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Korean Modern Apartment

Most expat in Korea have accommodation, fully furnished when a job is being offered here.
We are one of them.

Since our owner is selling the studio apartment we are staying in,
We are lucky enough to move to a bigger house!

For those who doesn't know what is studio apartment, it's like a big room where the kitchen, toilet, basically everything is inside the little room apartment, think big room hotel.
It's quite hard for us to live in the little studio room, one of the reason, our family loves to come and visit us here.

So, having a bigger 2 room apartment for a us, in fact a bliss.
Especially when my mom and grandma coming soon, followed by others in the following months.

We took a peek look of our little apartment today.
We are still in the processing of moving things, hence it still looks empty and clean.
Okay, maybe semi clean since the house cleaner is in the midst cleaning the whole house while we are taking pictures.

The kitchen. Check out the bar area.

What previous owner left for us.. love the garden'ish' blinder

Cooking area. Underneath is hidden freezer. Yeay!

Washing Machine and heater.

Guest room. Check out the built-in wardrobe

Master bedroom

Only one toilet, but it's alright

Huge built-in wardrobe. Happy!!

Oh, and my shoe wardrobe is half of the wardrobe size. (Which I did not take pictures)

Anyway, enough of my dreamy dream.

The pictures that I took just now is basically how Korean apartment looks like.

Generally, all Korean apartments have heating floor, derived from ondol floor system (all wood). Ondol is a heating system that is distributed through the floor.
Also, usually the apartment is furnished with modern design.
There are no built-in oven, as Koreans rarely bake in cooking. However, one can purchase.

Anyway, this is how basically how modern korean apartment looks like.

If you like some colors, it's up to your creativity to enhance the apartment.

Now, I'm thinking.. gardenish theme for my new house.. hmmm...

To know more, read some interesting blog from english teacher in Korea that I found:

Apartment in Korea

Eat My Kimchi (Video)

Maybe mini garden? hmmmmm.....

—

http://breadbutterly.blogspot.com/search/label/Life%20%3A%20Korea

Water Rocks and Animal Names

There’s a lot of rock jutting out of the sea around Ulleungdo.

Imaginative locals have named the shapely formations after the creatures and things they resemble: Elephant, Bear, Lion, Turtle, Candlestick. There’s even a “Noodle” rock stretching up from the ground a quick jaunt inland: a tall cliff wall lined with long stringy indents that look a little like the salty dried spaghetti snacks served at Thursday Party bars throughout Korea.

Noodle Rock

Some of the rocks truly do echo their namesake; Elephant rock’s trunk may be a touch wide, but you can still see it dipping into the water for a long drink.

Elephant Rock. Bit of a humpback.

Candlestick rock? Okay, there may not be wax dripping off it, but the shape is there, sort of.

Candlestick Rock

Other similarities were, we thought, a little questionable. This is the tallest, pointiest, shell-free turtle I’ve ever seen.

"Turtle" Rock

Man vs. Nature (or Joe and the Rock)

We tried to last until sunset here, watching the light drift down behind the turtle, leaning against a rolled-up tarp on a deserted concrete porch we spotted on the shore, but between my soaked-through boots, wet feet, and the cold wind, the bus back to Dodong was calling.

Luckily, the pre-sunset glimpse was sweet enough.

Weekend in Hwagae, Part II

... Cool mountain air awakes us the next morning. That, and the hanok owner's agitated voice asking us through the papered doors to turn off a forgotten light. It's Sunday morning in Hadong County (하동군). An hour later, Shane, myself, my sister, and my bro-in-law, begin our hike toward Ssanggyesa, the "Twin Streams" temple located on the fringes of Jirisan National Park.

Someday I'll learn that proportions on any illustrated tourist map produced in Korea are skewed, and landmarks are farther than they appear. Meaning the walk was much, much longer than expected.
But it yields some great scenery. A valley to our left, a slow, mostly dried up river running through it. A rolling mountain ridge on our right. Both sides strewn with tea fields, not yet green this early in the year. In one, three goats lay back watching the occasional car pass by. In another, over sized ceramic teapots sit sprinkled amongst the tea, an awkward homage to the plant that keeps this area economically alive. And all along the route, tea houses. One after another, looking mostly quiet at this time in the morning during the tourist off season, tea houses run from spare rooms of homes.

