 | |
March 2010
Today, I finish playing catch-up with my interviews of people who have left South Korea. I just may have saved my best friend (among those I've met here) for last.
Certainly, when it's time to look back at my time here, it'll be impossible to forget The Guvnor. I met Steve Moore (whose nickname is a nod to this guy) on a football (soccer) pitch outside of Daegu. He asked me to manage Gyeongju FC, which turned out to be, for all its aggravating ups and downs, a move I'll never regret and a season I'll always cherish. It's also no coincidence that the Guvnor joined me on three of the most satisfying trips I've taken in this country -- a stunning hike in Pohang, a glorious weekend of hiking and beach combing in Sokcho, and tranquil fall afternoon at Haeinsa, a temple nestled in the mountains just outside of Daegu. Steve was a travel partner, a brother, a dad, a host, a drinking buddy, a reality check, a teammate, a football fan, a confidant. I'd say more but he'd get on my case for being too verbose. So here are his answers to my questions, which I asked a few months ago: 1. Why did you come to Korea? Because my dream job as adventure guide in South America had to be turned down: Next best thing. 2. What are your future plans? Visiting bro in OZ, travel SE Asia, then come back to Korea, Part II. [Editor's note: He's home in England after his Oceanie/Asia travels and, last I checked, still planning to return.] 3. Name something (or things) you're glad you did here that you could not have done anywhere else. Drink every night and not work til 2 p.m. the next day....in WaBar. 3a. Having been to 35 or so countries, what does Korea have that is unique to any other place you have been? Nothing especially unique, just the obvious differences in food (worst in Asia), Norae bangs (singing rooms), the Korean Foreigner Football League, and so, so many mountains.
4. What were the most pleasant and least pleasant surprises about Korea? Most pleasant surprise ... decent amateur foreign footy league and the beauty of Korean women. Least pleasant surprise ... didn't know Asia did bad food, and I couldn't pull any Korean women. 5. You will miss ... a handful of awesome and inspiring friends. 6. You won't miss ... a handful of awful and uninspiring so-called friends. 7. Complete this sentence: If I had to do it over again, I would ... spend less time in the pub and more time exploring this beautiful country. 8. Anything else you want to say that the questions don't cover? I love Korea, and hopefully this time around, Korea will love me.Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 28: PHOTOS FROM A BACKYARD HIKE Baldy and I headed up the mountains behind my apartment complex today. Took some pics. Here are the three I like best.
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. For less than $20 U.S., I was able to spend two hours Saturday driving a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle on the outskirts of Gyeongju.
We learned pretty quickly that the Koreans who ran the place were not sticklers to rules. They asked for our drivers' licenses. Geoff, citing that he was not asked for one last time, said he left his at home. About half of us didn't have ours either. This was a fact the Koreans quickly shrugged off. We donned helmets and, after a three-second tutorial on how to start the ATV, we were off. It's easy to run these things. First, you shift into neutral gear. Then you push a button on the left. After that you rev the engine by pushing a switch with your right thumb. Then you switch into forward and the engine dies. Then you hit a few more buttons and rev the engine until it floods. Finally, you scream for Geoff to come over and help you because you have the intellectual capacity of a doorknob. Or maybe that was just me. After an hour of climbing hills and riding through ponds, we decided that it would be a good idea to drag race.
After the first race ended without someone getting their ankle shattered into 72 pieces, we thought we'd try it again. As we prepared to start, the workers drove up to our group, which suspiciously looked like a group of adults who wanted to drag race. Having assessed the situation, the workers put their foot down and said, yes, we want to race too. Suffice it to say it did not end well, but it could have been a lot worse ...
The day ended with an Italian dinner and an epic singing room performance. To explain the difference between renting out a singing room and singing karaoke, you wouldn't dare sing this song or this one in a bar full of people, but by yourselves in a closed room, you don't worry about how ridiculous you sound. And the results are moments you just can't pay for.
