On Thursday I decided to venture over to Macau for a day. Macau is an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, and like Hong Kong it is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. As a result, I can travel to Macau without a Chinese tourist visa. Macau is a fascinating place with an interesting story. It receives more foreign tourists than Hong Kong each year and is considered the Vegas of the East, with many wealthy businessmen and leaders coming in search of luck. In fact, one of Kim Jong Il's sons comes to Macau quite often squandering his share of his father's wealth.
I left pretty early in order to catch a morning ferry. The ferry terminal is located near Hong Kong station, and it was pretty packed in the morning. I left Hong Kong around 9:30 and arrived in Macau about an hour later. Next was customs....oh boy.....
There was a designated line for Macau residents, while the rest of us foreigners (including Chinese nationals) stood in a separate line. As I was standing in line, a very dramatic scene unfolded. I noticed a Chinese family very subtly sneaking their way farther into the line. Not knowing the language and not in a huge hurry, I figured it would be best not to say anything, the last thing I would want would be to cause an international incident in the customs line to Macau. However, the couple right in front of me would not have it. They said something to this line hopping couple in Mandarin that I could only imagine was very blunt and insulting, because the next thing I knew, the line hopping man was putting his fist up as his wife tried to hold him back. It got very tense as the line hopper yelled at the top of his lungs and glared at the other man with a look of utter hate. The other man tried to ignore him at this point, because he was getting very threatening. As the line hopper tried to lunge at him again, a group of about six men made a human wall protecting the other man. A few of them indicated to that man to quickly get through customs and get out as fast as he could, which is what he did. One thing that really surprised me throughout all of this is that the guards glanced over once and besides that did not get involved. Very strange, but the whole incident was my welcome to Macau!
After getting through customs, I took a city bus to the old district of Macau. Macau was developed as a Portuguese settlement in the 16th century. It has very distinct European roots that have a significant place in the culture to this day. The old district of the city is home to the area that the Portuguese built their area for trade with Ming China.
While in the old district, I visited seven different churches, each with a unique story in Macau's history. I visited several smaller Catholic churches before visiting the ruins of St Paul's. I found it very strange to find churches reminiscent of European architecture not only in Asia, but well established pieces of the city. It was fascinating walking into these churches with all of the text in both Portuguese and traditional Chinese characters. Viewing the art of these churches reminded me of the Catholic cathedrals back home.
St Paul's Cathedral was built from 1582-1602. It is a sight to behold as you make your way over a hill to see this dominating stone masterpiece. It has fallen into ruin, but it is still an amazing place where history comes to life. One of the coolest things about St Paul's is that they have kept the catacombs of the early Chinese Christian's graves intact under the church. You can walk through this area and see the very beginnings of Christianity in this area. One thing that was very interesting as I walked through this as well as the relics chamber was to see the reactions of Chinese nationalist tourists. They approached these places with similar fascination as I approach a Confucian or Shinto temple: A curiosity for the traditions and an inability to fully understand the importance of this space to the people of that faith. It was weird seeing it from the other side of the spectrum (believing in the faith of the place while watching others who do not hold that faith)while walking through these ruins.
After St Paul's, I visited an old Portuguese fortress that overlooked the cathedral as well as the casinos today. I found it quite ironic that many of the cannons that have stood here for 500 years seemed to point directly at the casinos. My imagination?
I then walked one of the old winding streets to the Protestant church and cemetery. This was one of the few places of worship for non-Catholics. The graveyard holds a lot of very interesting historic characters, including Robert Morrison, who wrote the first English/Chinese dictionary and translated the Bible into Chinese as well as George Washington's grandson, Joseph Adams, who was an opium trader around the time of the Opium War. In addition, there were countless Opium traders that on their graves indicated that they were killed during the War. I have mixed feelings about these men. On their graves, they write about their deep profound faith, yet that faith was not enough to defeat the lust for greed and power. I did not live in that time, so I can't be too judgmental about their desire for comforts over doing what's right, especially when there are issues that happen today that I may not condemn with my actions as much as I could. It is interesting how at that time, they may have thought what they were doing was nothing too terrible, yet now history views them as some of the most manipulative individuals of that time. It makes me wonder how history will view my generation....
I made my way back to the ferry around 5pm. It would be another two hour trek back to home base: ferry, subway, bus...the tour of public transportation! Nevertheless, I was glad that I was able to visit Macau for the day. The short trip sparked my interest in learning more about this very deeply rooted European region of China.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Gaecheonjeol and Korean War National Museum
Happy National Founding Day (Gaecheonjeol) everyone! Today was one of Korea's national holidays commemorating the mythological story of Korea's origins. According to legend, on this day 2457 BC, Hwanung descended to earth to live with mankind. He came to earth with his son, Dangun, who is the legendary founder Gojoseon, the first dynasty of Korea.
