middle school girls who based on their responses to seeing me, had more likely than not had never seen a caucasian person before in their lives.
As 진희 and I had taken the ferry back from the island, she mentioned that a nearby town was famous throughout Korea for a dish known as 닭갈비 (Dalk Kalbi). This is a dish we both enjoy, so the decision was made to head to the town, 춘천 (Chuncheon) to have the original / best 닭갈비 in all of Korea. As I squashed my legs into a bus seat an American toddler would have been uncomfortable sitting in, I began to question the logic of this decission.
Some thirty minutes later we arrived in Chuncheon, though my legs were under the impression the trip had take 30 years. The entire town had a look that just hollered, “We are famous for a chicken dish and little else.” We hopped on a city bus and headed off for Chuncheon’s version of 명동 (Myeongdong), which was not to be confused with the Myeongdong in Seoul.
Myeongdong consisted solely of 닭갈비 restaurants and stores selling 한복 (hanbok, the traditional Korean clothes). That was it. After briefly considering our options, 진희 and I selected a restaurant on 닭갈비골목 (Dalkalbi Street) claiming to be the 원조 (元祖 / original) 춘천닭갈비, and entered, prepared to get our eat on. In all fairness, the 닭갈비 in 춘천 (or at least this particular restaurant) blew the 닭갈비 I’d consumed in Seoul out of the water. It was outstanding!
Shortly after our arrival, a busload of Chinese tourists came in…again I was perplexed. “Why is there a busload of Chinese tourists here?”
“Because they filmed 겨울연가 here too.”
I glanced over at the foodstuffs of the Chinese tourists were consuming. The normally spicy red 닭갈비 was basically white. Now that’s good eating! After dinner, we decided that it was time to head back to Seoul, but first we had to find the train station. We hopped on another city bus and asked the bus driver where the station was. He barked out that he would tell us when to get off in the angriest voice I have heard in my life. Later he let us off at non-offical bus stop and wished us luck. “He was a really kind bus driver…but sounded so angry!”
A short walk later we were at the train station, we had our tickets, and just had to wait for the boarding announcement. Finally we were on the train. The car we were in was relatively empty. There were a couple of 20-something Korean dudes eating fried chicken, and some married couple behind us, and some old men. It was great, a nice quiet ride home! We can sleep, it will be awesome! WRONG!
Shortly before the train departed a group of loud ass Canadians got on the train. Now I don’t know if this was just because I could understand everything they were saying so it was harder to tune them out, or if they were actually louder than most Koreans, but they were extremely annoying. 진희 was able to fall asleep, I on the other hand was treated to 2 hours of annoying conversations, fun facts about Canada, and horrific butchering of Korean place names (Sinchun, Gan-name). Anyhow we eventually got back to Seoul none the worse for wear.
The Opposite of a Prologue
So for people who somehow ended up here looking for actual tourist information, allow me first to apologize. Next up, was the trip worth it? Hells yeah! Though the island of 남이섬 (Nami Island) is not really a place to go without a significant other unless you happen to be a huge Yong-sama fan, and if that’s the case…more power to you! All in all the trip was an extremely decent way to spend a day. Check it out if you are so inclined.
I went to Deoksugung (덕수궁) today. It is a castle which dates back to the 16th century. In addition to seeing numerous foriegners (a rarity in my own neighborhood) I saw hettae, the changing of the guard ceremony, and some awesome buildings. There were a ton of dudes in traditional garb. It was a nice change of pace from the normal city life in Seoul.
Also today I bought (and cooked) chicken and rice. I thought I purchased two chicken breasts, but in reality there were four of them, so tomorrow I’ll be eating chicken again. I’ve been reading some tourist books, looking for things to do. I think tomorrow I’ll go to Itaewon after I go into work. Well, my laundry is finished, so I’m outta here. Later!
Hattae (해태) is a mythical creature in Korea. I took this picture at 덕수궁 (Mom, it’s the one in your book with the picture of the guy in an awesome hat). For some reason I have more knowledge of this thing than people who live here. It is often placed around palaces since they are allegedly made of water and therefore protect the palaces from fires.
Changing of the guard ceremony at 덕수궁 (Deoksu Palace) in Seoul, South Korea. Rockin’! I’ll have to take whoever visits me in Korea to this venue. It’s decently fun, but it’s kind of boring to go there by one’s self.
