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Resilience: Three Perspectives

Resilience is a documentary film about adoption, focusing on the reunion of a Korean mother and her son. 


Directed by Tammy Chu, and supported by various elements in the Korean adoptee community, it was filmed over a period of four years. Our friend Widhi, my wife and I went to see a screening in Anguk last weekend. Following are our three opinions on the movie, beginning with brief profile backgrounds. 
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Lee Farrand (이소하): A 28 year old Korean Australian, adopted to Australian parents at the age of 2. Returned to Korea in 2006 and is currently a PhD student at Seoul National University, studying ovarian cancer. Tried briefly, but was unable to locate birth parents.

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Lee: I had intended to see Resilience for quite a while, mainly due to the increasing amount of times it popped up in the adoptee online community. But a busy schedule and a general deprioritising of all things adoption-related for the time being, led to me listing it as a non-urgent matter on my mental list of things to do. Then a couple of weeks ago, Nanoomi, an English K-blogging initiative, mentioned it on it's discussion boards. Before long, I had found myself cyber pinky-swearing to do something that in retrospect I'd rather have let someone else do. Reviewing movies is always fun, but when the topic is adoption, I find myself having difficulties expressing my thoughts with clarity.

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And then up flew a poster in our Biomodulation department elevators at university. I took this as a sign to get my act together and go see the film while it was still playing. While I normally enjoy an insulated life on campus, it seemed that Resilience was creating waves from somewhere north of the Han River, and tiny ripples were lapping at my shores.


How does an adoptee put in words, the work of another adoptee that focuses on the topic of adoption? Describing the film in aesthetic or technical terms would, for me, seem to be side-stepping the core issues. These issues are specifically relevant for anyone affected by adoption, but perhaps just a passing curiousity for those who have not.
My initial reaction to Resilience was a mixture of feelings. I felt a little inspired, a little helpless and a little angry. 
The documentary follows the lives of mother Myunja Noh and her son Brent Beesley, separated soon after Brent's birth due to family problems. Brent's Korean father gambled the family's savings away, and ended up leaving. Myungja's family put Brent up for adoption without her consent, and she returned to pick him up one day, only to find that he had been sent away and and her relatives refused to tell her where her baby was. Brent ended up being adopted through an agency, to a family in a small country town in South Dakota.


Brent returns to Korea alone, with two daughters back home, looking for his birth parents, partially out of curiousity and partially for the family's medical history. He and Myungja meet for the first time on a Korean TV show that specialises in reuniting family members. For many adoptees, going on national TV is their last ditch effort in trying to locate their birth parents, when all other options have proven unhelpful. While the utility of this particular show has been remarkably successful, many adoptees including myself would only consider appearing on it after an excruciating amount of consideration. After all, who wants their first meeting with their birth parents to be hijacked by the spectacle of a Korean television show? It's like giving someone's eulogy while dressed up as a clown. 
Before meeting his mother, who is kept behind a curtain, Brent is asked by the show's host to write on a piece of paper whether he 'forgives' her or not. Asking a son to forgive a mother he has never met, for circumstances he has yet to even learn about, is a little ridiculous. After all, no sane person would go to all that effort to appear on public TV for the sole purpose of shaming their birth mother. I guess the TV show executives need to make money, but perhaps the subject matter could be treated with a little more graciousness.


The documentary then focuses on what happens after reunion, which is often a complicated chapter in the lives of both parties. Resilience maintains a fairly neutral perspective, and both Brent and Myungja's natural behaviour and openness about their feelings provide a firm foundation for the film's substance.
Brent talks about his upbringing in a white American family but as a racial minority, a common experience for many transnational adoptees. As an idea lingering in the background during childhood, his reflections describe adoption as being neither a distinctly positive or negative experience, but that he had a good life nonetheless. After meeting with his overwhelmed mother, he is abruptly forced to react and respond to a surreal change in his life's events. These include being smothered with attention and being almost forcibly assimilated into Korean family life. This occurs at an accelerated pace, as if to be making up for lost time. Myungja works in a restaurant and does not have a lot of money, but most determinedly decides to buy gifts for Brent and his family members. These include expensive Korean hanbok, that Brent neither needs or wants, but accepts on occasion for the sole purpose of letting his birth mother know that her expressions of affection are appreciated.

