Sunday, June 5, 2011

May 7, 2011 서울 - 김해

*If any of you have a blog, you can view the stats of your blog.  In other words, you can see where in the world your blog has been viewed and how many times and so many other things.  It's so cool!  I checked mine and of course the majority of the views have been from America and South Korea but these countries popped up so far:  Germany, Malaysia, Denmark, Israel, Peru, Ukraine, India, and Italy!  Haha and it was a couple times not just once.  Haha that's so cool!  Hello to whoever is from the countries listed above!

*Also, if any of you have questions about Korea (it could be about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!) just ask me!  Via whatever!

Today was our last day in 서울 Seoul !  :-(  I'm sad because 서울 Seoul is so much fun but I'm excited to go to 김해 Gimhae or in other words, the south because I've never been to the southern part of Korea.  I've only been in 서울 Seoul and the north.  However, I'm scared to talk to people in the south because of their 사투리/ accent/dialect (sah-too-ri).  In Korea there are a couple dialects.  You can tell what they're saying sometimes but not always.  I've heard people from the south before back at BYU and either they were playing a funny trick on me or I really can't understand what they're saying.  I asked Koreans how can they tell when they meet someone with a different 사투리 than them and they said that you can still understand what they're saying that it's almost similar to how Americans hear the Scottish, British, Australians, etc. speak English.  Sometimes they'll use different words than you and sometimes their accent is strong but you can tell what they're saying.  I hope that it won't be so bad!  Also, most Koreans now if they have a strong dialect or accent, will try to hide it.  We'll see!

We packed up and left on a bus early in the morning.  We had a quick breakfast and piled into the bus.  As a treat, we got some 바나나 우유 Banana milk (banana oo-yoo)!  OH MY GOSH!  WHERE HAVE I BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE???  I love 바나나 우유!  That stuff is amazing!!!  I'm not one who loves flavored milk, in fact, I don't even like chocolate milk that much and so this is a big deal!   I've always heard of 바나나 우유 but never got to try it.  It's good enough to have it in the morning or if you want it as a snack, it's good too.  We're excited to leave the temple house for one reason:  we'll finally have internet!  All of us have felt cut off from the world. 

We were excited to ride the bus because it was a nice bus with a TV and air conditioning.  The inside looked like we were inside a gypsy's carriage because of the curtains.  On the bus, I suggested that we play 삼-육-구/3-6-9 (sahm-yook-goo) which is a popular Korean game.  How it works is that each person says a number and each number that has a 3, 6, or 9 in it, you can't say that number but you have to clap.  And if you come across a number with more than just one numeral being 3, 6, or 9 you have to clap twice or how many 3, 6, 9 numerals there are in the number.
Example:
1-1
2-2
3-CLAP
4-4
5-5
6-CLAP
7-7
8-8
9-CLAP
10-10
11-11
12-12
13-CLAP
..........
29-CLAP
30-CLAP
31-CLAP
32-CLAP
33-DOUBLE CLAP
...........etc.

It's a fun game and Koreans love these types of games.  In English, we couldn't get far but when we tried it in Korean, we got up to 60.  On the bus ride was 박 교수님 Professor Park (Park kyo-soo-nim) from 인제대학교 Inje University (Inje dae-hak-gyo) where we will be using their resources like the library and such.  We'll be doing quite a few things with his students.  He speaks English well and knows Japanese too.  Besides playing games, we slept, talked, and watched the sports channel. 


뉴신세계관광 - the name of our bus


Piling stuff into the bus


Ready to go to 김해!


Study Abroad group!  I didn't know we were taking a picture then and so I look like a deer in the headlights.


박 교수님 Professor Park

To make the trip down to 김해 Gimhae a little bit more bearable and to spend our time wisely, we made a few stops at certain sites along the way.  Our first stop was 독립기념관 Independence Hall of Korea (dohk-rip-gi-nyeom-gwan).  It's south of 서울 Seoul in 천안 Cheonan.  I wished we could have explored everything that was there because this place was incredible!  They have 7 exhibition halls!  Independence Hall is "a memorial of the brutality and cruelty that swept across Asia a century ago and the history of resistance and rebellion for freedom and national independence" (Pamphlet we received at Independence Hall).  From what I saw, it mostly showcased Japanese imperialism on Korea.  They had exhibits about the origins of the Korean people, national crisis by Japanese imperialism, struggles for national rights,  the March First Independence Movement, patriotic struggle for national independence, establishing the great Korea, and the experience hall of the Independence Movement. 