We reach the modern Hadong Tea Culture Museum, but decide to skip it. We're much more interested in what's across the road-- a giant hotel that never quite made it to being an actual hotel. It looks like something out of a horror movie. Even wiring is installed. I wonder what's the story behind this failed investment.

Shortly after passing this landmark, we finally make it to the temple, Ssanggyesa (쌍계사), six kilometers after our starting point. The temple was built in 723 A.D., and, as is so often the case, was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592, then rebuilt again. Most striking here, what sets this temple apart from the others I've seen so far, are the wooden statues. They are imposing and vibrant. My knowledge of Buddhism and its symbols is lacking, but I appreciate their beauty nonetheless.

I try not to interrupt the spiritual practice of others as we wander through the grounds, snapping pictures. Being at these temples always makes me feel unbalanced; I'm here as a tourist and traveler, looking for a thrilling view, while to others, this is a sacred space. This always leaves me feeling like an intruder, even though the Korean tourism board has provided us maps and signs and ticket takers who speak English.

We take one of the trails leading away from the temple up into the beginning of Jirisan. We hike for awhile, hoping to reach Buri Waterfalls, but finally turn around, concerned about catching a bus back to Busan.

We leave the temple grounds, and look for a taxi, a bus stop, or any sort of transportation back to Hwagae. We find none, and no one who can tell us when the next bus is coming around. We start walking. The initial exhilaration of a walk in the countryside has worn off. We gradually grow desperate about saving our legs and not missing the last bus home. In a moment of brilliance, some might say audacity, Shane knocks on the window of the only non-moving manned vehicle we've seen for awhile. He asks the driver, a sole Korean man, through gestures and repeated utterings of the word "Hwagae", if the man will drive us back. Finally, he acquiesces, and we're saved from the consequences of our ill planning. We try to thank the man with a cash gift, but he won't hear of it.

We do catch a bus back to Busan, no problem. I leave Hwagae feeling refreshed and relaxed, ready for another few months of city life.

A tale of two restaurants: Pork soup restaurants in Seomyeon

Post by MELISSA TAIT

http://busan.cityawesome.com
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A few weeks ago, my Korean co-worker pulled me into an alley when we were going out for dinner. I was slightly alarmed but we quickly entered a pork soup restaurant with a cauldron of broth and pork bubbling outside. We were seated near the wall of the restaurant under many signatures of Korean celebrities who must have patronised the restaurant and bestowed them with a signature.

‘Wow,’ my colleague said. ‘I didn’t know it was so famous.’ I asked him who the celebrities were but it seemed a bit too arduous to translate them all.

Our meal arrived in seconds, we had the house speciality of pork and rice soup. The pork is floating on top in a white broth, that must have been cooking for hours on the street outside the restaurant. The rice is a little surprise under the soup and there are spring onions and other flavoursome vegetables floating in the soup. I went to take a bite but my colleague said that you have to add the chilli and salt or tiny salty shrimp to make it taste better before you eat it. Being able to control the spice and other flavours really added to the charm of the dish and it was filling and warming. It comes with many sides including two types of kim chi, onion, garlic and green peppers to dip in hot sauce. The pork soup was W5500, a good deal for a meal that would keep me full for several hours.

This week, I was craving pork and rice soup again so I found my way back to the alley and restaurant. The cauldron was bubbling again outside and I sat in the same seat, against the wall. I looked up to find the autographs gone. Hmm, maybe they redecorated. I ordered the soup and it came again in rapid speed with the same sides. I reached for the chilli pot but it wasn’t there. Hmmm, odd. I stirred my soup and found that the chilli sauce was just under the surface. I enjoyed the meal much the same, ate it quickly, paid W5,500 and left.

On the street outside I noticed there were two pork rice and soup restaurants laid out exactly the same next to each other, with the same cauldron out the front, the same layout and same key dishes. The autograph one was on the left and the one I had just eaten at had a large neon sign stating that they were ‘The first and most delicious pork soup restaurant in Korea’, and opened in 1948. While I was a little perplexed I was encouraged overall. I had just found two awesome restaurants with a tasty signature dish, in an alley of similar restaurants. Now I think of that street as Pork Soup Alley and
take my time deciding if I should go to the original or the famous.