Myungja comes across as a warm hearted and sensible Korean mother, plagued with a seemingly incurable amount of guilt that drives her daily life. She describes her difficulties in expressing her true feelings to Brent without a translator, and her eagerness to build a strong relationship with him. In some ways it seems as if she is a little frustrated that Brent does not behave in a typically Korean way, but this is always swamped and overridden by her inner determination to compensate for time that has been lost.

The documentary itself combines an interesting mix of elements. Filmed over the space of four years, with Brent traveling back and forth between the US and Korea, it uses passive recording of family gatherings, interviews with family members and even self-recorded video blogging to communicate the complex balance of feelings on both sides of the Pacific.

As an adoptee myself, who has been living in Korea for some time now, I felt intricately connected with the unfolding story. Brent's description of his upbringing, from the Bruce Lee references by the kids in his neighbourhood to his family photos surrounded by a white family are highly familiar to both myself and many others. Similarly, upon his return to Korea, the culture shock of the Korean way of life is also something I can strongly relate to. Brent describes Korean families as being 'tribal,' something I find to be both a positive and negative aspect of life in Korea. Western families tend to have more physical and emotional distance between individual members, something that comes with a higher amount of personal freedom. Brent is strongly encouraged to learn Korean (his mother reads him the alphabet), and become 'more Korean.' This is a common theme arising after family reunions, which is an extensive cause of frustration on both sides.

Adoptees who have grown up overseas often have trouble integrating into Korean society, which is not a result of personal desire alone, but because of the irreversible formation of an identity in another country. As such, we often find ourselves having to defend our individual tendencies. This ranges from why we don't study Korean 'with more passion', to why we don't think that age alone is an appropriate reason to respect someone. As a Korean adoptee, I feel neither completely Australian nor completely Korean. I don't like speaking in Korean, and I don't like eating ddeok. Nor am I particularly interested in Korean history. But at times I do appreciate the accelerated closeness of Korean friendships and I admire the fierce aspirations of the Korean people. And I also feel genuinely happy when Korea does well in the World Cup. But the same is true when Australia does well. Being tied to both of our mother countries is an integral part of who we are, and the amount to which we feel closer to one or the other should be left for us alone to decide.


Seeing Resilience, I find it difficult to not talk about my situation, and express some of my own thoughts on Korean adoption. When it comes to the idea of adoption, I don't think anybody has the answers, nor can anybody accurately represent the opinions of all parties involved. For myself, I do have some opinions on how things could be more fair and more logical. Much of this has to do with aspects of Korean society and social norms that are followed here without reasonable analysis or discussion.

Many advocates have long been convinced that a large part of the remedy would be the evolution of women's rights in Korea. This includes everything from healthy public debate about a woman's right to make a conscious choice about maternity, to workplace discrimination and pay differences according to gender (Korea ranks unfortunately lowest in the OECD).
The lack of women in CEO and management positions in Korea is representative of a wider social disparity. The actual ratio for male to female professors at SNU is likely to be abysmal - after 2 years at the university, I've still never met a single female professor in person. Incoming professors in our department are voted in by a special board, made up entirely of older males. There could also be more support for single mothers, including an expansion of maternity leave, and anti-discrimination laws regarding employment. Without massive support from friends and family, and an inadequate system of welfare, a single mother in Korea has little chance of living a successful life. For all its progress in leaps and bounds, Korea still has strong social forces of conservatism that are holding it back.

Filial piety (효), a term barely recognisable in the Western world, refers to the Confucian belief that respect for one's elders and ancestors is a virtue to be held above all else. While questionably reasonable (if one has respectable elders), in Korean family life it is heavily enforced as a necessary path to a virtuous life. In a simple world, such a virtue may seem worthwhile, but in modern Korean society its side-effects include the abuse of power, unfair discrimination and the sidelining of logical debate.

Filial piety encourages the surrender of individual will to a collective conservatism and an unquestioning defense of the status quo. This quenching of respect for the rights of the individual in Korea, for what is disguised as the collective good, often allows elder family members to make extremely important decisions without consulting those who would be most affected by them.  In Resilience, Myungja talks with clear bitterness about how her family members sent her son away while she was looking for work, and refused to tell her what had happened. The decision for the family members must not have been an easy one, and we can conclude that it may have been in everyone's best interests. However, Myungja's acceptance of the unfair, even after all these years, may seem quite unsettling to an outside observer. The drive to endure and persevere 'diligently' in the face of injustice is deeply rooted in the Korean psyche.

