Language Diversity in Subway

For the first time today, I saw a medley of foreign languages on a subway poster on subway line 6, the line that passes through Itaewon, the known location for foreign goods and exotic restaurants, and an international assemblage of foreigners and their respective babble of languages. I have in the past seen a brief comment in Chinese or Japanese and the subway intercom announcing stops has gradually come to include Chinese or Japanese on some lines and some key stations or transfer stations, but today this posting really shows that Korea is making attempts to embrace other foreign languages and target other large language groups besides the big three: English, Chinese and Japanese.


This poster shows three languages with a simple sentence representing each. The first is Japanese with the message "Seoul where everyone smiles". The second language I'm actually clueless about but the message is "Seoul where everyone is happy". The final message reads in Arabic "Seoul that is constantly thankful". In the upper right-hand corner this propaganda message heralds from Hi Seoul, the department that spreads or perhaps is in charge of culture and entertainment around Seoul. For some more info on the entertainment options or other information on "Hi Seoul, the soul of Korea" go to http://english.seoul.go.kr/ for English, Japanese and Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese?), or for Korean http://www.seoul.go.kr/main/index.html.

Dolmen at Sahmyook University

Sahmyook University is located outside of Seoul proper, and is far enough away from a subway line that is still considered quite rural although 10 minutes walk locates a person in the middle of a thriving suburbia. Having stately red pines lining the main entrance drive and thick green overhead foliage, the air seems cleaner and the pace of life slows to enjoy the surroundings.


Especially in fall, the display of colors is vivid. Not surprising, nestled among tall trees and pebbled paths are a line-up of dolmen (고인돌), neolithic stones for ritual or burial purposes. While the dolmen are just stylized recreations, unlike a couple of those that were actually excavated and relocated to larger universities - Korea University, for example - the setting seems natural enough for such remembrances of a bygone time.

Sunday at the Riverside

Spring and fall when the weather is bright and sunny, the riverside is swarming with people, especially on weekends. This Sunday was gorgeous after a slightly chilly spell so the riverside wasn't as packed, but it certainly was filled with entertaining activities for people to watch or participate in!

Bee-sting Therapy

Many times through the spring, summer and now the fall I've seen middle-aged and elderly people collecting bees. I'm passionately interested about the therapy used, how to do it, how effective and so many questions. Most people haven't talked with me - some because maybe they didn't want to, but others seem to feel that the foreigner just won't understand. Today this gentleman was really helpful and informative. Yeah, I certainly didn't understand everything and he wasn't very talkative but he sure did give me a lot of info about his collecting method which he feels is superior to others. [I agree. Others have used tweezers to snatch bees badly damaging the ones they catch as well as the very high percentage that gets away; others have places a baggy over the flower and bee and shook the bee to the bottom of the deep baggy where others were balled up, of course injuring the bees with all the rough shaking and them being compressed in such a small tight hot space; others use bottles but none as confidently or gently as this guy!]



He uses sugar cubes stuck inside the plastic water bottle so that caught bees won't get hurt or want to fly out when he's trying to grab others. Small holes allow ventilation and he doesn't bang the bees around and injure them, because he's collecting them for therapy, bee-sting therapy. He tries to get at least 25 stings for effective therapy. I didn't understand what the problem he was exactly treating but rheumtism and "places where people ache" seem to cover it. My friend in the states who has fibromyalgia says the beestring therapy she tried was somewhat helpful, but I've never talked with anyone in Korea who has explained more about the therapy on a deeper level, and where the idea and treatment came from. It's certainly another fascinating aspect of either traditional Chinese or Korean medicine!

Drum Concert

Events like picnic fundraisers, concerts and competitions are held at one of the many riverside park areas. Today there was a rousing drum concert with precision repercussion power rolling from the throats of the drums. Absolutely loved it! I think it was for a fund-raiser for perhaps physically and mentally handicapped youth and their families. Many young people with evidence of cerebral palsy, Mongoloidism, and other disabilities were swarming the area with care-givers, volunteers and family in attendance. The drum concert was one of the beginning events held and other musical events followed. Food tents were set up busting with people preparing hot "picnic foods" over bunsen burners.