Directions to the Seomyeon food street where you’ll finde these restaurants:
TO THE NORTH END: Seomyeon station exit 1. Go out and take your first right, then your first left down the alley with all the street food stalls.
TO THE SOUTH END: from Seomyeon station, go into the Primall and go to mall Exit 4. Turn left and then take your first right at the small alley with lots of bubbling soup pots. It’s the same alley/street as Fuzzy Navel, but further north (towards Seomyeon station).

View BUSAN! AWESOME! in a larger map

—

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BusanAwesome

Writing an English Shijo : The Romance of Couplets

This article should be subtitled : couplet combinations found within a Shijo line; a discovery I had made in my readings on the English shijo. Originally Shijo poems were sung by Korean gisaeng and were thus quite lyrical.

(as a side note, my cellphone dictionary describes a gisaeng/기생 as a female entertainer who makes a feast or a drinking party more enjoyable :-).
Incidentally, my apartment overlooks Igidae Park: a narrow mountainous peninsula that runs along the shore of the East Sea. It is called Igidae as, according to legend, two gisaengs partying along with a Japanese general, grabbed him and plunged to their deaths off the cliffs of Igidae. Not your typical end to a party with a gisaeng I presume, unless you are an unwelcome occupier.

As described earlier, a korean shijo/sijo poem has three lines consisting of any of the syllable combinations below:

Many 15, 15, 14.

Many 15, 14, 15

Some 15, 15, 17.

Some 14, 14, 15
Few 14, 15, 15.
Few 15, 15, 16

Rarely 13, 15, 16

Rarely 16, 14, 15.

As with haiku there are many many combinations beyond the traditional 5,7,5 for haiku as there is beyond the 15, 15, 14 for shijo.

Although there are other combinations beyond my simple list here, other combinations are, to my knowledge, extremely rare.

Looking more closely and more importantly, reading the various writings of the three English sijo masters, I have found that each line of a sijo contains couplets!

There is some disagreement between Canadian poet Elizabeth St.Jacques and Professor McCann on how to divide the sijo line. Like the slicing of a cake, there are fine slender slices and then there's your generous helpings.

Harvard Professor David R. McCann can be classified as a slender slicer. In his 1976 “The Structure of The Korean Sijo” he divides each line into 4 parts or groups as quoted below:

Group I II III IV

No. of Syllables: Line 1 3 4 3 or 4 4

Line 2 3 4 3 or 4 4

Line 3 3 5 4 3

He also uses his 4 slices of line method to describe other variations of sijo syllable combinations:

Group I II III IV

Line 1 2-4 4-5 2-4 4-5

Line 2 2-5 3-4 3-6 3-4

Line 3 2-3 4-7 3-4 3-5

Slender slices of 4 can become rather quite complicated. Myself, I prefer generous helpings when I either have my cake or work with a new poetry form. Canadian poet Elizabeth St.Jacques on her webpage article entitled About Sijo divides each line into 2 more simple parts. As you'll find in the writing of sijo, larger blocks are easier to work with. She suggests :

for 14 syllable lines use couplet combinations of 7 + 7; 6 + 8 or 8 + 6

for 15 syllable lines use 7 + 8 or 8 + 7

for 16 syllable lines use 8 + 8; 9 + 6 or 6 + 9.

It is because of these couplet combinations that some English Shijo are written in 6 lines instead of 3. All Korean Shijo poems are in 3 lines but when translated there are sometimes commas placed in the middle of some lines.
Personally I prefer English Shijo poems in 3 lines but, the choice is yours.

Now, armed with these syllable combinations for couplets, I'm off to write a better, more lyrical sijo than before. Until then, here's a haiku about the spring cherry blossoms I wrote earlier today:

pink flecks float like cloud

with rain they fall and scatter

spring opens with loss. -- MWT.

—

About the Author

Matthew William Thivierge has abandoned his PhD studies in Shakespeare and is now currently almost half-way through becoming a tea-master (Japanese,Korean & Chinese tea ceremony). He is a part time Ninjologist with some Jagaek studies (Korean 'ninja') and on occasion views the carrying on of pirates from his balcony mounted telescope.

