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a fantastic weekend - incheon part 2

May 1st 2007 10:36

as we walked, the cherry blossoms flurried like a summer snow fall

after having spent the night at one of the craziest places on earth, i found myself sitting in a pc baang somewhere in incheon wondering what to do next. after doing a bit of a search on what is what in the city, i hadn't really found anything apart from incheon having an underground shopping mall, and a china town. as i wasn't in a spending mood, china town was the obvious choice.

not really knowing where i was, and not being able to find a map that was detailed enough, i thought the only thing for it was to jump on a bus and see where i ended up. i jumped on the 21 and headed toward the main bus terminal at where i had arrived the day before. after a few stops, this little man jumped on and walked towards me with a big smile. i smiled back and followed up with a 'annyonghaseyo', to which the man was very impressed. i then proceeded to have my first korean conversation, proving that my lessons are actually paying off....finally.

i then asked him if this was the bus to china town. after debating amongst himself for a while, and saying i would have to transfer, he said i will take you. i said he didn't have to but he insisted and was pleased to have a new western friend with him.

after a bus ride of about an hour (i certainly didn't think it would take that long), we arrived at the dongincheon train station, where we left the bus and started our walking track towards china town. it was pretty clear after a few comments by this little man, who said i could call him paul, he was my own personal tour guide and history teacher. we walked past the cultural center and then he started to tell me about the history of the place.

this area, and the people, are very much the memories of the japanese occupation and it rings very true that you can forgive but you can never forget. the area has been occupied by the japanes, the chinese, and used as a major support area by the americans and allied forces during the korean war. as we started our climb up freedom mountain, paul starts to tell me of the tragedies that occurred to him and his parents during the japanese occupation. his emotions were reflected through his knowledge of the area.

'that bridge there is made of chinese stone and was built by the japanese,'

'this is the memorial built for general macarthur after the battle was one',

'this is the memorial to commemorate a century of unison between south korea and america',

'this temple is from the time before hangul was invented when chinese characters were borrowed - it says, from right to left, nature, my person, this place,'

'this is where the city was split down the middle - japanese to the left, chinese to the right,'

'this lamp is japanese, that lamp is chinese,'

'china's version of socrates,'

so a day that started as one with nothing to do, turned into something that i will never forget. paul's wisdom, anguish, hurt, and good nature showed me the finer detail of a local area, something that could not be bought on any tour. after shouting him a chinese bun for his efforts, we bowed at each other and he disappeared wishing me all the best. koreans are a truly special race of people.

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Attitudes, Politics

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a fantastic weekend - incheon part 1

April 30th 2007 10:35

some of the beautiful food on offer in incheon

this weekend was one that was full of excitement, travel, new people, and education about places that are older than i have ever really considered. the majority of my time was spent in incheon, a city north of seoul and just south of the demilitarized zone that separates north and south korea. it is a place that is made up of many different lifestyles and cultures and has history oozing from every pore that you brush past. each area has its own tale but my journies allowed me to explore two very different lifestyles within the one area.

as i have previously mentioned in earlier posts, the best way to stay in korea is in the love motels that are scattered around the countryside. they offer clean well kept rooms at an affordable price to the traveler, but also have a completely different purpose for the koreans.

we stayed in an area just south of the main city and it was one of the most surreal experiences i think i have had thus far on this journey. the demographic of the area was one that continually made me question the lifestyle of the koreans whilst i was here, and allowed to draw some of my own conclusions from it. let's call this area a province, and this province was surrounded by many of the pictured apartment blocks. these apartment blocks are reflective of a modern lifestyle that the koreans enjoy, and they are literally scattered over the entire country as the main source of accommodation for the koreans. but what was interesting about this place was what these apartments were surrounding.

nestled in amongst these big bad boys were an entire city of love motels, so much so that you felt like you were in las vegas when you walked down the street amongst them. now the real purpose of these motels is to provide the koreans a place to take their potential bed mate and have a good old time. this is pretty obvious by the size of the plasma televisions and the porn machines that are attached to them, whilst providing an assortment of potions and ointments to 'aid' in your nights stay. that was all pretty stock standard and i was prepared for that, but what struck me as odd was when i entered the parking lot.

each car had a little custom sign made to cover the number plate of each of the cars that are parked in the lot. ha ha, scandal! it is obvious that these affairs are not the type that most people want others to know about, and this is pretty obvious when you enter the building how you are ushered away to your room, and are not to be seen from until 'after' your stay.

so here we are in the middle of a living coniption. surrounding us, we have the perfect life. young families that have 2 children, their own car, a reasonably new apartment, and the 'perfect' life. but then here we are down in the nitty gritty of it where both wives and husbands are off having a little more 'relations' with their little someone special on the side! perfect life? i ask you.

it doesn't only stop there, these motels have spawned an industry unto themselves. surrounding them are an array of restaurants to take that someone special before you get down and dirty with them. need some ciggies or some alcohol? perhaps some snacks for the quality time after. no worries, there are multitudes of convenience stores to provide you with your everything. maybe you need somewhere to send the kids while daddy goes and helps mummy's friend with some grown up things, just drop them at the amusement park (complete with 30 meter high ferris wheel) for a couple of hours. everything has been thought of, and is provided for the would be couples.

so don't worry if your 'normal' life has become boring, there are always ways around it!

check out the side of that plasma! complete with porn machine attached. 1000 won ($1.50aud) gets you half an hour. and it comes complete with 5.1 surround sound and free internet access!

how's the romantic velvet with matching wall paper?

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Sexism, Attitudes, Politics

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this weekend - insadong

April 23rd 2007 04:11

sunday provided us with the chance to check out insadong province in seoul. this is an area that is aimed at western tourists, so i had mixes emotions about the entire day. even at home a i generally stay away from areas that are aimed at these kind of markets, but when in rome... although it is quite a beautiful area that reeks with korean tradition, it is also quite plastic in that it is catering for the mass audience from the western world - and that is indeed who was there.

we did stumble across some nice galleries and i could have spent millions of won on many of the contemporary pop art pieces that were on offer, and there were of course many places to eat and nibble and refresh. one thing that i had to ponder over was why are we traveling to these places to see different cultures, yet these different cultures are trying so eagerly to accommodate and assimilate to our culture? but then who are we to tell them not to? i also had to wonder where it will all end up in a few decades from now.

the morning was excellent and this was completed by a lovely lunch of bip bim bap and bulgogi, all of which was washed down with a bottle of plum wine. however my tolerence ended there as i could not put up with the arrogance of to other tourists that were eating behind us. after hearing their stupid conversation of who farted and how cool they were, the straw that broke the camel's back was when they clicked their fingers and yelled out 'check!' now the style of this restaurant or sikdong was one that was quite tranquil and calming but i think even the owner saw red and had steam coming out his ears!

i had to also ponder over the fact of why come to another country and expect to find your own? isn't the reason you travel to learn and discover new cultures and traditions and not force your ways on others? i just couldn't understand it.....

but anyway here are some snaps from the day: