Food, Glorious Food

I really like Korean food--at least most of it. The pictures with this post are of two meals I had. As you can see, Korean meals come with several small dishes, at least three or four. Kimchi made of cabbage, soaked for days in a vinegar brine with garlic, salt, and plenty of red pepper, is a must at every meal. I never knew before I came to Korea that there are many kinds of kimchi, using different vegetables such as cucumbers, radishes, and onions, and other green things I don't know the name for, all pickled the same way. Sometimes the side dishes are some kind of salad with lettuce or bean sprouts, and usually white radish that's been pickled in a yellow sweet-sour mixture. Of course, rice is a must with every meal, unless your dish comes with noodles---and sometimes even then.

The small black casserole contains a soup/stew that is served boiling hot, and continues to bubble for a few minutes after it's placed in front of you. The meat is put into the casserole, as well as anything else you want to add. By the way, Koreans are the only people in Asia who eat with metal chopsticks and also use a spoon.

The other pictures are of bulgogi cooking. There is a burner in the middle of each table for you to cook your meat on. When it's done cooking, you wrap the meat, rice, vegetables, etc. in lettuce---kind of a Korean burrito. Also in the picture is my friend Jackie, who was my student at ASU last February, and who has been a wonderful tour guide and companion.

Hahoe Village and Masks

Also over the weekend I visited Hahoe village, a living museum of houses built 300-500 years ago, still occupied or turned into restaurants and shops. The tree pictured is more than 600 years old, and is the site of an annual ritual every January 15th to bring good fortune to the village in the new year. The houses with tile roofs were owned by the nobility, and peasants lived in the straw-covered houses. Hahoe is also famous as the home of the mask dance, which dates from the 12th century. There is a very nice museum, and every October there is an international mask dance festival, where men and women from many countries share their dances. http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/nkyongsang/69/ I bought two masks to bring home with me.
Andong region is a major agricultural center; it seemed that every square meter of land is planted with crops, especially rice. Being from the dry western U.S., I had never seen rice paddys before. The large lotus pond was beautiful.

Can you hear the world revolving?

Over the weekend I went to Andong, my first venture outside of Seoul. It's about 150 miles south of Seoul, three hours by bus. The buses here in Korea are fabulous! Very comfortable, large seats---only three across--clean, and they even give you water and a small bag of cookies---all for only $15.40 each way.

In our very mobile society (and I am one of its most mobile members), few of us remember where our grandparents lived, and almost none of us know where our great-grandparents are from. So it was a uniquely Korean experience for me to spend the weekend with a man who left his career behind to dedicate himself to preserving his family's home and history.

I stayed at the Jirye Artist's Colony, a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Kim. Mr. Kim was a professor of Korean literature at Andong National University and a published poet when, in 1988, the Korean government built a dam that submerged the land where his native village sat. Kim is the oldest son of the oldest son, going back 13 generations, who were the nobility and leaders of this village. He left his position at the university and moved ten buildings of his family's home up on the ridge, where it overlooks the lake created by the dam. Inspired by a Korean novelist friend, who taught in the U.S., Kim decided to create a place where artists could come and work and refresh themselves, similar to places in the U.S. where hs friend had stayed. The pictures document the beautiful setting that is the realization of his dream.

Korean traditional houses were made up of many small rooms organized around a courtyard. The pictures show the room where I stayed, another nearby building that used to be the family shrine, and a large building erected in 1800 as a Confucian school for family and village members. The oldest building out of the ten goes back to 1650, almost to the time of the Pilgrims. Mind boggling! The houses are a five-mile drive on windy roads from the nearest small town, where the closest neighbors live. It was so peaceful and quiet---except for the birds and the frogs, which I could hear throughout the night. No wonder Kim asked if I could hear the world revolving!

Korean War Memorial

Since my children's Grandpa Charlie served in the Korean War, I made sure to visit the War Memorial here in Seoul. I wished that Matt and Aiden and Cameron were there with me; they would have loved the planes and tanks.

The memorial is very large and very impressive both on the outside and inside. In addition to remembering the Koreans who fought and died in the war, each of the nations who sent troops is honored as well. Not only is each nation recognized, but the names of the people who lost their lives from 15 countries are engraved on the walls. The flower arrangement is placed in the hall with the names of Korean soldiers. As the website says, "This is a place we learned lessons from war and to make a practical determination that we will never experience the tragedy of war again. "

The highlight of my visit to the memorial was my conversation with the man in the picture. He began chatting with me as I walked past the tanks and planes and took pictures. He was a veteran of the war himself; he told me he had loaded ammunition into the anti-aircraft guns. He not only spoke English well, but he told me he had learned Japanese as a school boy, during the time Japan had occupied Korea. Then when the Japanese left at the end of WW II, this man (I never learned his name) was living in Pyongyang, so as a middle school student he learned to speak Russian. He said sometimes all of these languages got mixed up in his head into one mess! He asked me if anyone in my family had served in the war, and I told him about Grandpa Charlie. This man repeated to me several times, "Please thank him for me and for our country. We had no food, no clothes, no money, and the Americans fed and clothed us and fought for us. Please tell him thank you."

There were many groups of school children there; I took a picture of this adorable group.