Blogs
About Tea Busan * Mr.T's Chanoyu てさん茶の湯 * East Sea Scrolls * East Orient Steampunk Society

English Sijo Masters we can all learn from.

Essentially, there are in fact three main English Sijo masters; a triad if you will. All of them have studied and written extensively about English Sijo. These masters of sijo are Canadian poet Elizabeth St. Jacques, Professor Larry Gross and Harvard Professor David R. McCann.

In 1995 St. Jacques and Gross started a poetry journal for English Sijo called Sijo West. It folded in 1999. In 1976 Professor David R. McCann published an article in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies entitled "The Structure o fthe Korean Sijo". Since then he has been working with, writing and studying Sijo in both Korean and English. McCann has been promoting the writing of English Sijo among highschool and elementary school teachers and has recently conducted several seminars on English Sijo writing in the Chicago area.

A great overview of shijo can be found here. It contains several articles from all three Sijo masters. At the bottom is a link that eventually leads to teaching guides for middle and highschool teachers to teach the sijo form in their writing classes. It is a fine alternative to doing haiku and is slightly more challenging for students.

A website containing poems from all three can be seen:

Here with the Sejong Society

Hands down, the best website that explains how to write English sijo poems is St.Jacques’ website. It is provides an excellent step by step guide to writing a Sijo.

http://startag.tripod.com/AboutSijo.html

---------------------------

In the west, it seems sijo writing is catching on. Since 2008 the Sejong Cultural Association has been holding a highschool Sijo writing contest. Every year, more and more students are submitting English Sijo poems to the contest. Here’s one of the winners from 2009:

First place - Creasy Clauser
Untitled

A single sole was lost today, deep in the river Yalu,
Thrashing, twisting, torn to shreds with color quickly fading.
On the bridge a small boy laughs, holding out his empty shoe.

Korean Gender Reader

(Source)

1) How to find a good Korean man

Excellent dating advice from I’m No Picasso, although like she says, of course most of her advice would apply to any group of men anywhere!

2) 14% of Korean men subject to sexual abuse as children

To put it mildly, I’ll have to see a lot more detail about the methodology and definitions used before I accept that figure. But I do look forward to finding out more about this survey.

3) Condoms in hotels

In Chinese hotels to be precise. As Shanghai Shiok! explains:

Should hotels provide condoms in guest rooms, whether complimentary or for sale? It’s a question still debated in the hotel industry. In China, condoms in hotels are quite common (after Beijing ordered it), but some foreigners have averse reactions to the foil-wrapped rubbers in their rooms, like my dad who angrily declared the hotel condoms “an embarrassment!” before hiding them away from our eyes.

For me, whether condoms should be there or not just really… depends.

Depends on what? Find out here!

(Source)

4) Native speaker English teacher sexually assaulted in Anyang

See the details at Gusts of Popular Feeling here. Like a commenter there says, I’m amazed at the attitude of the proprietor of the yogwan (motel) where the assault occurred, who apparently didn’t so much as bat an eyelid when 3 male university students carried an unconscious woman to their room.

5) Why so few fathers take paternity leave

An excellent, comprehensive report from The JoongAng Daily, in contrast to The Chosun Ilbo one that waxes lyrical about changing attitudes and the fact that a grand total of 819 men took it last year, an increase of 63% from last year.

Note that seeing as this particular paternity leave seems to have been available since at least 2001 however, then it can’t refer to the 3 day one made available in 2008, so at the very least some clarification about the original Korean terms is required. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do any further investigating myself at the moment, but if anyone’s further interested then I recommend this, this, this, and this to get you started! (and if you clicked on any of those, then I think you’ll find this book fascinating too)

(Source)

6) Korean documentary on ajummas and ajoshis

No, really. As New Yorker in Seoul described it:

I watched this program with JS, my German-Korean friend, and she and I both had similar reactions. First, here’s how WE perceived what the program was doing:

1-First, it showed the bad perceptions of ajuma and ajoshi.
2-Then it explained how these figures are actually good members of society, thereby reaffirming these roles in society.