People who openly criticise these aspects of Korean society, soon find themselves at odds with blind patriotism and a strong defense of things unreasonably defined as a part of the Korean identity. This is a reaction not unique to Korea, but common in all societies that have an underdeveloped realm of public debate. Korea has come a long way in these past few decades, and a helpful next step may be to grow up from its patriotic origins and focus on facing ethical issues with logical maturity.

After seeing Resilience, it's got me thinking again about my own birth parents. A birth search costs not only time and money, it's psychologically draining and the emotional risks are extremely high. I've been married to a wonderful Korean wife for over a year now and we live in the international dormitories at SNU. My wife is now 10 weeks pregnant, and after she gives birth, we'll be living off my scholarship and my part-time tutoring job. Life is busy and not always easy, but we are both happy. But I realise that right now, before we have our child, is the best time to start looking again. In some ways I dislike feeling rushed to do something that I'm not sure I'm ready for.

In conclusion, Resilience is an impressive piece of work, and its distinct elements make it uniquely recognisable as directed by someone who has an inseparable relationship with, and passion for the subject matter.

While it doesn't end with any concrete conclusions, it's likely to arouse ripples of thought and discussion among both adoptees and Korean citizens alike, which will hopefully become a catalyst for fair and logical future changes. 
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Heather Jung (정가희): Lee's wife, a 30 year old Korean native from Busan. They have been married for over a year. Currently employed at an English language school in Seoul
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Heather: I had earlier watched the movie 'Susan Brinks Arirang' in 1991, which describes the life of an adoptee girl, Susan, who had a tough life since she was adopted to Sweden when she was 3 years old. The movie ends with a scene showing Susan meeting her biological parents. It seemed that the Korean audience was moved by such a dramatic story.    
Resilience on the other hand, has a very steady mood until the end of the movie. The movie poster has the most dramatic scene, which has an old photo of a kid, saying I recognized him at first sight.
The movie begins with the reuniting of an adoptee and his mother, which was how Susan Brinks Arirang ended. It was interesting because it didnt completely look like someone elses story, and somehow related to me, because I had heard many stories about adoption and adoptees from my husband. I can only guess how they feel upset when they realized their lives were twisted from the beginning.   
Resilience seems like it is striving to describe the reality of reunion. I liked the scenes showing two people living their normal lives in different places. Noh Myungja is a middle-aged woman, the type you can see everywhere in Korea. Brent, living in a small town in America, is also a normal guy who has 2 daughters. These scenes make me imagine how my husbands biological mother would look like if we ever found her.   
My husband and I agreed that the case in the movie is one of the better-ending stories which may not always happen. However, it is still mixed up with small conflicts between a mother who was missing her son for 30 years and a son who has grown up in a totally different environment, not knowing anything about his biological family. People tend to think that if adoptees find their family, they can fill up the last piece of the puzzle for their lives. But they may feel even more dejected when they discover unexpected gaps between them. 
Both Susan and Brent reunited eventually, but it will take a long time to fill the gap between them and their family members. Because of that, adoption and reunion can be a more difficult story than we first expect.  
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Sriyulianti Widhiarini: An international student of aerospace engineering studying at Konkuk University from Bandung, Indonesia. Has a strong interest in the independent music scene in Korea.
  



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 Widhi: It was not the adoption theme that brought me to watch the movie, but I was actually interested to watch the movie because of the band Dear Cloud’s song ‘그럴수만 있다면', that was featured in it. The trailer seemed to be very promising and the music fits very well in it, so I decided to give it a go without any hesitation. It was a very nice opportunity that I got to see it with Lee and his wife Heather. 



