Bali and Korea -- April 4, 2012

No rain but continued chilly temperatures as we left our room and the Guest House.

It was about a 3-block walk, rolling my suitcases behind us, to the main street where the airport bus would come. We were early and the bus was late so we had about a 30-minute wait. I had run out of things to say and was ready to be on my own – definitely in the travel mode. HongTaek insisted on accompanying me on the bus. That was totally unnecessary, but there was no way to dissuade her. I was grateful for security at the airport since it meant she could go no further thus finally ending the long goodbye.

The whole Korea visit was great but spending time with HongTaek was especially wonderful -- if occasionally frustrating.

The Korean Air flight got off the ground at 12:10 p.m. (10:10 p.m. the previous night in Minnesota). Read some, got a little sleep and watched three movies: We Bought a Zoo, The Iron Lady, and Hugo. Landed in Chicago at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, two hours earlier than I left Seoul thanks to the marvels of the International Date Line!

Changed planes to United (with a marked decrease in quality of service) and landed in the Twin Cities at 3:40 p.m. Taxi home to be greeted by Jackson. When I picked up Katy at 6, she was also glad to see me.

So I’m home, thinking back on a wonderful trip but very grateful to be in my own place enjoying my solitude. So, until the next trip. . . .

Bali and Korea -- April 3, 2012

Despite the very hard (somewhat traditional) pillow and too hot comforter, I slept reasonably well. Poor HongTaek sleeping on the heated floor was even hotter and quite eager to get up as soon as I stirred. After showers in the modern bathroom we went to have our “American breakfast” in the dining area. Had to use umbrellas to get there since the rain which had poured all night long continued in the morning.

Despite the “American” food of French toast with Canadian maple syrup, cereal, and orange juice, we ate it sitting on the floor in a traditional manner, looking out at the courtyard through etched glass doors, and enjoying the company of a decorative turtle (or tortoise).

The downspouts on the building were attractive, but the water poured out just above one’s head as one left the dining area.

InSook came by, and we all took a taxi to Sungkyunkwan University where she teaches a once-a-week class in Child Protection. The class is taught in English although when she lectures she does translate key concepts into Korean for the third of the class which has great difficulty with English. The Save the Children video was shown and then I gave largely the same talk I’d given at the SCF offices last Friday. HongTaek also spoke (in Korean) which gave an added dimension to the story.

After the break the class continued with my giving a “lecture” on child protection issues in the U.S. This is a topic on which I am not an expert, but InSook primarily wanted the class to hear that problems in the U. S. are not that different from those in Korea or elsewhere in the world. It was embarrassing to be asked why the U.S. had not ratified the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Children, the only country, other than Somalia, which has not ratified the document. (Great company, huh?) It’s difficult to explain that state’s rights advocates want a state to have the right to imprison and execute thirteen and fourteen year olds and are powerful enough to have their position prevail.

We left the University, InAe joined us, and we had the chance to duck into the Bukchon Cultural Center to see some lovely hanok architecture.

Then we proceeded to another workshop arranged by HongTaek at the Woori Bitkkal Workshop. Along with learning a little about the noblemen who lived in the area (JungIn Choy, the instructor, was able to present information in both English and Korea), their attire, and the importance of the fans they carried and used to convey status, we used material to make bookmarks.

We had a great time, with lots of laughs, and actually managed to produce three bookmarks (among the four of us).

The rain had stopped, but a fierce north wind made it quite cold as we walked to a Korean restaurant for our last meal together in Korea. As always, lots of food.

After a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop we walked to the subway station where HongTaek’s three daughters arrived for a brief visit. After meeting them InSook and InAe left for their homes, and the five of us returned to the Guest House for a little “conversation” and exchange of gifts. Here are HongTaek and her daughters.

The girls left at 9:30, and I had to unpack, reorganize, and repack in preparation for the long trip home tomorrow. HongTaek tried to be helpful, but I really needed to be left on my own to try to fit everything into the suitcase. That was complicated by the fact that InSook as well as HongTaek had provided additional gifts that needed to be packed somehow. Finally I was reasonably successful with packing, finished writing my journal for the day, and went to bed about 11 for my last night in Korea.

Bali and Korea -- April 2, 2012

Before MinJu left for school, she and her mom HaeJung stopped by to say farewell. There’s a possibility they may move to the U.S. for a year in 2013. That would be great!

At 11 InSook arrived, with son YongSun driving, to pick me up for the last two days of my Korea stay. HongTaek Choi, the child I sponsored through Save the Children in the 1980s, now obviously an adult, had made arrangements for us to stay for two days in the Bukchon area of Seoul. She and I had reconnected after a number of years when Save the Children and SBS TV had staged a reunion for a fund-raising telethon in 2011, and she surprised me (understatement) by appearing at my front door ala every bad reality TV show you’ve seen. She really wanted to host me for a special Korean experience, spending a lot of time and money for these two days.

