Adventure Time: Part 3

It’s been quite a while since I posted about my adventures around Korea, so I have lots to catch up on! This time I'll take you through Daegu, Busan, and Seoul.

DAEGU

83 Tower

While the 63 Building is a famous landmark in Seoul, Daegu has its own 83 Tower overlooking E-World, the city’s main amusement park. (Just a note that while I have taken the stairs both up and down the 83 Tower on separate occasions, I also found out the hard way that it’s not technically allowed.) The 83 Tower includes several restaurants, an ice rink, a photography exhibit, a lookout room near the top, and a bungee-jumping platform for more daring souls. But most interesting is the “trick eye” museum within the tower, where you can pose in front of paintings on the wall that are specifically meant to look 3D in pictures. While making weird poses was embarrassing at first, I quickly loosened up and had a pretty awesome time. 

                       

  

Rose Garden

Something I really like about Daegu are the random gardens, parks, and hiking trails scattered around the city, which the government does a wonderful job of keeping maintained. I had passed by the Daegu Rose Garden several times on my way back from various hikes, but I got lucky when I decided to pay it a formal visit in the middle of May. The garden was in full bloom and was filled with more varieties of roses than I even knew existed, some of which were almost as big as my hand and put traditional Valentine’s Day roses to shame. Although the garden was very crowded with families, couples, and selfie-takers, it’s definitely something I’d want to see again.


  

Suseong Lake & the Airplane Cafe 

This picturesque lake, now accessible by Daegu’s awesome new monorail*, is surrounded by mountains and is the home of random small parades, a basketball court, a huge fountain, and dozens of duck boats. (I have yet to ride one.) I’ve been told that it’s even prettier at night. However, I’m more interested in the large passenger plane parked nicely beside the lake that has been transformed into the Snow Factory, a full dessert cafe. The inside is sleek, modern, and even has its own balcony with palm trees (though I’m fairly sure that wasn’t part of the original plane). While the desserts are overpriced, it doesn’t matter because you’re eating ice cream in a giant plane. End of story.

     

*A note about Daegu's monorail: It’s definitely the cleanest, smoothest, and most futuristic-looking public transportation I’ve been on, and it’s just as cheap as the normal bus or subway. But the coolest part about it is that all the windows turn opaque when it passes by an apartment building to give the residents some privacy. And the transition back to transparency once it’s passed the building is amazingly fast. Pretty neat, right?

BUSAN



Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (해동 용궁사)  

Rub this Buddha's belly
and you might be granted
a son! You can tell it's been
rubbed quite a lot.

This sprawling, colorful, and intricately designed temple in the coastal city of Busan faces the open water and is truly gorgeous in the afternoon light, despite the hundreds of people milling around and ruining its serenity. What struck me the most was the vast number of big-bellied Buddha statues scattered all over the place: stone statues, huge gold statues, mini porcelain statues. I was also surprised that, despite the temple's transformation into a popular tourist destination, some people were still earnestly trying to pray and pay their respects. 

On a side note, I’m still a bit startled when I see the symbol for a Buddhist temple on a map or on the side of a building. Although these temples were built way before WWII, their symbol still looks like a Nazi swastika in reverse. The effect is slowly fading the more I see it, though. 

 

Buddhas everywhere!

Lantern-covered ceiling
of a temple room

Golden piggies of wealth

Gamcheon Culture Village

I had seen pictures from friends of this very colorful "culture village" in Busan and decided to check it out myself. Located at the top of a small mountain, this place reminded me of the rows and rows of brightly colored villas one might see in Italy. I took the harder route and chose to walk up the steep but well-paved streets instead of riding the bus. Before I even reached the main village, I got to explore the Biseok Culture Village on the way up. While less touristy and not as well-known, it was filled with the same kind of old, slightly run down but brightly colored houses. Some of them had paintings on their stone walls that were very detailed and truly beautiful. 

             

Wall painting in Biseok
Culture Village

     

Ajuma flower pots!

    

    Each step was a different "book."

The Gamcheon Culture Village was much busier and was so high up that it was noticeably colder and we were almost in the clouds. (It was overcast that day.) It was filled with touristy places like food stands and expensive art stores. However, it offered a really awesome view of the houses below, along with some unique artwork that also boasted many vibrant colors. People do actually live in the village, so there were occasional signs reminding us to keep quiet and respect the residents.

All the black dots in this
sculpture are actually the
bottoms of beer bottles.

We followed this little guy
up the mountain.

                    

                      This iconic fish is made of all
                    different handmade plaques.

SEOUL

Directly before the hell that was Winter Intensives, my coworkers and I got one of our rare 5-day vacations for the New Year. Once again the tickets to other countries were sky-high, so a couple of friends and I decided to spend several days touring around Seoul instead. Here were some highlights from the trip:

-Gyeongbuk Palace (경복궁) is easily one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul. By chance I was able to witness the changing of the guards outside the palace gates, which was quite a long affair. After enough staring I finally decided that the guards were wearing very convincing face masks to make them look, I don’t know, more ancient?

