Korea: Past, Present, and Future

Good morning everyone! I hope your week gets off to a great start! I spent a wonderful weekend in Seoul, since my new teaching schedule (until the end of January) allows me to have afternoons off.

On Friday I was able to make it to the bus terminal a little after 1, and by 1:45 I was on my bus, ready to sit back and enjoy the 3.5 hour ride to Seoul. It was a beautiful day outside, and I enjoyed looking at the snow covered mountains (more like rolling hills...but some were big) and the pretty scenery on the way up. The window watching didn't last very long, however, as I passed out halfway through, due to a busy and sleep deprived week. So I pretty much slept my way up to Seoul, but it was still a nice bus ride, nevertheless. The Korean bus system is extremely efficient and effective, from how the buses almost always run on schedule to how there is a bus only lane once the traffic picks up near Seoul. I'm not sure if that's how it is in the States also for some of the bigger cities, but I know my past coach bus experiences to swim meets certainly haven't been that smooth in traffic.

Due to the bus lane we made it to Seoul right on time. I zipped my way over to the connected subway station and quickly found my transfer lines. I read in my guidebook that Seoul has a 'nearly idiot proof' subway stations', and sure enough, I figured it out just fine. As long as you know your stop or something nearby (thanks to the English translations on nearly every subway map) and you understand the basics of the subway system you will be fine. It was subway rush hour in Seoul - very crowded and packed inside - but I guess that's city living. Everything was announced in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean as well, so if you weren't near a subway map (or couldn't move to look at one due to being packed in like sardines) you could at least listen for your stop.

I navigated my way to Steve and Mary's - my hosts for the weekend. They have a wonderful location just north of the Han river - just a few subway stops from nearly everything. They had a delicious, hot, and hearty beef stew waiting for me - it was heavenly on the cold winter night. A nice taste of home - it was even in the crock pot. We had a nice dinner and did a lot of chatting about Christmas - sadly, Steve's father had just passed away recently so Steve had been in Mankato the past week - he had just gotten back the night before. I had no idea, and wouldn't have asked to come up if I'd known, but he seemed to be doing well and felt better after having some closure at the funeral in Mankato.

We were all pretty tired, so we turned in early after spending some time in their cozy living room - I planned my day out and headed to bed before 10 - the first time in a long time. Saturday morning I woke up and got ready for the day. I had two objectives for the day: the Seoul National Museum and the Korean War Museum. I figured since it was too chilly outside to walk around and explore, which is usually what I like to do when visiting a city, I would hit up the museums this weekend to make sure I saw them and didn't feel guilty spending outside time inside a museum later on in the year. I was quite excited for both, as I've been brushing up on my Korean history recently.

I have to say, I'm not much of a museum peruser/stroller, unless I'm with someone. When I go to museums, I'm more of a museum attacker. Museum attacking is a practiced art, and I've had wonderful opportunites to work on my skills during my travels the past few years. I'll give you a couple tips. As every good attacking strategy should, museum attacking involves a plan. This plan can be best developed and implemented by first making a beeline for the museum info desk when you enter and asking nicely for an English translation museum guide. Scan the guide, figure out what you want to see the most and prioritize efficiently. Example - if the exhibit you want to see the most is on the second floor, but the first floor provides more background, go to the first floor first so that you can at least see it and learn a little background, albiet more quickly, and then when you reach the second floor, right about the time your feet should start to hurt, you'll be more interested so you won't care about the pain as much. If you go to the second floor first you'll have a much less pleasant experience when you reach the first floor, because your feet will hurt and you'll be less interested. If your feet don't hurt from standing by the end of the day, you didn't do it right. I never said museum attacking was easy - it's not for everyone.

Also, I should mention museum attacking involves not only reading nearly every English translation available as you walk around to look at the exhibits, but also taking notes on your museum guide - take notes in the section you are in on the guide so you'll remember it easier and be able to organize your notes better. You learn more when you write things down (at least I know I do) and it makes a great keepsake. Oh, and the number one rule of museum attacking: always allow for a coffee break when you have just one floor or a few exhibitions left (provided you have enough time before the museum closes) - you'll have time to restrategize, recharge, and give yourself a rest before finishing off the museum. If you coffee break too early you might get discouraged and lazy - not allowed in museum attacking. Oh, last rule - make sure you have water! For further information on museum attacking you may contact me via e-mail.