It was very interesting to see how a 4-year story was put together in a merely 95 minute movie. The story itself was very interesting and the stories were smoothly delivered scene by scene. The background music was also put at the right scene without making it too dramatic or bland at the same time. It was a little bit emotional for me after the first half of the movie. However, it did not last long since the movie moved very fast and I no longer could hold that particular emotion for a long time.
Adoption has never been a very familiar thing for me. By watching this movie, I see an example of how it is not always about ‘living happy ever after’. There is always a void in the heart of an adoptee when he realizes about his true identity, especially when it comes to international adoption. There is always a question of ‘why’ and the eagerness to find the answer. It might have also been painful for those who later realize about the true reason of why they were adopted. This movie may serve as an example of a happy story, yet I thought of the opposite at the same time. It was merely being emphatic yet I really could not go deeper than that.
Somehow I felt that the movie itself showed merely a balance of happy and sad, while other emotions like anger, confused, curious were rather less apparent. Yet, since a lot of scenes involved talk or conversation, the instrumental music fit very well with each scene and I could feel a glimpse of longing. It was not until the end of the movie that I finally heard the song from Dear Cloud. For me, it closed the movie quite well. I was kind of hoping that the song would come out a little earlier in the movie but I realized that it would have somehow mixed up the story within the scenes.




The title of the song itself ‘그럴수만 있다면’ means ‘If I Could’ and may perfectly portray the desire of the two main characters to know more about their past. It’s related to the movie and does not look back merely at the past but also tries to give more focus on what is coming in the present and future. What becomes the last word of the song ‘끝나지 않는 ’, means the story has yet to finish but it is also an unfinished dream, especially for both of the main characters.
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Resilience is now showing in selected Korean cinemas. For more information, please refer to these links:
http://www.resiliencefilm.com/
http://www.koroot.org/
http://www.goal.or.kr/

lets paint the town and shut it down

And so we did.
It was not the monster mash this Halloween, but rather the foreigner mash up.
Not the usual Family Mart crowd
10.31.10 penguins, ajummas and superheroes roamed the streets of KSU. 
Me, I dressed up as Jinho and took my beloved Minsu out for a night on the town.  
Could it be? Is it she?

World, meet Minsu and Jinho

"Eat it Calvin Klein"
A lot more could be said about this night, but pictures really say it better.

Teaching from the Bottom of the Totem Pole #3:Truths

With just over two months teaching English in Korea under my belt, I’ve come to realize certain truths about my place of employment. A couple are probably native only to my school, but I imagine a few are fairly general as well. Either way, I’m no stingy bastard. In an effort to preserve these truths forever. I’ve decided to share.

#1 TRUTH: “Maybe” means Absolutely.
This is someething I figured out right away. If your co-teacher says you should “maybe” do something. Your ass better get on it.  Maybe you have to wait for your paycheck? You can forget about getting your money that day. Maybe you’ll have extra lessons that week? Expect to work like a damn slave. Maybe one of your students is sick and brought an infectious disease with him to class? You get the idea.

#2 TRUTH: Any Korean I Speak Will Elicit Laughter from My Students
Rather it be a simple An-yeong-haseyo in the hallway or some classroom command, when it comes out of my mouth, my students crack up laughing–sometimes while rolling on the floor. Sometimes after lunch I’ll get students who come to my desk, slowly say a word in Korean, then wait patiently for me to repeat it. I haven’t the slightest clue what I’m saying but I do it nonetheless and sit there while they laugh hysterically at my shitty accent. My feelings suffer, but I do it for the kids.

#3 TRUTH: The School Janitor is My Pal
The man speaks almost no english, yet everyday he greets me at the door and and we have our daily thirty-second conversation. Because of he language barrier, it’s strictly delegated to one of three topics: How beautiful Korean weather is (regardless of the season), How beautiful my co-teacher and her twin sister are (yes, I said the “T” word), and how beautiful I am while wearing my sunglasses. Anything other than those three topics usually comes in the form of some classic song that I’m sure the poor fella rehearsed the night before. He only sings the chorus though. The latest was “I Did It My Way” by Frank Sinatra. After our morning routine we say “have a nice day” and go about our business.

#4 TRUTH: Come Lunch Time, I Either Have to put Up With the Slurping and Loud chewing, or Simply Starve
There’s no getting around it. It’s the Korean way. Soup and noodles will be slurped. Food will be chewed with an open mouth.Particles will be shot across the table. I just have to sit there and bare with it. I’ve written about this before. It kills me a little everyday.

#5 TRUTH: Get Caught Dropping a Deuce, and the Whole School Will Find Out
This is the latest an most important truth to date.

I’m sitting at my desk two hours or so before work is over when suddenly I need to go drop a deuce. Normally I maintain a strict no-pooping-at-school policy. Why?  I’m still scarred from my elementary years. Then, a child could be pushed to drop out of school in grade five if some heartless bully recognized his sneakers underneath the stall door and ran back to spread the news. Believe it or not fifth graders can be quite evil in this regard. It’s a fear that still plagues me as an adult.

At first, I think I can hold out until I get home, then I look at the clock and am faced with the reality that I’m not going to make it. My school only has one teacher’s bathroom but it’s on the first floor and something tells me it’s really only reserved for the principal and vice principal (plus I’m lazy and don’t really want to make the trip). Most teachers use the same bathroom as the students and my office is right across the hall from one. I look at the clock and notice I have 10 min before the next class lets out and all the students come pouring into the hallway. No problem right? Just hurry in, do my deed and get the fuck out of there. Only I didn’t expect it to take as long as it did.

Before I’m able to finish the bell rings and I can hear some of the boys filing into the bathroom. Suddenly I’m back in the fifth grade, only the stall door goes all the way to the floor so I think I’m in the clear to just wait it out. Then one of the kids knocks on the door and says something in Korean. Shit. What do I say? If I say anything They’ll know it’s me.

I mumble a “just a sec” and they immediatly know who I am. I hear him run out of the bathroom saying my name. Surely he’s going to find his friends and broadcast the fact that Dreadlock teacher was just going number two in the fifth floor bathroom. I return to my desk hoping I will hear nothing about it.

The next morning some of my students stop me in the hallway and one of them gestures like their sitting on a toilet trying to poop. They all burst into laughter. I tell them to go to their homerooms then I head to my office desk to cry a bit. Why didn’t I just go to the downstairs bathroom? You live and you learn.

Ciao,

Kimchi Dreadlocks

P.S. Feel free to share your TRUTHs as well. Comments feed my desire to feel important.


When Korean people get wasted, they get WASTED. Seeing a person...





When Korean people get wasted, they get WASTED. Seeing a person passed out on the streets or in the subway is not uncommon. I guess I know what to do if my hagwon goes out of business and I am forced to move out of my apartment. Oh yeah…

About 

Hi, I'm Stacy. I'm from Portland, Oregon, USA, and am currently living in Busan, South Korea. Check me out on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Lastfm, and Flickr.

 

Indian Summer BBQ in an Abandoned Park

One of the local expats decided that it would be a great idea to have a barbecue to celebrate the gorgeous end of summer/fall (...yes this is from mid October but I was lazy then!). Theoretically, this was a fabulous idea. He knew of a beautiful park that was seldom used. Everyone was gung-ho and planned out what to bring.  At 2pm on the appointed day I called around to get more specific directions.  No one knew where it was.  There was no helpfully drawn map ala Microsoft Paint on the Facebook event page. It wasn't remotely near any major landmarks or labeled streets. There wasn't a name we could give a taxi driver. Finally, I got a hold of a slightly agitated Brit (agitated from all of the very lost people calling him I imagine) who was not the host but appeared to be the only one to have found the park successfully.

Unfortunately for me I was traveling alone (since it started at 2 and I was running late) and thus had no one to foist the direction getting task on. Doubly so that I am terrible with directions...especially when given by someone speaking with a strong accent, rapid fire, and with distances given in meters. Nevertheless, by 3pm I made it to the park, only 10 minutes behind the rest of the hoard.

The park was absolutely magnificent. The entire area is being developed but none of the high rises are done yet. All of the infrastructure was completed in advance--right down to the neighborhood parks.  I will admit that it is very eerie to walk down empty 6 lane roads, pedestrian bridges linking nothing in particular, and sidewalks with benches almost hidden beneath weeds.
Yes, Crazy West Coast Boy (I think I may have referred to him in an earlier post as Bike Boy) brought a BB gun with him. Luckily, the only things harmed were a single soda can that he managed to find for people to use as target practice. I shot a gun for the first time in my life. It was a very strange feeling. For the safety of everyone involved, I aimed in the general direction of emptiness. I mainly took pictures of where the people were gathering, on the pavilion and the big game playing area but there was also a giant playground complex and some grassier paths. Most notably was the working bathroom (albeit without toilet paper or soap but I came prepared for all contingencies).
Yes, we cooked food for about 20 people on two tiny little grills with two tiny little skillets. Good thing people brought side dishes. I made several very well appreciated contributions:
    ~Orange juice not mixed with alcohol for those of us on antibiotics/not wishing to drink.
    ~50 cups
    ~a gigantic garbage bag (you have to buy special city ones, basically you pay for how much trash you have)
    ~a roll of paper towels
    ~a big bunch of bananas for people like me who get cranky when food isn't readily available (and you                              know, for dessert).
The pavilion where we gathered and ate.  Everyone is turned to watch our very riveting game of kick ball. None of us had played since elementary school but someone got the amazing idea that we should play. With ripped bits of cardboard for bases and a soccer ball we were ready to go. It was Team America (I think we actually called ourselves Team Scrambles but everyone else called it Team America) versus Team Accents (for everyone from South Africa, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Canada). Obviously, Team America won. I even managed to play without causing bodily harm to myself or anyone else. And while I managed to score some runs I did not once manage to catch or contribute usefully to my team in anyway while manning the field. This did not exactly come as a surprise to anyone involved.

