Day 243 - 2/12/08 Last Day Abroad

PS from yesterday. Namdaemun Gate (the one that burned down) was inscribed with fire symbols to protect Seoul and Gyeonbukung Palace from fire. I guess it worked. The city is still standing...

Today we visited Changdeokung Palace where the unfortunate Prince Seja on whose life Intimacy Between Father and Son is based on met his demise. In both history and the play, Seja goes insane with murder and debauchery. His father, to save the dynasty, kills Seja, and names his son (the king's grandson) the new Crown Prince. That boy grows up to become one of the best loved rulers in Korean history, and the dynasty continues until the Japanese occupation in 1910.

The palace is an interesting blend of East and West. From the outside, the structures are pure traditional Korean. Inside, however, because it was used by the royal family until 1910, the furnishings and light fixtures are very European.

The palace is perhaps best known for its gardens, and for the way the buildings blend in with the surounding nature. Other palaces in Seoul are built symmetrically. Changdeokung is asymetrical, following instead the natural lay of the land. The result is a feeling of harmony throughout.

After the tour, we were too cold to find a new restaurant, so we instead visited one near the palace where had eaten before. Korean meals are as much about the condiments as they are the main dishes. However, the condiments are never listed on the menu, so even if you know what your main dish is going to be, the sides are always a surprise. The little dishes that arrived with my meal this time included pickled sweet potato vine (one of my favourites), bok choy kimchee, and candied dried squid (at least that's what I think it was) - strange, but very tasty.

After lunch, we braved the cold to make a quick dash downtown to see the Hammering Man sculpture. The sculptors' names sounded familiar, and we were both well aquainted with Seattle's Hammering Man, so we were curious to see if it was the same one. Sure enough, it was as if a little piece of the Pacific Northwest had found its way to a street corner in Seoul.

By the time we found Hammering Man - he's in the guidebook, but not on the map - we barely had time to dash back to the hostel and grab our packs before hopping on the bus to the airport.

This time tomorrow/today, courtesy of the international date line, we will be back in Seattle having lunch with a friend of the family.

Leave it to world travel to make tomorrow happen today.

Day 242 - Never Put off 'til Tomorrow...

What you can do today. Because the 14th century monument you were planning to photograph might burn down in the night. Really. We had planned to take pictures of the Namdaemun Gate last night, but decided to wait until today to get both a day and a night shot. When we arrived at the hostel last night however, the entire staff was gathered around the TV watching in shock as Seoul's national treasure #1, the oldest wooden structure in the city, went up in flames. Arson is suspected. Our photo opportunity turned to ashes. Literally.

The gate stood in the heart of the business district, which could easily be mistaken for Manhattan with soaring skyscrapers standing sentry over hoardes of people all carfully choreographed by the traffic lights. We arrived right before lunchtime, and floatillas of businessmen in nearly identical suits flocked to and from the ruins on their way to lunch. It was sort of surreal.

From there, it was a little walk to the Seoul Museum of Art, which according to my guidebook, was the only museum open on Mondays. My guidebook was wrong. It was deciededly closed.

So we walked back to Namdaemun, whose market supposedly boasted a store with 2 floors of toys. Head filled with visions of Gundam, PSP's, and Transformer's, Cz really wanted to pay a visit. It too proved dissapointing, occupying only 1 floor, and containing only a few shelves of Gundam, though the market itself was pretty impressive.

Undaunted, we headed out to the (hard to find) Myong Dong Cathedral, oldest Catholic church in Korea, and known for its neogothic architecture. It was under renovation. Behind screens. At least the inside was open.

Seoul has a kimchi museum in the Coex Mall (where we spent day 1). It was closed then for the Lunar New Year. Turns out it's closed Mondays too.

By now I was so frustrated with spending my last full day in Korea travelling from burned, closed, and under renovation attractions that I was ready to hit someone. So we went to the Coex arcade and blew up a legion of zombies. That made me feel better.

Then we went to 63 Tower, Seoul's tallest building. The Imax was already closed, but the aquarium and skydeck, with views of the city were both open. In addition to the fishes, the aquarium was also home to a flock of penguins (who did not tapdance), seals, sea lions, and a friendly sea turtle.

One touch tank consisted of the standard starfish and hermit crabs, but another was populated by 'Dr fish', small fishes that feed on dead skin. Plexi boxes with finger holes invited a feeding frenzy on anyone who dunked winter-chapped fingertips. The little fish mouths tickled fiercely, and kind of gave Cz the heeby-jeebies, but he held out long enough for a picture.