While I would love to tell you all about Seoul National and Korea's history (there were a ton of great artifiacts from the different periods in Korean history) I know I would lose some faithful readers if I went too in depth, so I'll just skip to the highlights. The outside of Seoul National was quite impressive - it recently moved to a new facility, which consists of not only the huge expansive building (pictured) but also a reflecting lake, a beautiful pagoda, and some trails to walk around on in the surrounding area. Once inside, I executed stage 1 of my museum attack, devised my strategy, and got to work. Besides the artifacts, which were neatly organized in the first floor exhibits, outlining Korean history, (Sidenote: I was unaware that Saturday morning opening time also happened to be Korean schoolkid tour day - there were so many gaggles of kids running around with backpacks, name tags, and workbooks it was almost overwhelming at first. However, it was cute to see them sitting in their little groups in a corner of the exhibit, working in their workbooks while a teacher lectured them!) there was also an impressive collection of Korean art, scuplture, calligraphy, pottery, and metalworks. My favorite wings tied for first place: it was close between the Buddha section (tons of sculptures, paintings, and drawings) and the pottery section. Korean celadon (a special greenish color of glaze) is the most well known - it was adopted and modified from the original Chinese pottery during the 13th and 14th centuries - but I also learned about some other, more recent kinds of Korean pottery. It was all beautiful, and so interesting to learn about. The museum was fantastic and impressive - I spent a happy four and a half hours there, complete with a hazelnut latte, before heading to my next destination: the Korean War Museum.

The war museum was quite close to the National Museum - a short walk but it was freezing out so I took the subway just a few stops over. My guidebook warned against doing both the National Museum and the War Museum in one day, but clearly the guidebook didn't know I am a museum fanatic - after doing four museums in one day in London (I went to all the free ones that I could get to between 10 am and 6 pm) I figured I could handle it. No regrets, but I will think more carefully next time. 

I wasn't prepared for how impressive the outside of the museum would be - it was more like a memorial park, with tons of sculptures, war machines from the Korean War (planes, tanks, battleships, etc) and a huge front entrance. The broze casts of the people were so interesting - the faces of the Korean War - from the soliders to the civilian women to the children - all in different expressions of heartbreak, sadness, and determination to fight back. I plan to come back when it's warmer out and just walk around the outside park area - but I only had three hours to see the museum, so I didn't look around outside for very long.

The war museum (inside) was equally as impressive, though not nearly as big. I didn't realize that it was actually a history of war in Korea museum, not just a Korean War museum. The entire first floor covered the history of warfare in Korea, including stone age bow and arrows to medieval bows and arrows to modern mechanics. I'm not much of a technical war person, but even I found it interesting and it provided another angle to Korea's history - I learned more about the warring between the Three Kingdoms that existed in Korea before they were all unified under one Kingdom, and then how Korea repeatedly had to fend off Mongolian and Chinese invaders. The most successful invasion was by the Japanese in the late 15th century, but they were kicked out soon enough, only to come back full force about 400 years later. It also talked about the Western nations (European and American) 'opening the ports' of Korea in the late 19th century, which was its first real contact with the West (that they responded to, that is.)

The second floor was dedicated entirely to the Korean War. It started with the background, the beginnings of the war, and the development of the war in one wing, then continued on with development, peace talks, and finally the conclusion of the war. It included remnants from the war, testimonies, documents, and amazing visual displays of what life was like for the soliders and civilians during the war. I learned (to more of an extent than I was aware of) that North Korea was extremely better prepared for war than South Korea, in terms of nearly everything - mapower, equipment, people, economy, etc, largely due to assistance from the communist parties of Russia and China. There was a wonderful display dedicated to the UN forces and how grateful South Korea is to them. The 'teardrop' memorial that I have pictured is fashioned out of the ID tags from UN soldiers, and there was a display dedicated to each of the countries that contributed forces to help South Korea. The map picture shows all the nations who came to the ROK's assistance during the war.

I was kicked out of the museum at closing time (oh, I forgot to mention that I always schedule at least 10 minutes of gift shop time at museums as well - I'm a sucker for pens (they last longer than pencils), keychains (a dedicated collector since I was young), and postcards (scrapbooker.) After the museums I was tired and worn out, but satisfied. Mission accomplished. I finished off the night by heading to Itaewon - the foreigner's district of Seoul, which is packed with every kind of ethnic food you can imagine, along with a fantastic used/new English bookstore and a foreign food market. I stocked up at both places, and immensely enjoyed wandering among hundreds of English books again (not quite Barnes and Noble, but it'll do.) I got back to Steve and Mary's around 8 - Steve had turned in early due to his jet lag, so I chatted with Mary for a bit and unwound for a bit before heading to bed.