[Kimbap boxes made early in the morning by some small company used to be the traditional picnic food but now people actually bring in cooking equipment and make hot food. Kimbap is not so commonly seen anymore as street food either ... and I really miss it. But according to my friends, cheap oils are used in making kimbap so people shouldn't eat it. And my thoughts, and cheap oils at high temperatures aren't used for making the now ubiquitous and very fattening fried street foods? Or white bread colored with caramel coloring is better for you than rice? I don't get it. Why spurn what one knows for something unknown but which tastes better, but in the long run will do a lot more harm to the body? Sigh.]

Kite Flying

Kite flying offers surprising constrasts in Korea. In the US children like playing with kites in the summer. However, in Korea children do like playing with kites but this has been traditionally a winter sport. With the right winds blowing on cold winter days making a blue cloudless sky, the wind and sky were perfect for enticing a colorful display of kites high. Also traditionally there were kite fights, but I'm not sure in what period they took place, which ethnic group introduced them or whether they originated in Korea. But what did take place traditionally long ago in Korea was a special kite flying on Lunar New Year's day. Children would fly kites in the sky, make a wish and then cut their kite strings to release their kite, aka wish, in hopes of having their wish be realized. I've heard that this tradition was causing a lot of kite trash around [much like releasing balloons in the atmosphere] so the government put a stop to it. As best as I can tell, this tradition stopped sometime in the 1980s.

Anyway, kite flying has become an activity for elderly men, and today there were three out flying their kites. There was also a father teaching his little girl how to fly a simple kite, but he sure seemed more interested in flying it than she. She quickly lost interest because she couldn't get it up in the air, not surprising since the elderly pros were really struggling too. What I love about these picts is the string cradle that Koreans use for easily spinning to allow quick soaring flights or to harness in a falling kite. Korea is famous for their kite skills and kite making is something that all Korean children learn in kindergarten and elementary school, kite making with kites that look like the Korean flag. Even festivals frequently offer this as a craft option.




Korean Croquet

I wish I knew the name of this "sport" but it definitely looks like croquet until you watch for a couple of minutes, then you begin to wonder why players sometimes overlap playing time, seem to hit more than they should, and the way they play in teams is REALLY confusing. However, this is definitely an old people's game. I have never, ever seen anyone under 50 playing. Women do enjoy it, but men thrive on it and play pretty much in all four seasons. For that reason, all along the long riverside bike trails is a quite occasion croquet court. The courts usually appear in areas near large apartment complexes, and they get a lot of grooming to maintain their flat, unscuffed appearance. There's one particular court where a gentleman plays and thinks I should hit the ball for "experience". I never have because I plainly don't understand their rules; they're different than how I learned croquet, and if I'm going to hit the ball, I'm going to play a whole game ... maybe not skillfully, but knowledgeable at least.



Car Racing

Racing remote control cars is the latest craze along the riverside. Old and young alike line up in droves to watch people "drive" their remote cars around and around and around and around in circles. Hypnotizing indeed! The cars aren't racing really; they're just going around, making maneuvers, and sometimes jumping. Nothing exciting but crowds get attracted. I have to smile. People go to the riverside for exercise, but this is the most sedentary activity here ... and with lots of people doing it - nothing!


Playing ball and Fishing for ball

Loads and loads of guys make teams and play ball, or vigorously practice solo shots. Really blood pumping workouts! Well, today another ball bounced into the dirty river, and one of the local fishermen was recruited to help. That fisherman was good at throwing his line just on the other side of the ball, but the slight current was pulling the ball away and eventually the poor fisherman had to admit defeat ... and another ball now bobs in the middle of the river. It just wouldn't be Sunday without adding at least one ball to the river!

A Modern Traditional Korean Wedding

Today, an American female friend married her Korean soulmate at the famous Korea House, which they had to book several months in advance for. At the reception afterwards, she was laughing with several of her friends about her choice of wedding hall: three of her couple-friends in attendance had gotten married there and there were a lot of memories stirred up by the group gathering.

