Gyeongbokgung Sites

I spent Saturday near Gyeongbokgung metro station, Seoul. There you find 3 main attractions: Gyeongbok Palace, The National Folk Museum and Seodaemun Prison. You can easily entertain yourself for a day. And as you see in the photos, it's very pretty. There are art galleries for your browsing pleasure.

Kyle and I went to the "Behind Innocence" exhibit at Gallery Hyundai, at 80 Sagan-dong, Jongro-gu. www.galleryhyundai.com.

And when the sun set, we went to a Picatong Circle party near Min's University: Chungang.

Gyeongbok Palace:

A silent film by American artist, Anthony Goicolea, tackling issues such as narcissism, sexuality, and the rituals of life and death. There was no plot to speak of, but it was strangely facinating! Better than the gawdy impressionist art, anyway. (Part of the "Behind Innocence" show at Gallery Hyundai):

We at galbi: ribs, nearby. I couldn't cut my raddish with chopsticks, so Kyle flagged the waitress for a pair of scissors- common cutting tools in Korea.

A view of South Gate in motion:

At Chung's University party:

Workaholic Koreans- The stresses of work as addictive.

Suwon, South Korea

I bet he doesn't smell the fruit, see the colors, as he passes. His mind is zoomed into the cell phone attached to his ear. What's he thinking about? School, work? Maybe he got a job at Samsung and anticipates a 6 day workweek.

The Korea Times recently published an article on workaholics. Many Koreans work 12 hour days and think about business when they go home at night.

Koreans are forced to be disciplined. I discuss the gruelling days of a typical student here. The educational system is competitive and every parent wants their child to enter a prestigious college like Seoul National University.

I asked teenagers how to accomplish the goals I set for my year abroad. "Should I make a list and check it off?" They just stared at me like I was a fool:

For them, slacking off isn't an option- never has been.

Academic and professional advancement is a commendable goal. My concern is that too many students are unable to relax and do nothing.

Their winter break is the equivalent of a Western summer vacation. What did their parents do to help them celebrate? Take them to Everland? Buy them a football to toss around in the evenings? No. They signed them up for more private classes, of course!

Even with the workload, I heard a lot of whining. "We're bored teacher. We don't know what to do with ourselves." My students killed time with computer games, feeling a major void.

The culture of FEET in Korea

You rarely see a Korean woman without a fantastic pair of shoes- shined, formal and... suggestive of clean feet?

Feet are considered dirty in Korea- the dirtiest part of the body, in fact. Resting your feet on the couch, or close to someones head, is incredibly rude.

So, like the cleaning of the ears, massaging a loved one's feet is a selfless act. Children may be asked to massage their Mother, Father or Grandparents' feet. If a Korean girlfriend digs her thumbs into her man's soles, that's some serious loving.

One time I had Min over, and was stomping around in high heel boots. He suggested I take them off. Apparently it seemed as strange as the time I offered Chung a small tumbler of Soju from a bottle I picked up at the grocery store, seduced by the price alone: $1. Soju is to be consumed with a meal only- and shoes are to be removed at the door. Silly Canadian girl.

Nearly all Korean apartments have heated floors, so it makes sense to enjoy the warmth. Also, traditional restaurants, where you sit cross-legged on a pillow, provide a mat or a shelf on which to leave your footwear.

My question is this: If feet are so dirty, why remove shoes in the home? My guess is that Koreans see feet as dirty, but shoes as contaminated. You want your guests to feel at home, so you put up with the atrocities attached to their ankles.

Addictive Traveling

Go ahead, take a bite of Korea. Mmm, doesn't that taste good?

Ju Suk, who I met on the weekend, has lived all over the U.S, China, England and is currently studying economics, on a full scholarship, in Scotland. He's trilingual. The only question for him is: what country's next? We discussed the addictive nature of traveling.

I detailed my arrival in Korea. I was on a high. The first few mornings, I jerked awake. My senses were assaulted by the newness of stacked stores, color, noise pollution, wafts of street food, neon signs, go go dancers and multi-lane traffic.

I spent my first day walking around, dazed, curious as the schoolgirls who cornered me in a washroom, demanded to touch my blond hair and know where I was from.

As a kid, I benefited from my Father's impulsiveness. He whisked Mom and I off to France, Holland, The Bahamas, Venezuela, but it's his road trips I recall fondly.

I remember nestling into a foggy 4AM car one morning. Mom, my Nana and I drifted asleep as Dad drove. We were headed to Boston but when I awoke, our car was parked outside The Whitehouse in Washington D.C.! When Dad reached Boston, he decided to keep going.

I grew comfortable in Montreal, as a University student. But the four year old is back: the one who slumped in her seat when we rolled into the driveway, the one who pouted, "but Daddy, why go home so soon?"

Photos of Suwon- Batch #1

Recycling in Korea

Korea takes recycling very seriously. You will never get a carrier bag without a.) asking for it and b.) paying 50-100 won: approximately 5-10 cents. When I take out a coffee, I pay a 50 won fee for the cup.

South Korea, with a population of 48,846,823 (July 2006 est.), has a real landfill problem.

I pay a $30 monthly maintenance fee at my building, and on Sundays my landlady opens our bags of garbage and separates the recyclables. They are picked up by men pushing carts called "like-cars", in Hangul. Min laughed when he told me the direct translation.

The material is transported to a depot in the city. In 2003, close to three-quarters of all South Korean waste was recycled. Not bad.