Korea's Thanksgiving celebration, sort of

Every year, Koreans celebrate Chuseok (추석), a harvest festival according to the lunar calendar. This full moon during the early autumn months means several things; it's a national holiday for Koreans, it's a time to go home and visit family and it's also a time to pay tribute to one's ancestors.

I had the opportunity to partake in this holiday with my friend from the University of Washington. Her extended family gathered during the early morning hours of Chuseok at her great-parent's grave site. Everyone brought food, some of which was methodically arranged upon a stone tablet directly in front of the grave. Then, we all bowed toward the grave, first kneeling upon both knees and then placing our heads downward onto the ground and finally rising back to the standing position. We did this twice.

Next, we waited for the great-grandfather and great-grandmother to symbolically eat the food. There is no set time for this, but we waited for perhaps 10 minutes and women among the group used the time to set out mats on the grass and prepare other foods for lunch.

Typical foods during Chuseok include songpyeon (송편), which is a steamed rice cake with a rather chewy texture. We also ate grapes, dates, pears, kimchi, rice and several meat and fish dishes.

The ancestors normally "eat" a prescribed set of dishes, although these days my hosts explained to me that it is increasingly common to set aside some coffee or a pack of cigarettes for the deceased.

It is also customary to clean the grave site sometime during the Chuseok holiday as a mark of respect for those who are interred there. My host was explaining to me that the grave is particularly difficult for them to maintain since rain and erosion work against their efforts to keep the grave's rounded shape (see below).

I suppose it is rather easy for Americans to understand Chuseok as the "Korean Thanksgiving" because it is a harvest festival which brings family together, but clearly this ancestral aspect of Chuseok differentiates the holiday from the American Thanksgiving. Seeing it firsthand was very enlightening for me and I'd like to end this post with a public thank you to my friend who invited me along.

Thanks!






Above: My friend explains the significance of the hangul (lettering) inscription, which is placed next to her great-grandfather's grave. The inscription tells about her family's history. Due to historical Confucian influence throughout the country, my host told me that only the male lineage is engraved on this marker.





Above: This is my friend's great-grandfather's grave. During Chuseok, it is customary to leave food and drink out for these ancestors. Here, my friend is learning about these customs.

This is how sports should be played . . .

More than one thousand blue shirts stormed onto the soccer field in the Olympic stadium which once hosted the 1988 summer Olympics. Flags waved and the multitudes of youth sang and chanted. No, this wasn’t a Democratic youth rally; it was the celebration following the two-day competition between Yonsei University and Korea University.
The two schools fought for victory in basketball, hockey, baseball, soccer and rugby during the first weekend of school, Sept. 5-6. Korean class was cancelled via my teacher’s unofficial decision so we could all go to these games.
Each school brought their cohorts into the stadium at about noon and the games kicked off with song and dance at about 1:00. Songs, cheerleaders and relatively easy dances (think YMCA) never ceased during the whole six hour rugby and soccer game that I saw; the event was just as much about cheering with friends as it was about actually caring about the action on the field.
Winning, though, was certainly worth it when the stadium’s seats were vacated within minutes of our victory and everyone was packed onto the field to celebrate together. Fireworks inaugurated our arrival on the field and for nearly an hour, everyone jumped around, danced, cheered and hollered. The constant upbeat music, the thousands of smiling faces, the collective celebration with everyone packed right against each other and the stadium’s lights illuminating the whole scene made this one of the most memorable experiences in Korea so far.

Here are several photographs I took at the event:




Above is the crowd at the games. They closed the field to the celebrating students, but there was still plenty of room for everyone to pack onto the field. This was taken an hour after the games ended and there were still hundreds of people there.





Above are several of the cheerleaders who led the songs and dances during the game. Here, they're showering in the blue school colors streaming down from the stadium's upper deck.





Above is my friend at the games. This is just after we ran down to the field.





Above are some Yonsei students doing the synchronized dances which accompany the cheering songs. The girl tied a towel around her head in the style of people visiting Korean bath-houses.

Seoul nightlife

School begins tomorrow, ending a week long adventure traipsing through Seoul's streets, bars, clubs, cafes and shops.

I've watched legions of taxis swarm the streets as the subways stop running, the drivers hoping to earn a few bucks shuttling home the multitudes of unlucky youth.

Mopeds speed along the alleyways, accelerating between breaks in the crowd and screeching to a halt when the walkers become too numerous. If the traffic is at a standstill, they'll drive in-between the lanes and they'll navigate their way through the crosswalk crowd even when they have a red light; I've nearly been run over several times now.

Neon signs light up every avenue and alleyway and, apart from the major streets, people are free to roam right up the middle of the street. Tents pop up at each corner, steam emitting from giant vats of cheap street food, the owners eager to sell their snacks to young people suffering from the drunken munchies.

