If you Ain't got Seoul, You Ain't got Nothing - Part 2

Greetings,

When we left off a few days ago, we had shown you all the sights we saw in Seoul. For the last two days of our trip, we decided to go outside of the city for a couple of side trips.

On day three we headed out to Everland, Korea's answer to Disney Land, minus the small bank loan needed to enjoy it. When we walked through the main gates, it was like we were back in California: a happy theme song played over the loud speakers, happy Koreans waved at us from every direction with their curious two-handed wave, and the place was decked out like small town, USA, complete with thousands of Halloween decorations.

(Our first sight of Everland. Not nearly enough characters in costume.)

Our host, Soon Tae, had been before so he led us to the better rides and away from the crappier ones. Of course we hit the two roller coasters first, and with those out of the way we decided to head for an attraction that would probably never survive in North America.

The ride was a safari-like tour with real animals. Unlike a real safari, however, we didn't ride out over miles of savannah terrain, but through a small, lightly forested compound. Also unlike a real safari, this one had ligers. Yes, apparently tigers and lions will mate when thrown together. Apart from being baffled at the actual existence of ligers, we were both really saddened by the animals in captivity. Their enclosures weren't ridiculously small, but what with 1,000 buses driving through every day of the year, they couldn't lead a happy, stress-free existence.

(A tiger.)

(A bear.)

This is the first bear that either of us had ever seen up close that wasn't living in a garbage dump or chasing John Candy around.

We included this picture to highlight the true absurdity of some of the rides. This is the first time we've ever seen a water ride that came equipped with protective tarps. Afterwards when Jo emerged from the ride, the attendant didn't believe her that the wet spot on her pants was from her juice. Why would Jo bring juice on a ride, you ask? I'm sure that will be the subject of great conversations for years to come.

One of the reasons we decided to go to Everland instead of one of the closer amusement parks was because of what you see here. The park put on a half-an-hour traditional Korean performance that included dancing, drummers, acrobatics, tight-rope walking, and a comedy routine that defied translation. We simply laughed when everyone else laughed and hoped for the best. We could have been laughing at jokes about how stupid Canadians are for all we know.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the white ribbons that you see circling around the drummers were attached to their heads. They were spinning so fast that it took us about five minutes to notice this fact. Soon Tae told us that this style of performance is hundreds of years old, so despite the North American-style Halloween decorations in the background, we felt like we were getting a real Korean experience. The kind you can only get in a theme park owned by the Japanese.

Without a doubt this was the coolest part of the show. What we didn't capture on film was when the tight-rope walker started bouncing high in the air off of his nether regions. It was either the bravest or the stupidest thing we've ever seen, but apparently this too is traditional. (Jo's note: many of you probably think we're joking about this part, but believe me, there was nothing funny about what he did to his Charlie Browns.)

The show lasted about thirty minutes and we spent most of the time in awe. It was a much cooler way to celebrate Thanksgiving than watching football and Aunt Gerdie getting hammered on Almond Sherry.

Who said that theme parks can't be political? Here's a shot of Shayne and Soon Tae displaying their displeasure at the Iraq War, moments before being catapulted into space. (Shayne's note: the reason you don't see old chicken Groves in this photo is because apparently she doesn't enjoy having her stomach contents shaken out of her. I, on the other hand, do.)

Taking a turn for the serious, let's switch subjects onto Chuseok (pronounced Choo-sock). The next day Soon Tae's family kindly invited us to their own celebrations. At the crack of dawn we headed out to his uncle's apartment where his father's side of the family was all gathered. At first everything was very serious, as a table was laid out with a generous amount of food and rice wine for their ancestors. The men of the family then lined up in order of precedence and bowed several times to show respect for their forefathers. After this, everyone left the room to give the ancestors a chance to "eat" the food. We spent this time sitting on a bed grinning nervously to the old grandmother who spoke no English but smiled a lot.



When we came back the table was moved to the center of the room, the screen and incense put away, and the feast began. Normally only the men and the elderly eat first, but both of us sat down too as we were guests. The table was piled with dishes: several kinds of kimchi, ribs, rice cakes (the squishy kind, not the kind you spread with peanut butter), deep fried fish, mini omelette cakes, tofu, strange fruit, and rice, among other things. We ate until we were full, and then were pressed to eat more by Soon Tae's grandmother.

Apparently we were the first foreigners Soon Tae's grandmother had ever seen up close and in person, and it was the first time some of the family members had eaten with foreigners. We tried our best to leave them with good impressions of the West, although I think it would have been more amusing for them if we'd been hopeless at using chopsticks. We should note that everyone in the family was incredibly nice, and Soon Tae's aunt invited us back to her place for Lunar New Year in February. It was great to be included in a family's celebration when we were so far from home. Their kindness meant a lot.

After everyone had eaten, we decided to head out to see the DMZ (the De-Militarized Zone dividing North and South Korea), along with Soon Tae's brother and 3 cousins. We couldn't get a proper tour of the DMZ due to Chuseok and the late notice, but we could still drive up to the border and take a look. It sounded simple enough until we were stuck in 6 hours of traffic jams. Anyways, we don't really want to relive that horror, so let's just skip to the good parts.

(Here's a shot Shayne got driving along an inlet that separates the North and South. You can see a North Korean city way in the distance.)

All along the 38th parallel are the fences and razor wire you see above, along with guard posts every few hundred metres. For two Canadians who've only ever understood war through the evening news and movies, it was a daunting experience. There are literally thousands of landmines in between the two countries and as a side note, the DMZ was the reason that the Americans refused to sign on to the treaty banning landmines in the mid-90's.

When we finally arrived at the border, we were surprised by the lack of military and the presence of what appeared to be a small carnival. We learned that we were still 2 kilometres away from the actual border, and so this area outside the DMZ is more for Korean tourists than security.

That's not to say that it wasn't a sobering experience. Many of the Koreans who come here have family in the North and this is the closest they can be to them. The picture above is of "Freedom Bridge" where the POWs came across after the armistice. Today it is blocked by a barbed wire fence covered with flags, messages, and memorabilia in support of reunification. You can peek through the hangings and see a South Korean soldier guarding the beginning of the bridge, but not much else.

(In front of the hundreds of cards, posters, flags, and letters left behind for family members that will never see them.)

After the bridge we headed up to the observation platform to get a better view. The mountains you see in the background of this photo are in North Korea, but everything else is DMZ. To the right are the remains of a bridge destroyed during the war, and to the left is the "Freedom Bridge" which now takes tourists by train deep into the DMZ to Panmunjom, the village where the armistice was reached (a trip we'd still like to make still if tensions ease).
Another view of the "Freedom Bridge" which was renovated extensively years after the war ended.


The day that we left Soon Tae's mother prepared a traditional Korean breakfast. It was great and included everything from rice to soup to kimchi. Needless to say it sure beat the Cheerios we usually eat everyday.

Of course it made us wonder what sort of breakfast the younger generation makes when their parents aren't around to make such wonderful feasts.


Ah yes....now we know. The secret Korean tradition of doughnuts and coffee for breakfast.

Our trip was only four days but it felt like several weeks. We packed so much in and saw so many great things. We owe a huge thanks to Soon Tae and his family for everything they did for us. Just one more example of Korean kindness.

Anyway, that was our trip and we look forward to going back as soon as possible. Seoul is a beautiful city and is definitely the cultural hub of Korea. Of course it's no Ulsan, but then what is.

Cheers

Jo and Shayne