A feature of every Asian aquarium seems to be the beautifully lit jellyfish display. This one was no exception with luminious jellies of every colour floating in their individual tanks.

After the aquarium, we rode the glass elevator up to the 62nd floor observation deck. Elevators make me nervous to begin with. This one had the added fear factor of being able to see all. the. way. down. All 600+ feet of it. Once on the skydeck, the walls of windows provided 360 degree views over the city of Seoul and the Han river, lit up like a Christmas Tree. There was also a section with a glass floor so one could look past one's feet all the way to the ground, some 62 stories below. It was terrifying. I did it twice. We finished out the trip with nachos overlooking the lights of the city.

It almost redeemed the rest of the day.

Day 241 - War Tourism

According to US History books, the Korean War was finished 50 years ago. In Korea, however, it is not over, but rather in a state of suspended animation. The 2Km swath of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) stands as a constant reminder that North and South have not reached an agreement, merely the world's longest running cease-fire. On each side, soldiers stand ready to spring into action should either show even the slightest provocation.

The result is one of the only divided countries in the world. And one of the world's strangest tourist attractions. Who would have thought that the symbol of war and division would be the top tourist attraction for both North and South. Yet visitors flock to see the Freedom Bridge, the 3rd Tunnel of Northern Agression, and to get a chance to peer into North Korea through telescopes. Those who are lucky enough to land a Panmunjeom tour actually may walk through the UN buildings and set foot in North Korea (unfortunately they were booked solid for the duration of our visit to Korea). Similar tours with similar itineraries run from the northern side.

Both sides use these tours as a chance to play propaganda games. The South proclaims its peace and prosperity, reviling the North as barbaric agressors who starve their people and constantly threaten the South's peaceful way of life. The North on the other hand reviles the South as having loose morals, and of losing its Korean traditions as a slave to the capitalist West. Visitors to the DMZ must follow a strict dress code - no jeans, no t-shirts, no flip-flops, no shorts or miniskirts, etc. It's all a part of both sides' propaganda war. The North watches and photographs the tours coming through Panmunjeom, so the South wants, on one hand, the groups to project and air of prosperity, and on the other to prevent a scruffy Westerner from appearing on northern propaganda posters as symbol of South Korea's 'corruption by the West'.

The dress code also has a more sinister purpose. Remember, this is a cease-fire, not a signed peace treaty, and both sides still have itchy trigger fingers. At any moment either side could turn the DMZ into a RE-MZ. Visitors are not alowed to gesture, wave, talk loudly, or in any way act in any manner that could be construed as provocative. Clothes and shoes worn to the DMZ should not hinder running away.

Though we did not get to enter the DMZ we did see most of the major tourist attractions of the southern border. One of the most important duites of the oldest child is to care for thier aged parents, and when the parents die, to honour their sprits with 3 years of bi-monthly rituals. Furthermore, Lunar New Year, and Korean Thanksgiving are celebrated primarily by re-unification of families. Our first stop, Inminjeom Park, opened as a place where families divided by the war can come to honour their ancestors and relatives in the North. A stone monument faces the North, and families who cannot actually visit the homes and graves of their loved ones come here to lay flowers and make offerings of food and incense.

The park is also home to the Freedom Bridge, which was used to repatriate POW's from both sides of the Korean War. The South gave the POW's from the North the option to remain in South Korea, and many of them opted not to return. On the flip side, the North may not have released all of its POW's to the South. Some men are still missing, leaving families to wonder what happened to their loved ones. As of today the bridge terminates in a high fence topped in razor wire and festooned with prayer flags, mementoes, and wishes for the families on the other side.

Our next stop was the Third Tunnel of Northern Agression (or Infiltration - depending on your level of propaganda). Since the ceasefire was declared the North has made many atempts to infiltrate the South, both by submarine, and by tunnels under the rock. The discovery of four such tunnels have been made public knowlege, and the existence of dozens more is hinted at. When the third tunnel was discovered, the North smeared it with coal and claimed it was an abandoned coal mine. They also claimed that it had been dug by the South - a strange claim considering that its opening was on the northern side, and all the dynamite bores faced south. We apologize for the blurry picture, this taken at the termination point of the tunnel where the DMZ begins, but photography was strictly forbidden so Cz had to take this on the sly.

