Nathan vs. Korea

To wrap things up: Korean culture, in a convenient list

2006-07-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

-Red lights are optional, especially if you're driving a bus.
-Children play unsupervised in the city streets in the evenings.
-They are really skinny.
-Friends of the same gender hold hands and link arms.
-Women don't smoke in public.
-They actually do eat dogs.
-Pedestrians don't have the right of way. Cars do.
-Street vendors sell squid. And toast sandwiches.
-The computer game Starcraft is so popular it's on TV with commentary.
-They don't hang out at people's houses. They meet at other places.
-There are TV screens everywhere. Like on vending machines.
-English is cool on t-shirts.
-Most people have decorative tassels on their cell phones.
-Only sketchy people have tattoos. In a movie that's how you know they're sketchy or bad.
-They watch awesome american TV shows: MacGuyver and The Wonder Years.
-The golf driving ranges don't have real grass. They have gigantic nets, like a bigger batting cage.
-At salad bars they mix everything together, even the jello.
-The kids say 'hi' to you in English, and feel sneaky for doing it.
-Drinks are much smaller.
-Couples wear matching outfits.
-It's so humid that your clothes won't hang-dry for days.
-You don't tip at restaurants.

1.21 jiggawatts

2006-07-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Han's mom took us out for lunch, a nice sort-of goodbye gesture. Korean food is quite spicy, and throughout my trip I've tried to take it easy, being a foreigner and not used to their food. But yesterday I decided to go for it. Not only did I eat the really spicy food, I put the spicy sauces over everything. I was sweating. My lips were purple. Han thought I was going to pass out.
After that Maris, Han and I wandered around Seoul for a while until we found a board-game-bong. Kind of like a nori-bong, except that instead of singing you play boardgames. You see, in Korea everyone lives with the parents until they get married. As a result, there are lots of people in their twenties living at home. But noone wants to have friends come hang out at the parents' place, so instead of hanging out at people's houses Koreans hang out in other places, such as restaurants and clubs. For teenagers, instead of a discotheque which would serve alcohol, there is a colatheque which serves cola. There are also DVD-bongs too, where a group of friends pick a movie to watch in a little private room.
After that we went out for dinner. We went to a fusion restaurant which specialized in fried rice dishes. My sister got the mushroom option and I went with pizza cheese. I think it basically had some mozarella in it. Not bad.
It's still strange to me wandering around a city that big. A Friday night for Koreans in their teens or twenties will be spent in the nightlife district (full of bongs and restaurants). Since it's a city of ten million, that means there are a lot of young people walking around there. There's something cool about being surrounded by thousands of neon signs you can't read and thousands of hip young people you can't understand.
This afternoon I fly back to Vancouver. I leave Seoul at 5:30 Sunday evening and arrive at 11:30 Sunday morning. They must have a flux capacitor, or something.

mystery meat

2006-06-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

Today for lunch Maris, Han and I went to an organic food restaurant. It might have been the nicest looking place I've ever eaten at, which is weird, because for the most part it seems that Koreans aren't to concerned with aesthetics. One of the walls was made of glass, covering an atrium with lush plants and running water. The tables were Western-style high-up tables (as opposed to sitting on the floor). Hardwood floors. Delicate ornamental lighting hanging from the ceiling. Orchids. And the best part was that we got a lunch special, so our fancy and huge meals were about $6 each. I even tried crab and squid for the first time.
After that we went to a nearby Buddhist temple. There was a very nice pond with lillys, bald monks and nuns walking around, ornate buildings with incense, and man-made paths for water to flow through. There was also this hollowed out section in the rocks that was cooler than an airconditioned house. I think it's used for prayer on hot summer days. And because it's monsoon season everything was so green. Very nice to look at.
After that we went to a big grocery store. You would not believe how many workers there were everywhere. In a given aisleway there would be two or three. And they all say hi to you, and lots of them hand out free samples of food. But it's all mystery meat, so I stayed away. The coolest thing they sold there was pet snails. Big ones. Some of them had brightly painted shells. So creepy, even when they're neon.

Listening to: "Lincoln" off of Damien Jurado's myspace

hey korea, can you handle this?

