It was with great sadness that I left the Philippines and it was not until I had finally got on the airplane and I saw Manila from the sky that it really sank in that this chapter of my life was really over. The passage of time has a way of embedding a sense of home which once was torn from me was a painful experience. The life I've chosen will force me to call a lot of places home but the Philippines will always have a special place in my heart. I found real beauty in those islands and my experiences there were priceless.
I arrived in Seoul with a heavy feeling in my stomach but I think it was fitting that I met my friend Daniel at the airport. He was one of the first people I met in the Philippines and we were roommates for 5 months or so. He was the first person to help me orient myself in Manila and we became great friends. And so he carried on guiding me but this time in his own country. I only stayed four days and five nights in Korea and so Daniel arranged my trip with my other Korean friends who had stayed in my house in Pittsburgh in the summer of last year. Each day a different person guided me somewhere new. I really have to thank my Korean friends again because I was really treated like a king there. I was treated for practically every meal and I hardly spent any money. I felt bad about this but they kept insisting that this is Korean culture.
Seoul really is a massive city and the place can be a bit intimidating at first. The subway map seems like I giant web but under closer examination it is actually not difficult to understand.
The first night Daniel and I had some good Korean food along with some Solju which is like Korean wine. I actually really like Solju. It's very cheap and a bit strong. Exactly what I like in alcohol. Korean food is also very sophisticated and delicious. They have a culture of side dishes so with every meal you will have several side dishes accompanying whatever your main course. At restaurants these are refillable to an unlimited amount. Korean food is full of strong flavors, a lot of vegetables, and Koreans are keen on spicy food. I've always loved spicy food so this fits well with me but I have to admit by the time I'm writing this, I have become a bit sick of Kimchi. It is delicious but they really eat it with every meal so I got sort of saturated with it.
After dinner we stayed in a sauna for the night. I guess this is a part of Korean culture because I don't think we have this kind of accommodation in the States. You pay only $8 or so and you can enter and enjoy a sauna, shower, and hot bath. Korean style is that everyone is naked. After you shower, you can hang out in a common area where there is food and TV and you can acquire a small mat and pillow and sleep for the night. The men and women shower sections are separate but everyone sleeps in the same room. It was an interesting experience and if anyone is backpacking through Korea then I recommend they look into this since you can save a lot of money.
The next day I met up with my friend Jake who is one of the three Koreans that lived in my house last summer. Jake lives about three hours from Seoul but he made the trip and met up with a friend of his who has a car. His friend John who was an older guy that lives about an hour from Seoul. I was very surprised because I had never met his friend before but not only did he drive Jake into Seoul but he toured us around the city for the whole day. He was very kind and I really appreciate what he did. We visited a lot of different parts of the Seoul. We checked out Namsan tower which gives you a panoramic view of Seoul.
We checked out Itaewon where all the foreigners hang out. We checked out a very old palace for the old kings of Korea but I kept forgetting the name. I think it's Kyeonbokgun. It is a very spectacular place.
I visited another palace near this place with my Daniel the next day and they are quite similar.
The blue building is the "White House" of Korea which Daniel told me to call it since I kept forgetting the Korean name. The place even has police on roller blades who according to them are on roller blades to quickly to respond to any threat on the president!
These palaces are really in the middle of Seoul which makes them feel a bit surreal. A quiet historical oasis in a sea of busybody modernity. I tried to examine the Korean style and compare it to what I saw when I was in Japan and they definitely have similar influences which you would assume originates from China but my other Korean friend in the Philippines would dispute this. He told me that really the Chinese had copied everything from the idea of Yin and Yang to Confucius from Korea. I don't know if that is really true and anyway we are speculating about ideas originating over 2,000 years ago so I think it is impossible to really classify people back then as really Korean or Chinese by our conventional standards. However, I think it is interesting that if you ask a Korean, Chinese, or Japanese about history they all seem to have a different interpretation but I believe as usual the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Anyway, Korea does definitely have a distinct style from Japan but I only spent time in Seoul and I was not able to check out the country more thoroughly like I could with Japan. Honestly, as I walked around the old palace of the old king of Korea I was less enamored then I was when I was in Japan at similar locations. It isn't because the Japanese palaces are so much better but I feel like I've been a bit saturated with these historical landmarks in this part of the world. The fact that the king of olden times had a massive palace built by just so he enjoy his many wives seems a bit ridiculous more than praiseworthy. That being said Korea does definitely have a some beautiful places and next time I go to Korea I will check out more historical places outside of Seoul. Daniel and I also went to palace similar to the one Jake took me to and he showed me a inner sanctum of the palace where the Korean Empress Myeongseong was gruesomely murdered by Japanese assassins shortly before Japan officially annexed Korea as a part of the Japanese empire back in the early 20th cenutry. She was supposedly the last obstacle for Japan to fully annex Korea. It is clear to me that there is still resentment among Koreans for how they were treated during the Japanese occupation. This is one aspect of history which I only superficially considered but it is by no means something that should be overlooked as a collateral damage of Japanese expansionism. My take on the situation is that throughout history there have always been rough parts which are hard to forget and WW2 being one of the most severe. I think it is too early to say that the Europeans have all reconciled Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union as mere memories but I think that Germans have made progress reintegrating themselves as a part of the European community. Japan and Korea have a different relationship now than France and Germany even if they share a somewhat similar historical relationship. I believe Japanese and Koreans can be friends and love each other on a human level but there appears to be a deep rooted cultural conflict. From my experience the Japanese have been the ones more hesitant to engage and fully discuss the history and I do think the Koreans are in the right in this debate. I'm not saying that Japanese in general disregard this part of their history and just try to forget it but I feel like a lot more can be done by the Japanese government to try to make amends but I don't know...it's been over 60 years. And really who really cares what the government says or doesn't say, what is important what individual people communicate to each other.
