South Korea
April 13, 2007
As many of you may have presumed, it is about time for the first of my ramblings about my current adventures. I know from the last trip I went on that some of you will undoubtedly take one look at this, shudder a little and think, You’ve got to be kidding. Read that much? I am aware that this day and age has significantly diminished our attention spans. But for those who still read, and are interested, here goes. (For those who can’t bear the thought, I still love you. I just won’t bring you back any presents.)
Today is day three of my week in South Korea with my dear friend Rosie. For those who don’t know her, she’s one of my best friends and is currently teaching English in a city called Bundang which is just south of Seoul, Korea’s capital. So far my impressions of Korea are mixed, although leaning favourably on their side. It is very apparently a country that has boomed economically over the past forty years. While most of the buildings are huge (85% of the population lives in cities) there are still fields being tilled by hand here and there, and there is a lot of garbage. But then there are crazy neon signs everywhere and tonnes of cars, and every now and then you pass a strip of high rises that could be anywhere in the developed world. The people are dressed really well and have cellphones plastered to their heads, as in many other places in the world. Oh…and the drivers are terrible (I witnessed someone drive into a pole yesterday!) There are English words all over the place and as with many countries in the developing world, it seems that they fetishize the West in a big way. The people in most of the advertizing are white, and the style of dress is pretty intensely high fashion (high heels a must, girls!) and all the men wear business suits. The population here is 99% homogenous, with most of the foreigners being Chinese or Japanese. Us white guys comprise about 0.4% of the population. Hence, we get a little bit of attention.
Yesterday I ventured into Seoul by myself for a day of sightseeing while Rosie was at school. I was heading to an area called Insadong where there is a strip of markets and galleries and antique shops, and also a grand palace called Guyengbokgung that was used as the principal palace until the late 1500s. I had been on the bus going into town for about half an hour — we had crossed the bridge over the river that cuts South Korea in half — when the young Korean guy standing next to me asked me where I was going. Relieved that there was someone who spoke a little English who could help me, I told him I was going to Insadong. Young-Suk (as I soon discovered he was called) then told me that he was heading that way and that he could take me. This was the beginning of my day with a personal tour guide. It turned out that he wasn’t actually heading to where I was going, but I only discovered this about 4 hours later when he had to go to the university for a seminar he was supposed to have been preparing all morning. We went to the palace together and he got me some interesting Korean foods on our walk there (these yummy cookies made from rice flour with honey and some pretty nasty-tasting “traditional” rice drink that was none too appetising). The palace was absolutely gorgeous and beautifully preserved. A lot of it was destroyed during the Japanese colonial period, but the Korean government has invested a lot of money in restoring it, and hopes to have many of the buildings repaired and rebuilt within the next 15 years. It is very obvious that tourism is a high priority, and the people of Korea are super-friendly and welcoming to foreigners.
Today I did a but more sight-seeing, but it wasn’t nearly as interesting as yesterday. It’s a pretty materialistic country, and as it turns out, a lot of the advice I’ve had has sent me to markets and shopping areas, but since it’s the very beginning of my trip, I don’t want to get loaded up with things quite yet. I did have a few more amusing encounters with people on public transport. This morning on my way into town the woman sitting next to me pressed two rolls of some sort of food wrapped in clingwrap into my hand before she hastily departed. They’re pretty interesting — kind of rice flour paste with red beans and sweet seaweed in one. I haven’t tried the other, but it’s got something orange in it. But it was the thought that counts, really. The second encounter was on the subway back this afternoon. I was standing, listening to my music, looking around me at all the people and things going on in the subway. An older woman, around sixty, I think, boarded the subway, and while most of the people here are pretty discreet about staring, she had no qualms with scrutinising me right and properly. I smiled at her, as you do, and then continued to daydream and look around at the other people. Suddenly I feel someone poking at me and ushering me into a seat. This woman had got a teenage guy to vacate his seat and was herding me into it! I rarely blush, but this was certainly one of these occasions. Especially considering that she was the person who should rightfully be getting my seat as someone about 40 years my elder. Fortunately another seat came up within the next minute or so and she sat down there. It was weird. No other way to describe it. I definitely felt a little sheepish, but then, there wasn’t really anything I could have done to avoid the situation aside from not being there at all.
I really do like Korea so far. Although very few people speak English, and the extent of my Korean is gamsa hamnida, which means “thank you,” body language is an extraordinary thing. It’s sort of like playing charades, except with everything. It’s also exceptionally safe, so girls travelling alone have nothing to worry about. The food is something else. It’s tasty for sure, but unfortunately pretty full of MSG which I have trouble with and don’t have enough language skills to avoid thus far. I now have the characters for “No MSG” written out, so hopefully I can enjoy my food more for the rest of my stay.