The next morning I attended the early service at Steve's church, then hung out and chatted with some of the members after the service. I had to skip out early to head to another part of the city to meet up with another English teacher who I'd met via e-mail last summer. (She was my roommate's brother's wife's cousin...also from Minnesota!) She'd been extremely helpful and patient in answering my dozens of questions when I was preparing to leave for Korea, and I was excited to finally meet her. We met at Butterfinger's Pancakes, a wonderful American breakfast restaurant with everything you could ever want at a breakfast place. I enjoyed my brewed coffee (rarity) and shared a breakfast omelette, potatoes, and pancake dish with Megan as we chatted about our Korea experiences. It's funny how an experience like teaching in a foreign country automatically bonds you to people - it's always nice to meet someone from back home as well!

After breakfast she took me and her friends to COEX, an absolutely huge underground shopping complex packed full with shops, restaurants, coffee shops, a huge bookstore, a movie theater, an aquarium, and a...kimchi museum! Only in Korea. We decided it would be a relevant cultural experience, so we paid the three dollars to check it out. It wasn't really that great, to be honest, but I learned more about how it is made and got to do some kimchi taste testing. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that I've gotten so used to kimchi that I can tell whether it's good kimchi or not, but either way it's true.

After the museum we said our goodbyes, and I headed back to the bus terminal around 3, ready to get home and do some getting ready for the upcoming week. I had never been to the main area of the Express Bus Terminal - I thought the one in Gwangju was big - but I was amazed at the size of this one, called Central City. It was so big that the major cities had their own ticket lines, and so efficient that I literally bought a ticket that was scheduled to depart 6 minutes later. It was a quick thirty seconds of glancing at my ticket, double checking the time, looking up to find the terminal gate, hopping on the bus, and then departing five minutes later. Bam.

On the way home it was another beautiful sunny day (though deceptively chilly) and I enjoyed looking out of the window at the snowy hills and pretty landscape. This time, however, as opposed to the Friday before, my thoughts about the mountains were different. I kept thinking back to the images at the war museum, of guerrilla soldiers wearing leaves on their helmets for camouflage scrambling on their bellies up the same hills I was looking at, rifles at the ready. This past year marked the 60 year anniversary for the start of the Korean War - when you think about it, that's really not much time at all, is it? South Korea went from a nation of extreme, war torn poverty to a highly modern and economized country in a mere 60 years - it was hard to imagine the busy, glitzy capital that I had just departed from as anything but that. I also thought about how many countries had dedicated their services to the ROK to fight against communism in those very hills, and how many soldiers had died for the idea of democracy and freedom. It was sobering yet encouraging to think about how Korea, with its resilient spirit, fought back and surpassed the world's expectations. In the wake of recent events it was disturbing to me to think of the possibility of something like it ever occurring again, and that the people who might determine that possibility were only a mere two hours north of where I was that day. However, I also thought about how important it is to know that just as the world came together to fight for freedom in 1950, if something were to happen the world will again unite and go to great lengths to preserve democracy for the people of South Korea.

As much as the news and politicians want to predict the future, no one knows what will happen. My hope is that things will change in North Korea's leadership, whether by outside forces or internally, in order to help the people of North Korea, many of whom are starving and without jobs. I hope that the realization of the need for change will come sooner rather than later to the leaders of North Korea, because I can't see the people lasting much longer in their current situation. I also hope that the horrors from the memory of the Korean War from the past are enough to affect what decisions are made for the future, to prevent history from repeating itself.

In the meantime, south of the DMZ line, things here are stable and steady and life goes on - business as usual. People still meet with friends and family, go out for coffee or ice cream, and enjoy movies or museums (only the brave go museum attacking, however) and continue to enjoy life. Because why live a life in fear? South Korea never ceases to amaze me with its interesting blend of tradition and modernity, and after learning so much more about South Korea's history this weekend I am more excited than ever to keep experiencing this unique opportunity. I hope that your New Year is starting off as well as mine - blessings and peace to you all! Have a great week!

Happy New Year!