Anyway, that day was also a day of protests and there were hundreds of riot police in the main square in front of the palace.
The only protest I saw was one of some disabled people which consisted of three people in wheelchairs and some guy holding a sign. Over by the Myeondong cathedral there were about 30 students hanging out and halfheartedly complaining about tuition fees. The police presence seemed more than necessary.
The next day, Daniel visited the palace that I mentioned and a museum of Korean history which was decently interesting. That night we ate dog for dinner.
I really wanted to try it since it is illegal in the States and really hard to find in the Philippines. It is an interesting meat. At first I felt kind of sick eating it but I was able to overcome the gut feeling and I tried to enjoy the food without thinking about the animal it came from. The meat is very soft and the soup that it was in was tasty. I drank a bottle of Solju while we ate and I have to say that the meat had an interesting effect on my body. My heart quickened, my body felt hotter, and I just felt more powerful. An older Korean guy told me on my last night in Seoul that they sometimes use it as an aphrodisiac which I understand now. The meat was interesting but it did have a tyrannical effect on my digestive system. It's hard to explain because I've never felt that way before but it was far different than any normal indigestion that I've experienced before. After that Dan and I checked out an amusement park in the middle of Seoul which was as enjoyable as amusement parks are.
The next day I woke up in an estranged mood. I felt desperately hungry and needed caffeine badly. Somehow I was unable to locate the usually easy to find 50 meter path to the subway station and I got lost wandering around small streets and alleyways in Seoul. I felt so bizarre and I was more disoriented than any hangover from any substance I've taken before. Finally after some coffee and a sandwich I regained my senses and met up with my friend Amy who had stayed in my house in the summer of last year. I had a good time with her and it was good to discuss with her for such a long time. She took me to some Korean markets where I got to try some street foods and she helped me shop for decent Korean souvenirs to take back to the States. I also met her boyfriend, Julio, who is a Korean guy but since his Spanish was better than his English the first time he left Korea decided to reject the convention of choosing of an English name that Koreans usually do when they leave their country. He's a real nice guy.
I spent my last day in Korea with my friend Noah who is a sweet girl studying at Seoul University which is considered the university in the country even though she would never admit that. I wanted her to show me the school because I wanted to see where the Korean elite come from. Korea is an incredibly competitive country. For example, my friend Daniel that I mentioned before is looking to transfer to Korea University but he told me there are 2,000 people applying for only 6 spots. He said he failed the first time he tried but he was confident he could succeed next year. I have no idea how he could be confident with odds like that but good luck to him. Anyway, the campus is nice and I had a good time with her. We went out to dinner with her older sister and her sister's boss. Her sister works at a company that imports hay from the States and sells it in Korea. I found it hard to believe that that could be a lucrative business since I always thought hay was just dried up grass and can't possibly be worth much but according to Noah they are pretty successful and making a lot of money, so what do I know? Noahs sisters boss and I engaged in some political conversation which I think bored Noah's sister a bit because her English was kind of limited but Noah has a sharp intellect which added depth to the discussion. Another aspect of Koreans that I like is that they are more likely to engage in political discussions then Japanese or Chinese. I know some politically active Chinese, like my old roommate in Vancouver but most of the Chinese I have met are not so keen to discuss Chinese politics with non-Chinese and it is very rare that I meet a Japanese that has an interest in politics.
I stayed the night with Noah's family who were extremely sweet and accommodating.
My whole experience was extremely enjoyable and I have to say that I do look at Korea with a different perspective now. I do recommend other people to visit Korea but I have to say that having good friends there made all the difference and if I had gone there with out knowing anyone than I would have been completely lost.
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