TeamKB Does Korea

Katie wrote up a summary of our recent trip to Korea and sent it to her family and friends, but since my family - whom I assume are the principal readers of this blog - have not yet seen it, I decided I'd post it here so they could read it, too.

Hello my dear readers,

As this monthly newsletter goes to press you'll notice that I am not reporting from Japan, but somewhere totally, completely different: Korea.

Day 0: We left our house at 9 pm to get a 10 pm night bus from Osaka to Fukuoka. The trip was mostly uneventful, other than the fact that the driver would stop every 2 hours, turn on all the lights, and make an announcement over the PA system that began with "I'm so sorry to wake you, but..." If he was really so sorry why didn't he just KEEP THE LIGHTS OFF!

Day 1: We arrived in Fukuoka at 6:40 am, and after eating some breakfast, we went over to the international ferry terminal. There are overnight ferries or high-speed hydrofoils (which take only 3 hours) to Busan, Korea. We opted for the hydrofoil, which was a very pleasant journey, so pleasant I slept through it. My friend Adam teaches English in Busan, so we were staying with him while we were in Korea. He and his girlfriend took us around the downtown area of Busan where we discovered such Korean fads as "face rollers" (a tool you roll on your jaw to make your face smaller) and "couples t-shirts" (2 t-shirts with matching or complementary designs, worn by young couples.) Photos of face rollers here and couples shirts here

Days 2 and 3: Sightseeing in Busan, which is on the southeastern coast of South Korea. Here are some more facts you might not know about Busan:

• It is the world's third largest port, and Asia's largest container port.
• It has thrown its hat into the ring to host the 2020 Summer Olympics (it hosted both the Asian Games and some of the World Cup in 2002.)
• Ground has been broken on the Lotte World II Tower in downtown Busan, which will be taller than any other existing skyscraper in the world. I think the Burj Dubai will be finished first though.

Days 4 and 5: We took a quick trip up to Seoul, to do some sightseeing and of course, visit North Korea. On the morning of Day 5 we took a tour of the DMZ, led by the USO. We stepped inside the building where negotiations are held-- since this building straddles the border, everyone sits on their respective sides of the table. Tourists are allowed to step across the line, so I have now legally set foot in North Korea. It... felt a lot like South Korea. The rest of the tour was fascinating, especially meeting the Army guy who led the tour. He'd only been at Camp Bonifas (nickname "In Front of Them All") for 3 weeks, yet he was already trying to extend his stay for 2 years instead of one. I guess it's better than Iraq. North Korea's government is pretty scary, but honestly I don't think they're that dangerous-- I think that it's all political, and they want the world to pay attention to them. They really couldn't try anything without having the ire of almost the entire world come down on them. Even China is trying to distance itself from North Korea. An interesting note: South and North Korea have technically not made peace, so the Korean War is not yet over.

Day 6: Having returned late the last night from Seoul, we did the only rational thing: we got up early the next day! We had to see Gyeonju, a city that is often called Korea's Kyoto for its history as the capital of the Shilla Kingdom (from about 0- 1000 AD) and abundance of cultural sights. It was a bit of a tourist circus, but worth a visit as the city is basically a giant repository of historical artifacts. We saw some giant tombs that were nearly 2000 years old, and visited a mountainside temple. We also happened to be visiting an astronomy tower at the same time a field trip of Korean 3-year-olds was there. I rescued one kid when he attempted to climb over the fence while his teachers weren't looking. I just can't get away from kids, even on vacation.

Day 7: The weekend! Adam and his girlfriend Hyun-mi were off work, so we all went downtown to see a parade. We just caught the end of it-- actually it was a Korea-Japan friendship parade, which I found interesting since there tends to be a lot of distrust on the part of the Koreans towards the Japanese. Many Koreans are still angry over the colonization of the Korean peninsula, the Japanese enslaving the Korean people and raping their women, and the fact that they've never gotten so much as an apology. The parade was fun, but I didn't really catch the Korea-Japan friendship aspect. Some of the ladies in the parade saw us foreigners, and invited us to come dance-- actually I think they wanted Bob to come dance, but he was too shy so I went instead. One old man told me I was great at it, I didn't really believe him... as always, you can check Bob's Picasa account to see photos (they'll be up in a few days.) In the evening we all went to Haeundae beach, which is a great nighttime hangout since you can drink and set fireworks off on the beach. Adam's friend from Seoul met up with us there, and I found out she went to TJ and graduated in '03. Small world...

Day 8: Hyun-mi's friend Jiu, who has a car, drove us out to the eastern edges of Busan, into Gijiang county, to visit a cliffside temple overlooking the sea. Adam said quite accurately that this was a day of waiting. We waited in traffic for a long time-- but the temple was totally worth it. We also waited a very long time for our meal, but it was worth it as it was very delicious, consisting entirely of Korean side dishes. I didn't know much about Korean food before I went, but I feel like I learned a lot. The side dishes were my favorite part. Every meal is served with a variety of side dishes, usually a half dozen different dishes. Kim chi is always included but the rest vary-- I couldn't even describe them to you, there is such a range. Just know that there is usually a lot of garlic and hot pepper involved. Delicious!

Day 9: We left very early to catch our hydrofoil back to Japan, spent some time in Fukuoka doing some sightseeing, and, just before we caught the bus back to Osaka, we were serenaded by a homeless man outside the station who kept telling us that we were wonderful and I should have kids. Other than that, our day was pretty uneventful.

Ok, so I lied. Korea and Japan are actually pretty similar, as much as each country doesn't want to admit it. I'm still not sure exactly why. I guess that would mean facing the fact that historically, Korea and Japan both drew so much from China, from language to religion to food. The cultural similarity is still apparent-- in fact, I was able to read some signs and understand a handful of Korean words because of its similarity to Japanese through Chinese. But in the last few hundred years and especially in the present day, each country has gone its own way, so to speak, to try to differentiate itself and to make their place in the world. Each country has a lot to offer and should be proud to be compared to the other one.

Love, Katie