Korea House

Korea House (한국의집) is popular for both Koreans and foreigners as a wedding hall. Korea House provides a traditional cultural setting, food, performance and cultural goods. Originally as a private residence of Park Paeng-nyeon, a scholar during King Sejong's rule (4th king of the Joseon Dynasty), after the establishment of the South Korean government the hall was used as a guest hall for domestic and overseas VIPs, and then in 1980 finally became managed by the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation for the development and preservation of traditional Korean culture. The design of the building is regarded as an important intangible cultural asset. With such a historic background and the traditional ambience located in the heart of Seoul, popularity as a traditional wedding hall is guaranteed, especially for Koreans marrying non-Koreans who want their visiting family members to experience the Korean culture they are marrying into.

In the courtyard the family members assemble in a line [well, traditionally the groom's family would be on one side of the courtyward and the bride's family on the other, but this non-traditional seating is to facilitate photography.] The court musician play their ensemble and await the coming of the groom, who is escorted by a senior or highly respected friend.


The groom humbly enters, and bows to the assisting honorable friend and groom are exchanged. This is a formality of acceptance and the groom is then escorted to his awaiting bride, who becomingly must hide her face from the groom and submissively follow him, tailed by her consenting mother. [Heather's mother was visiting Korea for the first time so her trailing behind was just an act of ritual whereas traditionally the mother would assist her daughter to the marriage table, set with fertility symbols, such as chestnuts, jujubes, rice cakes, eggs, a chicken wrapped in cloth. etc -- only chestnuts were on this simplified table, however.]





The bride bows deeply to the groom. He bows in return. Then [I've never seen this before] he performs ritualistic absolutions of cleansing his face and hands with ceremonial water on his side of the table, and then she does the same on her side. [It is important to note that a sharp delineation of gender roles and rituals for gender are apparent in any traditional ceremony ... a book could be written on just the Korean marriage ceremony!]


After ritualistic cleansing, once again they bow; this time deep genuflections are solemnly performed three times with foreheads touching hands which are placed decorously on the straw mat. These deep genuflections from the bride are symbolic of her subserviant attitude to be performed throughout marriage, and his accepting her subservience as his bride ... [traditional thinking].


Then, maintaining gender segregation the groom on his side and the bride on hers are assisted with eating their "first meal together", symbolic of future meals to be shared as husband and wife, although in the Korean language frequently when people talk about a couple they refer to them as the "groom and the bride"; only with more and more exposure to western thinking has this been changing to "husband and wife".


With the eating of their "first meal" together, the bride is ready to say farewell to her family and enter her in-laws household. [Traditionally, she entered as household drudge as the new bride was to serve her husband and his extended family. She would only get relief in household work as her groom's younger brothers got married and brought their wives into the household and the youngest female to enter the household would be the one to do the hardest labor.] To saw farewell, the bride turns to her parents and bows her farewell. [In many other ceremonies I've seen, the bows have been genuflection to the floor, three times with hands held in polite decorum. Our bride here was directed that the single bow from the waist would be sufficiently polite and convey the honor necessary to both her parents and in-laws. Otherwise, the ceremony would have been long. She (perhaps including her husband) would have had to genuflect to the floor three times in farewell to her parents, and then genuflect three times to the groom's parents as she was now to be registered under their 촉포, family registry.]



I really don't get it. In Korea when a ceremony is over, people jump up and rush out. The bow was barely concluded and over a third and maybe half of the people were gone, not even waiting for the bride and groom to make an exit to the door which the bride had entered by. The reason for this rush in Korea is shameful I think: people are anxious to eat the good food at the reception. I've even known (many times!) people who take a quick peak at the bride and groom in the ceremony and head for the dining hall before "the rush" gets there. But because the majority bolted or went to the front to take pictures of the newly wed couple, I could get a shot of the elegant display of flower arrangments traditionally present at weddings (colorful), funerals (white), and in front of shops at shop openings (colorful). Each tiered flower bouquet must cost at least ₩200,000, but the Korea House package deal includes these background arrangeents, which are shaped by the several weddings held on that day.



The Reception

I was a bit surprised by the reception at Korea House. In their glorious colored brochures advertising their splendid facilities and ceremonies, low reception tables are spread elegantly with chopstick and spoon sets, a spreading centerpiece of appetising side dishes, and steaming bowls of soups or meat dishes are served to people who are sitting on mats at the table. We, on the other hand, were directed to the "new dining hall" and it was inelegant buffet style. The food was varied but the decorum was lost. Buffet style is the new rage in Korea for speed and efficiency in serving the most people. It does not require many attendants, the tables are east to set and clean up afterwards, and an eating time limit is enforced for laggers, which we were. Another wedding party was expected within half an hour and we were politely asked to depart. Though the atmosphere didn't signify anything special, the food itself was delicious and there were many meat and seafood dishes, which is considered important for food events in the present-day.