See the flying figure with bright pink shoes? That's me! Running successfully between second and third base. And no, I haven't suddenly developed a paunch, that's my sweatshirt bunching awkwardly. Though it does bring me to a very awkward lunch conversation from today:

After finishing everything on my plate I go and get a giant second helping of rice.
Me: (in response to an incredulous look) I'm hungry!
Co-worker: Don't you want side dishes?
Me: I ate them already. See? Points to obvious sauce stains from the 3 sides.
Co-worker: Rice has many calories. Eat some side dishes and some rice, not so many calories.
Me: But I want the calories.
Co-worker: Looks absolutely incredulous.
Me: If I don't get enough calories, I get dizzy. The vegetables don't have enough calories.
Co-worker: Shakes head. Okay.

I do usually get seconds of the veggies too except that today they were so spicy it hurt my mouth. The gigantic helping of rice was also to help get rid of the pain.  And before you scold me Mom, I did go grocery shopping this afternoon for fruit and nuts to stash at work for when I get low on sugar between meals. I even got enough to share with my co-teacher.

Back to the conversation: In America, when people make pointed comments about your food being fattening they are usually trying to hint at something. However, in Korea I weigh what I did back in high school. I'm thin even on the Korean scale of things. It makes it very awkward to have conversations that you Know aren't meant to be insulting in the slightest and yet somehow leave you feeling slightly despondent.

...Back to the BBQ.
It was a gorgeous night. An easy night where it was effortless to be in the moment and just enjoy life.

Sorry about the once a week posting. I have several post ideas lined up but not having a computer makes me an extremely lazy (lazier?) blogger.

For I Am What I Create: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how...

For I Am What I Create: Open up your iTunes and fill out this survey, no matter how...:

How many hours or days of music: 17 days 7 hours 7 minutes 46 seconds

Sort by song title
First Song: The Abandoned Hospital Ship - The Flaming Lips
Last Song: 5466 That’s My Number - Sublime

Sort by album
First album: Abbey Road - Beatles
Last album: (500) Days of Weezy - My Sick Uncle

Top Five Most Played Songs
1. Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child
2. 미스에이 - Bad Girl Good Girl
3. Weezer - (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
4. 원더걸스 - So Hot
5. Cat Power - Sea Of Love

First song that comes up on Shuffle: Beck - Que Onda Guero

Search the following and state how many songs come up
Death - 54 Songs
Life - 68 songs
Love - 305 songs
Hate - 17 songs
You - 680 songs
Sex - 44 songs

Destination: Seoul Zombie Walk / Halloween in Hongdae (2010)



Hongdae may well be the perfect place for Halloween in Korea. The scene is already set - clubs and bars are open until 6am, and the locals come dressed and prepared to stay out late.



The Lady in Red and I did not start in Hongdae, however. Instead, we met up at Seoul Forest to participate in the Seoul Zombie Walk:



The first of its kind in Seoul (to my admittedly imperfect knowledge), the overwhelming majority were fellow waygooks / foreigners, but more than a few locals came out for a good scaring time.



After scaring the few locals around the dark park on a Saturday night, the dozens-strong group got on the subway - even the undead had to carry a T-money card:



Starting at one end of the train, the zombie group called for 뇌 (noe, or BRAINS!) and generally groaned to the delight - and occasional scream - of the crowd. That more people laughed and reached for their cameras than screamed in fright told me the crowd enjoyed themselves.



