Carrying the Baby in the Podaegi

Baby strollers, baby strollers, baby strollers everywhere! Korean society is radically changing. Only in the past 10-11 years have baby strollers been in Korean department stores. Before that, Koreans took great pride in warming their babies with their bodies and staying in proxemics with their little one. In fact, there were many cultural expressions about the podaegi, the cloth wrap with long straps used for wrapping the baby, but those phrases have melted away as has the ubiquitous use of the podaegi. This is one thing I miss about the pre-World Cup Korea ... the closeness mothers had with their children, and seeing mothers everywhere walking proudly around with a baby or young child strapped securely behind them, as they themselves busied themselves with whatever.

Here are some pictures taken of a few people I've met with babies in podaegi. I started taking pictures after I realized that the podaegi was rapidly falling out of usage, so had to document yet another change in Korean society. Each of the people below use the podaegi for a different reason.

A grandmother with her grandbaby bobbing behind her as she worked a stall in the market. This picture was taken about 10 years ago, and when I saw the woman I realized that I hadn't seen a baby wrapped in a podaegi for some time, so asked her if I could take a picture. Her reason for her using the podaegi was two-fold: keep the baby secure and warm since it was winter and to keep the hands free while not having to grab for a crawling and disappearing child.

The wife of one of my colleagues taken six years ago. She loved using the podaegi because she could run outside of the apartment building quickly with her baby strapped on her back, carry refreshments for her two young sons and not have to worry about taking two trips or not having to juggle pushing a baby stroller and carry the refreshments. Basically, she found it easier to use in the local neighborhood or for quick trips. The stroller was used for long shopping trips where a lot of walking was done.

This lady had a really beautiful baby and a very unique way of tying her podaegi. She was at the foot of Dobongsan just walking around on a cool day with her baby happily bobbing on her back. She said the baby slept better when she, the mother, walked; the baby slept well with the mother's rhythmical movements! 

While the Korean culture is rapidly changing from its traditional roots, there are still people who value the old traditions, and there are people who can explain why the old traditions are the better choice than the modern fast-paced, little-interaction traditions replacing the old ways. 

According to Kwak Keum-joo, Professor of psychology Seoul National University: "Babies experience great anxiety after being born. Being wrapped in a podaegi, however, allows the babies to listen to their mothers' heartbeat and feel close to them. This helps them restore the emotional stability that they once had in their mothers' uterus". "‘Podaegi’ Korean baby sling: emerging as new generation mom’s must-have.

TCM and Silver Rings

On the subway sat beside an old Korean Vietnam War vet who spoke street English and was hilariously garrulous. The guy proceeded to tell me the meaning of the station names as we passed them, and then the preventative health benefits he got from wearing silver rings in key positions on particular fingers. Unfortunately he had to get off the train before I got the meaning of his fine set of flashy silver teeth, which probably were worn for health benefits too. Anyway, the location of his silver rings were for prevention of illness and disease, beliefs stemming from hanyak which is also rooted in traditional Chinese medicine. Each finger constitutes a different organ region and he was embracing the preventative measures that silver ring-wearing on appropriate fingers could activate and enhance. He was garrulously proud of his preventative health measures! 

thumb = liver

index finger = heart

middle finger = spleen

ring finger = lungs

pinky = kidneys

OK, so looked up the health benefits of wearing silver rings, and found some more modern Western scientific beliefs:

Silver is an antimicrobial agent that aids in cold and flu prevention, wound healing, and skin care. It helps with internal heat regulation and circulation, and even when used with correct quantity (whatever that is) it provides protection agains harmful electromagnetic radiation from cellphones and other electronics.  

Basically, it has electrical and thermal conductivity; that is, it can generate an electrical field that distributes electricity and heat around the body. The positively-charged silver ions create a conductive field that reflects electromagnetic radiation away from the body, much like a mirror reflects light. Meanwhile, the field stimulates the body's existing conductivity, improves blood circulation, temperature balance, and general healing. The positively charged ions also bind to negatively charged oxygen receptors in bacteria, destabilizing their metabolic enzymes and causing them to suffocate.

For some Ayurvedic health tips on bodily uses of silver watch the YouTube clip "Health Benefits of Silver". Korean traditional medicine beliefs stem from Chinese medicine, but Ayurvedic and Chinese do share many beliefs. Some interesting Chinese medicine additions on silver are that it is connected to the moon and has yin modalities. As for its color, it is believed to stimulate calmness and tranquility, evoking reflection, coolness and space.

Hwacheon Sancheonea (mountain trout) Ice Festival

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo (mountain trout) Ice Festival takes place in Gangwon-do, a remote area that sees few tourists through much of the year until they swarm in by the thousands during the January festival season. In fact, last year in the month of January the sleepy town saw nearly one million visitors, most attracted to the nearly one-month long festival. In 2012 the festival was named as one of the seven wonders of winter by CNN and Lonely Planet and in January 2015 a shot of the ice covered with people ice fishing around lines and lines of ice holes was captured by National Geographic. The festival is certainly a hit, especially as getting to Hwacheon and back can be a just a very full day-trip from Seoul, where arguably a third to a half of the population of South Korea lives.