The Korean Creation Story & Dangun

Long, long ago at the beginning of time the great celestial father "Hwan-in" (환인) gave permission for his son "Hwan-oong" (환웅) to visit earth where a few thousand people lived in poverty, died of diseases and had bad characters.


While there he was approached by two animals, a bear and a tiger, who beseeched him, "Please, oh venerable sir, change us into humans." Hwan-oong felt this was very praiseworthy, but since earth already had flawed humans, he decided to test their characters. Grabbing a handful of garlic cloves, he told them, "I have heard your supplications, and your true heart will be revealed with these garlic cloves. Go into a cave and eat garlic for food, and for 100 days you must not come out or see the light if you wish to achieve your heart's desire."


Both the bear and the tiger entered the cave and endeavored to do as the son of the celestial father had directed them. However, the tiger craved sunlight and the garlic was not at all to his liking, and endurance was beyond him so he rushed out of the cave ... and the weak, grasping nature of the tiger has been forever revealed. The bear, however, patiently persevered, and after the 100 days, its heart's desire was achieved for it became changed into a beautiful maiden of good and pure character.


Unfortunately, the maid was alone and she made her own supplications. Her heart's desire was to give birth to a son. Hwan-oong heard her supplications and seeing her beauty and her gentle character, married her and soon they became parents of a strong baby boy, who they named "Dangun-prince" (단군왕검).


And Dangun-prince grew in strength and power. He married and had children who became the forefathers of the people of the Korean peninsula. And there on the peninsula the great Dangun-prince founded the great legacy of blood and the nation of "Gojoseon" (고조선).


And thus is the story of the founding of the united Koreas.

Ganghwa-do Tour Miscellany

There are just some places that are hard to travel around and occasionally I break down and do the foreigner-take-a-cultural-tour-thing. I've been pretty much all over Korea but a couple of the hardest places to travel around are south of Kwangju in jeollanamdo and around Ganghwa Island. These two areas in particular are more rural than other places, have fewer buses and those buses are really spaced out. About 5 years ago I wanted to see the Ganghwa-do dolmen and whatever else I could in the course of a day; I was only able to see three things because of bus schedules. I ended up hitch-hiking twice; well, once the curator at the dolmen museum told me when she was leaving and if I was in front of the museum, she'd take me along and drop me off at the bus station. Wow! And it was so much fun talking to her too while she was driving ... I just love, love, love the more rural places because of a more traditional atmosphere but also because of much friendlier people!

Well, RAS (the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch) offered their fall tour of Ganghwa-do so I gladly signed up, knowing I would be able to see a lot more than if I were to give myself the tour.

Blast! I've lost my notes again, so can't remember the name of the modern-stylized hanok or the highly informed gentleman who gave up the tour. But suffice it to say, he was dressed in a modern-stylized hanbok to match his brother's home and he gave us insights on Ganghwa-do history, plants related to traditional medicinal healing, other flora in his gardens, and explanations of cultural symbols ... blast, I lost my notes! Here in the picture though, he's welcoming us at the front door of his house, giving us a very hospitable welcome.



Wandering along the paths and among the many gardens where he and his landscaping teams are carefully gathering native flora from around Korea and trying to eliminate the invasive and introduced plants in the attempts to recreate a cultural past around the hanok, we came across several dogs, the Chindo, one of the three native Korean dogs. Most of the dogs were given their own rice straw shelter to fit into the nostalgic ambience.

Also along the paths were some trees with rice straw mattings wrapped around them. With the warming of the country, the Korean red pines are threatened not only by climbing temperatures but also by boring insects. It is believes that the insects instead hide in these straw mats and before spring breezes warm the earth, these straw mats are torn off the trees and burned to incinerate (hopefully) another generation of boring bugs.

