Korean Christmas
Well, I’m in the Beijing airport (not one of my faves) on my way back to Malaysia. What to tell you about Korea?
My first impressions of Korea were very good. Nice airport. Great highway system. Comfortable housing. Good public transport. I thought it would be more vertical, it seems most apartment buildings are not over 20 floors where KL seems to be populated with many that are 30 or even higher. Or maybe that is an wrong perception.
After a couple of days we went out to see Min Ji’s aunt, who bought us a 300 USD meal (for 4 people). We rode the bus one hour from her house to the center of Seoul and then another hour from the center of Seoul to Suji where Min Ji’s parents live. I started to dislike Korea a bit at that point. It was the same, endless apartment buildings and urbanization as far as the eye could see.
The next day we went across the peninsula to Sokcho, a beach resort town. We left very early, 3 a.m., in order to go watch the sunrise at a famous spot. The sunrise was very spectacular and I wish I had better pictures but, alas, my battery died just before the sun actually came up. We then spent the next two nights in Sokcho. The first day we spent celebrating her grandfather’s 82nd birthday and the next we went sightseeing. The Seorak Mountains are nearby and we rode the cable car to the peak of on of the mountains. Then we went north to the area near the DMZ where the current dictator, Kim Jong Il (is he still alive?) of North Korea spent his summers. His parent's summer home is now a museum.
Christmas Day we were out in Seoul after going to church. We went to an exhibit called “From Monet to Picasso”. It was a traveling exhibit from the Philedelphia Art Museum. We also went to a huge clothing market that evening, one that is famous in Seoul. The next day we went to Sherlock Holmes with Min Ji’s step-brother and then to lunch.
He also reserved us a spot at a nice buffet at the Ramadan in Suwon. Now, there is a buffet experience in Asia that most Americans never have experienced. The buffet is all you can eat and open for two hours. This one was from 8-10 pm. So, you go at 7:45 and when they let you start filling your plate, you have to start slow. Eat the best. I had raw oysters and tuna and salmon sashimi for my first go. Basically, you keep eating till it closes at 10 p.m. They have several varieties of food, like lamb, beef and chicken in Western styles to Korean to Japanese. I tried to eat my weight in steak tartar, tuna and oysters because they were so fabulous. There was also a chocolate fountain to dip fruit in. All this cost 40USD per person.
The last day we went out to church and then off to the Korean National Palace. After the long train ride, we came out of the station to find it snowing. It turned out to be one of the best experiences that I have had in ages. The snow muffled the city sounds and the palace complex was sprawling so it felt like you were back in the ages it was used. That and it was gorgeous in the snow. It was a fitting end to the trip, in fact, a fairytale moment that will always rank near the top of my travel experiences.
Korean parents
Min Ji’s parents were amazing in that they paid for everything. Add to that the fact that we went to the best places to eat and I would guess that just in food alone they spent 300 USD on me. Add into that her aunt’s meal and I was treated like a king. The hard part was that her parents treated me like a child. Min Ji was given a 15 minute lesson on how to ride the trains when all was needed was to tell us the stop to get off at. I was told to tuck in my shirt by her step-dad. It made me realize something. I have had several Korean friends and they lived with their parents but sequestered themselves in their rooms. They didn’t watch TV with them, didn’t talk to them much and seemed to do little more than share a house, not a bloodline. Now I realize that is how they kept their parents out of their lives. They kept the relationship active, still living with them, they just didn’t tell them any details or else they would have gotten an earful on how to handle their lives and then expected to act on that advice.
The other side of this was a realization for me as to one reason that Asia crushes creativity. I didn’t bring a plug adapter because I thought they would be easy to find when I got there. Min Ji’s step-father swore you couldn’t buy one in Korea. I stopped two whites in the street and asked them where to get one. They told us a store called ‘Home Plus’. We went there and found the adapter. Min Ji’s step-dad didn’t think it would work and was didn’t conceal the fact that he hoped it wouldn’t work. When I got it home, of course it worked. In this situation I realized that many good ideas, such as Google, Facebook, etc have come from younger people. However, in Asia, the hierarchy is set up so that you have to wait to get to the top. Therefore, when you get to the top, you feel it is your turn to spew idiotic ideas (not always, of course) and that others should blindly follow you, just as you did when you were in their shoes. Hence creativity is crushed. I have seen this some in Malaysia. I call it pak cik syndrome and I have spent many a night over a cup of teh tarik listening to how to cure diabetes by eating chicken livers and other mad tales. Min Ji’s step dad told me I could get to the airport at 9 am for my 9:30 flight. It was kind of shocking how openly (nonverbally) and badly he wanted the plug adapter to not function.
Korea dreaming
Before the trip I had secret fantasies that I would love Korea and move there next year. I can say I don’t really feel that way anymore. You can make good money as an English teacher in Korea but the country is so populated you should be ready to never be alone. We watched the sunrise with maybe 300 other people doing the exact same thing. We went to the top of the Seorak Mountains with tons of other people. I did some figuring and the peninsula of South Korea is roughly the same size as the state of Oklahoma. 50 million people are crammed into Korea whereas Oklahoma has 3.6 million. That means Korea is 14 times more populated, which means the density of the population is intense. KL is a city of roughly three million and it is too big for me sometimes. The Seoul/Incheon urban area ranks in the top three largest cities by population on some lists.
Secondly, I found the level of English low. Maybe I should say confidence level because I think Koreans can speak English but they just don’t think they can speak it so they are shy to talk to you. One major place I found this evident was at church.
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