I thought Independence Hall was very moving and striking.  While some parts of it are questioned to be propaganda by some, I thought it was incredible and moving.  The reason some people say parts are propaganda is the fact that this hall was made during 박정희 Park Jung Hee's era.  So depending on your opinion of 박정희 will determine if you consider parts of this exhibit to be propaganda.  It's interesting to talk to Koreas because they either hate him or love him.  I haven't found one yet who is torn yet.  I'm still on the search for opinions of 박정희 because I still have not done enough adequate research on him yet.  But from what I have gathered, I still don't know what to think about him. 

Whether Koreans' opinions or ideals are right or wrong, I can see their reasoning behind many things now.  I still don't have a deep understanding of everything but it's becoming less cloudy than before.  I think that's a good thing.  I didn't come here to see what's right or wrong, but to see others' reasoning behind important events and things in Korea. 


Independence Hall of Korea


거레의 탑 Mounment to the Nation (goh-ray-eh tahp).  This monument is supposed to represent the wings of a bird soaring in the sky, or human hands in eager prayer  


This ying-yang/swirly symbol is supposed to represent the unification of Korea.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Korea, it is a divided country:  North Korea and South Korea. 


태국기(tae-guk-gi) - Korean flags.  Haha it's kind of cool, they have a specific name for their flag.  Parts of the flag have so much meaning behind it; it's so cool!



안중근 Ahn Joong Geun


Symbol of 안중근 Ahn Joong Geun.  The short ring finger is shorter than the others because he cut it off as a symbol of dedication to independence (from the Japanese).  Korea considers him to be a hero while others question if what he did was heroic.  Honestly, I haven't formed an opinion yet because I have not researched enough about him.  Dr. Peterson mentioned that what he did for Korea many people praise him and consider him to be a hero but those who aren't Korean have different opinions.  But on a side note, I thought this piece of art/sign was cool in an artistic sense!


This is part of the reason why people debate back and forth if 안중근 was a hero or not:  assasination of Ito Hirobumi.  Ito Hirobumi was a former samurai and one of the founders of Japanese democracy who argued against annexation. 


Up close on the assasination of Ito Hirobumi


농악 (nong-ak).  Traditional Korean music that is usually played along with a parade, a ritual, or a demanding job.  The small handheld gong is 꽝과리 (ggwang-gwa-ri), the hourglass drum 장구 (jang-goo), gong 징 (jing), and barrel drum 북 (book), and a few others.  It likely refers to the music which farmers played together in order to conserve their energy and make the work less boring while transplanting rice seedlings or gethering the harvest in a rural community.  It's been used for shamanism as well.  The tails on their hats spin!!  Like WOW!  It's not easy in the slightest and they could spin their hats for long periods of time too.


This was part of the National Crisis by Japanese Imperialism exhibit.



This was part of the Struggles for National Rights exhibit.  It displayed details of patriotic independence movements.  Such as:  의비영 Righteous Army Movement (Uibiyeong) (I think that's how you spell it), the Enlightenment Movement and the National Debt Repayment Movement.  These were so cool!  Every single museum I have been to in Korea has been fantastic.  You can tell so much money has been invested in each one.  They have made museums a bit more entertaining and interesting to visit.




March First Independence Movement staue.  Isn't this statue incredible? 


This story is really sad.  It took place during the Japanese Imperialism period.  In summary, Koreans were trying to claim freedom from the Japanese.  The Koreans fled to a church because it's sanctuary but that didn't stop the Japanese.  The Japanese shot and burned the church down which killed people in the process. 


This was underneath the exhibit and under us to represent what happened during the church burning.  No words could describe this.  It's just too sad to comprehend.




Of course!  Because we're in Korea, there has to be a gun game in a museum! :-)  You know Koreans, they love Star Craft.  ^^


독립군의 피묻은 태국기.  This blood stained flag of Korea that was used by the Korean Independence Army was preserved.