As the rain threatened, we retreated to one of the many wide porches for a refreshing tea/coffee break. It'd been a long time since I'd had an outdoor tea break, since with the growing wealth of Koreans, people nowadays seem to retreat to elegant coffee houses with plush chairs and internet connections. Here we had fresh air, a water-hazed picture of the harbor with island creeping out of the fog behind, and a warm ondol floor if we were too chilled on the wooden balcony. Perfect!


성공회강화겅당, Anglican Church of Ganghwa-do


Built in 1900 by Bishop John Corfe, this Anglican church is a studied mixture of Korean, Western, Christian, Buddhist and Confucian architecture. The overall basic shape (interior construction and rooftop) bespeak Western Christian influences while Confucian-inspired is the traditional Korean exterior design with Buddhist courtyard stylization reflected in the covered front gate and the courtyard bo tree.

Another Buddhist icon is the alter or shrine which is usually supported by the longevity animal, the turtle, but here a ship, probably an iconic creation of Noah's ark holds the alter label [there's probably a better name for this].

Walking around in the courtyard I absolutely cracked up when I saw the alterations of the yin-yang red-blue symbol to include the Anglican cross. And then instead of the three dot marker or the circle marker under the peaked eaves on temples telling which order of Buddhism is practiced within, this church has a cross. Ah, the thought that went into this to incorporate familiar symbols in the newly introduced Anglican religion!

전등사, Jeondeung-sa, Temple of the Three Spirits


Jeondeung-sa, founded in 381, is one of the oldest temples in Korea. The Buddhist monk Ado founded this temple, perhaps on his route south where he introduced Buddhism to the Baekje and Silla kingdoms. Originally the temple was known as Jinjong-sa but after Queen Jeonghwa, the wife of King Chungnyeol, gave temple a jade lamp in 1299, the temple's name was changed to Jeondeung-sa, "The Temple of the Bequeathed Lamp". The lamp is unfortunately gone, but the temple is the repository of the three treasures (three energies based on Taoistic beliefs). The temple is also famed for where the Korean Tripitaka, meaning "three baskets" (canons), was carved in the 1230s and 1240s and later moved for safe keeping to Haeinsa, another temple having the three treasures.

This temple is additionally known for its unique, human-like figures carved under the heavy ridgebeams which they appear to bear the weight on their heads while making faces. The meaning of these odd creatures has been lost, but "one story has it that they were carved by a jilted lover, a carpenter of one of the temple's reconstructions, to represent his unfaithful wife in the hope that she too would find pain and remorse in her actions and suffer as these figures suffr under the weight of the heavy roof." (excerpt from tour handout)

A festival was in the works as we wandered among the many temple buildings, which are part of the 덕진진 (Deokjin Fortress). Unfortunately the festival wasn't very well attended because of the intermittent rain. Anyway, a magnificent display tile paintings was one cultural event that immediately caught my eye. I'm unclear whether this was simply a display of art by perhaps high schoolers or was a fund-raiser for building another temple building. Paying a sum of money like ₩10,000 to write one's name on a temple tile that will later be used in the temple's construction is a common fund raiser. I've never seen people painting elaborate pictures on tiles, however, for the fund-raising effort. Maybe though.

Under an awning, some elderly men were busy weaving traditionally useful household objects. The man on the left was working on woven rope for making straw sandals. The middle man, who spoke some broken English and was quite entertaining to the visitors, was making a rice measure, and the man to the right was probably weaving a rice measurer too. There weren't any takers on learning how to do this dying art, but straw sandals and other objects could be purchased as fund-raising for the temple construction under progress.

Under another awning women were weaving colored rice strands into round baskets, and then further on, a young couple was being taught how to make shamanic ducks. I wish I knew the name for them, but as I understand it, the name varies depending upon location. Ducks are used as marriage symbols (fertility symbols but slightly different than these), as "lookouts" in trees or along waterways, and probably in other ways. If we we hadn't been on a tight tour schedule, I would have loved to make a duck-art to put in a bookcase. I love wood carvings and something that has a sense of culture. Ah, too bad ... but I have some models in this picture and can make a model on my own time now.

강화지석묘 (Ganghwa Island Dolmen)

The 지석묘 is another name for 고인돌 (dolmen), a granite rock used possibly as a burial stone during the Neolithic period or even possibly for ritual ceremonies. This particular dolmen is Korea's largest standing 2 meters high, 5x7 meters in width and a meter thick. and Korea is quite proud that thier country holds about 40% of the world's dolmen, and are therefore collectively recognized as a UNESCO treasure.