Jogyesa Temple

On Saturday, June 7th, David and I met my friend, Jackie, for a brief tour of Seoul before David returned to Portland, Oregon. I had met Jackie when she was in my class at Arizona State University in February as part of a group of 39 teachers sponsored by Korean National University of Education. I e-mailed her before I arrived in Korea, and she has come to act as a guide both on the 7th and 14th. We were very lucky to have her help, as she knew just where to take us and how to get there.

The first two things we did on the 7th were to take a walk by this beautiful urban river that runs through the middle of Seoul. I thought it was a wonderful addition to the landscape and a peaceful place to sit near or walk by. Apparently it has been a source of controversy, however, because Seoul's mayor, Lee Myung-bak, tore down a highway to build the river walkway. This was only the first of his troubles; he is now President Lee and the target of the protesters who gather by the tens of thousands in the middle of the city every night.

Jogyesa Temple is the only Buddhist temple in the old part of Seoul. It was built in 1910, so it is relatively new. According to one website, the temple is dedicated to Huineng, who lived between 683-713. "Born poor and illiterate, Master Huineng attained enlightenment on hearing the Diamond Sutra being chanted while he was selling wood. Eventually he was recognized by the Fifth Patriarch and became his successor. His teachings are simple. One of the most beautiful sayings ascribed to him is a true example of Buddhism. 'In all conditions we should be humble and polite.'＂

That sounds like good advice to me.

Small is the New Big

It will not come as a surprise to anyone to hear that things in Korea are small, especially when compared with the U.S. People are small, although in height many people younger than 30 are as tall as Americans, but the great majority are smaller-boned and thin. Drinks are small; no Big Gulps here. The regular-size coffee at Starbucks is 8 ounces; a large is 12 ounces, and vending machines sell tall, thin 8 ounce-size drinks.

Given the small sizes, please tell me why toilet paper is sold only in large packages?!!! I stopped at the local market a few days ago to pick up some juice, cheese, and a few other things, including toilet paper. Imagine my surprise to find that the smallest package was 10 rolls; the next size up was 24 rolls. Could it be because they also use it as napkins? All of the napkins I've found in restaurants are about the size and weight of 2 squares of toilet paper.

Another incomprehensible cultural difference!

What's the beef?

I'm sure you've all heard about the huge protests against American beef here in Korea. We saw some of the protesters on Saturday morning, July 7th, where they had camped out overnight. It was difficult to understand what the big deal was, since there were only 3 cases total of mad cow disease in the U.S., and that was back in 2004. However, Koreans I've talked to as well as newspaper coverage says that the issue is really unhappiness with their new president, Lee Myung-bak, whose popularity ratings here are lower than George Bush's in the U.S. The former CEO of Hyundai Construction, he is perceived as being dictatorial and caving in to U.S. pressure, among other problems. The rallies seem to have taken on a life of their own, with people continuing to get together to protest even though Lee's ministers have all resigned and the trade deal is being renegotiated.

One thing I've been impressed with here is how active people seem to be about issues they care about. The anti-U.S.-beef protest is only one of the public displays of opinion about many different topics, including religion. About 25% of Koreans are Christian, and they are very active in proselyting. One morning there were a few people with signs and a loudspeaker handing out literature in front of the subway station. Later that same day a young woman who spoke perfect English approached me in the mall and wanted to give me a copy of Awake magazine. I've yet to meet any Mormon missionaries, however. Yesterday there was a full band from some Christian denomination performing for passersby in front of one of the large shopping centers. The society is very dynamic in comparison with the U.S.

Scenes of Nature

The village also contains fields planted with crops, a lotus pond, and a small river where people could take a boat ride. These areas provided peaceful oases to the more crowded and noisy locations where the shows were held. Don't you love this totem, with his big teeth and little hat? What kind of spirits would be scared of him?

More from the Korean Folk Village

David is in these pictures from the folk village. Doesn't he look sweet, peering out of the window? We watched a horse riding exhibition and a dramatized nobleman's wedding.

Korean Folk Village

On June 6, the owner of the company I am working for, David Kertzner, and I went to the Korean Folk Village in Suwon, about an hour by bus from Seoul. The village has a variety of small buildings showing typical houses and other buildings that were common in different parts of the country. As the brochure says, " Enjoy ancestors' lifestyles and get away back to memories!"
The figures behind me in the first picture are a kind of totem meant to scare away bad spirits. The band, similar to a typical farmers' band that played at village holidays, was my favorite part of the day. The long white banners shown are attached to the crowns of their hats; they rotate their heads to make them move in time to the music.

Annyeong haseyo?

Are you at peace? is the greeting here in beautiful Seoul, where I will be for the months of June and July 2008. This picture shows me next to the World Trade Center, the four-step building to my left, where I am teaching English in the office of an international company based in the U.S. I am very happy to be here, and very impressed with Seoul and the Korean people.

Greetings!

Inspired by my daughter Kristina's blog and wanting a way to share my latest adventure in Seoul, Korea with family and friends, I've decided to start this blog. I won't promise to post every day, but this will give me motivation to record my experiences often AND answer the frequently-asked question: Where in the world is
Laraine Altun?