The subway ride was not without drama, however. The group got off to scare a new train, and at some point one annoyed ajosshi called the cops on us. Seeing as how there was really nothing illegal about scaring people, wearing funny costumes, or generally being silly, the police asked the group to quiet down as we moved on.

Once arriving in Hongdae, the zombies found themselves in a position to be as weird as they wanted to be:



Again, the locals pulled out their cameras and smiled - as if this sort of thing happened all the time. A few clever zombies actually pulled off some good screams by blending in with the crowd, then turning around to show their outfit at the last minute.



A few were a bit more direct in the classic 'up close and personal' way.

Since the group began to get a bit disorganized, the Lady in Red and I meandered down Hongdae's streets a bit, and eventually found ourselves in Woody's:



Just in case Batman fighting Joker wasn't enough for you, the electronic beats kept the crowd bouncing.



Back out on the streets of Hongdae, we came across these two Na'Vi from the movie Avatar...



...and the girl we'll just call the 'Soju Girl' - yes, that is the classic Korean green duct tape hard at work, by the way.

The Lady in Red stopped off for a hot dog down 'Club Street' - I'm sure it has a name - before we headed into FF for a show:




We ended up at Club FF for Shotgun Mascara, an 80's glam rock band I interviewed for the Groove recently. They rocked the house

I'm sure Itaewon had some good Halloween parties, but Hongdae was hopping up and down the block, from the time we arrived to the time we stumbled into a love motel. The creativity of expats - and a few game Koreans - astounded me yet again.

If you find yourself in Seoul during Halloween, Hongdae is THE place to go. Bar none.

Creative Commons License © Chris Backe - 2010

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.


 

In Search of Mother Nature’s S-Line: Suncheon Bay

Click to view slideshow.

If you live in Korea and have never been to Suncheon Bay in Jeollado then you are missing out on one of the best scenic views this country has to offer. These protected wetlands are a must visit for any bird lover or nature photographer.

My article about this amazing place is out this month. Pick up a copy of the November 2010 issue of Seoul Magazine or download the free ebook version. Or you can just read about it here. And special thanks to Suncheon resident and photographer extraordinaire Simon Bond. His great tips and local know-how were essential in putting this article together. Thanks buddy!

[Read PDF version here]

In Search of Mother Nature’s S-Line

Suncheon Bay boasts some of Korea’s best wetlands and stunning nature

Written and photographed by Peter DeMarco

When I first got to Suncheon Bay and started to make my way down the boardwalk through the reeds, amongst what seemed like a million other tourists, all I could think was “Is this it?”

The entrance to the wetlands had the look and feel of a theme park: a trolley bus complete with an oversized kitschy flying bird hood ornament, people cueing up for a boat tour of the bay as if it were a roller coaster ride, an eco center with a two-story globe encased in glass, a tour-bus-packed parking lot, and of course the ubiquitous souvenir shops.

All that was missing were park employees walking around in mascot-like costumes of cute endangered birds. Even the park visitors were dressed more like they just came from church – high heels, skirts, suits, and parasols – than as if they were going hiking into one of Korea’s most coveted wetlands.

A Bay With Curves

Thankfully as I walked deeper into the marsh the crowds began to thin out. The sound of the wind in the reeds got louder. The muddy ocean bay’s salty smell was thicker. Crabs scrambled around in the grey mud below the wooden footbridge.

By the time I climbed up to Yongsan Observatory I began to realize why people, especially photographers, come here from all over the country. Once on high ground you can see lilly-pad-shaped clumps of green marsh, colorful red and orange plants growing on the tidal flats, all surrounded by layers of mountains.

Best of all was the view of the river snaking through the marsh into the tidal flats. Like the coveted female body type that Korean’s call the S-line (think Pamela Anderson: curvy from top to bottom), the river forms a perfect “S” shape.

Autumn Migration

It’s views like the one from Yongsan Observatory that draw over 2.8 million visitors per year. In 2006 it became the first Korean coastal wetland to become registered on the list of Ramsar Wetlands. The designation guarantees the wetlands conservation and sustainable utilization into the future.

Today the protected area is made up of 21.6km of mudflats and 5.4km of reed beds. It’s home to many species of migratory birds such as the Hooded Crane and other rare aquatic birds such as the Crested Ibis, White Heron, and the Black-faced Spoonbill.

In the fall, many migratory birds call the bay home. One such bird is the Eurasian Curlew which rests in the bay for about two weeks during its almost 5,000 km journey from Australia to Siberia.