     

-Insadong is a well-known touristy area in Seoul with lots of small stores that sell old, traditional Korean things, as well as the usual bookmarks and decorated chopsticks that you can find in most tourist shops. One of the most famous sites in Insadong is the majestic statue of Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). He’s known for creating the system of Hangul—Korea’s alphabet—in 1446 to make reading and writing more accessible to the lower classes. Hangul is said to be one of the world’s most logical alphabets because the letters are supposed to mirror the shape your mouth makes to create each sound.

-While the most famous of Korea’s traditional villages is probably the one in Jeonju, Seoul has two of its own hanok villages. Hanoks were Korean houses of the past, with many rooms, lots of open space, ornate roofs, and holes in the floor for toilets (the predecessor to modern squatter toilets). The houses in Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골 한옥마을) were modeled after hanoks from the Joseon Dynasty. Tourists can walk around, look at (but not go into) the various rooms, and take part in traditional Korean games. One of these that I've seen in multiple places is called Tuho (투호), a Hoopla-like game where you throw sticks into a jar or pot a set distance away. It's actually really hard.

Tuho!

A traditional Korean hanok

In one of the hanok bedrooms

One unexpected feature of Namsangol Village was a huge time capsule buried in 1994 to celebrate Seoul’s 600th anniversary. It's set to be opened again in 2394. On the surface is a large stone disk engraved with both Korean and English. I’m very curious as to what’s actually inside it—time capsules are such strange, fascinating things.

-One of the most interesting places we went to was surprisingly the War Memorial of Korea, which is really just a huge war museum. On the outside are dozens of war planes, tanks, and even missile launchers. (A sign in front of one of the model tanks says, “How to operate K-1 Tank: Insert one 500-won coin into the slot. Tank operates for 2 minutes." Who knew giant military tanks were so easy to use?) Inside the museum are various displays, memorabilia, and very realistic models from the Korean War but also from older times. In addition, there are some very touching videos about veterans and the bonds that were formed between foreign soldiers and Korean children during the Korean War.

          

      Creepily realistic models of

      Koreans learning English

       during the war

                 
       
         

           This "teardrop" hanging from the

             ceiling, made of 1300 ID tags, was

             created in remembrance of those

            who lost their lives in the Korean War.

American outfit and equipment
 from the Korean War 

-My favorite part of the trip was our tour of the Secret Garden (후원). This extensive garden is set behind Changdeok Palace (창덕궁), the second palace built after Gyeongbuk Palace during the Joseon Dynasty. The main palace itself is huge, colorful, and a true work of art, but sadly we weren’t allowed inside. The garden behind it used to be exclusively for kings and queens and can now only be accessed by tour. Because it was winter when we went, there was snow still covering some of the garden, which made it very beautiful. The tour guide’s English was excellent and she rattled off facts about the palace and garden like she’d practiced it a hundred times before. (She probably had.) It was definitely worth the 90 minutes and 8,000 won (~$8). I only wish I had taken better pictures!

        

         Inside the palace

        

          I'm sure it's even prettier in spring. 

Walk under this small arch
and you'll gain eternal life!

Stay tuned for more adventures from Korea! ~

Holidays, Culture, and *Ahh!!* MERS

I've decided to make this post about a smattering of different subjects, some old and some new, some fun and some serious. Enjoy!

Pepero Day!

November 11 (11/11!) was Pepero Day, sort of like Korea’s Valentine’s Day in addition to the usual one in February. But instead of giving chocolates and flowers to your crush, on Pepero Day you give peperos! They’re like cracker sticks covered with chocolate or other fancy, sweet toppings. It’s basically a holiday created by the company Lotte, a department store brand you see everywhere here. Let’s just say that us teachers ended up with a lot of sugar in our systems that week, courtesy of our students. I went to the supermarket the day before and it was crammed with boxes of peperos stacked to the ceiling and people doing their last-minute pepero shopping.

Children’s and Teachers' Days

This says "I love you Teacher"

Children’s Day on May 5th was another famous holiday in Korea. It’s a vacation day where kids get presents from their parents and can spend the day doing things that children like. Within the next two weeks are Parents’ Day and my favorite, Teachers’ Day! I received several little gifts from my students, like a Starbucks travel mug, some fancy tea, and a few handmade crafts. I didn’t get as much as the Korean teachers who talk to the kids' parents every day, but it was still very much appreciated. 

"1600 Pandas+"

On June 21st I witnessed the awesome and very random exhibit "1600 Pandas+", which has been traveling around Korea and the world to raise awareness of the 1600 giant pandas remaining in the wild when the project was started in 2008. (The "+" represents the increase in the panda population since then.) The project is a joint effort by the World Wildlife Fund and French artist Paulo Grangeon. All of the pandas were handmade from recycled paper mâché and were in town for only 5 hours before moving on to the next city. I'm glad I caught it while it was here!

