Tuesday, July 12, 2011

May 24, 2011 노무현대통령 Previous President No Moo Hyun

I would say that today has been one of the best days here in Korea.  It has definitely made my top 10.  We visited the previous president of Korea 노무현 No Moo Hyun's birthplace as well as where he died and buried.  David Lee came to take us and also gave us a lecture on Korean politics and the Korean War before we left to go see 노무현 No Moo Hyun's memorial site.  Even though it was in the same city, it was a long bus ride.


Some background on 노무현 No Moo Hyun:  He is/was Korea's 16th president (right now, the current president is the 17th president).  He's been referred to as "바보대통령" which means "Stupid/Foolish President" (pah-bo-dae-tong-nyeong) because he didn't attend college and became a lawyer.  At first, we thought it was an insult but he played on it much during his life and so it's not to make fun of him.  Even his supporters called him that which we thought was funny.  Although he didn't claim to be Anti-American, his constituents were and so many people considered him to be Anti-American as well.  So, was it awkward being there?  Just a little, not really. 

Towards the end of his presidency, he was accused of receiving bribes.  At first, he denied it but later, statements came out of him admitting that he received bribes.  This is what was reported:  He went back to his hometown and climbed this moutain called 부엉이 바위 "Owl Rock" (boo-uhng-ee-bah-wee).  He asked his bodyguards that he wanted some alone time but they said no.  Somehow, he managed to get away from them, jumped off the cliff, and they saw his body 150 feet below a cliff.  He was rushed to the nearest hospital and they announced that he was dead after a while in the hospital.  He died May 23, 2009 (so we got there just after the memorial).  We would have gone yesterday but it was raining really hard and good thing we didn't because where he committed suicide, you have to hike up it.  Although that is the story that has been reported about his death, many out there think that it's not suicide but murder.  There are many different "opinions" but I just wrote what has reported by the police.  Of course, not everything is always true.  I believe it's possible that he didn't commit suicide has some truth to it, but I'm just going to report to you what has been reported. 
We first looked at where he was born.  I can't believe they managed to keep most of it intact.  You can tell by this he lived a humble life growing up; well, I guess compared to today's standards.  As we were walking inside the house and around the memorial, sad but inspiring music (you know what I mean) was playing and everyone was very quiet. 






Next, we visited where his tombstone was laid.  The floor was covered with stones that had engraved messages on them.  They had a reflecting pond that was really nice.  Many people left flowers on the side. 




This says: "We really wish we could see you and we miss you." 




노무현 No Moo Hyun's memorial




After looking at the memorial, we climbed the mountain/cliff where he died.  It wasn't a long hike but it was steep.  It was maybe close to 3 football fields?  It was hard because it was really hot but other than that it wasn't bad because the way to hike was paved.


Each of us placed rocks on this mound.


Rock mound


My rock!


Elementary school children climbing down the mountain.  Talk about tough.  They were so funny.  All of the girls said hello while all of the boys called out "외국인/Foreigners!" (weh-goo-gin).


The top!  That looks like a backdrop huh?  It's not!  That's real!  Pretty huh?



Top of the cliff



Great view


The memorial from the cliff view


귀여운 강아지!  ^.^ Super cute puppy! (gwi/gee-yuh-oon-kang-ah-ji).  I fell in love with this puppy!!!  It was so calm too.  The dogs are really calm here.  We haven't heard any of them bark or jump on people.  IS THAT NORMAL??  Like, I literally snatched this puppy up from its mother and neither the puppy or the dog freaked out. 


After climbing the mountain, we went back down and there were a few memorials they had for the previous president so we visited them.  You could light candles for free at this one memorial so a couple of us lighted candles.  Not everyone was together and so that's why not everyone lighted a candle.


That picture of him is made up of tied yellow ribbons


We were tired because it was hot and we went hiking.  So the bus ride back was great for sleeping.  David was nice and bought us all ice cream after we ate lunch.  We visited a tombs museum nearby the house.  Close to the house is this park, I guess you can call it that, that have these horses and soldiers depicting the 가야 Gaya Kingdom a long time ago.  You could even ride them for pictures so we got creative.




The boys


You might think from this picture, "Man, Julianne, why are you so weird?"  In my defence, I was falling off and laughing.  If you know me well, you think that I did that face and posed like that on purpose but I was struggling to get on haha.


The girls

So I think Benjamin is pretty much the funniest guy on the study abroad.  He has this imitation of a guy from a television show.  I can't remember the name of the television show he imitated but everytime I watch this, I can't stop laughing.


I really liked today!  Who would've thought right?  I'm not a fan of hiking (I get bored) but it was incredible looking out at the top.  The place was beautiful.  Even though it was slightly awkward for us to be there because we were American, I thought it was still a neat place to visit.