Bukchon, located between the Gyeonbok and Changgyeong palaces, contains the most hanok (traditional Korean houses) in Seoul. Because of the area’s location it was originally populated by Yangban, the families of nobles and senior civil servants, many of the descendents of whom still live in the area. There is an effort to preserve these buildings through creating uses for them and encouraging tourism to bring money into the area.

We stayed at the Kundaemunjip (Great Gate House) Guest House, a 5-room facility, which was either newly constructed or a major reconstruction. The “great gate” was more for show than use; I’m not sure it could be opened.

HongTaek met us at the Guest House showing the entry through a normal-sized door.

There was a lovely courtyard in the traditional style.

Our room, the largest, was in a separate building right next to the "great gate."

Although apparently traditional with ondol (heated) floors for sleeping,

there was a hidden Murphy bed which I happily occupied. It may not have been ‘traditional, but was certainly more comfortable.

And, thank goodness, the bathroom was quite modern.

The room was nicely decorated

and had lovely timbers in the ceiling which were interesting to look at while lying in bed.

After settling in HongTaek, InSook, and I went for lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant with a strange name, composed of both Roman and Korean characters. Apparently in Korean this is the name of a fairy tale identical to Cinderella.

So, of course, here’s another meal picture.

The wall of windows provided some pleasant views of the area, including roofs of surrounding traditional buildings and a lacebark (white) pine supposedly 600 years old, brought to Korea from China by missionaries and planted during the Joseon Dynasty.

HongTaek had made arrangements for us to attend a workshop session in chilwon (lacquerware) and ottchil (mother of pearl). Deok Han Kim, the instructor, had made small lacquer boxes and affixed mother of pearl butterflies which he had cut out from the shell. Our task was simply to clean and polish the mother of pearl. Even that was reasonably complicated so some assistance was provided.

We succeeded in creating our “masterpieces”

and were offered tea as a reward.

After returning to the guesthouse in misty rain and indulging in a bit more conversation, InSook left to go home. HongTaek had wanted her to stay overnight with us, but she couldn’t do that. This left me slightly panicked. HongTaek’s English is only slightly more than my Korean, meaning communication was not easy. It had the potential for being a very long evening. Fortunately, HongTaek is a good photographer and had many pictures to share. I went through my blog, showing all the pictures I had taken in Bali and Korea. So we got through the evening.

And this traditional Korean hanok offered WiFi so I was able to work on my blog and check e-mail before a relatively early bedtime.

Bali and Korea -- April 1, 2012

Left for the 9:30 English-language church service at 8:20. Made good connections on transferring so arrived at the City Hall subway station around 9. This was my old stamping grounds three years ago when I lived in Seoul for 3 months – so much so that I turned to go to the exit I would take to go to my lodging rather than the exit nearest the church. Turned myself around and ended up at the Anglican Cathedral in plenty of time.

The priest was new; had been here about 9 months. He is an American; the previous minister was from Northern Ireland. Of the approximately 50 people in attendance, I recognized four from three years ago. It is a very transient congregation – and also a very diverse one. It is attended by westerners (U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand), Africans from several countries, and people from a variety of Asian countries as well as Koreans, either married to the above or interested in using English.

After the service I wandered around the area which has many things to see. The new city hall is under construction. I’d seen drawings and a model for the new building in 2009. Thought then that it would be a monstrosity – and from what I could see above the construction barriers my opinion remains the same (the metal area with the clock and screen is a facade covering the old city hall building).

The statue of Admiral Yi, a famous naval leader of the late 16^th century, has been located in the same place for a number of years – but it is now part of an expanded and developed square, built in conjunction with the reconstruction of Gwanghwamun, the gate entry to Gyeongbok Palace.

A statue of King Sejong, a 15^th century ruler famous for his interest in science and for the creation of the Korean language alphabet, has been added to the square.

And from the rear of the statue is a lovely view of the front of Gwanghwamun (gate) with the Palace and the mountains in the background.

The square is also a key location of demonstrations of which the Koreans are quite fond. I discovered this group demonstrating about the ownership of Dokdo and the name of the body of water in which it’s located. A billboard about the same issue was featured in a previous blog.

The demonstration

which I joined. . . .

Underneath Gwanghwamun Square a museum about the lives and careers of King Sejong and Admiral Yi has been created. It is very well done, and I found it extremely interesting. There was a replica of the throne of Joseon which I, like most of the visitors, used as a photo op.

