Adding a little bit of Seoul to my life

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It's funny how easily you forget you're in a foreign country, especially after you've lived there for a while. When I first moved to Japan (wow, over 3 years ago now!!) everything was new and I would find the smallest things amusing, just because it was different to what I was used to. I suppose the longer you are surrounded by these things the more natural they become, and the less new experiences you have. My daily life here is so comfortable and familiar that sometimes I remember "Oh, thats right! I'm living in Japan". Sometimes I even find myself looking (no, staring!) at those conspicuous white people wandering around the city, completely forgetting that I'm actually one of them. I just feel like I'm part of this country, like it's totally normal for me to be here.

However, there are definitely times when I can't help but be reminded that I'm different. Like when I go to a restaurant with Japanese friends and the waitress doesn't directly talk to me, all questions go through my friends. Or when the business man next to me on the train has a Hello Kitty charm on his phone; or when a high school boy walks past with his girlfriend and he's wearing pretty pink slippers and clips in his hair; or when one of my students stares at me in complete awe and wariness because I tell him I want to travel alone extensively (let's just say not a lot of Japanese women do that).

There are also times when I love that I live here and that things can still surprise or excite me. For example, the other day I was on my way to work and an absolutely gorgeous young girl got on the same train wearing a beautiful traditional hakama. The top of this outfit looks like a kimono with pretty patterns or flowers and the bottom is more like a long flowy skirt, usually just a plain colour like black or navy. She looked stunning. I have no idea why she was wearing it, but it's a kind of graduation outfit I'm told. I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I love that some parts of Japanese tradition and culture remain. It's such a pity that Australia doesn't have traditional dress. Unless you call stubby's, a wife basher and thongs "traditional" - not quite as classy though.

However, these nice surprises get fewer and fewer the longer I'm here so it really becomes necessary to seek new adventures. That was one reason I decided to go to Korea: an adventure, and to experience something new again. My ex-manager moved to Seoul at the beginning of the year to get married and I was originally going to attend the ceremony, but the date changed. I decided to stick to my plans anyway and still go visit Seoul. I had never really been interested in Korea before, I have always been so caught up with Japan that it just didn't register on my radar. And I thought it would be similar to Japan anyway. Man, was I wrong! It couldn't be any more different if it tried. But I absolutely loved it!!! I suppose I wasn't really expecting too much, which may be the reason why I liked it but I have to say it was one of my best vacation's ever!

So Golden Week and my next adventure started on the 27th April. I know this entry is a tad late but that's better than never right? Anyway Kats and I took a short flight from Nagoya to Seoul and arrived mid-evening, giving us just enough time to make our way into the city, check-in and get lost searching the back streets surrounding our hotel for a Citibank ( and when we did eventually find one it was out of order! Just our luck).

Monday morning started off with learning a few Korean phrases over a bakery breakfast and then heading to Namdaemun market to check it out and see what all the fuss was about. Namdaemun is one of the biggest and cheapest markets in Seoul, and it sells absolutely everything. From what I could tell most things were pretty cheap too- but a lot of stuff had no prices. eek!! Haggling! I'm hopeless!

Namdaemun is also known for the huge gate that leads to the market but unfortunately some disgruntled citizen decided to show the city how unhappy he was by setting fire to it a few months before I went so it was non-existent. But there was a nice big model of it~ so you could take your picture in front of it (and lots of, sadly, Japanese tourists did).

As the day warmed up we made our way to Gyeonbokgung, one of the many palaces in Seoul. They have a regular changing of the guards ceremony (purely for touristic purposes though) so while we were hanging around outside waiting for it to start I was mobbed by a group of children. I found myself completely surrounded by smiling faces all jostling for space to talk to me or shake my hand. I was stunned, I suppose I just thought it would be like Japan where the children stare and if they do say hello they don't expect or even want a reply (or so it seems). But these Korean children seemed to be so excited at the chance to practice their English with a foreigner. And on the whole they had pretty good English, at least compared to the kids I teach around the same age. It was a little scary but quite flattering at the same time.

Gyeonbokgung was really pretty, both the palace/temple itself and the gardens. Korean temples are very colourful, whereas in Japan they tend to keep them a simple red colour or even just the original wood. The Korean ones were decorated with yellow, pink, green, blue and I really liked it. In fact, just from what I experienced I'd have to say Korea had a lot more colour, a lot more action, a lot more life to it than Japan. And don't get me wrong I still love Japan but compared to Seoul it is definitely more subdued. Actually I pointed this out to an Australian guy I met there who had been living in Seoul for years and he agreed. He seemed to think it was because of money. Whereas Japan is considered a developed, economically stable country, Korea hasn't quite reached that level yet. Of course there are sections, in Seoul especially, that are very modern and developed but right next door there'll be a poverty-stricken district and war veterens begging on the street. He said he thought the fact they had less money gave them more life, more to appreciate that is. This got me thinking, does money and our possessions only really numb us? Does it really make us happy? Or are we in fact going through life not really experiencing life because of it? Jury's still out on that one....