4D Theater!  We didn't get to see this but the idea of 4D is still wrapped around in my mind!  How on earth does it work??

I still don't know enough about Korean history but Independence Hall was truly moving.  I understood a little more about how Koreans feel about their history.  The exhibits they had were very beautiful.  You really need to spend a few days here.  There's so much to see here!

Learning more about how Korea became a divided country makes sense why some people still refer to South Korea as Korea.  I always thought it's because it's a shortened form of South Korea just like in the US we have many short ways to say the United States of America but technically it's deeper than that.  This idea of wanting to reunify Korea between North and South is still sought for.  However, it's easier said than done.  Many people recognize the want/need to reunify but the effort and sacrifices that would need to be made is asking more than what they can or are willing to give up for.  Talking to some of the people here, they say that they're all for reunification but making sacrifices to unify the country is asking too much from them and they don't want to give up certain things to unify the country right now.  Before I came out, my opinion was that North and South shouldn't reunify because it's super difficult.  Although they are the same people and came from the same country, because they live under different government rulings (you have a president and a dictator), it would be hard to compromise.  They're still struggling to make a compromise today.  They are economically different that it's startling.  South Korea is overflowing with wealth.  South Korea is not a 3rd world country at all.  Dude, they have stuff here that would be a luxury back home.  Think about this:  all the grandmas and grandpas have smart phones here!  Back home, some grandmas and grandpas can barely figure out how to use their landline!  Haha lol. 

I thought it would be this case and I was right in the idea that South Korea would have to bring up North Korea up to speed in a few things economically.  Koreans from South Korea have said a few times that they're struggling enough trying to raise their family (who isn't in the world) and so paying more tax money to get the rest of the nation up to speed is too much to ask right now.  So politically and economically for two reasons are why it's difficult to unify the countries right now.  Even refugees from North Korea agree that it's too difficult.  This young guy named David Lee (who we meet at FHE at President Rogers's house) got to talk to the refugees of North Korea and that's how we found out a little more about what's happening in North Korea. 

In the end, my reasoning for the difficulty of reunification was confirmed to be right and it's easier said than done. 

After Independence Hall, it was time for lunch and ate a restaurant called 안고시 (ahn-go-shi).  Boy, did we know we were in for a treat!  갈비 (karl-bi) Korean ribs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did I just die and go to heaven?????????  갈비 is my absolute favorite.  You can never go wrong with 갈비.  A funny experience that happened while were eating, the bus driver was eating 냉면 cold noodles (naeng-myeon) and he told me to try the soup that was in the 냉면 which came in a teapot to our table.  I tried it but didn't like it at all.  It was really strange to me.  I must be weird because a lot of people like it but it was a bit sour for me and something else that I don't know how to describe it.  Everyone said my face was really funny.  I tried so hard to cover my expression but it was a bit hard because it took me by surprise.



Haha I had to take a picture of these people.  As we were on our way back to the bus, they were singing out loud and were super funny!  You just had to be there.



Just our 반찬 side dishes (ban-chan)!  Dude, I would have been content with just that! 


Salad with kiwi dressing (which was incredible!), crab, 김치 (kimchi), onions, just to name a few.


갈비!  :-)


Our bus driver cutting the meat.  He was so nice and friendly to all of us!  Haha my face is priceless!  I was just watching him but it looks like I'm really eager to eat haha.


After all is eaten and done.  Yeah, this was between 4 people haha lol!  No we weren't starving, that's just their concept of a meal haha.

We got back on the bus and drove for a while.  Our next stop was 청주고인쇄박물관 the Cheongju Early Printing Museum printing museum (cheong-ju-go-in-shwae-bang-mul-gwan).  This museum is a big deal because Korea invented metal moveable type (HOLLA!  Who would have thought?) many centuries ago, WAY before Gutenburg decided to use it for his pamphlets.  Also, in Korea was found the world's oldest printed document the 직지 Jikji which is a digest of Buddhist concepts written by 배군 Baegun.  There were documents printed before the 직지 but the 직지 is the oldest one alive today.  Before entering the museum, we watched a movie on the 직지 which a little over the top.  It kept saying "The Jikji is the greatest invention ever in the world" which was a bit humorous.  It's true, it's a great invention but how the video was put together, we couldn't help but laugh.  We have an inside joke about it now haha.  :-)  I didn't mind it that much but everyone else thinks that it was trying hard to promote the 직지 that it was a too excessive.  I don't know haha, I was interested. 