This third tunnel has been made open to the public as a tourist venue, and also as a reminder to the South that the North is still dangerous and agressive. According to the South's line, the cease-fire has gone on so long that the South is getting soft, and needs to be reminded of the 'perfideousness' of the North. I suspect that there is also an element of covering from old embarassment. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, its army did have superior numbers and equipment. However, the initial siege was aided in no small part because many of the South's border patrols and front lines had recently been granted short and long-term vacations, leaving the border practically unguarded.

Next came the Dora Observatory where one can (heavily supervised by Royal Korean Army guards) look through telescopes across the 2km DMZ into North Korea. Through the scopes, one can watch a North Korean guard standing at his post on his respective tower, see the UN buildings at Panmunjeom, and the propaganda villages of both North and South. The propaganda villages came into being when the country was divided, it split an existing village in two. Each side built up their respective village as model for its country's prosperity. The South's half consists of a highly subsidised farming community growing rice and ginseng. The North's side is built up to look like a booming industrial town. A booming industrial town which has never been occupied, and whose factories have not turned out a single product. It does, however boast the world's tallest flagpole and the heaviest flag.

Also visible form the Dora observatory is the Reunification bridge. Opened in approx 2000, the main bridge re-connects the highway of the South to the Highway of the North. Currently, it is only open to vehicles serving the reuinifaction industrial park, located in the North, and heavily subsidized by the South, but there is hope that it is a first step towards a re-unified Korea. As of today however, the pedestrian bridge joining it to the park, and either end of the highway bridge, terminate in high fences topped in razor wire and festooned with prayer flags, mementoes, and wishes for the families on the other side.

Finally, we stopped at Dorasan Station. Until 2002, this was the last station in South Korea. In 2002, the track was re-connected with North Korea, though, like the highway, it is curently only open to cargo trains serving the reunification industrial park. Supposedly plans are underway to open the line to passenger traffic as a gesture of unification for the Bejjing Olympics. Once the full length of the track is open, it will connect Korea with both the TransChina and TranSiberia rail lines, making it possible to ride from Western Europe, through Korea, and into Eastern China entirely by rail. It's a nice thought, though I have my doubts if it will be accomplished.

Both sides play lip service to wanting re-unification, and I believe that many genuinely do want a re-unified country, and I beleive that reunification, or at least an open border, would be a good thing. Should there be re-unification, howwever, it will not be all sunshine and roses as the the South promises. Among other things, the North is devastated economically. Should re-unification happen, much of the burden of rebuilding would fall to the South, likely causing an economic crisis. And it is likely that the North would be unhappy about receiving the help. The countries have been divided long enough that there is a generation and a half of North Koreans who have been taught since infancy that capitalism is evil and that economic growth fueled by the South will take away their identity. Similarly the South has had its own fifity year propaganda campaign declaring North Koreans 'backward' and violent. I can't imagine that much prejudice can be erased easily with a simple tearing down of the fences.

All along the highway to and from the DMZ sights, the dividing fence bordered the highway. Just on the other side lay the DMZ and border. It was a 50km reminder of the country's division. The fences runs the entire breadth of Korea, maintaining a minimum 4km distance between them. This 2km-wide no man's land has remained untouched for over 50 years and covers seacoast, wetland, and mountains, making it, in essence, the most heavily fortified nature preserve in the world. Species long driven extinct in other regions maintain populations within the DMZ. On the one hand, the trees, birds, and butterflies living there can be construed a symbol of hope and of peace. Should reunification happen, both sides agree that the former DMZ should be maintained as a nature preserve. On the other hand, it is a reminder of the brutality of both sides of the conflict. It is a refuge only for only animals under a certain weight. Any species larger than a fox has long since been driven out or killed by the blanket of landmines that still pock the area.

On returning to Seoul, the bus passed the War Memorial Museum. In keeping with the day (and having heard it was one of the not-to-be-missed museums of Seoul, we decided to pay a visit. Inside, comprehensive exhibits chronicle the history of Korean involvement in warfare around the world, with focus on early warfare, the UN, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. What struck me most was that ever since people invented national or territory boundries, there has never been world peace. Ever. Every year, without exception, there has been some conflict, somewhere, in the world. Sometimes the war is civil, sometimes international, sometimes it is listed simply as a 'skirmish' or 'unrest', conflict, in varying degrees, is constant.

Some choice exhibits included the UN wing of the Korean War. I had no idea so many countries were involved, and how extensively. Over 2 large rooms, mannequins representing the different uniforms of each country stood next to models of their respective monuments erected all over Korea and placards detailing their involvement in the conflict. In the center of the room a giant tear contructed of dog tags and wrapped in barbed wire hung suspended from the UN seal. It represented a mourning for the losses of war, and a hope for peace. Several such monuments, illustrating hope for re-unification, or of world peace dotted the museum and grounds. For a war museum, there were a surprising number of monuments to peace.

The peace monuments are a positive example of Soputh Korea's propaganda campaign. On the other hand, every exhibit has a strong nationalistic bent. In each document of a battle whenever the South Korean army is pushed back, it is called 'A Strategic Retreat'. Whenever the other guy gets pushed back, he 'runs away'.

The central hall of the history wing was dominated by one of Admiral Yi's 'Turtle ships'. Admiral Yi has the most successful record of any naval captain, having defeated a Japanese fleet of over 300 with only 13 of his turtle boats. The small ironclad boats were far more maneuverable than the massive Japanese boats, and furthermore, they could shoot in all directions simultaneously. Admiral Yi would navigate his little ships into the middle of a cluster of Japanese boats, and then open fire, decimating them.

Popular with kids, big and little, was the wing filled with North Korean war machines. Nearly every vehicle had a set of steps leading up to it, so one could climb in and out of the driver's seat. It was almost as much fun as the bronze stegasaurus outside the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

As we left the museum, the sun was setting behind a statue of two brothers, North and South, embracing. I hope someday in the future it is more than just a hope.

After our big day of war tourism, we decided to have a nice dinner. Yesterday I found a little back street packed with tiny restaurants. Surprisingly, I was able to retrace my steps to a traditional Korean barbeque joint with floor seating, and individual grills on each table. We were the only non-Koreans there, but the menu had pictures, and the waitress spoke a smidge of English, so there were no surprises, which though less exciting, did mean that we were guaranteed a delicious meal.

After dinner, we queued up for the most popular street treat, a kind of donut filled with cinnamon syrup and nuts. Keeping with the theme of the day, we then went across the street to the arcade to shoot zombies. Afterwards, we stopped for tea in an adorable tea shop designed to feel like an old-fashioned rail car.

Finally, we decided to indulge in a form of nightlife particular to Korea - the DVD Bang. For about the price of a movie ticket, one gets a DVD and little room with a couch and large-screen projector TV. Throw in popcorn and drinks for a few extra won, and you have your own private theatre experience. We opted for Curse of the Golden Flower, though not Korean, it was at least Asian, and neither of us had seen it yet.

We finally returned to the guesthouse at about 2AM, having been out since 7:30AM. It was a thoroughly satisfying day.

Day 240 - I May Need to Rename this Blog

It's day 240 of Around the World in 240 Days, and we're still halfway around the world. We will be in South Korea until Feb 12, and have decided to continue the blog until we are all the way back in VA (chronicling our visit to Seattle and our quest for a home in NYC) to make it a full circle.

Seoul is an excellent last stop abroad. The climate and atmosphere are all New York, but it is still undeniably foreign. There is a sense of history and of pride in history much stronger than anywhere else we have visted. I think this in part simply because there is so much history - South Korea has had civilization pretty much since civilization was invented - and in part cultural - In no other country we have stopped in are ancestors and tradition as revered as they are here.

This manifests in strange ways. Part of the culture of traditon is a culture of repect and integrity, resulting in Seoul being one of the safest cities in the world - statistically more than twice as safe as NY. I sort of took feeling safe here for granted and let it slip out of conscious thought until I noticed that the subway cars have luggage racks. And people were using them for everything from innocuous boxes to very clearly laptop computer bags. And the owners were actually napping on the seats below. Sleeping. I can't imagine falling asleep on a NY subway, let alone while my laptop sits unlocked and in plain view on a shelf over my head. But here, no one even blinked, no one's stuff was stolen, and the subway system is just as extensive, and nearly as busy as the one in NY.

Lunar New Year has passed, which means that all the museums are finally open. Today we went first to the Seolodang Prison Museum, which we had tried to visit on Thursday. It is a complex of buildings designed to torture and detain Koreans who dared to oppose Japanese rule 1910-1945. The prison was originally constructed to house only 500 inmates, but at times it could be crammed with over 3000.

