Annyeonghaseyo to Korea

Tuesday was our last day in South Korea. In the morning we went to the Korean War Memorial. We met with 92 year old retired General Paik Sun Yup, ROK. He shared with us his rememberances and experiences during the Korean War. After his talk he signed copies of his book for us. We also had plenty of time to explore the museum. While the inside of the museum was full of information, the outside was what most captured my attention. There were dozens of military airplanes, ships, and vehicles that you can climb on and in. So I climbed up on top of a Howitzer and walked through a ship and a military transport plane.

That afternoon we were free to do whatever we liked. My original plan was to do some light shopping in Ittewon and meet a group of fellow participants to take a riverboat cruise that evening. A light rain led to a change of plans however. Instead of the cruise we ended up going to a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant and, once the weather cleared,we hit up a nearby convienience store where everyone purchased a " beverage" of their choice and we walked to the Han River bridge overlook where we sat, drank ,and talked. I must thank Fran, Beth, Suzanne, Jessica, Gwynne, and Barbara for making my last night in Seoul memorable. Annyeonghaseyo!

Goyang Foreign Language School

On Monday afternoon we visited Goyang Foreign Language School to get a first hand look at Korean education. Goyang is a high school that attracts students from all over Korea. There is a highly competitive application process to be admitted to the school. Students who are not from nearby areas are housed in school dorms. My escort for the afternoon was the lovely & engaging MiJin.

Goyang has three grade levels- what we would consider 10th, 11th, & 12th grades, but they refer to them as 1st, 2nd, & 3rd grades. MiJin is a second grader. She is studying English and Mandarin at Goyang. She lived in China for four years, so she has a bit of an edge. All of the students have a major and minor (They call them "first major" and "second major"), and either the major or minor MUST be English. Their other language choices are Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin. Students here study a LOT. Since their college admissions are focused solely on test scores it is critical that they score high. Most of the students here desire to attend one of the SKY universities in Korea. The SKY universities are Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. They are public univeresities and competition to get into these highly desirable schools is fierce. Third graders are housed separately from the other students and they have no free time. The schools’ hours are from 7am -11pm. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served at school. MiJin does not live on campus and takes the bus home every night, arriving about 11:30. Then she gets up at 5am to start all over again. She says she envies American school kids because they have a choice to do things other than study all the time. The students at Goyang have a high rate of acceptance into the SKY universities, but unfortunately, there is a high rate of suicide amongst teens in Korea due to stress. At the school I teach a lesson on George Washington Carver, and I give the students an activity to do in which they have to determine which products Carver produced using peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.

The kids really get into it, turning it into a competition. Gwynne then teaches them a lesson on the elements of culture, and afterwards we distribute the little trinkets we brought for them, and our day there is done. This was an enriching experience for me and one I hope to repeat someday.

July 8, Haeinsa

Hae in-sa is a 1200 year old Buddhist temple and monastery located inside Gayasan National Park . It has three gates that symbolize moving from the less sacred to the more sacred. If Buddhism could be defined by one word it would be "mercy". There are over 80,000 Buddhists texts stored here, collected from throughout the world. The books in the temple library are only about three subjects: the life of the Buddha, the teachings of the Buddha, and how to live in a monastery. A series of steep steps lead to the temple reminding you to take your steps carefully in life. On a pavilion are a bell, fish, drum, and gong. These are used to call all the creatures of the earth, air, and water to worship. The sound of the bell is also said to soothe the souls suffering in hell. We get to see the mid- morning ritual with the drum and bell. This is an active temple. Many people come to pray while we are there. Some of us- myself included- walk the meditation maze. I also drank water from their spring. It's really good. For lunch we ate in the monastery cafeteria. You may leave your shoes on but you are not allowed to talk or wear hats, and you are not supposed to leave even a grain of rice on your plate. I'll admit I left three grains of rice and a couple of tiny pieces of seaweed that I couldn't pick up, but I did pick up and eat the bean sprout I dropped on the table, so I think I did okay.

Yongdong Village, July 7

Today we visited a traditional village built on Confucian principles. It has become more commercialized to the regret of some of the traditionalists. Bit this seems to be necessary for the survival of the village. We went to the house of the cheon song (I'm not sure about the spelling of that.) He is a seventeenth generation cheon song. In agricultural societies these were the village elders, but as society has transitioned to a more industrial society their role has become more ceremonial. He doesn't speak English so Dr. Petersen translates our questions.