Bonus Gyeongju photo
Bonus Bonus Gyeongju photo
Bonus bonus bonus anecdote This evening I met a neighbor talking to some of her former middle school students, a bunch of girls who were genuinely stunned that I could say "hello" in Korean. One girl noted: "You have small face." Am I supposed to say thank you? I guess I was. "It means you're handsome," my neighbor Abby told me. Hey, someone has to think so. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 19: THE MOUTH PAINTER: AN INSPIRATIONAL STORY A friend of mine posted this video of a Korean television show tonight, and I felt compelled to pop it on this blog ASAP. It's the story of Park SeongMi, a woman in Changwon who has a debilitating condition that keeps her in a wheelchair. She needs help getting dressed, getting her face washed, getting tucked in to bed, and getting in and out of her wheelchair. She needs absolutely no help taking full advantage of the life she's been given -- and by the way, she's a kick-ass artist. SeongMi was recently profiled on the KBS show "Love Family." In the episode titled "Life Is More Beautiful Than a Flower: The Mouth-Painter, Park SeongMi," you can see just how dedicated and talented she is. If you stick around long enough you can see my friend and former Best Yet Gazette cohort Andy Rohrback visit her for an English lesson. Here is the first part of three as posted by Andy on his YouTube channel. I love how determined and focused she looks as she untwists a paint cap with her mouth, using the tabletop as leverage, and then a minute later she's got a smile on her face that can't be erased. Please indulge yourself if you have nine minutes to spare: If you like what you saw, parts 2 and 3 can be seen by navigating the related videos. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. Today, I proudly present Part II of my Abyssinia Catch-Up series, in which I interview people who left South Korea a while ago and ask them to share their experiences. This edition is a special one because today's guest, Anto Griffin, has the most tenure of anyone I have submitted questions to thus far. Anto taught in South Korea for three years. During his final year, I was lucky enough to meet him and we talked over many a beer, watched many a football match, and shared good-natured insults. We also were competitors; in the late winter Anto -- very fairly and honestly -- told me I didn't have a place in Daegu FC, the club he started in the fall of 2008, but I became the manager of Gyeongju FC. Because this blog is honest to a fault, and because I have a journalism background, I think it's only reasonable to point out that in the four times Daegu FC played against Gyeongju FC, the results were c***jsac./jn84?20f wsq-0e-d #$&cce [Editor's note: A programming error has occurred and the results of those four matches cannot be shown.] Despite the fact that both of us have a nasty competitive streak, we often were able to put that aside and partake in some glorious nights out, even if he is a I've already said far too many nice things about him, so here are my questions and, more importantly, his answers: 1. Why did you come to South Korea? I had a really tedious job in England. There was an article in a Sunday paper about North Korea, and I mentioned to my mother that I'd like to visit the place. She suggested I came to South Korea to teach. I went upstairs, researched it and came down 45 minutes later with most of the details sorted. I left for Korea three weeks later. As a side note, I came out with a friend who signed up for the idea after I texted him, "Fancy teaching in Korea?" His reply: "Yes, when do we leave?" 2. What are your future plans? I am still just about clinging onto the hopes of qualifying as a teacher in the UK, but the courses are all pretty full at the moment. The recession has meant that a lot of graduates are seeking to get into the teaching profession. Failing that, I might come back to Korea, or I might go back to landscape gardening. [Editor's note: Should Anto choose the latter, at least he'll have company.] 3. Name something (or things) you're glad you did here that you could not have done anywhere else. I had a very annoying and symmetrically-challenged (ugly as hell) student. I gave him a note to take to a fellow teacher across the hall. The note read, "This is my ugliest kid. Send through yours in 5 minutes." Sure enough five minutes later, a child who was all front teeth and glasses knocked on my door. I know this isn't as cultural a reply as you might have expected, but it is something I couldn't have done anywhere else, and even now, three years later, it still makes me laugh. I'm clearly a bad, bad person. 4. What does Korea do well that the rest of the world should emulate? Public transport. Trains that run on time, are clean and have functioning toilets. I admit, coming from England, the bar is set pretty low, but it was a revelation to me that using public transport could be a pleasure. And they only sell tickets if they have seats, unlike British rail companies, who set new standards in rapacity and mendacity.
5. What were the most pleasant and least pleasant surprises about Korea? Most pleasant surprise was the hotness of the women. And the kindness of strangers. I keep hearing stories of Korean racism -- I never saw even the slightest sign of it. In my experience, those who complain of being mistreated have generally instigated the problem by being loud and obnoxious. Most unpleasant was probably the extremely shallow sewer system, beating by a short head the humidity of the summer. 6. You will miss ... my students. Sad but true -- I liked all of them, even the really annoying ones, the ones you'd gladly beat around the head repeatedly. 7. You won't miss ... the Korean ultra-flexible approach to timekeeping. I tend to be early for most things, and this meant I spent an absurd amount of time waiting for people. 8. Complete this sentence: If I had to do it over again, I would ... learn the language sooner and better. 9. Anything else you want to say that the questions don't cover? As with so much in life, you get out of Korea what you are willing to put in. I invested a lot of time and energy into getting to know Koreans as much as westerners, and maybe as a consequence had the most wonderful time. A true story which illustrates the opposite; a new teacher arrived during my first year. She rolled into the apartment clutching a box of Oreos and her first question was to ask directions for the nearest KFC. I still don't know why she left New Orleans, where these things are apparently on every corner, but she went back there after scarcely two months. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. One of the hardest things I've had to do at my school is take over a class from Brett Piggott. Yes, I would tell the students, I know Brett's a good teacher. Yes, I know you like him. Yes, I am louder than he is. Yes, he is very understanding. Yes, I know you miss him. No, I am not married. No, I don't know when I am getting married. Ask me more questions about Brett.
Brett arrived in the fall of 2008, a couple of months before I arrived, to teach in South Korea along with his girlfriend Cindy. Brett's a laid-back Aussie from Perth and arrived armed with teaching experience. I was never afraid to ask him for help, and he was never afraid to share what he knew. I particularly enjoyed his method of getting one class to come out of its shell: He broke school policy and got them to play Monopoly. Brett and Cindy left Yale in August. Yes, I know that was seven months ago. Yes, I know I lagged in asking him questions about South Korea. Yes, I have held his answers for more than three months before publishing them. Yes, I know I am lazy. No, I am not married. No, I don't know ... oh, just read his answers already. 1. Why did you come to South Korea? I had always wanted to teach in Asia, and Korea seemed like the best all-round option as there is a good balance between culture, history, landscapes, technology, and infrastructure. 2. What are you doing now (and for the near future)? At the moment I am teaching English at a college in Ontario, Canada. And, I am trying to make friends with any Korean students I come across. 3. Name something/things that you're glad you did in Korea that you couldn't do anywhere else. Went to a norae-bang, ate dried squid, drank makgeolli. [Editor's note: The first item is a singing room. The last is a rice-based alcohol drink.] 4. Most pleasant surprise about Korea? Easily, the food! 5. Least pleasant surprise? Bundaegee. [Editor's note: Bugs. Every foreigner usually tries it once. In my case, the main crunch where I knew that guts were spilling out was enough for me.] 6. You'll miss ... At Home. Need I say more? [Editor's note: Well, just a little. Click here and read the third paragraph.] And, the accessibility to restaurants and bars; not to mention, the affordability of their food and beverages. 7. You won't miss ... Spitting. 8. Complete this sentence: If I could do it over again, I would ... try to make more Korean friends, and get to know my Korean colleagues better. 9. Because you have a teaching background: The major differences between teaching English in Korea and handling children in your (for lack of better term) normal teaching jobs. In general, the students in Korea were more well-behaved. Having said that ... they could have been saying "the teacher looks like a kangaroo" in Korean and I wouldn't have know any better. 10. Anything else you want to add? I miss starting work at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Getting up when it is dark sucks. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 10: SPRING HAS I realize this is a piddly little dusting compared to what's been happening on the East Coast of the U.S. this winter, but when Daegu residents woke up Wednesday to this ...