According to the story, Hwanin (god of heaven, father of Hwanung) permitted his son to descend to Baekdu mountain, because he desired to live on earth. Near the place where he established Sinsi (city of god), a tiger and a bear lived in a cave. They would come to Sinsi to pray Hwanung, asking to be made human. Hwanung gave them garlic and mugwort and told them if they ate this for 100 days and lived out of the sunlight, they would become human. The tiger did this for 20 days, but then gave up and left the cave. The bear fulfilled the 100 day requirement and was transformed into a woman. This woman, Ungnyeo, prayed for a child. Hwanung took her as his wife. She gave birth to Dangun, who became the first king of Gojoseon.
Interesting story right? I think the fact that this traditional story still is remembered on this day is a pretty strong indication of how much Korea reveres its history and traditions. Though all of my friends think the story is quite sensational, it is nice to see a country remember what its ancestors believed. You cannot fully understand your own culture until you know the history of your people. I also thought it was awesome because we got the day off!
For my Gaecheonjeol holiday, I went up to Seoul to visit the Korean War National Museum. Polina and Chelsea joined me on this day trip. We took the subway (only a 2 1/2 hour ride) to the museum and then had lunch in Itaewon before coming back to school.
The Korean War National Museum presents the history of Korean warfare, namely the Japanese invasion and the Korean war. It also discusses some of the little known conflicts from the Three Kingdoms period as well as the battles during the Japanese occupation. I consider Koreans a very peaceful people, for having a 4000 year history (going back to Gaecheonjeol again!), Korea has only had a few major wars, and all of them were in defense (from the perspective of the South).
One thing that I learned that was quite interesting was that during the occupation, the resistance fighters, which were Koreans that fought against the occupation, were supported financially by the US and Allied forces. A large group of these fighters were in Manchuria trying to take parts of the northern region of Korea from the Japanese during WWII. They were planning an invasion of Japan occupied north Korea when the atomic bombs were dropped, ending the occupation. I knew the Allied forces supported the exiled Korean government in Shanghai, but I didn't know that they supplied weapons to these guerrilla forces in the mountains of Manchuria. I wonder what history would be like if Truman did not drop the bombs in Japan....what would an invasion of Korea from the resistance fighters result in? What would the joint invasion of Japan by the USA and Russia result to? History would have been very different.
Another thing that really struck me seeing it displayed in the museum was how many people were involved and killed in the Korean war. The amount of Korean soldier casualties is overwhelming, about 600,000 were killed. That is a lost generation, considering the population of Korea was estimated around 30 million or so. The USA involvement in the war is quite extraordinary. Over 1 million troops were sent to Korea during the war. It is hard for me to comprehend the influence this war must have had on the USA. This took place right after WWII, with most of the free world believing that the outcome would define the decades to come.
After visiting the museum, we went to lunch in Itaewon, which is considered the foreigner street of Seoul. You can find just about any ethnic food on this street. It is a pretty cool place to visit, seeing people from around the world chatting in dozens of languages. We had lunch in a Saudi Arabian restaurant, which was very delicious! It was a nice change in pace from the routine chili pepper sauteed Korean food we eat at school. Don't get me wrong, I love Korean food, but I enjoy variety, which proves to be near impossible in small town Korea.
This week is regular classes. This Friday, I'm going to cheer the Korean National Football team as they play Poland at the World Cup Stadium. I am extremely excited about this chance to be in the atmosphere of some hard core soccer fans cheering their beloved team. Best believe, I'll be wearing my Korea Football shirt!
According to the story, Hwanin (god of heaven, father of Hwanung) permitted his son to descend to Baekdu mountain, because he desired to live on earth. Near the place where he established Sinsi (city of god), a tiger and a bear lived in a cave. They would come to Sinsi to pray Hwanung, asking to be made human. Hwanung gave them garlic and mugwort and told them if they ate this for 100 days and lived out of the sunlight, they would become human. The tiger did this for 20 days, but then gave up and left the cave. The bear fulfilled the 100 day requirement and was transformed into a woman. This woman, Ungnyeo, prayed for a child. Hwanung took her as his wife. She gave birth to Dangun, who became the first king of Gojoseon.
Interesting story right? I think the fact that this traditional story still is remembered on this day is a pretty strong indication of how much Korea reveres its history and traditions. Though all of my friends think the story is quite sensational, it is nice to see a country remember what its ancestors believed. You cannot fully understand your own culture until you know the history of your people. I also thought it was awesome because we got the day off!