There was much to appreciate in the documentary–the interviews, the claymation snippets (from the Arari Show), the surveys. But the way the program was constructed entirely, at least for many Western viewers, seemed pretty cheesy. Or at least, heavy-handed in its delivering of the message of why society actually NEEDS the ajuma and ajoshi figures.

Granted, it was designed for a Korean audience. But I wonder: do any Korean viewers broach programs constructed in this way with at least a modicum of cynicism? Does such a program bear a whiff of sentimentality for Korean viewers?

7) A South Korean farm, a brother & sister, a forbidden love

Found via The Three Wise Monkeys, I confess I’m not quite sure what to make of this:

The video shoot took place on a small farm in Jeollabuk-do province, South Korea in February 2011. The storyline was conceived in response to the song lyrics which tell of an unrequited love or a longing that can’t be satisfied or consummated. We came up with the concept of a brother and sister who are twins who have grown up lived and worked together on their parents’ small farm. They are confused and disturbed by the fact that their closeness has developed into a kind of sexual longing that they know they must hide away deep inside.

8) Korean men do least housework in OECD

To play Devil’s advocate however, it’s somewhat natural considering that women do the least paid work in the OECD, as noted by The Korean Herald article.

See Sociological Images also for some more perspective and handy graphs of how various countries compare.

9) Protecting Korean women from foreign devils, circa late-1940s

I believe that most resentment towards and/or stereotyping of foreign men in Korea stems naturally from having millions stuck in unemployment or low-paid and/irregular work, and it certainly doesn’t help that – as far as I know – boys born at the peak of Korea’s phase of aborting female fetuses in the early-1990s are now becoming adults (while long since resolved, soon there’s going to be something like 116 eighteen-year old men for every 100 women).

But as this post at Gusts of Popular Feelings reveals however, neither explains the harassment some Korean women received in the late-1940s even just for working with American men.

(Source)

10) Amber returns to f(x)

Like Dora says at SeoulBeats, it’s good that she’s back:

…the moment I set eyes on Amber, I knew I was a goner. Pardon me, but it was during an era whereby K-pop was being flooded with Barbie dolls everywhere, all right? All the Korean girl group members were armed with the typical Bambi eyes, long swishing hair and legs half the width and twice the length of my own. I was desperate for a change; my self-esteem couldn’t take any more beatings. So once Amber popped into the scene, all the other girls who felt the same way as I did went crazy. With her androgynous hotness (oh gosh, the floppy fringe that can totally rival Justin Bieber’s!), Amber has confused poor females everywhere, and became the new obsession of fangirls.

(Source)

Filed under: Korean Gender Reader Tagged: Amber, f(x), 에프엑스, 엠버

—

Destination: A tour of Boryeong (Chungcheongnam-do)

The city of Boryeong is most widely known for the Boryeong Mud Festival – a raucous party not like the spring break at Cancun. A few other side attractions are mentioned in the brochure, but for the most part most go unvisited by a mass of foreigners. They might be forgiven for thinking this area has little to see; remember that Korea has quite a history to offer, with plentiful destinations and attractions to match.

I was recently invited on a tour of the town, as a interested party in the Pine & Tiger Association. Our numbers were small, but when combined with a group of Koreans also joining us, we filled the majority of the bus.

Our first stop was a museum dedicated to five people martyred for their faith – 갈매못 (Gal Mae Mot). During the Joseon Dynasty, French tried to use Catholicism as a pretext to gain control of the country. Saint Daveluy Antoine (a Bishop), Huin Martin Luke (a priest), Ometro Peter (a priest), Whang Seok-du Luke (a leader of the laity) and Chang Joo Ki Josep (another leity leader) were executed here on March 30, 1866 – perhaps notheworthy (or ironic?) in that it was Good Friday.

The next stop was 충청 수영성 (Chungcheong Suyeongseong), a stone-and-earth type of fortress. Originally constructed in 1509, the fortress protected Chungcheong’s navy and watched offshore movements. The only surviving gate, Manghwamun, is pictured above. The nearby port was used during the Joseon Dynasty while trading with China. While the area is undergoing renovation and excavation in some parts (as above), it’s likely to maintain its rustic charm.

