Korea: Krazy Land of Kindness

I write you, my faithful dozen readers, now from the Peninsula of Korea; more specifically, I am currently in Changwon, which is approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Busan. Time wise, we are the same as Kobe, which is 14 hours ahead of Chicago (13 ahead of Pittsburgh).

For every bit of cleanliness and formality there is in Japan, there is filth and disorder to the same degree here in Korea. Now, don’t get me wrong, Korea is not that dirty. However, some things are damn near crazy over here. Take driving for instance; people here subscribe to the thought that they always have the right of way. People go through red lights without blinking, they’ll turn right from the left lane, left from the right lane, and they won’t even stop if someone is walking through the intersection! The strategy I’ve learned is that whoever blinks first loses. The only thing these people have going for them is the fact that they drive on the right side of the road. This same haphazard style is evident in their walking. Japan also had this to some extent; however, people would get out of your way if they saw they were in it. In Korea, it won’t faze them for one second to just stop and stand in front of a mass of people trying to exit a building. My personal favorite is how they stop their cars on the side of the road, and turn their blinkers on and get out, as if to say, “it’s alright, I have my hazard lights ::waves::”.

This also gives the Koreans one of their better traits, which is undying kindness. They do whatever they can to make you happy; you can see in their faces that they do it because they really want to, and not because of some ritual formality. Everyone and their uncle wants to learn English, so they think nothing of walking up and trying to strike up a conversation with you. Women at bars will come up to you and talk, not in order to get a date or anything, but to simply practice English via conversation with a round-eye. Most of them are pretty good too. I think the reason is because of their friendliness they are not shy and don’t worry about making mistakes. I cannot tell you how many times the Japanese apologized for their poor English skills out of embarrassment. I always felt bad when they’d say something to that effect, and I would reply, “Well, your English is much better than my Japanese!” That usually got a good laugh and helped ease the tension.

Life is much easier during the “down” time here because there is a very large population of foreigners. I have an Irish pub just across the street from my hotel, and it caters to almost purely foreigners. The vast majority of them are English teachers; many are kids just out of college just trying to save up some money and gain a once in a lifetime experience while they’re at it. Some of them are much older, and they’re here for a plethora of reasons. The rest are engineers or technicians; Changwon has a large amount of manufacturing (Doosan, STX, Volvo, & Hyundai all have facilities nearby). To be honest, this place seems to be what Pittsburgh, PA or Gary, IN used to be like before the US steel industry collapsed. My other local haunt is a western bar (like the movies) that caters mostly to the engineering folk. Also, there is a Benigans, Fridays, and Outback; as well as KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Domino’s. The people I’m with here are a bit more on the reserved side when it comes to eating, so I’ve had a lot more western food than I thought I would; however, whenever the opportunity has arisen, I’ve gone and had some Korean food.

The Korean style of food is reminiscent of fondue in technique, but fairly unique in taste. Their claim to fame would most definitely be Kimche, which is one of the most awful things I’ve ever forced myself to eat. It is essentially fermented cabbage (think sauerkraut), but in addition to the pungent aroma and flavor that yields, they douse it with a healthy amount of pepper. Korean food is most certainly more spicy than Japanese, which has made me a happy camper. I have had Bulgogi a few times, which is essentially marinated beef strips grilled on the skillet built-in to the table. This is served with sliced cloves of garlic, onion, and mushrooms (my Korean hosts have often pointed out that the mushrooms they use are clearly phallic looking). Then you have a bunch of side bowls with sauces and vegetables on the side. I particularly enjoyed the little pumpkin pancake I ate last night (very sweet, almost like a potato pancake consistency). Korean beef is either from Australia or Korea; I do not think it is up to snuff with most beef I’ve had in the states, and obviously this means it isn’t even in the same realm as the Kobe beef I’ve described in the past.

In accordance with Korean tradition, I drank my fair share of Soju, which is similar in sound to Japanese ShoChu, but only about half of the alcohol content (20% vs. 40%). Even though it is less alcohol, I feel the flavor is a bit stronger. At dinner with my hosts, they each came up to me during the early portion of the night with their glass asking me to hold it; then they’d pour a glass and expect me to down it straight up. Luckily, there were only 5 of them, because I had so much so fast that my stomach was trying to fight back. I guess now would be the appropriate time to talk about sitting and pouring conventions. As in Japan, the Guest sits across from the doorway, and the hosts sit closer to the door. How you pour is much more formal in Korea though. Age is very important; so the younger of two people will pour and/or hold their glass with two hands. The older person is allowed to use just a single hand. Also, you never fill your own drink. When you see the drinks of others emptying, you fill them up without being asked; and they of course pay the same favor to you. So I must warn you, do not always finish your drink if you’re thinking it may be your last; they will just fill it back up, and you’ll be back where you started!

My favorite part about being in Korea is that I have a studio apartment rather than a hotel room. It isn’t huge; but I cannot tell you how much it sucked having no chair, refrigerator, microwave, etc. for an entire month. Even though it is much more comfortable to live in, I still try and get out exploring my surroundings. This past Saturday I went with a group of people I’ve met since being here on a hike up a mountain to a Buddhist temple. There was basically a single-lane asphalt road that went all the way to the top, but we hiked about a third of the way along this very awesome creek. It was fun to do something physical other than walk up and down stairs in buildings, or along city streets. After the creek, we went and got the car to take us up to the top of the mountain. It was a pretty incredible drive; if we would have hiked all the way, it would have taken all day, and I’m pretty sure I would have given up at some point because it was pretty steep for the last third or so.

The temple was amazing. I was unable to take pictures inside, since it is considered disrespectful to take pictures while people are praying; but the outside was just as incredible. There were 3 main buildings, and they just started construction on the fourth (it was destroyed previously during a war, they didn’t know which one). The intricate detail of the roofing and painting on these buildings was simply amazing. I was told the roofs have no straight lines because straight = evil because only non-straight lines are found in nature; this has a certain sense of irony since only man creates straight lines… Paintings were found on the walls of all the buildings, and from my rudimentary knowledge of Buddhism (I took “Asian Mythology” my freshman year of college), I could see they were depicting some of the core beliefs through fables.

The main temple had a near life-size Buddha sitting with some of his pals. They let me go inside, and I watched some people pray, and how they did it. Basically, they walk in, bowing a bunch, and then they go from a standing position to kneeling directly into a fetal-esque position. While in this position they raise their hands above their head as if offering something to Buddha. Then they reverse this movement exactly until their standing again and they bow and push up to their toe-tips at the same time. This bow/prayer is then repeated 2 more times. Lastly, they bow as they exit the temple backwards.

Overall, I’d have to say I’m enjoying Korea much more than Japan at this point. Most likely this is because of the abundant supply of conversation available from the other “gringos” out here with me. Also, things are just a bit more relaxed and friendly out here. I know I went into great detail before saying how kind the Japanese were, but it just doesn’t compare to the Koreans. I’d still recommend going and experiencing both, so you can make your own judgment.