As for me my day was coming to an end. Like a migrating bird it was time for me to move on. The sun had gone down and the observation deck was nearly empty. A crescent moon hung over the pinkish-blue sky. A fisherman motored his boat up the river to its dock. Waves of wind crashed against the sea of reeds below. It was as if I was standing in the middle of some idyllic postcard photo. All I could think was “This is it.”

Where to Eat

1. Blank, T: 061 727.0160, Jurye-dong

Serving up some of Suncheon’s best best western-style food, this hip sleek-looking restaurant and café is a favorite with the local foreign community. Try the honey chicken or grilled mushroom sandwich (11,000 Won) and then wash it dow with a berry mix or mango smoothie (5,300 Won). Still hungry? Order up a piece of homemade tiramisu to top it off (5,000 Won).

2. Palma Orirang, 061 721.5271, Jurye-dong

If duck is your dish then you have to try the “duck bulgogi” (30,000 Won) at this Korean favorite. Be sure to bring a few friends because it will be hard to finish off this rather large meal if it is just two of you.

3. San Antonio Latin Bistro, 061 724.2234, Jurye-dong

For a little slice of Mexico and Spain in a friendly atmosphere, look no further than San Antonio. Owner Jose Rosal was born and raised in Spain and then immigrated to Canada. He met his Korean wife while in college in Hawaii and has been living in Korea for 10 years now. The menu has many Mexican favorites like burritos and quesadillas (8,000-10,000 Won). However, if you are lucky enough to be there on a Friday then Jose will cook up a real Spanish paella (minimum 4 people, order in advance). Be sure to try the sangria too. Delicioso!

Where to Stay

1. Bali Motel, Chogog-dong, T: 061 741.2200

Suncheon has a number of cheaper lodging options that are mainly love motels. Walk out the train station and turn right. Walk down the street about 2 minutes and you will see the sign for this motel. Rooms are 30,000-60,000 per night.

2. Ivy Motel, Jurye-dong, T: 061 724.7878

This is another standard love motel but in the newer part of the city. Room rates run from 40,000-60,000 Won.

3. Nanganeupsong Folk Village, T: 061 749.3347 (English spoken)

Take a step back in time and sleep in a traditional Korean house for a night. This folk village boasts 29 traditional houses with a total of 79 rooms. A room for one costs 30,000 won and a double is 50,000 Won. Call in advance to make a reservation. Take bus 63 or 68 from main bus terminal.

Getting There

By bus: there are 21 buses a day from Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal (Gangnam) to Suncheon. The travel time is about 5 hours.

By train: Four Saemaeul-class and 11 Mugunghwa-class trains leave Seoul’s Yongsan Station each day for Suncheon. Direct journeys take a little under five hours.

By plane: There are 8 daily flights to Yeosu Airport (a 40 minute drive to Suncheon)-travel time 50 minutes.

To Suncheon Bay: take bus No. 67 from the train or bus station directly to the bay – about 25 minutes. A taxi from the bus station to the bay will cost about 10,000 won.

Websites and Numbers of Interest

Suncheon City Website: www.suncheon.go.kr

Suncheon Station Tourist Information: 061 749.3107

Suncheon Bay Information: 061 749.3006, www.suncheonbay.go.kr

Other Points of Interest

Chances are that if you make a weekend of your trip to Suncheon then you will have more time to visit other sites. Fortunately the city offers many things to do and see.

Here are just a few:

1. Naganeupsoeng Folk Village

061 749.3347

www.nagan.or.kr

During the Joseon Dynasty in 1397, General Kim Bin-kil ordered his troops to build walls around this village to protect the residents from the Japanese invasion. Today you can see thatched roof houses similar to those from that era, along with a fortress walls. It is supposedly the only folk village in Korea that is still inhabited by ordinary people.

2. Songgwangsa Temple

061 755.0107

www.songgwangsa.org

This is one of the three most important temples in Korea. A must see for any Buddhism buff. Another popular but lesser-known temple is the area is Seonamsa.

3. Suncheon City Tour

www.suncheon.go.kr

New Samwoo Travel Agency: 061 742-5200

Price: 9,000 Won

This bus tour runs Monday to Friday and goes to all the major sites. There is also a more expensive “Eco Tour” that operates on the weekend. See website for more info.


 

 

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