The local festival has become a very popular national festival and is a salute to the mountain trout, known locally as “queen of the valley”. The most popular attraction to the festival is coming to catch trout with a fishing pole, and the second most popular attraction is catching trout with the bare hands, advertised as “bare-handed fishing”. I understand this is so popular that people are encouraged to register online to ensure getting the chance to participate although some on our tour bus said they were able to participate. One young eight- or nine-year-old on our bus was avidly plunging underwater and had trout stuffed in his shirt. Brrr and brave, but unfortunately he didn't find the tagged trout with the winning number.

Participation t-shirts and shorts are provided as well as shower shoes to the entrance to the pool. Then everyone steps out of the shower shoes, does some team-building exercises, and then the participants file around the pool of trout. They cheer collectively, sit down on the ice collectively, and maybe four volunteers are challenged to enter the pool first for some water fun and splashing, then all members plunge in to compete in finding the tagged trout.

The next two pictures contributed by Sandra Ortiz from our tour group. It was her son who was the biggest fish out there, swimming underwater and stuffing his shirt with trout. Other people had trout in their shirts, but the tiny kid looked twice as big with his extra load! Crazy fun!

 

While the rest of Korea might have snow or a little ice, Hwacheon county in Gangwon-do is known for its thick layer of ice, and typically the ice is 40 centimeters thick. Yet, not all of the river is that thick and just upstream and downstream of the designated festival area, the river water is open and lightly flowing. But the curve of the river and the breezes that blow keep one long stretch solid ice and very thick for many winter weeks.

And people sure do enjoy the ice. Many ice activities are available, not just ice fishing and bare-handed fishing. Snacks and local foods are sold in food stalls, organic food booths are set up, a couple of coffee canteens in vinyl tents to block the wind, and of course the ice activities: sledding, ice biking, traditional ice sledding using two short push sticks to propel one’s self, and the popular short zipline which spans the river.

Arrival and Participation

Because the traffic is horrendous in and out of Hwacheon during the festival season, I opted to take a tour bus. Paid my all-inclusive fee and then didn’t worry about a thing all day! Arrived at the festival site with about 44 other foreigners, and we were guided to the foreigner area. Wasn’t too excited about the segregation until I saw the Korean area absolutely dense with people and had to wonder if the ice with all the fishing holes could support that many. Evidently it could, but hmm.

Our tour guide purchased our tickets, gave us W10,000 worth of festival vouchers to spend on anything within the festival site, took us to a pavilion where we were each provided with a flimsy arm-length fishing rod (never saw such a tiny rod but it was efficient and suitable for trout) and a large plastic bag for holding our caught fish. Then with a participation tag clipped to our coats, we entered the lightly populated foreigner area.

I’ve been fishing before but never caught a fish in my life ... but that just might be because I had a book in one hand and a rod in the other, and the book got all my attention. Anyway, people were yanking fish out of the holes, making fishing look far easier than my dad's sit-in-the-boat-all-day method. I wasn’t doing so well so started watching others more closely. Ah, drop the hook to just above the bottom, give it some light pulls and … nothing. Watched a bit more and realized that the places in shadow, where I was, the fish weren’t biting. They also weren’t biting in places where there were a dense amount of people above them on the ice, probably affected by the shadows again. I moved out to the furthest holes and in rapid succession pulled three fish in. Nothing to it … except I believe the blocked off pond had been freshly stocked. Easily got my three fish limit so had to stop.

Next step, take the fish to the Sancheoneo Roasting Station. At a pavilion, give your fish to a cook’s assistant and W3,000 to cook each fish, or W5,000 to cook each fish, top it with salad and a rich peppery sauce. My two Russian friends and I could not possibly eat our 9 collective fish and they wanted to take some fish home, which worked out well. We paid with our vouchers to cook my three fish without the sauce (none of use are keeners for the heavy spices), and then asked the information desk to hold the remaining fish until the end of the day. No problem.

We turned in the three fish and got a receipt for them, moved to the next tent to submit it, and then within a couple of minutes three baked fish, individually wrapped in aluminum foil, were plunked in front of us … and wow were they good!

An amazingly well organized festival. There are cooking stations in several spots along the river, very efficient for feeding the thousands of people who swarm through on the weekends in January. Our bus represented people from the US, Canada, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Turkey, and some other places and everyone I heard was commenting on the efficiency of preparing massive amounts of food with the least amount of effort. Well done, Korea!

Between the Korean area (not pictured to the left) and the foreigner area (not pictured to the right) is a large space for ice activities like tobogganing, Korean traditional sledding, ice biking, and others. The space also provided designated walk areas so people could easily cross the river without inconveniencing the people and kiddies at play. 