The cheon song answers questions, expressing his concern over modernization and the delicate balance necessary to maintain Confucian principles while existing in the modern world. He also discusses the growth of the village and how many people are returning to traditional ways and values. We later walked to the village seo dan, or school. Students here would study to take their exams - either military, civil, or technical exams. Technical exams included law, doctor, accountant, translators and scientists. We walked through the village to the house of another chon dong who is not in residence. We had a traditional Korean lunch at a restaurant in the village. The restaurant looks as if its actually part of someone's house. After lunch we're allowed to explore on our own. This village is larger than I expected and very vibrant. The people here are very close to nature. While walking I see students from the nearby school collecting samples from the stream. I think how lucky they are that they can walk right outside the school door and apply what they've learned in science class. There are so many tourists that I wonder if the people here ever get tired of them. The irony is that tourism allows the village to survive. There are people selling handmade goodies and crafts right outside their thatched- roof homes.

July 6, 2012

We started the morning by visiting Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. Because of Hyundai, Ulsan is one of the most heavily industrialized regions of South Korea. Per capita GNP is twice the national average. The total area is 2,200 acres and it houses the largest Hyundai Plant in the world. Fifty five percent of the cars produced here are exported. Hyundai acquired Kia in 1999, and together they control nearly 80% of the domestic market. We begin with a tour of the museum covering the life and works of the Hyundai founder Chung Ju -Yung and the history of HHI. This shipyard was initiated in 1972, five years after the founding of Hyundai motors. Before Hyundai came here, Ulsan was a fishing village, but the town exploded in growth thanks to Hyundai. The company has built hospitals, schools, hotels, colleges, malls, apartment complexes, and just about anything else you can name. The first ship launched from here in 1974; the 1000th ship launched in 2000. HHI has eleven dry docks, the largest of which can hold a one million ton ship. It is currently the number one ship builder in the world. They have constructed off shore drilling structures for Exxon. HHI now imports construction vehicles to over 120 countries nationwide. Later we took a forty minute winding trip on the bus to Seokguram Grotto. Seokguram Grotto was the last stop on the continental silk road. You cannot enter the grotto itself, but you can walk up to the glass wall and look into it. ( I say "walk" but first you have to hike to the top of the mountain. ) No pictures are allowed inside, unfortunately. It was a grand sight. The Buddha sits surrounded by twelve disciples. It is carved of a solid piece of granite and the grotto was built around it. At a lower temple sits a Sansin or mountain god, the quintessential symbol of Shamanism, symbolizing the connection between Buddhism and Shamanism. Before leaving the complex I had a chance to ring the Buddhist temple bell. Four kilometres down the mountain is the Bulguksa temple. Bulguska has two pagodas.

Most Buddhist temples only had one. Forty steps lead to the temple, symbolizing the forty spiritual steps Buddhists must take in order to reach Nirvana. This golden Buddha sits in between two golden Bodhisattvas. We visited all of the temples on site, and had the opportunity to go inside Supreme Bliss Hall and kneel at the foot of the Buddha. You must take off your shoes and wear socks in the shrine. On the way out of the temple complex we passed through the gate with the four temple guardians- one for each of the four directions.

Gyeongju

Today we visited several sites of the ancient Silla dynasty. To get to the first one was a 3 hour drive from Jongju to Gyeongju. Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for over 1000 years. Our first stop was the birth place of the founding king of Silla, Bak Hyeokgeose. There's nothing there now but a field with a monument stone marking the spot. We then went to the Five Tombs Complex . Visitors aren't allowed in the mounds, but Dr. Petersen explained how the temple around the mounds was actually built during the later Joseon period, using Confucian principles. The site also contains a monument house commemorating the first queen of Silla, Alyong. It’s monsoon season in Korea so the rain made today difficult most of our field trips were outside. In between sites we stopped for another traditional Korean lunch. I've decided that my diet while I'm here will basically consist of seaweed soup & kimchi, or cabbage & rice mixed with bean paste.

After lunch we went to the Heavenly Horse Tomb which is a tomb of middle Silla Kingdom. It isn't known who was buried in the tombs, but historians do know that it was pre -Buddhist. We later went to the Gyeongju National Museum, where our charming Korean guide "Cookie" told us all about Silla and the artifacts of the period. We finished up the day at Bunhwangsa where we saw a stone pagoda made to look like brick. It was built in 634 during the Silla dynasty. It's surrounded by hundreds of beautiful paper lanterns on which people have hung blessings.

While there we walked over to the site of a former Hwangnyongsa temple. It once contained a nine story pagoda, but it was burned down during the Mongol invasion.

DMZ visit

Today was our field trip to the DMZ. There is a dress code for visiting the DMZ, and you are required to being your passport. We made several stops along the way to check out sites of historic interest. Sojeong, our Korea Society guide was not allowed to go with us because Koreans must have a special pass to visit the DMZ. Our new guide gave us lots of information on the Korean War and the DMZ during the bus ride. Before being allowed on the tour we had to stop at the Lotte Hotel where our passports were taken up & checked. It operates as a kind of clearinghouse for the DMZ tour company. First we stopped at a Korean War Memorial.

Then we stopped at Reunification Park. We were allowed to take photos at both places. We then visited Imjinak Park before going to lunch. This field trip involved a lot of stopping and starting. Once we arrived at the southern boundary to the DMZ we had to stop while a ROK ( Republic of Korea ) soldier checked our passports. At the entrance to Camp Bonifas a US soldier boarded the bus and checked our passports against a list of names that had been previously provided. We then journeyed to the JSA (Joint Security Administration) visitor's center where we signed a release, were issued a visitor's badge, and watched a brief video on the history of the area. All along the way to the visitor's center, you could see camoflagued foxholes in which soldiers with weapons were just visible. We also learned that all signs on the southern side of the JSA had all official signs in Korean and English, while all official signs on the northern side are in Korean and Chinese. We then were required to change buses before being allowed to go to Freedom House. We were given a military escort for this part of the tour. At Freedom House and the MAC (Military Armistice Command) we had to walk two-by-two and were only allowed to take photos in certain areas. We saw the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) markers and were allowed to take photos of the Panmun-gak Pavilion, which is actually in North Korea. You are not allowed to take any photos of the South Korean side. Inside the MAC we were allowed to take photos with one of the guards. The MDL actually runs right through the middle of the MAC, and I was standing on the North Korea side.

The entire time we were there, there was a North Korean soldier outside at the pavilion facing us. You are not allowed to point at the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) side, and you cannot use 100 mm zoom lens cameras. Later we were able to ask questions of our military escort and I wanted to know if there was always a North Korean soldier outside. The answer was yes. The game of "one up man ship " between the ROK and DPRK around the DMZ fascinated me. We found out that when Freedom House was built it was initially taller than Panmun-gak Pavilion, so the North Koreans added a third story to the Pavilion. When the South Koreans erected a flagpole that was visible to the North Korean side, the DPRK installed a taller one. All in all it was a fascinating experience. For supper I decided to walk to the Popeyes two blocks away. This Popeyes had burgers in their menu. Specifically a shrimp burger and a bulgogi burger. I decided to go with the chicken strips. Unfortunately, they didn't have jambalaya. They did, however, have spicy mashed pumpkin as a side dish.

Yoo’s Family

Our lecture series ended today, with sessions on modern Korea, the Korean education system, and Hallyu, which is Korean pop culture. You should check out K-pop. It's sweeping the world. But I was disturbed at how the K -pop factory creates a homogenized, superficial product by forcing these young people into training facilities where they have exercise and diet regimens and often undergo plastic surgery. Later in the afternoon we went to Yoo’s family and participated in a traditional Korean tea ceremony and dressed up on traditional Korean outfits called Hanbok.

Yoo’s family is a traditional Korean village where people can learn about what life was like in Korea years ago. In a separate section of the complex we learned how to make Korean art calligraphy and how to make kimchi pancakes. Kimchi pancakes are made from fermented lunching, buckwheat flour, onions, chives, and a few other seasonings. They're very savory. I volunteered first. And I must say my pancakes were terrific. I don't know if I'd eat them daily, though.