Groups of friends roam the streets, gallivanting from club to bar to club to bar again, and couples walk hand in hand, perhaps on their way to a bar or to one of Seoul's many late-night cafes.

It doesn't seem to matter whether it is Tuesday or Friday night; the people here will be out in force to enjoy their nights.

Korean businessmen incorporate after-hours drinking into their work life and older men are a common sight during the earlier hours of the night. Last night, this fellow received a business card during his dinner and he stashed it away among a disorganized handful of other business cards in his pocket while his friend was in the bathroom. Perhaps he was trying very hard to develop his business network over a few drinks.

For the youth, drinking doesn't seem to have such an obvious agenda. Often, I've seen groups of boys and groups of girls enter a bar to sit down, share a pitcher of beer, eat some Korean drinking snacks and talk the night away. Never having been to a bar in America, I can only assume this is a regular activity there too.

The difference, I think, between American and Korean drinking culture is that Americans go home after they go to a bar and Koreans go out to sing karaoke (and maybe drink some more there too). Basically, the karaoke rooms (노래방) are private rooms with couches, microphones, a coffee table and a television. They're basically soundproof, but I've walked by many and I can hear both Korean boys and girls singing the latest Korean pop songs.

At the end of the night, a taxi ride is often the best way for most to get home since the subways do stop running by midnight. The taxi drivers know this and they're out in force. I've stopped walking on the sidewalk to catch my bearings and within seconds there is a taxi driver pulling his car up next to me and speaking Korean to me. Not knowing what he is saying nor needing a taxi at all, I wave him away. The taxis are everywhere and they're cheap: a three or four dollar nightcap to a drinking adventure in Seoul.

*As a final note, the fellow I saw passed out near the main entrance of Yonsei in the photo above is not dead and the police arrived shortly after I shot this photograph to identify him, wake him up and take him away.

Underground in Seoul

After my mountainous adventure, I want to comment about how easy it was to journey into the countryside via Seoul's subway system:

I was able to leave the city to enter Bokhansan National Park, which is where the mountain I climbed is, via Seoul’s subway system. From there, a brief cab ride took me and four of my friends to the base of the mountain.
Seoul’s subway system is generally efficient. Riding the subway for a relatively short distance costs about 90 cents and the subway arrives at each stop every few minutes. The subway system sprawls outwards from the city center, allowing us to reach the outskirts of Seoul (and Bokhansan National Park) within an hour. The subway closes at about midnight each night, prompting some youth to spend the entire night in 24-hour-a-day cafes, bars, theatres or karaoke rooms until the subways begin service again at 5:30 a.m. A note about this: the subway will stop at whatever station it is currently located at; there is no “last route.”
I've caught a cab a few times here, but several of my friends have partied "Korean style" as they say and haven't returned home until the sun is rising.

I’ve met several New Yorkers who’ve vowed Seoul’s subways are quieter and cleaner than New York’s subway system. They’re also faster than Seattle’s bus system, which is obviously impeded by varying amounts of traffic. Also, riders here use a card to access the subway and the bus system. Transfers are recorded electronically so that one may emerge into the sunlight to catch a bus and need only scan the card again. Hence, no need for change and no need for paper. If you come to Seoul, buy the subway/metro card at the station. It is called “T-Money” and it will help you.

Ascending Seoul's tallest mountain

I ascended Seoul’s tallest mountain yesterday, sweating and panting as I finally stood next to the Korean flag planted at the mountain’s top. The peak is 836.5 meters from the base (about 2800 feet) and the view from the top overlooks all of northern Seoul.
The hike was about four kilometers and it took my friends and me about five hours to venture up to the peak and back down to the base, where we enjoyed food at a mountain restaurant next to a stream. The stream was clean, wide, cold and descended at a healthy pace so a fellow named Andrew and I jumped in before we ate a seafood pancake (해물파전) and drank Korean rice wine (먹거리). It was 8:00 p.m. before I returned home, but the view from the top was worth the entire day.
The distant city encroaches northward toward the mountain peak, the major city avenues lined with tall skyscrapers and the smaller streets rimmed by shorter buildings. Apart from the distance, the view of the buildings was further reduced by smog and the effect from such a height was a gentle rippling among taller and shorter buildings. It reminded me of swells at sea.
The entirety of the city is not visible from even this tall peak. At the horizon line is the Han River, a river which bisects the city in two. Even half a mile toward the sky, I cannot see the whole city; Seoul’s population is greater than New York City’s and also slightly greater than Los Angeles’.

Palaces, markets and fish that clean your feet

A dozen mosquito bites later, one foot bath (with fish) and one currency incident later, I am settled into the dormitory at Yonsei University in Seoul.

The mosquitoes here have seemingly targeted me and I’ve been one itchy mess until I picked up some soothing Korean medicine to assuage my numerous bites. If you ever come to Korea, bring bug repellant and use it liberally.

