A Shaman's Apartment in Daejeon

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I spent quite some time when I was younger visiting my extended family in Daejeon. But, back then, it was all about playing and finding friends more than traveling. As an only child, all I could think of was seeing my favorite cousins. In '93, we went to the opening of the Expo. I remember standing in lines, making faces into the camera, looking forward to rides, and seeing the biggest mosquito of my life. Still, to this day, no mosquito has ever beaten the size of the blood-sucking mutant that my older cousin splattered with his foot.

In November, I took up my auntie's offer (ahem, my duty) to visit her while working in Korea. I wasn't exactly excited for the trip because I couldn't remember anything I'd ever loved about Daejeon besides my cousins. After work, my friend and I rushed out to Yongsan Station in Seoul and grabbed the KTX train to Daejeon. I highly recommend this train! It's fast, comfortable, quiet, and affordable.

When we arrived, I tried to sneak a shot of a woman carrying her pet cat, but the shots were blurry, so I finally tapped her shoulder and asked for a photo. When we walked out my aunt was outside. She treated us to the fancy Riviera hotel. I would take a hostel over a fancy hotel any day, but she wanted to spoil us and insisted that we had to use up a coupon for the hotel that would expire that weekend. I helplessly accepted and we crashed in the big beds early so we could get an early start the next day.

Traditional Crab

After a fantastic night's sleep, we woke up and headed out to a local traditional restaurant. The owners were my aunt's friends and sneaked us in before regular opening hours. They had begun cooking a couple hours prior to us arriving just to treat us to a feast. And I mean...feast. There was so much food I didn't know where to start. They are most famous for their crab and I have to confess that everything else was a hit with us, too.

Afterward, we thanked the owners for their hospitality and washed our crab-stinking hands outside (many of the traditional restaurants have restrooms outside of the main building). When I came out, I heard tiny meows and poked around the building to see a kitten. It was the cutest thing. When I returned to the car, I saw another one. My auntie said that the owner's wife had a soft spot for animals and when the cats came around--drawn in by the delicious smells of the kitchen--she felt sympathy and fed them.

This is interesting because when I visited Korea at a younger age, most people treated cats like rats. It used to kill me when I saw strays starving to death everywhere in Seoul. I just couldn't see the rodent in them. Now, I hear, a lot of people keep them as pets inside their homes, too. This is a small example of the many changes Koreans go through in a very short period of time. Other examples are the modernization, economic growth, and the length of girls' skirts, but, sorry, I'm getting off-subject.

Hyeonchungwon (Daejeon National Cemetary)

We headed to our first stop: Daejeon National Cemetary. My friend and aunt looked at me skeptically as I had done research to see what we could do out in Daejeon. There was little information and I had seen one photo that pulled my interest to this spot.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised. The green statues, I believe, were originally bronze(??). We drove over to the Defense Fountain and gazed up at the huge monument. I knew it was a memorial to the soldiers Korea had lost in various wars. The statues were beautiful, but I couldn't help but think, Interesting, Asian faces and heavenly Greek bodies. Some of the women had their breasts bared and combined with the long strips of cloth that hid the males privates, it felt very non-Korean and more Grecian to me. Still, it was beautiful. The fountain was off because it was winter, but during the summertime it's supposed to be even more amazing.

We drove around and passed the graves decorated with brilliant flowers (fake but beautiful nonetheless). There were families mourning, so we decided to respectfully move on. We read the interesting street signs and went to the main memorial. Here, we spoke to the guard on duty who asked us to leave a message in the visitor's log sharing our experience/reaction.

The memorial was simple and beautiful, the moment emphasized by the solitude and obvious reverence by the soldier-guards. The statues here seemed more reminiscent of Korean battles and looked similar to the beautiful statues we saw at the War Memorial in Seoul.

When we returned to the car, my aunt grabbed two gyuls (tangerines are delicious in Korea!) and ran back to gift them to the soldier. It's moments like these that I love my family and Koreans (who are like a gigantic extended family that can be wonderful and obnoxious all at once).

Lake Daecheonghosu

My aunt drove us to the next spot: Lake Daecheonghosu that serves fresh water to the entirety of Daejeon. The winds were getting stronger as we stepped up the long stairs to see the view of the lake. On the way, we saw a fortune teller wearing headphones, a father flying a kite with his daughter, and the not-so-understandable mini-museum about fresh water. The view was pretty, but the growing winds had us running back to the car.

My aunt asked us if we would want to go on a hike, but we had hiked quite a bit the previous month and were looking for something simpler. So, instead, she took us to a Shaman.

Shaman's Apartment

Korea's predominant religions are Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Then, there are a variety of other belief systems that I know nothing about. Shamanism is one of these.

The first surprise was that the Shaman was a gorgeous, older woman with hair down to her knees. Behind her, the rooms were filled with various trinkets. From mini-Buddhas to mini-porcelain dolls, stuffed owls to a great turtle on the wall (surely rare or illegal?), and a panoramic photograph of Mt. Baekdu (a stunning mountain with a lake that sits between China and North Korea), the place was a cluster of "things" I couldn't comprehend as a whole.

In her office, there were swords, warrior's costumes, and giant plastic race cars. There were candles lit in overhead lanterns that gave a red tinge to everything. If I had come by myself, I would have felt a little freaked out, but in light of the shaman's hospitality, warmth, and openness to letting us wander about her home, I felt intrigued by all the strange details. There was cash everywhere in every denomination from various countries.

It was a room full of dreams and wishes people had asked, and it was the shaman's role to add a little more luck. After the shaman read my friend's "kind eyes" and "peaceful soul," we rubbed the Buddha's belly for good-luck before leaving.

Dinner Time

We were ravenous. My aunt took us to another restaurant that she had discovered. There was a huge group of men drinking and eating loudly--typical Korean-style--and it only added to our festive mood.

We ate Mung Bean Jelly Soup and seasoned whole Chicken boiled over a burner on our table. The first doesn't sound fantastic to the ear, but it tasted great. The slippery (not the tastiest adjective, is it?) jelly wasn't unpleasant in texture, contrary to its appearance, and we finished it quickly. We got overly greedy and ordered seconds of the chicken and weren't able to finish it off.

That night we had to return back to Incheon, so we squeezed in a quick detour to Daejeon Bridge (definitely a night-time event) and took photos in the blasting wind. Then, I squeezed my auntie, said a multitude of thank you's and we were off again.

The trip was a success, but I think without my aunt, it wouldn't have been quite as enjoyable. Family + Food + New Places + Shaman = Successful Trip. Hikes and Temples are also supposed to be quite a sight, so I'd take my aunt's word on that.

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Photos

Fortune Teller
listening to music

Interior Decoration in Shaman's Apartment
Swords, Historical Costumes, Mallets, Ginger Root, Money in All Denominations, Plastic Cars, etc.

Street Signs
Cross Streets: Blue Dragon Road, Loyal Spirit Road

Confucius?
I believe this is either Confucius or a very famous figure from ancient Asian history (not Buddha).

Bamboo Rice
The rice is cooked inside of bamboo and covered with a rice paper that combines to produce a rich flavor!

Comments

[matthew ramos]

Hunchung Apartments
Are you familiar with the Hunchung apartments in Taejon?

[auspicious]

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with specific apartment names in Taejon b/c I never actually lived there. I spent more time in Seoul/Incheon where there are too many apt complexes to remember all the names unless you're a taxi driver. ;]