2006-06-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last night Maris, Han and I went to Nori Bong. It's kind of like the Karaoke of North America, except that instead of doing it in front of strangers your group has its own little room complete with flashing lights and tambourines.
I tried to start things off right with some Thin Lizzy, who always manage to pump me up. My next song was Gold Digger, but it sucked because I don't know the rap well enough in it. In case you don't know, rap is the hardest to Karaoke. You have to be able to rap along with the cd, because the words go so fast on the screen that you can't just read them. Sometimes it's best just to stick to Young MC.
My next song wasn't a hit either- I tried Survivor by Destiny's Child, learning the lesson that just because I can really dance to a song doesn't mean that I can sing it very well (though I'm sure that if they had Bootylicious I would have absolutely nailed it). In order to redeem myself I went for the totally easy Brown Eyed Girl.
The english song selection was very peculiar. There was a ton of Judas Priest, your normal Karaoke standards (eg Neil Diamond and Sinatra), a little bit of nu-metal, lots of big pop (Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears), and even a couple Yngwie Malmsteen tracks! Maris did mostly Madonna and Abba, and Han did lots of awesome Korean ballads that reminded me of Chris DeBurgh songs. Which is obviously awesome.
I tried to end on a highnote by closing with G'nF'nR's November Rain (in my best Axl) and Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone. Looking back, I should have tried to do Since U Been Gone in the Axl voice too. It goes without saying that I went home with a very sore throat.

b-boy farmers

2006-06-29T01:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Korean folk village. The way my Korean brother-in-law pronounces it, I was expecting something much different. Regardless, it was pretty cool. It's designed to look like a pre-industrialized rural community. Kind of like O'Keefe Ranch, but way less hick and way more Asian.
There were lots of cool buildings, people in old-timey costumes, animals running around (nothing too exotic), and stands selling souvenirs and snacks. I hate to keep comparing Korea to Japan (especially in light of their relationship, historically speaking) but the foliage reminded me of the jungle scenes in Japanese movies. It was sweet to just lay down by the river and be surrounded by lush green plants and trees. Next time you see me ask to see the photos.
Highlights included Han and I jumping on a sort of teeter-totter designed to make each person launch progessively higher and a traditional farming ritual where dudes danced around in brightly coloured costumes with hand-drums and ribbons attached to their hats (like the ribbons that gymnasts twirl, but only controlled by their heads!). The farmer dance ended with a dude more-or-less breakdancing around his ribbon, which was one of the best anachronisms I have ever seen. If only he was doing it to 50cent.

hot baths, neon lights and tube socks

2006-06-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

A word to the wise: when you are in Korea, go to a sauna. They cost around $5. They are open 24/7. They have gender-mixed areas with hot and cold rooms. They give you funny little shorts and t-shirts to wear. They have gender-specific areas where everone is naked in hot pools, steam rooms, cold pools, and ridiculously hot pools. They have areas for you to fall asleep in. They have a little library you can borrow books from (in Korean, of course). You can buy cold coffee drinks. Seriously, if you are a backpacker you could just live at these places for so cheap.
After that Han and I took the subway into Seoul to look around. You have to remember that it is a mega-city. Over ten million people live there. It is crazy and absolutely packed with people.
We first walked through this arts district, with lots of galleries and art-supply shops. And lots of tourists as well. I realized that I can't tell the difference between Japanese and Korean art. Or American and European travellers.
After that we walked to the palace. This is where (I think, though I'm not totally sure) the Korean government used to be when they were under occupation by the Japanese, for most of the first half of the century. It is very beautiful, with the kind of colourful and arched Asian architecture you've seen in movies. When Japan pulled out following WWII they destroyed much of it, but what's left is pretty cool.
But I didn't get too much time to look around because Han and I left to meet Maris for dinner in the "night-life" district. Lots of restaurants, bars, shops for designer jeans and t-shirts, and billions of flashing neon signs. We ate at a place where there were things like stove-top burners built into each lowered table, in which you cooked the main dish of your food. We had noodles and chicken and lettuce and mushrooms in ours.
After that we went to an upperfloor pretty-nice restaurant/bar type place. Going to a place like that in Korea without ordering food is kind of like going to a Canadian pub without leaving a tip. So we ordered a fruit tray (one of the cheapest food items) which cost a little more than $20.
The sweetest thing I saw throughout the day was market vendors selling ankle-high socks with pictures of Korean celebrities on them. Now that's big city living.

float like a butterfly

2006-06-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

It's 4:51AM right now as I start writing this. The day I got here I considered myself a champion for having stayed up twenty-three hours in order to beat jet-lag. Don't call it a comeback, but it turns out that jet-lag is the man. Jet-lag was just rope-a-doping me; playing me for a patsy. Last night I fell asleep around 9:00 after going for dinner at Han's parents' apartment. And now I've been up since 3:something. At least I'm getting lots of reading done.