                  

Weird Korean Transportation

I went back to the ARC the other day and was shocked to find the biking path filled with things other than traditional bikes. Of course there were the bikes with small wheels like I've mentioned before, and this time I also saw bikes with normal-sized front tires and mini back tires, like a less extreme version of those from the late 1800s. But most noticeable were the brand-new Segways crowding up the lane and holding up biking traffic. Then there were electric scooters, both standing and sitting. And a couple of people had these futuristic new things called "Airwheels" that seem to be getting more popular with the hip crowd nowadays (are they in the States too?). I saw one of these wheels being sold for around $700, which isn't cheap. For the first time I also saw a kind of double Airwheel, like a skateboard with two huge, motorized wheels controlled by a remote attached to a wire. I wasn't exactly appreciative of how all this smelly technology was interfering with the biking path and the serenity of the nature around it. What happened to good old fashioned exercise in the great outdoors?

Couple bikes!

        



My First Korean Wedding

This June, I was honored to attend my Korean head teacher's wedding. First off, while there were some elements in common with Western weddings, like the priest presiding over the ceremony (this happened to be a Christian wedding) and the bride’s white dress, there were definitely some differences, too. The whole ceremony lasted 30 minutes and was conducted in a "wedding hall" where there were weddings going on simultaneously on the other four floors. These wedding halls are almost like marriage factories, where each party reserves a two-hour slot and then quickly empties out so the next wedding can proceed. Some wedding halls I’ve seen are overly grandiose to the point of being gaudy (like having giant Greek-style columns that completely clash with the rest of the city’s architecture), but this one was just a large building with lots of windows.

The inside of the hall itself was relatively small, so only some people could sit down while the rest of us milled around and chatted loudly in the back. It was very casual and probably not how I'd want things to go if I were the bride. (Though I’ve been told that usually there are more seats and it’s in more of an enclosed area.) After the main ceremony was the traditional Korean ceremony with traditional Korean clothes (hanboks), but that was only for the bride and groom's families. As for the rest of us guests, we headed straight for the extensive buffet on the same floor and chowed down. However, this buffet wasn’t free. People don't give presents at Korean weddings—they give money (between $30 and $50 on average) and get a meal ticket in exchange. While less personal, I honestly think this makes a lot more sense than giving loads of gifts that the couple may not need.

   

The beautiful bride and groom in their traditional Korean wedding clothes.

A Word on the MERS Scare

On a more somber note, I and all the other people in Korea were recently introduced to a whole new adventure that no one could have predicted. At the end of May, a 68-year-old Korean man came back from Saudi Arabia, visited several hospitals in Seoul with what seemed to be pneumonia, and then was discovered to have the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) coronavirus, which originated from camels in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Henceforth started the MERS paranoia in Korea. Because the man had visited so many hospitals and the government took so long to warn other patients that they may have been infected, the virus has spread more than it really should have. As of this post, the total number of confirmed MERS cases in Korea has risen to 182, the largest outbreak since Saudi Arabia. Of these, only 31 people have died, most of whom were old (over 70) or already had preexisting conditions. Around 2,500 people are still being quarantined, and the South Korean government just passed a new law allowing jail time and/or a large fine to be given to those who lie about being exposed or try to escape quarantine. Sales of masks and sanitizer have shot up around the country, and more than 2,000 schools have shut down, mostly around Seoul.

As for the coronavirus itself, it is thought to spread only through direct contact with someone infected—for example, in a hospital or home setting—and it can take up to two weeks for the virus to start causing symptoms. In the meantime, a person who is infected may proceed with his or her normal life, coming into contact with hundreds of others, until the virus takes its toll. I think this is what scares people the most.

Two weeks ago, one of the patients infected in the famous and now notorious Samsung Hospital in Seoul came back to Daegu, and he and his family are currently being treated in a hospital not too far from where I live. I had seen pictures of masked people in Seoul—even a joke picture of an entirely masked wedding—but I wasn’t prepared for it to come to my home city. All of a sudden, everyone was talking about MERS constantly. Every other person on the subway car was wearing a mask. The number of students wearing masks in my class rose to about two-thirds at one point. Another branch of my hagwon in Daegu was shut down because the son of Daegu's first MERS patient was a student there. Parents started calling my hagwon, concerned that there was an exchange of teachers between the two branches and that maybe our school was infected, too. Our boss gave us all cotton masks and recommended we wear them in public places. One of my teacher friends is even required to wear a mask while teaching her class. We’re now ending our classes a few minutes early to make sure all the students wash their hands before they leave, and they’re all required to wash or use sanitizer before they come in. While the scare has generally died down in the last week or so—much fewer people are wearing masks now, the number of MERS patients has mostly stabilized (except for that new hospital in Seoul that just got infected…), and MERS is no longer a part of every conversation—I still had a student ask me last week why I wasn’t wearing a mask and then proceed to offer me one. It’s been hard not to let the paranoia affect me, and I think we’re all looking forward to when this MERS scare goes away for good.

Let me just leave you all with a powerful message about hope from Daiso, the most amazing dollar store I have ever and will ever shop in:

"HOPE: It hopes that wait. Because think request to call on next by that wait something."

If you would like one of these gems for your own, just let me know. Peace ~