A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out ~Korean Proverb

1.10.05

Big Update, Part 1

In an attempt to excuse myself for negligence I offer the following excuse: I have been doing so much recently that by the time I finish doing said ambiguous things I do not have time to post on my blog…and then, when I wake up the next day I have so many more experiences which I should be posting that the sheer amount of required postage is overwhelming and sometimes I shy away from the duty. I guess that last part sort of nullifies my excuse…but nonetheless I will now attempt to summarize my last two (or three weeks) so far by highlighting the big events and quickly summarizing everyday activities.

Big Event 1:

My Chuseok: Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest and most important holidays of year. Millions of Koreans travel back to their homes and have large parties with their extended families. The mass migration and evacuation of citizens from the cities to the rural areas creates two negative results for international students abroad. Number one, you cannot travel anywhere on the Korean Peninsula because all of the bus, train, and planes are booked months in advance. Thus, our plan to travel to Pusan was promptly thwarted. Second, all of the shops in Seoul close and there really isn’t much to do besides sit around in one’s dorm and sleep.
I however, had other plans... I figured all of the historical sites in Seoul must be open and hosting many ceremonies, so some international students and I decided to visit Gyeongbokgung palace on Saturday of the Chuseok weekend. The weather was horrible, but the palace was gorgeous. Interestingly the palace was nearly desolate on Friday (probably because most folks transiting to their homes). My group, which consisted of about 8 international students and 2 buddies walked around for a bit while I ran away and snapped photos of the entire palace. I get the feeling they were a bit frustrated by the end of the day because they had to keep waiting up for me to return from wherever I had gone. After the palace, we went to a traditional style Korean restaurant…traditional in the sense that you sit on the floor…and ordered sam gyeop sal and seol long tang…barbeque pork (like bacon) and boiled beef bone soup, respectively.


The front gate of Gyeongbokgung.


A small pavilion on a lake. I had to run away from the group to get this photo since this was located about 300 meters away from the main temple.


Sam gyeop sal...cooking in the background.


The next day (Sunday) I had heard from my friends Nico, Marten, and Jessica that there were going to be martial arts demonstrations at Gyeongbokgung. I decided to go back because the palace was gorgeous and also because this was one of my only chances to see the 18 styles of martial arts practiced by Joseon dynasty warriors. When we arrived (it takes about 30 minutes by subway) the martial arts were already underway. It was a brief demonstration of different armed skills. Afterwards there was a traditional drum/dance group. Saturday was also different in the sense that there were thousands of people milling about the palace. It was great because many were dressed in their traditional Hanbok attire. We walked around and I took more pictures and got some personal shots (which you can see on my picture site).


Some sort of guard changing ceremony at the entrance gate.


Two men sparring with two different weapons.


Jessica, sparring dude, and I...post performance.


An adorable little kid in his Hanbok.


Traditional Drum/Dance


On Monday I had plans to meet up with some international student organization from Seoul National University. I learned that we would be going to Namsan traditional folk village. I bravely navigated the subway system alone and arrived at Chungmuro sam (3) early. While I waited to meet the students outside of the subway stop, I saw a food stand selling silk worm grubs for school children. They had a horrific sweet smell and they looked as bad as I’m sure you’re imaging. After a good ten minutes of feeling sick to my stomach the international students arrived. Well, I had thought they were all international students. For an excellent example of cultural differences: At one point I started to talk to one of the individuals who was with us. I asked her what year she was in college, or if she was a graduate student. Apparently, she was one of the advisors of the club, in her mid thirties, and was very offended by my question. Of course, in America this would have been considered a slick complement…but here, well…let’s just say her and I did not talk much afterwards. And another thing about age here…Did you know that when Koreans are born, they are one year old? Furthermore, they get a year older at every new years…not on their birthday. So, just to show an extreme example how of this can manifest itself into something ridiculous: If you are born on December 31, you come out and are one year old…however, the next day (January 1) you then turn two. Yes folks, it’s stupid and makes no sense…and I advise you to never trust or give weight to what a Korean person says their age is. Nowadays I just ask what year somebody is born in. But anyways, Namsan was great. I got to see a fusion traditional and modern band play Korean songs. They used modern instruments as well as traditional ones…so I’m glad I got to hear them play because I’m sure I’ll never hear it again. Then I got to play several children’s games. There was one where you attempt to throw a stick into a hoop, and one where you jump on a seesaw like board and shoot somebody else in the air, and finally a Korean version of hackysack (which I must say that I owned in). Afterwards, our international group went to Insadong, which is a very traditional part of Seoul. They sell all sorts of traditional crafts and goods there. It was very nice to meet and eat with new people from all over the world and be forced to practice some of my Korean and Japanese. I really hope I can see them again.


A Korean see-saw game at Namsan village...which I must say I did a good job at. Although, I guess I have an advantage since I weight 100 kg.

So all in all, my Chuseok was pretty rocking.


The ever-popular juxtaposition picture, part 1.


The ever-popular juxtaposition picture, part 2.

3 Comments:

Blogger Leif Nabil said...

You're a brave man, Brian Spatocco.
I understand the being 1 when you're born thing. I think it actually means you're in your 1st year. The same is true in the Middle East. But, yeah, the New Years=Birthday thing is a little odd to me.

I admire what you're doing.

12:02 pm

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW!! BIG UPDATE!!!!! i'll read a little bit of it everyday. Hopefully you can come up with another entry by the time I finish reading it!

11:26 am

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the last comment is from Amanda :P

11:27 am

 

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