But I digress. In Gyeonbokgung Kats (with some persuasion) and I decided to try on some traditional Korean dress. Again it was very colourful and completely different to other styles of clothing I have seen. They even threw in some professional photographs of us in the gardens for free! Fun!

That evening we met Kats' Korean friend Woo-Hyung for (of course!) Korean BBQ and it was interesting to talk to him about Korean life and culture and food etc. I had no idea Korean men worked so hard, much more than Japanese men! Our dinner was cut a little short however because we had reservations at Korea House, which again is something specifically designed for tourists but interesting all the same. It was a sample of Korean style dance, theatre, music etc. and again very colourful and up-beat. And the best bit was at the end of the show some audience members were selected to go on stage to try out the drums- and I was one of them! Yay! I had no idea what I was doing but it was cool anyway. A great way to end out first day in Seoul.

So Tuesday was jam-packed with all sorts of experiences. We spent the morning at the War Memorial and Museum, 3 hours to be exact and it was very interesting. I guess we didn't really factor in how long we would need to see the whole museum so we were a little exhausted at the end of it. And the worst thing was the 356 school groups that decided to visit the museum that day too (ok, ok, it wasn't really 356 but it felt like it!) and so of course I was surrounded by kids saying hello every time a group walked past. Actually one of the most interesting things I saw at the museum was just as we were leaving in the courtyard out front there were a whole heap of young Korean soldiers doing practice drills or something. Every Korean man has to do 2 years of military service, something I didn't know before going to Korea. So it was cool to watch them for a while.

Our next port of call was Deoksugung Palace, which also had a changing of the guards ceremony, and it was slightly more interesting and musical than Gyeonbokgung. This palace is situated amongst modern buildings right on a busy intersection but I suppose it was kind of fitting because the actual palace was in fact a modern western style one. Looked kind of British, especially the gardens and fountains that surrounded it. And it was a great place for a little creative photography! With just a couple of hours left before the end of the day we made our way to Seodaemun Prison. It was a chilling experience to say the least.

Seodaemun Prison was used as a prison during Japan's colonial rule and especially during the world wars. You can see the original prison buildings where all the prisoners were kept, the interrogation cells, watchtowers and even the execution house. It was designed to hold 500 prisoners but during Japanese rule about 3000 Koreans were imprisoned there. You can imagine the conditions. It was made an even more interesting experience because I went there with a Japanese person. I wasn't sure how Kats would feel about it, because basically it shows how the Japanese prison guards tortured the inmates and describes all the ill-treatment. But, as he said, its good to be able to understand both sides of a story. Especially because Japanese school history classes are not very informative. Even so, it was a very somber experience.

After our very long day of walking around Seoul our feet were killing us. So we decided to get a foot massage. I don't really know why but Japanese people associate Korea with good massages so before I went to Seoul I had numerous people telling me to get a massage while I was there. So I thought this was as good a time as any. And it was painful bliss. I have never had a more painful massage in my life, but it felt oh so good. Does that even make sense? The lady was using all sorts of pointy utensils, each one sharper and more painful than the last, but it definitely took away the tension in my feet. And the most interesting part of the experience was how we communicated. The reception didn't speak any English and my Korean was limited to 'Hello', 'Thank you' and 'How much' so we resorted to Japanese. I was thrilled that my Japanese was coming in handy in a country other than Japan!! Seoul has so many Japanese tourists that a lot of Korean people learn to speak Japanese and there are also Japanese signs everywhere. Very handy for me.

That night we explored Myeong-dong, which is a fashion and shopping area, and also has quite a few restaurants. During the night they have stalls of goods and food up and down the streets and it makes for a really cool and lively atmosphere. Korean and foreign people alike wander the stalls buying interesting Korean food and haggling over cheap designer goods. It once again reminded me of the differences between Korea and Japan. So after a very delicious dinner of spicy Korean noodles at a restaurant in Myeong-dong we headed to Seoul Tower to see the view. Unfortunately it was a really foggy night and we didn't end up seeing anything from the top but it was a really pretty area anyways. And I'm guessing it is the spot to take your girlfriend because it was full of couples walking around holding hands amongst the fog. Awwww.