... it was kind of a big deal. Daegu doesn't get much snow to begin with. To receive a snowfall of around 5 inches in the second week of March is almost unheard of, at least based on my research, which admittedly has consisted of hearing a bunch of other foreign teachers saying, "This wasn't supposed to happen." Admittedly, I missed a golden opportunity. There are mountains behind my neighborhood and I should have clicked away there. Sorry. I snapped these pictures instead.
And in other news: Ain't love grand? Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. On March 10, 2007, I lost all of my hair but gained a lifelong friend.
That is a photo from a St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraiser to fight cancer in children. During the event at McCabe's Tavern in Colorado Springs, a short-legged black and white Corgi mix was the subject of a public auction, but nobody raised their hands at the first two bids. Oddly enough, nobody came prepared to buy a pet on the spot. But after a few minutes I was talking myself into snagging the little guy. Soon I was calling him Baldy -- opting for that name instead of choosing a player for the Red Sox, always my original plan for when I got a dog -- and telling him that he had a new home. I'll always remember setting him on a bartop and feeling his body tremble. The little guy had no idea what was going on. Suffice it to say he's overcome his shyness.
Since I bought him, Baldy has traveled across the western U.S., visited friends and family along the eastern seaboard, and, of course, has found a home halfway around the world in South Korea. Forgive my indulgence, but he remains the most loyal friend I have. Here's to three great years and many more, wherever my travels may take me. (Some of) the best of Baldy in South Korea ...
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 8: 20 THINGS ABOUT MY BEIJING TRIP, PART NET (FINISHEE!) 16. If I were to explain the Forbidden City to someone in South Korea, I'd say it's like Gyeongbokgung, but bigger. If you have not visited Gyeongbokgung, but were a fan of Blackadder, then I would describe the Forbidden City as bigger than one of those really big big things that won the biggest big thing among a big bunch of big things competition. Nearly a kilometer long, three-fourths of a kilometer wide, and with nearly 10,000 rooms, the Forbidden City was the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The link in the first paragraph will give you plenty of info, so there's no need to repeat it here. This is the first place I visited, straight off a cab, which was straight off a subway train, which was straight off the plane, so as I walked around I had part of my brain trying to take everything in, and part of my brain asking how the hell I was going to find my hostel if I waited until dark. To truly take everything in you'd probably need at least five hours. I spent less than three. Still, I took pictures:
17. The English voice on my automated audio guide bore a striking resemblance to Roger Moore. Sure enough, I just did a Google search for "roger moore forbidden city" and discovered that the voice is indeed his. I must admit, as he was describing anecdote upon anecdote about the emperors' sex drives and the symbolism of dragons and phoenixes, I kept waiting for Q to break in: "Oh double-oh seven, what are you doing with that concubine?" "Just keeping the British end up, sir..." 18. Ladies and gentlemen, Chairman Mao playing cards!
19. On my last night in Beijing, I caught the "3272th" showing of the Shaolin Monks performing their kung fu show. They have done this show worldwide, although the majority have occurred at the Red Theater.
I must admit the show was a little different than I expected. Upon first hearing about the show I figured it would be a straight demonstration where warriors nearly kicked the crap out of each other. It was much deeper than that. The show was a seven-scene play telling the story of a young boy who left his mother to join a monastery and learn kung fu. For me to call it "'Riverdance' with martial arts" would be too narrow, but it would give you a general picture of what it was like. The performance had narration and touched upon the themes of sacrifice, dedication, temptation, repressing one's ego and conquering fear. There were demonstrations, including some aerials and a monk who twirled with his belly pressed against the blade of a sharp sword, but telling the story was more important than impressing us with their athletic acumen. After the show, some of the performers stopped by the lobby for photos.