The final, decisive, sea battle led by Admiral Yi was depicted by a movie recreation which took place on a screen behind small models of the warring ships. At the end of the movie the screen opened revealing a ½ scale replica of the famous turtle boat he created and used to win the battle.

Took a long walk in the area, visiting the Kyobo Book Store (a huge book store) and observing street entertainment in front of the Bosingbak (an historic belfry) apparently sponsored by Red Bull,

Then I took the long way to the subway station walking along Cheonggye, the recreated stream in the middle of the city. Even on a cool April 1 many people are out enjoying “nature.”

There is a lovely water screen which would be more enjoyable without the explanation on the accompanying sign which says: “Samgak water screen helps remove a bad smell from a sewerage arrangement and you can enjoy the scene of the water screen in Cheonggyecheon. This fountain is established in the form of curtains for the scenic beauty.”

Arrived back at InAe’s house at 4 p.m. to find that most of the family members had already arrived for the family gathering. (I thought the party was to start at 5 p.m.) It was great fun to see InSook’s two sons, their wives and daughters and InAe’s son and daughter, their spouses and children. With six girls between the ages of one and fourteen and one boy age four, things were a bit chaotic (to put it mildly). It is such fun to see the children from four families getting along well and enjoying each other’s company.

Here’s InAe’s entire family

I didn't get a group picture of InSook's family, just individual pictures. But I did get a good one of her oldest (and I think favorite) granddughter. Esther.

Of course there was lots of food – homemade and delivery (pizza, chicken).

Dessert was a cake which, by tradition, must have candles even if there’s no birthday. And the candles were lit and blown out twice! It's so much fun!!

A good time was had by all. But by the time the last folk left around 8 p.m. I was exhausted! Had to spend some time packing since tomorrow I will leave InAe’s house and go to a traditional Korean hotel, an outing organized by HongTaik. I will be there for two nights with HongTaik and then leave from there for the airport on Wednesday morning.

Bali and Korea -- March 31, 2012

InAe was gone when I arose at 8:30. She’d left a big breakfast for me, as usual, but I ate only the fruit knowing that I was going for an early lunch with YoungIl at an Italian restaurant I really enjoy, Mad for Garlic. She and I had gone to another of these franchised operations in 2009, and I liked it a lot; I do enjoy garlic! Almost every item on the menu has garlic in some form. Here we are with the extensive menu.

We tried a different pizza from the one we’d had last time. It was good (crust had sweet potato and garlic), but not as good as the one from several years ago. So YoungIl requested the waiter bring a bowl of roasted garlic, which he did, and we happily added it to this pizza.

We also had a delicious salad with a variety of mushrooms, lettuce, cheese, and one sprig of asparagus.

The first time I ate here I was amazed to find a container of mouth wash with paper cups in the bathroom. They still provide this necessary amenity along with the usual soap..

From the restaurant we walked around the corner to a “gourmet” coffee shop. I had never heard of Dutch coffee, but it is made in this laboratory-style apparatus.

I would have had some, but at this shop it is served only cold, and I wanted a hot cup of coffee. They also use this new-fangled device which operates much like an old-fashioned percolator although it looks like a science project. – And I thought percolators were outdated!

Since there wasn’t a “sitting at the restaurant table” picture from Mad for Garlic, here is one of us sitting at the coffee shop. Note the potted cacti behind us!

YoungIl, who had attended yesterday’s Save the Children session, reported that participants had commented on how they liked my English, that they could understand me. I was happy to hear that my efforts to be understandable had succeeded.

After YoungIl left I contacted HaeJung hoping she might be available. But she has a cold and headache and is feeling relatively miserable. So I worked on blogs and decided to attend a performance this evening, calling to check on the availability of tickets.

Karma is a non-verbal production, using dance-like martial arts, some drumming (more taiko then Korean), and some moving around dramatically, rather like opera, to tell the story. The “story” reminded me of the Balinese dance in that it appeared to be very convoluted involving gods changing roles. There was a comic character who was a poongmulnori dancer – but dressed all in yellow. In the background behind scrim-like screens an artist did Korean brush painting as the performance was going on. In any event it was quite entertaining.

When I refused both on the phone and in person to purchase a VIP ticket, feeling the cheaper ticket would be fine, the clerk gave me an “upgrade” to the VIP seating. Since the theater was only about 1/3 full, I guess they thought it would be a good thing to be nice to a foreigner. Of course, there were no pictures allowed during the performance. But here is a picture of the curtain prior to the opening.

And after the performance was over the performers gathered in the lobby for pictures to be taken.

I left the theater at 8:45 and made good connections on the subway so was back at InAe’s at 9:30.