For my Gaecheonjeol holiday, I went up to Seoul to visit the Korean War National Museum. Polina and Chelsea joined me on this day trip. We took the subway (only a 2 1/2 hour ride) to the museum and then had lunch in Itaewon before coming back to school.
The Korean War National Museum presents the history of Korean warfare, namely the Japanese invasion and the Korean war. It also discusses some of the little known conflicts from the Three Kingdoms period as well as the battles during the Japanese occupation. I consider Koreans a very peaceful people, for having a 4000 year history (going back to Gaecheonjeol again!), Korea has only had a few major wars, and all of them were in defense (from the perspective of the South).
One thing that I learned that was quite interesting was that during the occupation, the resistance fighters, which were Koreans that fought against the occupation, were supported financially by the US and Allied forces. A large group of these fighters were in Manchuria trying to take parts of the northern region of Korea from the Japanese during WWII. They were planning an invasion of Japan occupied north Korea when the atomic bombs were dropped, ending the occupation. I knew the Allied forces supported the exiled Korean government in Shanghai, but I didn't know that they supplied weapons to these guerrilla forces in the mountains of Manchuria. I wonder what history would be like if Truman did not drop the bombs in Japan....what would an invasion of Korea from the resistance fighters result in? What would the joint invasion of Japan by the USA and Russia result to? History would have been very different.
Another thing that really struck me seeing it displayed in the museum was how many people were involved and killed in the Korean war. The amount of Korean soldier casualties is overwhelming, about 600,000 were killed. That is a lost generation, considering the population of Korea was estimated around 30 million or so. The USA involvement in the war is quite extraordinary. Over 1 million troops were sent to Korea during the war. It is hard for me to comprehend the influence this war must have had on the USA. This took place right after WWII, with most of the free world believing that the outcome would define the decades to come.
After visiting the museum, we went to lunch in Itaewon, which is considered the foreigner street of Seoul. You can find just about any ethnic food on this street. It is a pretty cool place to visit, seeing people from around the world chatting in dozens of languages. We had lunch in a Saudi Arabian restaurant, which was very delicious! It was a nice change in pace from the routine chili pepper sauteed Korean food we eat at school. Don't get me wrong, I love Korean food, but I enjoy variety, which proves to be near impossible in small town Korea.
This week is regular classes. This Friday, I'm going to cheer the Korean National Football team as they play Poland at the World Cup Stadium. I am extremely excited about this chance to be in the atmosphere of some hard core soccer fans cheering their beloved team. Best believe, I'll be wearing my Korea Football shirt!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A Weekend in Jeollanam-do
I just got back from a busy but awesome two day trip to Jeollanam-do, which is the southwestern province in Korea. It is an area that I had not yet visited, so I was very excited to see something new.
Jeollanam-do is the southwestern region of Korea. Some of the things this area is famous for include Bibimbap, Green Tea, and historical locations from the war with the Japanese in the 1500's.
SCH coordinated with a school tour group for students to go on this trip. Joining me on this trip were about 20 international students from SCH. We left school early Saturday morning to begin the long bus ride to the southwest coast. It took about 5 hours to reach our destination.
We first went to the Myeongryang Dacheop site, which is the place where General Yi won one of his most incredible victories over the Japanese navy. With his innovative Turtle Ships, Yi led a fleet of 13 ships to fight an intimidating 133 ship Japanese fleet. Yi was not only a general, he was a well educated individual. With the knowledge he had, he developed a new strategy to overcome the Japanese. He chose Myeongryang for this battle because it is a narrow strait and the Japanese ships could not maneuver well in tight areas. He had a few of his ships lure the Japanese to this area only to find the remaining ships strategically placed to eliminate the Japanese navy. This battle is considered one of the greatest underdog victories in the history of warfare.
At Myeongryang, we watched a reenactment of the battle as well as various cultural performances. It was a unique experience seeing history come to life among Koreans beaming with national pride as the story unfolded. It was incredible to see this place with so much historical significance and to see a glimpse of what that event must have been like.
After visiting Myeongryang, we went to the Gangjin Celadon Museum. Korea is famous for pottery with a green celadon glaze. At the museum, we designed a cup and had it glazed.
We then checked into our motel: The Prince Motel, which is located right next to the Belagio Motel (no joke!) It was a nice motel, clean and warm. We had dinner and then spent the evening singing at Noraebang.
Sunday morning after breakfast, we made our way to Boseong Green Tea Farm. Boseong is famous for some of the most tasty Green Tea in Korea. Being a green tea buff now, I was eager to see if Boseong would live up to its reputation. It was very yummy! I had some Green Tea ice cream which was the best I have had in Korea. It was a gorgeous yet brisk fall afternoon as we walked amongst a bamboo forest and then wandered the rows of Green Tea. The Green Tea fields were beyond beautiful: vibrant green contrasted with the deeper shades from the evergreen trees below.
We then returned to Myeongryang Daecheop to see some traditional performances. We watched a group of Ajumas (older ladies) perform a traditional Circle Dance. They were very lively, dancing very fast at times and at one point had one Ajuma gracefully walk across the other ladies' back with the support of two Ajumas. We then watched a group of school boys perform Salmulnori. It was so sweet to see all the elderly people in the audience rise from their seats as the music began and come down to the stage to dance. Witnessing this, I began to think how for many of these older people in the audience (75+), they never had the opportunity to learn their traditional music and dance as children because they grew up in a Japanese occupied Korea. They lived through what is considered a cultural genocide. Now in their old age, having seen Korea progress from an occupied state, to a divided nation, to finally a South Korea economically strong, being able to dance to the music created by past generations was beautiful to behold. After all they have endured in their lives, it was extraordinary to see such joy on their faces as they danced together.
After the performances, it was time to make the long journey back to school. We left around 3pm and arrived at school around 9pm. Monday is a national holiday so we will have a day to unwind before school on Tuesday.
Jeollanam-do is the southwestern region of Korea. Some of the things this area is famous for include Bibimbap, Green Tea, and historical locations from the war with the Japanese in the 1500's.
SCH coordinated with a school tour group for students to go on this trip. Joining me on this trip were about 20 international students from SCH. We left school early Saturday morning to begin the long bus ride to the southwest coast. It took about 5 hours to reach our destination.
We first went to the Myeongryang Dacheop site, which is the place where General Yi won one of his most incredible victories over the Japanese navy. With his innovative Turtle Ships, Yi led a fleet of 13 ships to fight an intimidating 133 ship Japanese fleet. Yi was not only a general, he was a well educated individual. With the knowledge he had, he developed a new strategy to overcome the Japanese. He chose Myeongryang for this battle because it is a narrow strait and the Japanese ships could not maneuver well in tight areas. He had a few of his ships lure the Japanese to this area only to find the remaining ships strategically placed to eliminate the Japanese navy. This battle is considered one of the greatest underdog victories in the history of warfare.
At Myeongryang, we watched a reenactment of the battle as well as various cultural performances. It was a unique experience seeing history come to life among Koreans beaming with national pride as the story unfolded. It was incredible to see this place with so much historical significance and to see a glimpse of what that event must have been like.
After visiting Myeongryang, we went to the Gangjin Celadon Museum. Korea is famous for pottery with a green celadon glaze. At the museum, we designed a cup and had it glazed.
We then checked into our motel: The Prince Motel, which is located right next to the Belagio Motel (no joke!) It was a nice motel, clean and warm. We had dinner and then spent the evening singing at Noraebang.
Sunday morning after breakfast, we made our way to Boseong Green Tea Farm. Boseong is famous for some of the most tasty Green Tea in Korea. Being a green tea buff now, I was eager to see if Boseong would live up to its reputation. It was very yummy! I had some Green Tea ice cream which was the best I have had in Korea. It was a gorgeous yet brisk fall afternoon as we walked amongst a bamboo forest and then wandered the rows of Green Tea. The Green Tea fields were beyond beautiful: vibrant green contrasted with the deeper shades from the evergreen trees below.
We then returned to Myeongryang Daecheop to see some traditional performances. We watched a group of Ajumas (older ladies) perform a traditional Circle Dance. They were very lively, dancing very fast at times and at one point had one Ajuma gracefully walk across the other ladies' back with the support of two Ajumas. We then watched a group of school boys perform Salmulnori. It was so sweet to see all the elderly people in the audience rise from their seats as the music began and come down to the stage to dance. Witnessing this, I began to think how for many of these older people in the audience (75+), they never had the opportunity to learn their traditional music and dance as children because they grew up in a Japanese occupied Korea. They lived through what is considered a cultural genocide. Now in their old age, having seen Korea progress from an occupied state, to a divided nation, to finally a South Korea economically strong, being able to dance to the music created by past generations was beautiful to behold. After all they have endured in their lives, it was extraordinary to see such joy on their faces as they danced together.
After the performances, it was time to make the long journey back to school. We left around 3pm and arrived at school around 9pm. Monday is a national holiday so we will have a day to unwind before school on Tuesday.
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