8.27.2017 South Korea

This week was awesome. On Tuesday night, my friends and I went out for Korean Karaoke, known as Noraebang. It was a blast. We were the only people there, and it was about 30$ for two hours of a private room that comfortably fit fifteen of us. There were thousands of songs (Korean and American) and we sang our hearts out to the delight of the owners, who continued to add more and more time onto our limit. We eventually had to call it quits for more orientation activities the following morning.

On Wednesday I learned how to folk paint at a traditional village. I painted a dragon, which is symbolic in Korea. I attached a picture of traditional Korean sketches.

On Thursday we drove down to Yeongju to learn about Korean history and culture. It was a phenomenal experience. We got to sleep in (renovated) traditional Korean houses from the 16th century and participate in activities from dyeing to folk-song drumming. We visited the Buseoksa temple, near Mt. Bonghwang, and watched a traditional Buddhist ceremony. The next day we visited the first Confucian Academy where young boys learned to be Confucian scholars and could then return to their respective communities.
During this trip we learned about Korea’s different Golden Ages. We learned about how Buddhism came from China to Korea and then how Neo-Confucianism would eventually replace it. This was especially interesting to me because of how it affected the Korean women. In Buddhism, women were not equals to men but they had some rights. When Neo-Confucianism spread and Buddhists were exiled, Korean women lost these rights and effectively became the property of their fathers and husbands. This has had lasting effects on gender relations in South Korea today and when it comes to the countries with the 25 largest GDP’s in the world, they rank only above Saudi Arabia at 24/25 in how many women are involved in high positions of both the private and public sector. I want to keep learning more about gender relations in my time here.
South Koreans believe in the idea of giving everything for their country. It reminds me of something I have blogged about before, Tikkun Olam, in Judaism — the idea that it should be one’s mission in life to make the world a better place than when they found it. Just look at the following historical example that we learned about this week:
In 1998, when the country was going into a deficit, nearly 3.5 million South Koreans donated their own gold to the government to help the country stay afloat. Because of the generosity of the Korean people, the country was able to pay back their debts in 2001, three years ahead of schedule. This was a demonstration of patriotism the world seems so rarely privy to these days. Read more here. This kind of collective spirit seems to be missing a bit these days in America, a country whose divides grow deeper each day.
Another difference in South Korea is the lack of guns. South Korean people are prohibited from owning guns except for hunting purposes, and even these are kept in Police Stations between hunting trips.
On Saturday we had our first day with 0% rain! I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and my newfound friends and I took two buses to get to a Namsan Park. This was quite an adventure since the bus system is almost entirely in Korean and we needed a little help matching the characters on Google Maps and asking for help to make sure we made the right connections. But I am so glad we did! It was absolutely beautiful! We hiked to the top and had some incredible views, images and videos below! We were lucky to see the (to our surprise) daily cultural demonstration. Video coming soon.
Namsan Park is the largest park in Seoul and home to Namsan Tower or the N Seoul Tower, which stands 480 feet above sea level. We didn’t go up to the top of the tower but we are making plans to return and even to go at night to see Seoul all lit up. I am so excited to learn more about Korea and to explore more and more Korean parks! Especially as the rainy season ends and we enter Fall where the leaves will turn colors.
I am learning a lot about myself here. I am seeing how important it is to find time to reflect. Here, I am using my newfound free-time to my advantage to sip lots of tea and stop and smell as many the roses, or lotuses, as I can. I know before I know it I’ll be back in Bancroft, and a little bit later, in the real Fleet and real world.
This summer and still now, I came to love Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcasts. Sure, it could be said that publishing about selective types of events represents a bit of a political bias or slant but I love the events he talks about and the detail with which he describes them. They are a constant reminder of how much still there is to learn about the world! In Season 2, there is an episode about golf courses that I found absolutely fascinating. These are free online and on ITunes podcasts if anyone is interested!
I also watched an interesting documentary called 13 this week. It was eye-opening in more ways than one. If anyone has the time, I would highly recommend it, especially as an accompaniment if you have read Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to tap that clap button if ya liked it! Happy last days of August. Looking forward to the next 16 weeks.
-sf