One of the few buildings remaining inside is 충청 수영성 진휼청(Chungcheong Suyeong Jinhyulcheong) – used for lending and collecting crops in lean years. Since the building fell out of use, it was used as a private house until bought in 1994 and made to look original again. The fortress also holds a officials guesthouse outside (complete with several monuments) and a seperate monument to General Gyegeum of the Ming Dynasty, who defeated a Japanese invastion and moved to the Jeolla province.

After a filling seafood lunch, our next stop was a famous inkstone maker’s shop – 김진한 (Kim Jin-han). Designated Intangible Cultural Property #6 in December 1997, Mr. Kim’s shop is one part awards and one part inkstones – getting to be a master means collecting your share of plaques and certificates along the way.

Mr. Kim hard at work in his shop.

Our final destination of the day – the site of Seongjusa (temple). The site first held Ohapsa (literally Black Bird temple) during the Baekje dynasty, where prayers were offered for the souls killed in war. During the 9th century, Prince Hun asked Monk Nanghyye-hwasang (800-880 AD) to build the temple. The temple served as a school for seon (Zen) during the end of the Unified Silla period, but was destroyed during the Japanese invasions in the late 16th century. While no buildings have been reconstructed, a number of stone pagodas and a National Treasure await all the same.

A five-storied pagoda, albeit one without a sarira. The four steps below each story champion the assumption of a latter 9th century construction.

A unique arrangement in Korea – three three-story pagodas, side-by-side-by-side. No one seems to know why they were arranged this way, although each is unique and considered a treasure.

The creme da le creme – 성주사 낭혜 화상 백월보광탑 (Seongjusa Namhye Hwasang Baekwolbogwangtap Designated National Treasure #8 in 1962, the stele / tombstone is made from 오석, or obsidian. It pays tribute to Buddhist priest Nanghye Hwasang Muyeom, who is an ancestor of Joseon Dynasty King Taejong. He spent 20 years in China learning Buddhism and serving the poor and diseased. After receiving his inga (certificate signifying one’s enlightenment), he returned back to Korea in 847 A.D. and spent the next 40 years at this temple.

It’s worth noting that the area, while relatively tourist friendly, is also relatively undiscovered. Sure, most English teachers have heard of the Boryeong Mud Festival, but there’s other sights happening the other 50 weeks of the year. Public transportation is available, but you’re better off with taxis or your own car.

Directions to Boryeong: a couple of dozen Saemaeul (2nd-class) and Mugunghwa (3rd-class) trains arrive at Daecheon station every day. Once there, a bus stop is out front, and a taxi stand is along a main road.

Ratings (out of 5 taeguks): How do I rate destinations?
Ease to arrive:
Foreigner-friendly:
Convenience facilities:
Worth the visit:

© Chris Backe – 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

The city of Boryeong is most widely known for the Boryeong Mud

Festival – a raucous party not like the spring break at Cancun. A few

other side attractions are mentioned in the brochure, but for the most

part most go unvisited by a mass of foreigners. They might be

forgiven for thinking this area has little to see; remember that Korea

has quite a history to offer, with plentiful destinations and attractions

to match.

I was recently invited on a tour of the town, as a interested party in

the Pine & Tiger Association. Our numbers were small, but when

combined with a group of Koreans also joining us, we filled the

majority of the bus.

Our first stop was a museum dedicated to five people martyred for

their faith – 갈매못 (Gal Mae Mot). During the Joseon Dynasty,

French tried to use Catholicism as a pretext to gain control of the

country. Saint Daveluy Antoine (a Bishop), Huin Martin Luke (a

priest), Ometro Peter (a priest), Whang Seok-du Luke (a leader of the

laity) and Chang Joo Ki Josep (another leity leader) were executed

here on March 30, 1866 – perhaps notheworthy (or ironic?) in that it

was Good Friday.

The next stop was 충청 수영성 (Chungcheong Suyeongseong), a stone

-and-earth type of fortress. Originally constructed in 1509, the

fortress protected Chungcheong’s navy and watched offshore

movements. The only surviving gate, Manghwamun, is pictured

above. The nearby port was used during the Joseon Dynasty while

trading with China. While the area is undergoing renovation and

excavation in some parts (as above), it’s likely to maintain its rustic

charm.