Like a Fish out of Water

Frequently I walk along the riverside near my house, especially when I'm meeting some friends who live three subway stops away. Walking is great exercise and along the riverside, the car pollution isn't so bad; and then there's the bonus, many wonderful people are there and because we frequently see other, we have become on cheerful greeting terms. A couple fishermen at the riverside are there almost every time I walk past, and one guy joyfully greets me in bits of broken English and sometimes we chat a bit. [Once he even told me he thought I had lost 10 kilograms because I walk so much, and he was serious ... sometimes you just have to laugh!]


Well, today I happened along as another fisherman friend reeled in a fish. People stopped to watch him reel the sizeable fish in and land it to the cheers of his two mates. Once the fish was over land, one of the mates pulled the hook out but couldn't get a good grip on the flipping, thrashing fish so it ended up on the ground, giving higher and higher flips of its tail as it gasped more deeply for "air" each time. Eventually with friends and passersby laughing, the thrashing fish was retrieved and put into the fish cage to be thrown back into the water to keep it "fresh" (meaning alive) for supper tonight.


These guys, thankfully, aren't sport fishermen, guys who fish for the pleasure of hurting fish with hooks and deep cuts and then releasing them back into the water feeling like heroes and documenting their manliness on TV shows. These fishermen are actually fishing because they enjoy it, and when they catch something, it will go into the fry pan.

Somehow there's a difference in the reason for fishing on how much I disapprove of inflicting animal pain. Sports fishermen are insensitive and block any thought that creatures beside themselves can suffer pain; this goes for hooking the worm too, because a squirming worm is non-vocally yelling out for mercy, the same as a bloodied thrashing hooked fish. The fisherman who fishes for his livelihood and his dinner plate is understandable ... as long as the creature doesn't suffer beyond the time that it took for the fish to be reeled in. Just my big opinion!

Kids and Chicks

Walking past an elementary school, I saw a typical swarm of kids around the latest hatchings of chicks - these chicks were the typical Korean chicken but there were also smaller chicks, baby quails I presume, very delicate and fragile. The chicks were for sale for ₩500 each, no matter the type, and then ₩500 for a small bag of chick feed.

Kids were grabbing the chicks up in their hands, passing them roughly from kid to kid, one tall girl half-dropped, half-flung one down when it pooped on her, and hardly at no moment was there not a hand touching, patting or scooping up a chick or a handful of chicks from the boxes. The baby quails suffered the most. One little boy had his wrapped in a handkerchief which he frequently unwrapped and rewrapped. I wanted to smack some sense in the witless boy when I saw the poor twisted little quail laying limply on its back hardly breathing, and when it was picked up and laid back down again, it just flopped; I doubt if it arrived "home" alive. I was equally shocked that the woman seller didn't at least advise the kids on less rough behavior of the chicks, but seemed to encourage them. She sat passively in front of the boxes and only moved to take the coins passed to her or to offer a plastic bag for the latest purchase to be dropped into for its journey "home". Money is money, the message was clear.


Kids buying chicks in Korea is thought to teach (animal) responsibility. Well, while feeding and watering an animal and cleaning up after it daily does teach responsibility, I think humane treatment is not included in the "responsibility package". People here just don't have many animals to see in real life, and families with children get all excited if their child sees a squirrel in a city park. One of my western friends said that was one of the main reasons he was leaving Korea -- he didn't want his daughter growing up in an animal-destitute country whipping out her cell phone to take a picture every time she saw a squirrel. Anyway, how can someone learn humane treatment if (1) they have a deficit of animal experiences, and (2) they aren't modeled from their elders (to the older generations, animals served the function of food and were treated as beasts, and obviously from this chick seller, the chicks served the sole purpose of generating money).


Not all chicks die en route "home"; some do spend some weeks on their owners' apartment balconies. Most of my university students have had the experience of trying or even for a period of time raising chicks. One of my students reported raising his chicks on the apartment balcony for a few weeks. He said they were incredibly messy and stinky and when they got big enough, mother cooked them for supper one night.