Wow, I bet you miss me - I think my last post was sometime last year. I hope the New Year is finding you all warm and cozy as you cross through various stages of winter hibernation, especially in the Midwest. Luckily, your hibernating abilities have been greatly aided by your recent consumption of all the delicious holiday treats that passed your way...at least, that's usually how it works for me.

Before you begin reading I must warn you: the following blog entry contains lots of snow pictures. I'm sure those of you who have been living in record breaking snowdumps are pretty sick of the snow, so if you don't think you can handle another image of snow - stop reading. If you're willing to brave it and you have a warm blanket nearby, you may continue reading.

For the past four years New Year's has marked the beginning of my annual Florida training trip for the university swim team - ten days of sleep, eat, swim, eat/beach/sleep (either simultaneously or some combination of the three within a short time period), swim, eat, sleep, repeat. Insert random games of shuffleboard or cards (all we have energy for after swimming four hours a day), add some wicked sunburns to those of us whose midwestern skin has turned nearly translucent by January, and of course, add some pain medication and/or ice to help alleviate the intense pain our muscles have to endure, and you have a pretty complete picture of my usual January.

My situation is drastically different this year. I'm living in a moderately cold climate (around 30 degrees, warmer in the day and colder at night) with some snow to look at and enough ice to make the roads a bit slippery - a strange change from the January tundra weather in Wisconsin and Minnesota. No swimming, no beach, no pain. This was my walk to school from the bus stop on Thursday morning (which I had to walk back home on a half hour later because we found out it was a snow day) Instead of a break from schoolwork during which I usually tackle a long, difficult novel that I actually have time to read (Tolstoy was usually my winter break author of choice,) I am working harder than ever now, as I have to prepare for four hours of English camp a day, five days a week. Last, instead of stocking up and eating staple swimmer foods: cereal, pasta, sandwiches, and (my personal favorite) Goldfish crackers to keep up energy and fuel for the thousands of meters I usually have to swim, I'm indulging in my new favorite Korean foods: kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), kimbap (rice wraps), and jjigaes (soups). Said foods usually run for 2 to 3 dollars for a filling meal of rice, vegetables, and soup - the perfect meal on a cold winter day. My friends and I, who were tending to favor the western restaurants when we first arrived in Korea since we eat Korean every day at school, are now choosing Korean restaurants to eat at...they are cheap, delicious, and incredibly flavorful.

My last post about Christmas was much later than I usually write - the reason I was so late on that was because of the aforementioned English camp. Even though the school year technically ended on Christmas Eve (their school year runs from March to December, with a long winter break and short summer break compared to our year from September to May, with a short winter break, spring break, and long summer break) most students attend some form of 'winter camp,' be it math or science or English, for about 3 to 4 hours a day, usually only for one to three weeks. I tend to think of them as 'enrichment classes,' as there is no set curriculum, and the main objective is to just keep exposing them to English through reading, speaking, listening, and writing, but in a more fun way than a typical class lesson.

As a result, I've been racking my brain trying to think of how to entertain the same 12 kids, (2 diferent levels) for four hours, 5 days a week for three weeks - about 20 lessons a week, compared to the usual 10 I have to prepare (minus my usual prep hours!) This past week I was prepared for each lesson, but only on a day by day basis - I came home and immediately started working on the next day's lessons, usually waking up early to finish them after spending five to six hours a day preparing. My life was consumed by winter camp. However, due to the two snow days that I lucked out with last Thursday and Friday, I am now prepared through most of the upcoming week, and I can plan the rest of the lessons at a more leisurely pace. The camp theme is 'Around the World' - we are reading an abridged version of The Adventures of Sinbad chapter by chapter each day, and then 'traveling' to a different country each day, which the vocabulary/activities/readings are centered around. It's been fun, but again, a lot of work.

I only have two more weeks of camp at my main school now, and then I spend seven days at my other school (for which I can use the same lessons since it is a different group of kids) before finally leaving on my vacation! I haven't had one (well, besides my recent snow day four day weekend) since September - I'm definitely ready! After working out my camp schedule with my two schools (a longer process than you might think - Koreans tend to not have schedules ready and made far in advance like we're used to - there are a lot of last minute changes) I booked my tickets, got my visas in order, and have been travel planning ever since. I'm going to three different countries: Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, and then I have a 19 hour layover in Singapore on my way home, during which I'll be able to leave the airport and do a little exploring. There are endless amazing sights to see in all three countries, and a month doesn't seem to be enough to cover just one, let alone three, but I figured I'd rather go and get a taste than not go at all. I'll post more about my itinerary as the time gets closer, but for now the thought that in less than four weeks I'll be taking off for Nepal is enough to keep me braving the winter cold (I know, I know, I have nothing to complain about compared to most of you guys back home) and not lamenting the fact that I'm not in Florida right now.

My 'snow days' were a joke by Midwestern standards - about three inches of snow on the ground, but due to the lack of salt on the roads and the apparent lack of snowplows (I hear they have them here...but I haven't seen one) the roads weren't in great condition. As my school is out in the country, (the picture to the right was outside the front door of the school) it was hard enough for us teachers to get out there on the bus, but a lot of the students had a hard time getting there as well, so school was cancelled. I spent the day happily working away at one of my favorite coffee shops downtown (pictured), watching the snow come down outside the windows and laughing at all the people walking by carrying umbrellas for the snow.

On Thursday night I found out that the next day would be a snow day as well, as there was a bona fide snowstorm going on - big thick flakes falling all day and all night, (I took this while waiting at the bus stop on Thurday night) all over the area, so I planned to sleep in a bit and hang around on Friday morning before heading out to Mokpo, where the New Year's Eve festivities were planned to commence. However, after corresponding with Sara that morning it turned out she couldn't get to Mokpo that night due to the buses having a hard time getting in and out of her little country town because of the snow. Unsure of how the night was going to end up, by the time I got to the bus station I found out that the buses were, however, running to Jangheung from Gwangju, so we decided I should just head there first and then see if we could get out to Mokpo if the roads were more clear later in the afternoon.

After a longer than usual bus ride that I spent most of looking out the window at the pretty snow and mountains, once I got to Jangheung it turned out the Mokpo line was closed for the rest of the day, so we decided not to waste time by going back to Gwangju and then Mokpo, as we woudn't get there until close to 9 or 10, and instead just make the most of our New Year's Eve in Jangheung. Sara made a delicious pasta dinner for me and our friend Cassie, who also lived in Jangheung, which we enjoyed with 1 dollar bottles of sparkling wine. After relaxing and chatting on the cozy warm floor (I like to think that hanging out at Sara's place in the winter is best compared to hanging out in the Arctic Circle, but at least she has heated floors) we toasted in the New Year outside in the snow (our grand plan ended up lasting about one minute - it involved running outside, yelling Happy New Year at midnight, and then immediately running back in due to the cold) and then decided to celebrate by going out for our new favorite...Korean food. Yes, it was 1 in the morning, and yes, it was delicious.

The next day we lazed around in our pajamas and worked on booking tickets and planning for our upcoming trips (she's going to Indonesia and Southeast Asia), watched a movie, and then went for a walk to take some pictures of the beautiful snow covered scenery in Jangheung. I thought about where I was at this point last year (in Green Bay ready to leave for Florida, with two months left of swimming after my fourteen years of training, and only one semester left of college.) I applied to work in Korea right before leaving for Florida, knowing that I wanted to work overseas after graduation, but having no idea where I would end up and how amazing it would end up being.

As I headed home that day and gazed out the bus window at the dazzling snow, I thought about how comfortable I am with my current life - teaching, traveling, riding buses everywhere, eating with chopsticks every day, reading whatever I want instead of what I needed to write my next paper on, and planning dozens of upcoming trips. It's exactly what I imagined my life to be while living overseas - but I realized that what I hadn't counted on were all the great experiences I would have due to all of the great people I've met and become friends with in just a short time. No matter where in the world you are, you can almost always have the essentials - food, water, shelter, clothes - but it's not until you interact with the people - local or fellow travelers - and you share experiences with them, either at work, volunteering, or even just out to eat for a meal, that you will really truly experience a new place, and nine times out of ten you will enjoy it that much more. I can read books anywhere, I can sleep in hostels all around the world, I can take as many pictures as I want to, but how many times am I able to pay three dollars to eat a steaming hot bowl of kimchi jjigae and rice with my friends at 1 AM on New Year's Day? Or eat Korean pizza with corn as a staple topping (don't ask me why - they think we do that on pizza, apparently) with my friends for Christmas dinner?

These experiences and many, many more, are what made my 2010 such a great year - I can't wait to see what 2011 will bring! Much love to all my family and friends who make me count my blessings each and every day for being in my life. I hope you all had a great holiday season and have a fantastic start to your New Year!