The Korean area - swarming with people. They had to provide their own fishpoles I found out later, but many had coolers and thermal mats and were having quite the picnic time hovered around their ice hole or holes. Some were stretched out asleep on their thermal mats ... looked very summery to me except for the ice.

Changing of the Guards, Gyeongbokgung

History of the Royal Guard Changing Ceremonies (수문장 교대의식)

Since 1469 and through the Joseon Dynasty, royal guards, who were known as the "Wanggung Sumunjang", conducted a Changing of the Guards ceremony as they stood to defend the gates of the main palace where the king resided and from where he ruled the country. During the Joseon Dynasty, the royal guards were responsible for guarding and patrolling the gates of the capital city and all of the royal palace(s). They were in charge of opening and closing the palace gates, inspecting all visitors, and maintaining a close surveillance of the palace. They were divided into day and night shifts, and the Changing of the Guard ceremony took place whenever the shifts switched. 

In the early period of the Joseon Dynasty, the Changing of the Guard ceremony was conducted at Gyeongbokgung (Palace) as at that time Gyeongbokgung was the primary royal palace and the king then resided there. However, in the mid-Joseon Dynasty during the Imjin Waeran (Japanese Invasions of 1592 - 1598) when Gyeongbokgung was burned down, Deoksugung was made the primary royal palace and the Changing of the Guard ceremony was then conducted at Deoksugung. See Changing of the Royal Guard at Deoksugung (Palace).

Reenactment of the Ceremony

The reenactment of the original ceremony began in 1996. After some extensive historical research, this colorful traditional Korean royal court ceremony has become a must-see among Seoul's tourist attractions. This ceremony is supposedly enacted exactly as it used to be held -- with guards wearing royal uniforms, carrying traditional weapons and playing traditional instruments. The guards serve their sentry, perform the changing of the guards ceremony and hold a parade following strict ceremonial procedures as based on historical texts.

The Korean government proudly markets the tradition and compares it to the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The ceremony takes place three times a day (except for Tuesdays) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung.

Ceremony Procedure

1. The first drumbeat signal sounds and the relieving guard unit mobilizes towards Gwanghwamun Gate. 
2. The second drumbeat signal sounds and the relieving guard unit moves outside of Gwanghwamun Gate, and the chief of the relieving guard unit and the chief of the guard unit on duty perform an identification check.
3. The chief of the relieving guard unit orders his unit to take their positions at the gate and the relieved guard unit mobilizes to the inside of the gate.
4. The third drumbeat signal sounds and the chief of the relieved guard unit orders his unit to exit the vicinity.

Ceremony Participants

Sumungun : ..... Position: Keeper of the Royal Palace Gates
..... Duty: Responsible for guarding the palace gates
Sumunjang :..... Position: Chief Keeper of the Royal Palace Gates
..... Duty: In charge of guarding the palace gates and commanding the SumungunSujongjang :..... Position: Deputy Keeper of the Royal Palace Gates
..... Duty: Daejonggo (Management of Large Bells and Drums)
Jongsagwan :..... Position: Lieutenant to the Chief Keeper
..... Duty: Assistance to the Chief Keeper, and management of the gate book
Gapsa :..... Position: Armed Guardsman
..... Duty: Guarding the palace gate
Jeongbyeong :..... Position: Regular Guard
..... Duty: Private soldier of the Joseon's central army
Daejol :..... Position: Subordinate Soldier
..... Duty: Sentry of the palace gate
Jeollugun :..... Position: Jeollugun..... Duty: Delivery of time for the royal court
Chwita : ..... Position: Military Band Musician
..... Duty: Member of a royal military band

Captain of the guards has central position and its his position that all the other guards pay attention to and take cues from as to position and movement. It seems he must always be aligned in the central position of the central gate, the gate that only the king can enter (and therefore it's symbolically blocked off in this picture).

The new captain of the guard comes in with his identical cohort of guards dressed exactly the same as those still on duty. A difference seems to be some changes in the flag the two separate guard cohorts fly.

Inspection of the guards -- on duty and going-on duty

The two captains of the guard greet each other.
Not shown, they simultaneously show each other their authorization passbooks.
All this is done under the supervision of guard in the blue sash, who seems to be the overseer of protocol.

After recognizing each other as being official guards, they bow to one another, and then the guardsmen assigned to each other them begin to shift positions of authority.

Shifting the guards teams as noted by the shift in flag colors.

The shift has almost taken place, every step conducted by proper protocol.

The protocol-overseer goes with the captain of the guard and rings his bell as the captain checks on the position and dress correctness of each of his guards. Each person checked gets a ringing of the little bell.

Oddly enough, very few of the "guards" guarding the palace gates are armed with anything beyond their swords.
In fact, only four are armed with cross-bows and swords, which means that most of the expected attack would be frontal and with close proxemics.

Once correct protocol has been completed, the former guards are permitted to retire.

Modified from the original texts:  

Visit Korea. Changing of the Guards at Gyeongbokgung (Palace)

and Royal Guard Changing Ceremonies (수문장 교대의식)