The museum is clearly intended to detail the atrocities of the Japanese towards the occupied Koreans. Cell blocks are restored to give vistors an impression of what life here might have been like. Everything is carefully oraganised. Long grey corridors with overhead catwalks fan out from a central point with overhead to allow ease in controlling prisoners. Rooms decked out with vaguely cheesy mannequins graphically illustrate the tortures endured by prisoners nearly nonstop.

Perhaps most powerful is the execution room, a simple wooden structure behind a 2m stone fence. The inside is set up like a small theatre house with the condemned on a stool behind a procenium complete with curtains, and the officials seated in rows on risers. When the lever was pulled, the stool dropped, and the prisoner hanged. Behind the building a set of stairs lead to the basement so a guard can secretly go down to make sure he is dead. After that, the body is whisked away via secret tunnels to a public cemetery.

More than the brutality, what struck me most in the exhibits was reverence in which the rebels are held. In every dsplay, they are referred to as 'our noble ancestor' , 'our patriotic ancestor' or even 'our revered ancestor' . I believe it is partly the cultural respect for ancestors mentioned above, and partly national pride/propaganda.

The other thought that struck me was that once again how history is written by whomever is currently in power. No doubt, the Japanese occupation was wrong, thousands of people wrongly imprisoned, and unspeakable violence done. The prison and the history books make that clear. That said, one of the displays was a diorama of a Korean village in which holographic figures act out scenes from the occupation. In one, a Korean scholar lobs a molotav coctail into a trio of Japanese, killing all three. Surely, had the rebellion failed, there would be a very different museum in place hailing the strong rule of the Japanese against the Korean 'terrorists'.

From the prison, we had a banquet of museums from which to choose. We opted for the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Once again we got more than we bargained for. The directions to the museum simply state "take subway line 5 to Grand Park". Grand park, is in fact, a huge park complex comprising not just our museum, but a zoo, a science center, an amusement park, and a park as we think of them (grass, trees, ponds, etc). It was so huge that we opted to use the park's tram system rather than walk the 30 minutes across the park in the cold.

Once we arrived at the museum we were in for another lucky surprise. The 2nd Saturday of every month the museum is totally free! The museum is housed in a 3-storey open-plan building. The review in the guidebook called it dissapointing, saying that there was too much unused space. Personally I prefer museum to give the art a little 'breathing room'.

We whiled away the rest of the afternoon getting an overview of 20th century Korean art. In many ways it did not seem to differ too much from American modern art. Perhaps this is a mistaken conception, as most modern art galleries in the US display works from around the globe, but I suspect that it has more to do with the transfer of information. Before the 20th century, communication was slow and though extensive in its reach (global trade, and hence global communication is not a new idea), it was very limited in scope. By the 20th century, however, communication had become fast and widepread. As a result ideas flowed back and forth across continents and cultures, resulting in a much more homogeonised art scene. That's my theory anyway.

The art museum was a good ride away from home, and as the temperature dropped with the setting of the sun, we were very grateful for the heated subway seats. The MTA could take a clue here!

Day 239 - SNOW!!!!!!

IT'SSNOWINGIT'SSNOWINGIT'SSNOWING!!!!!!!! Only flurries, but still, fluffy white bits tumbling out of a cloud-dark sky. I love snow, and this is my first snow in over a year. SNOW!!!!....And two days ago we were in t-shirts and shorts fighting off mosquitoes.

But that's just this evening. Once we shook off the two hour jet lag, we had a culture-filled day.

One of the plays we designed at UW was Oh Tae Sok's Intimacy Between Father and Son. The play is based on real events which took place in the 18th century during the Choson (Jeoson/ Joson) Dynasty. Documentation of the events ranges from royal papers supporting the king, to the published memoirs of the widow of the son he murdered, and none is even remotely unbiased. The tangled interpersonal relationships within the 18th century court mirror the complicated relationship of North and South Korea, and in fact, the original 1970's production made use of these parallels. All of this would have been valuable information on the project, yet most keys to discovering it remain firmly locked in-country.

Over the centuries, Korea had been invaded, occupied and torn apart. Victors and the powerful write the history books, dooming Korea to a fragmentory shadow in most Westerners' minds. For that show, most of us spent hours combing every library on campus, and coming up with a wealth of images from Japan and China, but virtually nothing from Korea. We have been lucky to uncover some of it in our short time here, but I feel that the full complexity of the play cannot be understood without 3000 years of history and a DMZ at the back door.