20. This series of blog entries was brought to you by ...
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 6: HOW NOT TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR INFANT I don't even know what to say about this, other than whatever electric chair these parents sit in had better be a real one and not one that exists only in the virtual reality their misprioritized minds lived in while their real child starved to death. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 6: 20 THINGS ABOUT MY BEIJING TRIP, PART SET 11. There are two reasons to stay at hostels, instead of hotels, during travel. One, they're significantly less expensive. Two, you're exponentially more likely to meet other cool travelers because anyone who stays in a hostel will eventually gravitate to the common room, which in our hostel was located in the center, where a courtyard would be. I met people from the U.S., Canada, England, Australia, Poland and Sweden. The other Americans came from Maine and Massachusetts; Canadians were there from Vancouver, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. I even met a Manchester United fan who actually lives in Manchester. At least five people at the hostel teach English or just finished teaching English in South Korea; another traveler actually spent time on the peninsula as a tourist (in Seoul, Sokcho and Gyeongju -- three great choices that allowed him to experience bustle, history and beautiful mountains). It's always fun to share travel experiences with other people looking for an adventure. My first night, eight of us went in search of a bar dubbed the No. 1 place for foreigners by The Beijinger magazine. I was in the first cab that took four of us to an area where the bar was supposed to be. We spent 10 minutes walking around and could not find it. We did, however, find a New Yorker who worked at a university and could speak Chinese. So five of us crammed into a cab and rode to another area. After walking for about five minutes, we found it. The other group of four that hailed the cab after us were already there. It was quiet, it was a wine bar, and it was expensive. So we all decided the previous 45 minutes never happened and we went to a Mexican place instead, where I enjoyed honest-to-goodness chicken mole for the first time in years. Hey, I never said this was a fascinating adventure. You decided to read on. Not my fault.
12. The Great Wall was something not to be missed. In Beijing there are a handful of options. Badaling is the most famous one, the most most easily accessible by public transport, the one Richard Nixon visited, and thus the one most teeming with tourists. Jinshanling is the, for lack of better term, most real section of the areas open to the public. Hiking that area can take six hours. It's far from the crowds. Parts of the wall have not been restored, so there's a rough look to the wall that's charming in a natural way. Going there is an all-day excursion, but hiking enthusiasts love it. Mutianyu is somewhere in the middle of those extremes, and that's where I went with fellow hostel guests Angelina and Emily and a married couple from Lyon, France.
Incidentally, the cable car we boarded on the way down was the same one the 17th living Buddha sat in. 13a. Good citizens, Part I: On my last full day, upon leaving the Summer Palace to return to the hostel, I chose to ride a bus to the zoo, then transfer to another bus. A man who spoke little English introduced himself at the stop and had me sit next to him. He told me when I would need to get off the bus and transfer. He then recruited another man who had the same transfer to make sure I didn't get lost. The man was typically modest, saying that his English wasn't good when it beat my Chinese vocabulary, which now consists of "hello," "thank you," and "111" (the bus I transferred to). 13b. Good citizens, Part II: Rachel told me this story. She was lost and a man pointed her in the right direction. Shortly after the man chased her down, said he wasn't sure he was correct, then accompanied her and asked other people for help until she was all set. 14. Alas, not everyone can be nice in a country of 1 billion people, can they? There are many hucksters in Beijing, and the schemes are the same. Near the Forbidden City I had two people tell me they wanted to learn English; their intention was to lead me to a place to drink and stick me with a large bill. Two others wanted to steer me into an art show and corner me into buying something. A woman near the Forbidden City approached me with something that was either a sleeping baby, a very sick baby, a dead baby or a doll in her arms and begged for money. But in terms of sheer annoyance, nobody will top the hucksters along the path leading to (and from) the entrance to the Great Wall.
These people stepped in front of me. They yelled at me. Many pestered me with shouts of "Look! Look!" as if I couldn't see the armload of "I Climbed The Great Wall" T-shirts in her hand. The amazing thing was these vendors all had the same things -- masks, T-shirts ("one dollar!"), calendars, necklaces, bracelets, etc. And they didn't change from stand to stand, which made me wonder if I could negotiate down to a nickle for a T-shirt by the time I got to the last shop. One woman handed me the calendar and demanded, "Look!" So I flipped through it, said, "There, I looked," and moved on. Another time a vendor shoved a medallion of some sort into the hand of this quiet, too polite female tourist who wanted nothing to do with it; I ended up taking the medallion from the tourist, handing it to the vendor and screaming" She doesn't want it!" Probably none of my business, I know, but I was sick of them. 15. Actual name above an actual store in Beijing:
Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 4: GIVE ME YOUR POOR, YOUR TIRED, YOUR CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES ON TOP I have a really cool elementary school class of two students, including a boy who told me that New York is home to the lady holding "ice cream and a book." Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 4: 20 THINGS ABOUT MY BEIJING TRIP, PART DUL 6. The Summer Palace, with its stunning scenery, detailed craftsmanship, vast expanse and stories that range from awe-inspiring to bizarre, was my favorite historical stop in Beijing. Here are some of my best photos, along with links for you to learn more about of the massive haven that served emperors and empresses from the 12th through the 20th centuries.
7. The Long Corridor at the Summer Palace is 728 meters long -- about eight football fields end-to-end. There are 8,000 meticulously crafted paintings that were done for practical reasons (to protect the wood) as well as for aesthetic purposes. It's open air, so to the left you can see the lake, and to the right you can view the landscape and buildings on Longevity Hill. According to the official tourist info, Guinness recognized the corridor -- which includes four pavilions to help stabilize the corridor, which is on a slope -- as the longest in the world.
8. So, how brave are the ruthless rulers who roamed these grounds? According to audio guide on the tour, there is a story behind the lion on this bridge near the Marble Boat:
One day Empress Dowager Cixi observed a snake on the bridge, so she ordered palace workers to reconstruct the bridge. The lions are there to scare off the snakes that Cixi saw. The snakes, by the way, were not snakes at all but the shadows of willow tree branches. 9. According to the official guide, the Tower of Buddhist Incense -- that's the one on the hill overlooking the lake -- is made entirely of wood but does not include a single nail.
10. Would you believe I considered skipping out on the Summer Palace? The scenario crossed my mind as I lay in bed around 10:30 on Monday afternoon. In my defense -- OK, there really is no defense, but for the sake of argument let's pretend I had one -- I had already been awake starting at 4:15. After much debate, I succumbed to the hype and watched all of the U.S.-Canada gold medal men's hockey game. There were a handful of Canadians staying with me, and after an evening of good-natured trash-talking I deemed it my sporting duty to watch the game in its entirety. Another Canadian, Brian, joined me shortly after 6 a.m. to watch the third period. When Zach Parise tied the game for the Americans with 24.4 seconds left, I can honestly tell you I have never celebrated so vigorously-yet-silently in my life. An employee at the hostel always slept in the common room to answer the phone, take care of emergencies, handle early checkouts or be within an easy walk for a wake-up call. We had already woken her up once when we turned the volume up a tad too loud, so when Parise scored I made sure to fist pump and open my mouth with all the vigor I had ... but without a sound. Somehow I did it. Maintaining silence when Sid the Kid won the game for Canada, however, was no problem. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. MARCH 2: 20 THINGS ABOUT MY BEIJING TRIP, PART HANA Today I returned from my three-night excursion to Beijing. With so much to tell, I've decided to to break up the trip into four posts, each containing five observations, explanations and highly useful anecdotes for you to use at parties. 1. My hostel was located in a wonderfully cramped and homey neighborhood known as a hutong. These neighborhoods are located throughout Beijing, although for how much longer is anyone's guess as some get phased out for more modern apartment complexes. A hutong is a series of alleyways with small living areas around courthouses. There can be nine people sharing a courtyard in a hutong -- here is a story about a foreigner's experience living in one and feeling right at home among friends.