One of the few buildings remaining inside is 충청 수영성

진휼청(Chungcheong Suyeong Jinhyulcheong) – used for lending and

collecting crops in lean years. Since the building fell out of use, it was

used as a private house until bought in 1994 and made to look

original again. The fortress also holds a officials guesthouse outside

(complete with several monuments) and a seperate monument to

General Gyegeum of the Ming Dynasty, who defeated a Japanese

invastion and moved to the Jeolla province.

After a filling seafood lunch, our next stop was a famous inkstone

maker’s shop – 김진한 (Kim Jin-han). Designated Intangible Cultural

Property #6 in December 1997, Mr. Kim’s shop is one part awards

and one part inkstones – getting to be a master means collecting your

share of plaques and certificates along the way.

Mr. Kim hard at work in his shop.

Our final destination of the day – the site of Seongjusa (temple). The

site first held Ohapsa (literally Black Bird temple) during the Baekje

dynasty, where prayers were offered for the souls killed in war.

During the 9th century, Prince Hun asked Monk Nanghyye-hwasang

(800-880 AD) to build the temple. The temple served as a school for

seon (Zen) during the end of the Unified Silla period, but was

destroyed during the Japanese invasions in the late 16th century.

While no buildings have been reconstructed, a number of stone

pagodas and a National Treasure await all the same.

A five-storied pagoda, albeit one without a sarira. The four steps

below each story champion the assumption of a latter 9th century

construction.

A unique arrangement in Korea – three three-story pagodas, side-by-

side-by-side. No one seems to know why they were arranged this way,

although each is unique and considered a treasure.

The creme da le creme – 성주사 낭혜 화상 백월보광탑 (Seongjusa

Namhye Hwasang Baekwolbogwangtap Designated National

Treasure #8 in 1962, the stele / tombstone is made from 오석, or

obsidian. It pays tribute to Buddhist priest Nanghye Hwasang

Muyeom, who is an ancestor of Joseon Dynasty King Taejong. He

spent 20 years in China learning Buddhism and serving the poor and

diseased. After receiving his inga (certificate signifying one’s

enlightenment), he returned back to Korea in 847 A.D. and spent the

next 40 years at this temple.

It’s worth noting that the area, while relatively tourist friendly, is

also relatively undiscovered. Sure, most English teachers have heard

of the Boryeong Mud Festival, but there’s other sights happening the

other 50 weeks of the year. Public transportation is available, but

you’re better off with taxis or your own car.

Directions to Boryeong: a couple of dozen Saemaeul (2nd-class) and

Mugunghwa (3rd-class) trains arrive at Daecheon station every day.

Once there, a bus stop is out front, and a taxi stand is along a main

road.

—

Oneweirdglobe.com

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Busan e-FM Week 22: Crime in Korea

About 'Open Mike in Busan'

Introduction

Today I’m going to talk about crime in Korea, and as I’ve mentioned before crime is a big problem in England, so it’s often on my mind.

England versus Korea

Crime in England is much worse than in Korea according to statistics. The robbery rate for England is 188.7 per 100,000 people – that’s worse than the United States at 146.4, and Busan which is only 24.7.

Korean policing – apart from at protests – seems almost apologetic. I think my father-in-law, who is a retired police officer, feels that the job got a lot more difficult after South Korea became democratic... But there certainly seems to be a fear of violent crime here; when I first came here I was surprised to see all the bars on the windows at low levels, and the steel apartment doors - a steel door is a hallmark of a criminal property in England. Of course though, there is a lot of non-violent crime here like counterfeiting, piracy and corporate crime.

Normally as a foreigner you might expect to be at a higher risk of falling victim to a violent crime in another country, but despite that I actually feel safer here than in England. It’s relatively safe to walk the streets at night – at least as a foreign man, it’s perhaps not so much the case for foreign women, which is a different issue [and if the racial roles had been reversed in this care, I can't see the Korea Times limiting themselves to a brief 8-line piece about it].

In Korea, you can walk around with expensive gadgets like smartphones and cameras, or use your tablet computer on the subway, so you can really benefit from the personal technology revolution in a way that’s harder to do in England, which is great. When I first came here I was really nervous about taking photos with my $250 digital camera because back then you would have had to be careful doing that sort of thing in the streets of my city [now that a digital camera can cost $30 maybe not as much, but then some people in my city would rob you for less, for fun in fact]. I’ve got used to taking photos here now, but it’s a bit of a problem when I go back home, because it’s easy to slip into the Korean way of thinking and forget to watch your back.

Witnessing crimes

I haven’t really experienced any crime in Korea directly, but I have see quite a bit. For example, in one incident we witnessed sexual harassment taking place on the subway. A man had his hand under a woman’s leg – it was summer and she was wearing a short skirt. His hand was moving further beneath her and some touching was going on. It looked suspicious at the time but we couldn’t be sure that they weren’t together – the woman was fairly expressionless even though she must have known what was happening. My wife said that if the woman moved that would prove it, and sure enough she got up and moved to another seat further down.

This kind of thing doesn’t really happen in England – certainly not in the middle of the day in a busy train. But I’ve read that 21% of women have experienced sexual harassment on the subway in Korea – so unfortunately it appears that it isn’t uncommon. Personal crime is more serious of course, but still, I was surprised when the public phone box near us was smashed – it made me think Korea was becoming like England. [I forgot to mention the fights I've seen].

It was the drink what made me do it, officer

One thing that has surprised me here is the way alcohol is used as an excuse – and defence – by people who commit crimes, especially sex crimes. And it often works too, with more lenient sentencing.

Alcohol is blamed for a lot of crime in England, where ‘binge drinking’ in large groups is a huge problem, but it’s not a legitimate excuse in court. Here it does seem more accepted, and I find there’s a hypocrisy in that – you know, that the drugs you drink here are so socially acceptable whereas the drugs you smoke - apart from tobacco - are totally not. And yet, speaking to my Korean family, I gathered that historically there was quite a lot of smoking of ‘agricultural substances’ going on in the countryside in Korea – whereas now it’s usually foreigners, especially foreign English teachers, who are blamed for being drug users here.

Native English teachers are molesting students and spreading HIV/AIDS

So how about the portrayal of foreign crime in Korea? Sometimes there are high-profile cases here. In 2007, several newspapers carried reports that foreign teachers were molesting their students and (deliberately) spreading HIV and AIDS. The reports were ‘never substantiated’, which is a polite way of saying that these newspapers had no proof and they were deliberately printing racially inflammatory here-say and lies. But what came out of these fantasy ‘facts’ that were printed by these liars was the political move for all native English teachers to be subject to mandatory HIV/AIDS testing. But ethnic Koreans were apparently exempted - even if they were born and raised in America [because apparently a Korean is not a molestation/HIV/AIDS risk whatever their background - whereas non-Koreans obviously are. A Korean once told me that 'Koreans don't get AIDS' though, so there you go].

Similarly, newspapers run scare-tactic headlines saying that the number of crimes committed by foreigners is increasing, and you know they are trying to shock and scare people. The number of crimes committed by foreigners [but are they native English teachers?] is increasing, but so is the number of foreigners [the figures are complex and there the foreign crime pro-rata crime rate does appear to be increasing - but the media likes to run simple figures that make things look worse than they are]. But let’s put it into context – in 2007 – the last year comparative figures were published, the crime rate for foreigners was 1.4%... but it was 3.4% for Koreans. So portraying foreigners as a particularly criminally-inclined group is not fair in that context.

In fact, according to the National Police Agency, rapes were up 28% last year, theft was up 25%, and murder 9%. Last year 15.8% of women said they were beaten by their husbands. Perhaps this is what the media should be focusing on rather than demanding AIDS tests for foreigners and implying that we're responsible for some kind of crime-wave.

Korea is becoming more like England

With these increasing crime figures, I fear this country is becoming more like England – and crime is changing Korea. Places I’ve visited such as Namdaemun and the gate at Beomeosa here in Busan, have been destroyed since I arrived by criminal acts. When Namdaemun happened, there was an initial report that someone thought they’d seen a foreigner running away and I was terrified. That’s the reality of being a foreigner here – I live in fear of what we might be blamed for next, and how Korean people will treat us afterwards.

Links
Busan e-FM
Inside Out Busan

Air date: 2011-03-16 @ ~19:30

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