Being in South Korea is an interesting experience. There are hoardes of tourists, but mostly from Japan or other parts of Korea. We have seen very few Westerners at all, and of the few we have talked to, most, like us, did not initially plan on coming here. It almost feels like a forbidden kingdom, an unknown place, even though its doors have been open longer than most of the other countries we have visted over the past months.

South Korea is rarely on the front pages, but it is an economic powerhouse, boasting the 34th highest GDP per capita in the world. Among all the modern wealth and bustle, there remains a palpable sense of the past. Ancient palaces and temples rub shoulders with modern high-rise buildings. Rituals and relics of its agrarian past are carefully preserved in courtyards alongside highways teeming with modern SUV's. And lurking behind it all is the memory of repeated invasions by China and Japan, and the ever present shadow of the DMZ and the armies of the North sitting just 60Km from Seoul.

Today we visted Gyeobungkun Palace. As we left our guesthouse, we heard drumming and other music coming from a courtyard nearby. The gate was open, and we were greeted by a group of musicians, and scattered clumps of people trying on traditional Korean dress, and playing traditional games from the countryside. We assumed the merriment was to celebrate the new year (this assumption ws later confiremed at the folk museum - these sorts of games have been played every New Year for at least 1500 years).

As we walked, we passed a restaurant wth pictures of the food in the wndow. In a country that doesn't use the Roman alphabet, and in which English not widely spoken, a pictorial menu is a great invention. We each pointed to dishes what looked tasty, and were pleasantly surprised when the meals that appeared actually looked nicer than the pictures. We've never had that happen before!

By the time we finished lunch, we were too late to catch the tour of the palace complex nearest our guesthouse (which I just discovered is where the historical events of the play actually happened), but instead opted to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, the largest palace in Seoul. In addition to the Josen buildings, the complex also houses several museums dedicated to preserving Korean art and culture.

We arrived right at 2PM, just in time to watch the changing of the guard. Like the beefeaters in front of Buckingham, the Korean palace guards never change expression as they stand before the palace. The changing of the guard involved all the usual pomp and ceremony, including a large drum, exchanging of secret passwords and identity cards, and salutes with swords. For one moment before the crowd surged forward to begin their palace tours, the guards appeared to stand alone and at attention before the massive gate.

The architecture inside the complex mirrored that of the outer wall and gate. Graceful curved roofs with elaborately painted eaves shelters austere rooms with minimal furnishing. Most traditional Korean homes are heated through ondol, or under-floor heating systems. As a result, life is lived near to the ground, with no need for the glut of furniture found in European palaces.

The finest of the museums was the Museum of Folk Culture. Our experience was greatly enhanced by an enthusiastic English interpreter/curator/volunteer guide who walked us through each exhibit. Through him, we learned that not only is kimchi a tasty snack, but that it is internationally recognised as one the 5 healthiest foods in the world. In previous centuries, Koreans would ferment huge vats of kimchi underground. Today, most Seoulites live in apartments, but they still make their own kimchi, and have even invented a special kind of refrigerator just for that purpose!

In the rural village part of the museum, he explained the symbolism and reasons behind everything from the village totem poles to the layouts of the houses. Had he not been there we would not have learned half as much as we did. There were placards explaining some things, but nothing so good as a some one who really knows and loves the meanings and histories of things walking you through them step-by-step.

I was especially excited about the costume exhibits. Most of the garments represtented different classes and professions from the Choson dynasty. If we did Intimacy Between Father and Son again, I could design the hell out of it!

This evening we ventured out to find winter woolies for Cz. As noted in the title of the post, while we were eating dinner, it began to SNOW. Cz was made doubly happy that we found a woolie hat, sweater, and scarf with minimal hunting.

As we walked the market and tucked into our pizza dinner, we were struck by the similarities between Seoul and NYC. Not just the weather, but the skyscrapers, the lights, even the extremely fashionably dressed couples breezing past in their identical black coats.

In other ways, Seoul reminds me of Europe. Just as 10th century cathedrals loom over modern city blocks in England and France, in Seoul, 13th century belltowers surprise in the shadow of ultra-modern skyscrapers. We took these pictures from the same street corner in our neighborhood. In one direction, a tiny park with a belltower from the 14th century, in another, the Jongho Tower, a monument to modern consumerism.

We have only been in Seoul 2 days, and are already feeling easy and comfortable because it is so like NYC, but at the same time bowled over by the sudden influx of history we never knew. Be prepared for more long-winded history and politics laden posts. I won't be offended if you just look at the pretty pictures.