As for the foot bath, I went to a café with some of my friends here and apparently you can soak your feet in a bath while small fish suck the dirt, grime and filth off of your feet. The sensation is rather unusual (which would probably be expected), but it is not unpleasant and one of my friends even commented that he’d like to have the fish clean other parts of his body!



My currency debacle derived from a misplaced zero, one of those “mundane details” from the movie Office Space. I withdrew $500 instead of $50. This, however, did not trouble me since Korea’s streets are actually very safe and the people here have helped me numerous times when I’ve been lost.

Apart from these details from my first few days here, I’ve had several days to explore the city alone and also several days to venture beyond campus with several new friends.

My journeys have taken me to a Korean palace named Changdeokgung that hosted the Chosun dynasty rulers, the last dynasty before the Japanese annexed Korea during 1910 and assumed control from the Korean king. The palace’s buildings sprawled out from one central palace and a private wooded garden extended beyond. The architecture is worth seeing. It is preserved well and, although everyone must see the palace during an English, Chinese, Korean or Japanese guided tour, the tour guide’s information provided much needed context for a culture and history I know little about.

If you’re interested in visiting, the tour costs only $3 and the palace is very accessible by bus or subway.

I’ve also seen an open-air marketplace where vendors sell shirts, shoes, food, souvenirs and many other products. The area, called Dongdaemun, is one of Seoul’s main marketplaces and one can find nearly anything while perusing the streets in this area. I walked around for nearly four hours here and noticed the contrast between the street markets and the towering department stores.
The street vendors shouted at me in Korean to come visit their shops and when I did visit, I could barter for the final price. I bought two t-shirts for $10 (10,000 Won).

Across the street from the main open-air market were two large department stores. One had a stage set up outside of the entrance to the store and there were singers and dancers performing to a small crowd gathered near the store. Inside, the department store was much like Macy’s or Nordstrom. The contrast between the department stores which line Seoul’s main streets and the family-owned shops which cluster in narrow alleyways was quite apparent.

In the Shinchon area near Yonsei, I’ve explored the avenues by day and night. It is a youth-oriented district dominated by five or six story buildings, all of which house cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs and various shops.
Each store seems to hang a neon sign outside of their storefront. By night, these signs light up every alleyway and the store’s host the legions of youth descending upon the district at all hours. The streets were just as busy at 8:00 p.m. when I ate dinner as they were at 2:00 a.m. when I finally called it a night.

Among these stores are many Western restaurants as well. There is an Outback Steakhouse near campus, Starbucks stores on every other avenue and some Western style sports bars as well.
And yes, there is McDonald’s.



I'll update later with more adventures and later I'll be posting some feature length stories with interviews about religion in Korea and plastic surgery here.

A guidebook to traveling

I arrived.

I am sitting in Seoul, Korea inside of the Beewon Guest House.

So far, I've eaten one meal of Korean food with two other guests and I've toured Changdeokgung, a palace nearly right across the street from Beewon Guest House.

I'll be here for four months and, apart from attending school, I'll be updating this blog with stories, photos and the occasional video element.

Traveling, touring, visiting -- whatever you want to call it -- means many different things to many different people. For me, I make no presumptions about knowing too much about Korea or what I'm getting myself into.

The content I will deliver will be true to me and reflective of my perspective. That said, here are some of the broad and specific topics I hope to capture. These may change as my trip evolves, but here is an initial list and I'd love suggestions from anyone about places they've either heard about or been to.

Themes

Compare/contrast America and Korea
Korean history
Korean human geography
Lastly, what I'd like to call "youthful adventures."

Topics

• Plastic surgery


• Korean views regarding President Bush, US troops in Korea, US Presidential election


• United States corporate presence in Korea


• Korean journalism


• Korean cuisine


• Youth culture


• Christianity and religion in Korea


• Korean fashion, trends and popular culture


• Korean views regarding North Korea


• Theatre and cinema in Korea


• Photography in Korea


• Major Korean sports


• Neighborhood, district profiles (of Seoul)

This is a long and ambitious list to be sure, but hopefully I will be able to tackle some of these topics during my stay here and also take some time to update the blog with "weekend adventures." Some of these adventures might overlap the topics, but I also plan to do a limited amount of traveling outside of Seoul. Again, recommendations are welcome!

Weekend Adventures

• Chuseok holiday


• Busan trip


• DMZ


• Korean cinema or theatre


• Korea live music (concert)


• Amusement park (Lotte World)


• Korean karaoke or 노래방

I also plan to photograph around several themes for this trip, hopefully completing a shoot around a theme for each month of my stay.

So far, I've envisioned capturing "Western culture in Korea," as well as "Modern Korean culture."

I'll be updating my Flickr page in conjunction with this blog:
http://flickr.com/photos/anmidough/

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back with more than just lists tonight!