Listening to: the occasional Korean walking by outside the apartment

english is the new black

2006-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

After sleeping in late today (10:00 in Korean time, which would be 6:00 at night in Canada) I went into Seoul with Maris and Han.
We started off on the bus, which accepts all major credit cards. Han is surprised that you can't use credit cards on Canadian busses, which he calls "technologically undeveloped." When we got off the bus my sister and I shared toast from a street vendor. It was actually more like an egg sandwich on toast, with some sugar for a little added kick. Don't knock it till you've tried it- it was actually super good.
After that we rode the subway, which was very full of people. It reminded me of when I've seen New York on TV. Something feels so metropolitan about holding on to straps to keep from colliding into total strangers.
In Seoul we went to this gigantic mall. Lots of young people wandering around shopping. And soccer video games being projected down onto the floors which you could interact with. There were lots of Western restuarants in the food court (Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, KFC, TGIFriday's), but also lots of non-descript Korean food places too. I guess a big thing for young and hip people is to eat fusion food- which combines Korean, Western and Japanese food.
There were a few other foreigners there (ie white people), but still got lots of stares from little kids.
I was on a mission to find t-shirts with Korean writing on them (for all the members of 446what) but couldn't find a single one. In the same way that Chinese and Japanese lettering used to be cool in Canada but not anymore, Korean writing on t-shirts is just so passe. It was all English writing that were either swears, provacative/sexually suggestive sayings, or non-sensicle. I prefer the latter, obviously.

you say tomato, I say deokso

2006-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in Dokso. Or Deokso. Translating names of Korean places isn't an exact science, apparently. It's 10:00 at night here, which is about 6:00 in the morning in Canada. It's been a long day.
This morning my brother dropped me off at the airport at 8:30. I got some breakfast, made a phone call, watched some world cup, and boarded the plane. It turns out that the guy I sat next to was a young Korean guy who has been studying economics at U of T. He taught me how to request things in Korean from the flight attendants, who were mildly impressed.
After two full meals, three movies, a couple naps and a cup of noodle soup I arrived in Korea. I had to go through a special line-up and interrogation because of the veggie dogs, but they let me through in the end.
My brother-in-law Han picked me up from the airport, which is on its on island called Incheon. As we drove through Seoul for an hour and a half to get to Dokso he told me that they were stupid to build the airport on the island because it's always really foggy.
Traffic in Korea is really busy. Lots of unsignalled turns, helmetless motorcylclists, and even some lightless intersections. The highway was surrounded by lots of apartment complexes (which looked a bit old and faded) and tons of churches too. Also, the occasionally buddhist temple, which looks like a church with a steeple, except that instead of a cross there's a reverse swastika. Who am I to judge?
We met my sister at their place and went out for dinner. Take off your shoes and sit on the floor at low tables, share lots of little dishes of spicy fermented vegetables and tofu. It seemed like the servers knew Maris and Han, who must eat their a lot. I enjoyed it.
After that we went to Han's badminton club, which had a little old lady who yelled stuff every time she hit the birdie, that my sister translated as "That's it! That's it now" over and over.
To end the night my sister and I walked around so I could see all the stores lit up. Lots of little shops and food places. There were aquariums out on the street like you see at the seafood sections in grocery stores, but instead of just crabs there were cucumber fish and mini-squid. And absolute hoards of these flying white bugs swarming to all the neon lights. Also, there were tons of parentless children wandering the streets. Apparently kids (even young ones) just hang out super late unsupervised. We saw two come really close to getting hit by one of the crazy drivers. Again, who am I to judge?

Listening to: TV On the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain

veggie dogs

2006-06-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

I'm in Ladner now, at the house of my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. The highlight of the solo drive here (around four hours) was having three planes flying right over me doing tricks in formation. The were low to the ground and big looking, spitting out lots of smoke. Kind of like the Snowbirds, for anyone from BC.
I can't escape the feeling that I've forgotten to pack something. But I have clothes, passport, tickets, money, a camera, music, books, and frozen vegetarian food. That's right- my mom got me to take a bunch of Yves stuff for my sister in Korea. I seriously hope that I can get into the country without them thinking it's some sort of biological warfare.
Warning mom: if you email to complain about me putting that on the site then I'll post the email here for everyone to read!

I'm having some technical difficulties with the photo stuff, but hopefully I'll get some up once I'm in Korea.

pre-trip jitters

2006-06-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

Last week my parents called me to say that my sister Maris (who is married, pregnant and living in South Korea) won't be coming to Kelowna this summer because of issues concerning travel insurance. To make up for it they offered me a free trip to Korea to go see her. I accepted.
My mom and dad offered to buy the flights, so I didn't really have much planning to do. In fact, the only thing I've done to prepare for the trip is check (yesterday) to see that my passport hadn't expired, and start this blog. Well, I'm doing laundry right now, too. Work has been absolutely mental lately, so I haven't even done any research into what I need to know going there. I'm really trusting that my sister will keep me from getting lost, or kidnapped, or whatever it may be that they do to people in Korea.
On Saturday I'll be driving to Ladner to stay with my brother and sister-in-law and their new baby, and then I'm flying out on Sunday. My dad tells me that the flight is around twelve hours. I have this low-level dread of conversing with strangers, so I'm planning to fill the airtime with books and a discman. The last time I flew overseas (back from Europe in 2002) the middle-aged woman next to me got completely crunked and was teaching a toddler on the plane to spit water out of her mouth. Hopefully the flight out will be just as "memorable."

Listening to: M. Ward- Post War