Day 238 - Seoul of Asia

We left Bangkok in nighttime temperatures of over 30C. We arrived in South Korea to a daytime temperature of -7C. South indeed. I could gripe, but to be honest, I have missed the seasons. It was sort of exhilarating to step off the plane and to feel the cold radiating through the glass of the arrival tunnel. Also because of the cold, despite being a major city with all the attendant traffic, the air is remarkably crisp and fresh-smelling.

After checking into our hostel, our first order of business was to find some lunch. Being Lunar New Year, the restaurant we had planned to visit was closed (along with everything else on its block). We opted instead to go down a promising alley with many signs, selecting a place that claimed on its door 'English Menu". I may need to have some words with Korean restauranteurs on honesty in advertising. There was no English menu. There was no menu. There was no English. Period. Somehow through hand gestures and the collective help of half the other patrons, we found ourselves with bowls of Bibimpap, which we thought only came with beef. Apparently not. This was a salad and tuna sushi affair atop a bed of rice with about 5 different sides. The owners were apparently tickled with our complete ineptitude, and saw to it that we mixed our condiments properly, and even brought us a big bowl of house specialty soup - on the house. We couldn't understand a word of what each other was saying, but it was an entirely enjoyable experience. We will study up the Korean phrasebook section of our Lonely Planet and actually try to order something tomorrow. As we were leaving I saw two young men recieving grilled herring with an entourage of mysterious small bowls. A goal for tomorrow...

In Thailand, Seoul is currently running an ad campaign that goes "Visit Seoul, Soul of Asia". Indeed, it is a neat city. The people here are all phenominally well-dressed. Everyone seems to be slim and beautiful, even bundled up in winter layers. No parkas here - only designer coats and hugely expensive shoes. And everyone wears black or grey. It's really not that far removed from the more posh neighborhoods of NY.

One of the city's best features is the abundance of public art. Every high-rise built after a certain date (I believe late-seventies, but I could be mistaken) is required to have a sculpture in front. The results are sometimes interesting, often easily missed, and occasionally quite charming. This giant traditional ink brush in the summer actually has a flow of water running from its bristles through the 'brushstroke'. Now it is dry, though I think it would make a splendid mini ice rink.

We had planned on visiting the Prison Museum today, as it only has English-speaking guides on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Unfortunately, it was closed for Lunar New Year. As we eventually devised most of the museums in town would be. So we revised our plan.

We instead headed for the Coex Aquarium, only one part of a massive (as in over a kilometer long) underground mall. And we were in luck - not only was the aquarium open, but they were offering a hefty discount on the tickets. We wiled away the afternoon in warm indoor comfort admiring the fishes and oddities.

One room was dedicated entirely to 'Liberating fish from the bowl'. Epspecially clever was the computer whose tropical reef screensaver served as the backround for a school of real tropical fish. There was also a washing machine full of mollies, a refrigerator whose crispers were swimming with goldfish, televisions with screens full of fish, and a traffic signal with a siamese fighting fish in each light.

In a much larger (and more naturalistic) display, huge morey eels gaped, while sharks and rays glided by. Several of the rays seemed quite sociable coming right up to the glass and seeming to smile and wave.

And no aquarium would be complete without the sideshow oddity. In this case, a two-headed turtle, living in apparent comfort in his own private wing of a pond filled with his more conventionally-domed brethren.

After the aquarium, we were reluctant to face the cold. Since all the museums we had intended to visit were closed anyway, we opted instead to rot our brains at the local arcade. There were games for all ages and tastes, from simple match 'em games for the younger set to complex sniper shooting games for the big kids. We joined the throngs of Korean kids zapping zombies, shooting bad guys, playing table hockey, and putting out fires in the White House until our designated game money ran out.

With some reluctance, we left the arcade in the hopes of catching the English Language screening of Charlie Wilson's War (we still weren't ready to face the cold). Unfortunately, it was sold out, so face the cold we did.

We made it home without a hitch. The Korean subway system is far more orderly than the NYC, but the lack of English signs adds the necessary element of adventure. Once back at the hostel, we thawed out with bowls of noodle soup, and the underfloor hearting system, one of the features for which we chose this place.

Most of the museums will probably be closed tomorrow too, though I heard rumors that one of the palaces was open. If not, there is a highrise shopping center downtown with yet another aquarium, an Imax theatre, and a 62nd floor observation deck. These just might be the two days we that we indulge in [observing] conspicuous consumption.