At one entrance to my hutong, the alley was so narrow I could stand in the middle and nearly touch houses on both sides. Every 50 yards or so there was a public bathroom -- a necessity given that most houses in hutongs don't have bathrooms. In warmer weather, people hanging their clothes or playing chess is a common sight. In February there was so such bustle, although I did see the occasional bike parked along the side and a line of drying clothes. And at the nearby park, citizens of all ages gathered to play chess and table tennis:
2. Three days is not enough time to see everything in Beijing, so I prioritized. I could not miss the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and, of course, the Great Wall. Of the three, I enjoyed the Summer Palace most because of the combination of natural scenery, beautiful buildings, the sprawling layout and the history. 2a. Actual sites in the Forbidden City: Pavilion of Ten Thousand Spring Seasons, Hill of Accumulated Elegance, Pavilion of Expecting Good Omen and Hall of Mental Cultivation.
2b. A two-story building at the Summer Palace translates literally into "To Get Rid of the Distracting Thoughts." 3. For all the planning I did -- one of each of the Big Three by day, Peking duck one night, a kung fu show another night -- the most enjoyable part of the trip was spurred by coincidence. The reason I chose to visit Beijing in February is because my school had a four-day weekend as South Korea celebrated the anniversary of the March 1 Movement, in which the Koreans, during the ninth year of Japanese occupation, organized rallies to get their country back. About 7,000 Koreans died in marches and demonstrations on March 1, 1919; please read the link when you have time to learn more. Well, it so happens that the weekend coincided with the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. No, I had no idea how important it was either. I sure did find out Sunday night. In Beijing, citizens are allowed to set off fireworks within the fifth ring of the city until midnight of the 15th day. So, throughout Sunday evening, our hostel was filled with the sounds of neighboring cracks and booms and claps and sizzles. I mean, it was non-stop to the point where it would have been more noticeable had it stopped. Around 9 p.m., nine of us left the hostel toward a bar and restaurant complex by a nearby lake. To the left, someone let of fireworks. To the right, same. In front of us, same. There was no break. By the time we approached a lake, the crowd at a nearby restaurant had left the dining room and gathered in the parking lot for this: Immediately after that, a man brought another box to the parking lot and lit the fuse. In contrast to the one member of the group who couldn't stop plugging his ears, this toddler seemed to enjoy the show: This didn't really slow down for another 90 minutes. Four of our crew went to eat duck. Four others and I walked around the lake. Fireworks cracked in the sky. People wrapped fireworks around trees and lit them. they lit boxes in the streets, and to our surprise a cyclist rode by as if he were passing a dead squirrel. I couldn't stop grinning; not everyone felt the way our crew did. Meanwhile, bar owners kept stepping in front of us, demanding that we have a drink in their place. We finally settled on an empty establishment where, upon entering, we heard incredibly cheesy Chinese ballad music and lounge-singeresque crooning. The vocalist was the bartender singing along into a mike to remain occupied until he got customers. Upon seeing our white faces he stopped and changed his tunes, first to "Sexbomb" by Tom Jones, then to the acoustic version of "Hotel California" and eventually to Korea's own Super Junior with "Sorry Sorry" -- by request of our two friends from that K-Pop haven of ... Sweden. We sat by a window and watched more people light fireworks. To finish our stay, the owner let me play the drum set as he played "Iron Man."
4. The denominations of the 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 yuan bills are adorned by the face of Mao Zedong. Speaking of the Chairman, this Web page is blocked in China. In a related note, the faces of Kim Il-Sung or Kim Jung-Il do not appear on North Korean money, because that country does not allow either of their God-like leaders to have their face defaced -- and folding their faces would constitute defacing. I learned this because one of the hostel guests went to North Korea and showed us these:
I now am the proud owner of a 10 won bill from North Korea. The guest had plenty of doubles and allowed me to acquire it in exchange for a 5,000 won bill from South Korea. He pointed out that it wasn't a fair trade, monetarily speaking. I summoned up all of my negotiating acumen and responded: "I don't care." 5. Just thought I'd show you my hiking trail from Sunday morning:
Still to come: More photos and facts from the Big Three, China's shyster culture, the Shaolin monks' mix of "Riverdance" and kung fu, and the best reason I have ever woken up at 4:15 a.m. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. |
|