Wednesday was the beginning of my alone time. Kats left mid-morning to head back to Japan, he had to get back to work. And I still had a few days left before I was leaving. I didn't really have any plans for the Wednesday, I knew the following day was going to be busy so I didn't want to do too much. And I started to feel sick anyway, so I didn't want to push myself. I wasn't really surprised that I was feeling sick. Whenever I take a holiday I always get sick, it's like an unwritten rule. Usually its tonsilitis. And so when my throat started to feel dry and raspy I kicked myself that I had forgotten to bring some sort of medicine. I didn't realise until a few days later that, luckily, it wasn't tonsilitis this time. Honestly I think the unclean Seoul air was just starting to get to me. Anyway, so I spent the afternoon at a big western style mall, COEX mall, on the outskirts of the city. I didn't buy much but I did find it interesting to look in all the clothes shops at Korean fashion. And that night I met up with Motomi, my ex-manager, and a friend of hers for another delicious spicy Korean dinner. This time it was a sort of soup. Motomi's friend, who is Korean, took us to a little, kind of dirty, Korean restaurant that he knew in Myeong-dong and it was so cool because you could tell it was a restaurant for local people, not one of the expensive tourist ones. We finished off the night wandering around Myeong-dong again sampling Korean style sweets.

The next day was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Seoul. I had booked a full day tour to the DMZ- that is, the demilitarized zone on the border of South and North Korea. I had heard excellent things about it so I was really looking forward to it. To be permitted into the area you have to join a tour so I booked with a company called USO, which is actually part of the American military who are stationed in Korea. And they were very good, and informative. And also the cheapest. I highly recommend them if you ever want to go. Unfortunately my day didn't start so well, the DMZ is a few hours drive from Seoul so were asked to meet at 7am and I had planned to wake up nice and early to make sure I got there in time, but stupid me slept through my alarm clock and woke up at 6.30, I was so worried I wasn't going to make it and I really didn't want to miss out. Luckily I arrived with 2 minutes to spare, and by that time I was wide awake!!

The bus ride to the DMZ was with a cute little Korean guide called Yeoung whose English was fascinating, good and understandable but a little quirky, and he was constantly cracking jokes. He explained some stuff about Korean history and also pointed out the barbed wire fence that ran along the river on the outskirts of Seoul. Even to this day soldiers are stationed there incase North Korean soldiers try to penetrate South Korea from the river. Apparantly they did try before. We finally arrived at the JSA- Joint Security Area, this is the only town inside the DMZ where visitors are permitted and it is a kind of truce town. Both South and North Korea have a presence here although its not exactly friendly. The rules are strict, certain type of clothing must be worn, our passports were checked, no photography unless our guide says its ok, no gesturing toward North Korea at all and a whole lot of other rules to follow. And we had South Korean soldiers follow us around the whole time for our security. It was a little intimidating but so interesting.

Inside this area we drove along roads that had live mines either side, to a place where meetings are held between South and North Korea occasionally. We were right on the border, and we were even allowed into one of the buildings where they hold meetings, half of the building being in South Korea and the other half being in North Korea. We weren't allowed in until the soldiers had secured all doors and were in their "ready-to-fight" Tae-Kwon-Do positions though. Apparantly one time when they were securing the door that led to North Korea some North Korean soldiers tried to pull the South Korean soldier into their side. Luckily another soldier pulled him back, but since then extra precautions have been taken. So in the safety of that building I walked into North Korea, not that it felt any different to the other side of the room, but its cool anyhow.

Our next stop was a lookout post right near the border. From there we could see the North Korean flag flying proudly in the sky and a North Korean lookout post with soldiers not so far away. Again we were warned not to make any gestures or point towards them. Our guide told us that occasionally they take pictures of the tour groups that go through and use them as propoganda in North Korea.

The rest of the tour consisted of Dora Observatory, where you can again see North Korea, but no photographs are permitted because its classified military information and also the 3rd tunnel. There are a few tunnels that the North Koreans dug to try to penetrate South Korea and invade Seoul, and so far 6 or maybe 7 have been found (I'm not sure on the number), but they suspect more. Of course the North Koreans deny having built them and they even went to the trouble of smearing coal all over the walls of the tunnels to try to get South Korea to believe they were coal mines. We took a tour of the 3rd tunnel. It's 73m deep and quite narrow in areas but big enough that the North Koreans could get thousands of soldiers into South Korea in an hour. Scary stuff. The whole tour finished around 3pm and all in all it was very informative and made me realise that North Korea still poses as a threat to South Korea, much more strongly than I had realised. I spoke to a few Korean people when I was there and they all held the hope that one day soon South Korea and North Korea will once again be just 'Korea' and that their people will be whole again. Hopefully, like Germany did all those years ago, one day Korea will be united and I can tell my children a story about how I visited a country that was once divided into two and the DMZ will be nothing but a memory.

My final night in Seoul I decided to see Nanta, a non-verbal Korean musical set in a restaurant. The actors use knives and all sorts of other kitchen utensils to make music and drumming and it was so so so so so so so good!! It had me captivated right from the very start. Watch out for my next blog as I go into a lot more detail about the performance. If you go to Seoul you cannot miss it! It was a perfect end to a perfect 5 days in Seoul, a city which seriously surprised me with its life. Definitely a place I want to visit again some day.

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Photos

Gyeonbokgung
Its so colourful

JSA
The grey building is North Korea and we went inside the blue building where the soldiers are.

Me and a soldier
I'm standing in North Korea