This was really cool!  They had on the walls letters of metal moveable type how they would appear on the documents and then below.....


are the letters backwards, how they would appear to the printers when making documents!  Haha is that cool or what?




직지 Jikji


Dharani Sutra.  Dr. Peterson told us that the museum should be emphasizing this a lot more than the 직지 for a specific reason but I can't remember it in detail. 



Mural describing how they would use metal moveable type and how it was invented.


Towards the end of the museum, you could make your own copy of the 직지 or the Dharani Sutra.  I chose the Dharani Sutra because the letters looked really cool.


Rub, rub, rub, rub, rub, rub, rub, rub.


Finished!  I need to make a note in the back. So the people that were helping me make this copy noticed that I was looking at the kid's corner behind me.  Note: I WAS JUST LOOKING.  They then gave me this word puzzle to fill out but noticed that I didn't know how to fill it out because it was using Korean terms that I've never heard of before.  So, the lady pretty much told me the answers and then mailed it for me.  Haha they probably thought I was interested but I just wanted to see what was behind me lol.  They were so sweet the whole time with me!

After the printing museum, we got back on the bus because we still had a few hours to go before we would reach 김해 Gimhae.  We watched the drama 대장금 Dae Jang Geum (which is based on a true story) until we got to 김해 Gimhae.  The bus ride was sooooooo long.  All we wanted was to get off the bus.  We couldn't sleep because we would be night by the time we get there so what use would that do?  After what seemed forever, we got to 김해 Gimhae!  For the time we're in 김해 Gimhae, we're staying in a 한옥 hanok which is a traditional Korean house and it's beautiful!!!!!!!!!  They built these 한옥들 hanoks a couple years ago close to the original structure but included running water and plumbing, electricity, and internet.  This is definitely something to do in 김해 Gimhae!  But more than anything what I'm excited for is that they have INTERNET!  It's not the best because the cord is broken so it keeps falling out of the wall but it's better than none! 

한옥 Hanoks are a luxury if you live in one now because there aren't that many architects around who know how to build them.  한옥 Hanoks are BEAUTIFUL too and so if you live in one, it's worth a lot.  Plus, the majority of Korea live in apartments.  In fact, when I talked to some of my Korean friends, they were so excited and surprised that we would get to stay in one because they're expensive and not a lot of Koreans get to experience it.  I would take pictures of it right now but it's dark so I'll take some tomorrow when it's day.  I haven't seen any houses here in Korea yet.  No wonder when some Koreans would come to my house and my friends' houses there eyes were huge haha.  Seeing a basement again will be part of the culture shock coming back.  Culture shock is going to hit me hard in the butt.


Bus ride


Get us off this!

After settling into the 한옥 hanok, we got some dinner down the street.  김해 Gimhae is definitely smaller than 서울 Seoul and not much happens here compared to 서울 Seoul but it looks fun still!  :-)  The 한옥 hanok is gorgeous!  We went to a restaurant called 암소한우전문 (ahn-so-hanoo-jeon-moon).  There we had 곰탕 (gohm-tang) which is so good!  It literally means "bear soup" because they said when you eat this soup, you will gain the strength of a bear.  Koreans have many tales about bears so if you see bears pop up in anything you know why.  곰탕 is a white soup with meat, green onions, and noodles.  Usually people put tripe in it but ours didn't have any in it.  It tastes really good when you have it with 깍두기 kimchi radish cubes (ggak-du-gi) and rice.   This is one of my new favorites!  First 갈비 kalbi and now 곰탕 gom tang!  What could be better in regards to food?? :-)



곰탕 (gohm-tang)!!  The red dish on the left is 깍두기 (kimchi radish cubes).

Saw amazing things and ate delicious food.  SUCCESS!  Korea keeps getting better and better each day that I'm going to explode in happiness!!!!!!!  I don't know if it's possible to be this happy!!! :-)  I'll let you know how the 한옥 hanok is tomorrow!  :-)