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GSE Korea Log 5
April 28th
We woke this morning at 6 A. M. at the all girls academy. I am so glad that I fell asleep around 9 P. M. last night due to exhaustion. Blasting music, louder than the speakers could realistically carry. Then the sounds of girls and giggles everywhere. Bells ringing like the bells from Grease. Announcements. I, however, had a great nights sleep. By 8:30 A. M., the dorm was a ghost town and I was able to take a nice hot shower.
First thing on tap for the morning was a Korean War Memorial and Cemetery. The third largest in Korea. Sort of like Arlington, but on a much smaller scale. Very interesting white glove ceremony was performed honoring those buried there. Not really sure exactly what was said as it was in Korean, but there was a reef in the name of our GSE team that I assumed was representative of our honoring the men from the Korean and Vietnam Wars buried there. An amazing view of the valley below.
American tanks and anti-aircraft weapons made by Chrysler and sold to Korea by the U. S. government were on display.
We next visited the Imgo Sowon shrine-academy. It was first established in 1553 as a memoriam to Chong Mong-Chu, a great scholar and statesman of the 14th century. He was a founder of Korea’s Sung Confucianism. The buildings are painted magnificently in greens, reds, blues, blacks, etc.
We kneeled and performed a short prayer to Chong Mong-Chu. We were first dressed in black gowns and hats, which even normal Koreans are not permitted to wear.
Next we were on our way to the Korean Science Observatory. We passed a beautiful dam on the way that created a wonderful man made lake.
The observatory was an interesting place. Many photo’s of pictures that had been taken of the stars. The amount of stars seen in some of the photos was breathtaking. To think we are alone in the Universe seems a tad naïve considering how many more opportunities for life are out there.
We took a short hike up to the telescope and short presentation. Then back down the hill to a smaller telescope which has a lens that costs more than a million dollars U. S.
On the ride back down the mountain, we stopped at a Rotary Monument dedicated to those who had planted trees up and down the roadside of the mountain.
On the way back, we stopped for dinner. The high light of the evening was when Travis proclaimed that he spoke a little Brazilian. Ed and I looked at each other in a manner which said that neither of us had ever heard of a language named Brazilian. We were going to let it pass, however. But Travis then went on to explain how his mother had taught him just a little as a child.
Ed quipped, so little in fact that you don’t even know the name of the language. We all howled, leaving Travis a little red-faced. He was a good sport as we ribbed him a few days (he might say weeks) before letting it pass.
After a late dinner, we headed back to the dorm. The girls had finished their final exams that day, so when we returned they requested that we join them for a school assembly. We headed to the auditorium and there the school principal and a bunch of girls were waiting on us. An announcement was made over the intercom and the girls just kept pouring. All curious enough to gawk at the Americans like animals in the zoo. Some were VERY shy, some were outspoken. I’d say there were easily 150-200 girls there.
I’d point the camera in their general direction and they would all shriek and turn away.
We introduced ourselves and Ed told them what a GSE team was and why we were there. They asked questions about what we did for a living and about our schools. Jenny being the Go Go Gator she is, taught them the Gator Chomp. I then had to try to teach them the Seminole war chop. Travis was a big hit and we pronounced that if he ever lost his job in Marketing he could return to Korea as Dorm God.
Once the assembly was over, it was off to the singing room. One of the girls said that Kwang wanted to sit next to me, was it O. K.? I said sure, why not. Kwang was a senior and Dorm Captain. All of a sudden I was being hit on by a teenage girl. I reminded her that I had a girlfriend in attempt to keep some distance. She asked me if she was pretty and I said, yes, of course. Would you like to see picture? She said no.
Her friend said that she didn’t care that I had a girlfriend because she would steal my heart from her. I was like, O. K.; I need to get up, sing a song, and then politely call it a night.
In the end, the girlfriend strategy worked and we all had a blast and hung out for a while. The next morning she handed me a note explaining that she wanted to be friends. I e-mailed her later stating that would be great.
April 29th
We didn’t have to get picked up today until 10 A.M., so we had some free time in the morning.
It was a 40 minute drive to the Chungsong club. We were met by Mr. Kil and the owner of the hotel we were to stay at.
Upon arriving at the hotel, we took our luggage up to the third floor and changed to go for a 3-hour hike. The hike was to Mt. Juwangnon, which is part of the Grand White Mountain Range. At the base we were joined by the District Governor and Canadian Jeff. The Juwangson were once called the Seokbyeongsan, meaning Stone-screened mountains because of the spectacular exposed granite cliffs in the shape of an oriental folding screen. This was a great hike that featured neat bridges and waterfalls in addition to the wonderful rock formations.
Canadian Jeff was an interesting fellow who worked at the school owned by the father of our interpreter. We laughed as he explained how our interpreter’s father ran the down and how the interpreter had a drive drunk free card. Jeff was an English teacher from Winnipeg, but he explained how English was not a very important subject to the students at that school, so they were not very dedicated to the subject. They would often sleep in his class because they were up all night studying for more important subjects.
After we returned, they asked us if we were up for another hike and we said sure. I was tired, but we went along anyhow. It was a wonderful lake which they said had become very popular since they filmed a movie there. I forgot the name but it was beautiful. Saw one of the best sunsets since arriving in Korea on the way back.
Went to bed, as I was tired. Slept well.
April 30th
We continue to laugh at everything. Whether it is Ed’s costume wearing, Jenny’s ascension to America’s Korean Queen, Travis’ speaking Brazilian or my exploding golf club adventure. Nothing is above our laughter. You have to have a sense of humor to endure this group as we get giddy and slap happy after spending so much time with each other.
First thing in the morning, we had breakfast with Mr. Kil (or Road Kill as we nicknamed him) and the hotel owner. Then the race was on. And I do mean race. Ed and I were with Mario Andretti and he drives with a reckless abandon. We stopped at his office, which was some type of Agricultural Extension office. They seem to make a habit of driving on the wrong side of the road continuously. Even around blind curves at the highest possible speed navigateable. If someone is coming the other direction, no big deal, they will move over and we will take our time returning to our lane.
Next we went to an outstanding Museum of art which features the art of Lee, Won Zoa, who we met and who signed a couple books representing his art to the GSE Team; he seemed to enjoy painting very large landscapes. The largest of which was too large to fit inside the museum.
One of our guides of the museum was a lady who called herself Stella. She said she had been in charge of Hasbro’s Asian operations. Very interesting woman who spoke English well and who said her husband spends a lot of time in Hong Kong.
From there we raced to meet the Yechen club, who was to host us for a day. Very nice translator who asked us to call her KC. She was a real estate investment consultant for Koreans who wanted to purchase property in China.
We first visited an archery academy. One of the oldest in Korea at over 100 years old. The President gave us a demonstration of how to load the string to the bow and told us a little about the bow itself, much of which was lost in translation. He then gave us a demonstration, shooting some arrows over 100 yards away with about a 30 mile per hour cross wind.
We were able to shoot one practice arrow each on a string, but it was said that one must practice at least a month before being able to shoot the long arrow.
We visited the Seok Song Ryeong tree. A tree 4.2 meters in circumference estimated at 600 years old. Tour bus after tour bus rolled in as we had a snack on a little veranda deck.
We ended the day at a Rotarians farm and home. He had cows, goats, chickens, etc. Much like a small scale farm in America used to be. He had his own gallery of Korean Art, and then we sat down for tea and chit chat. They said that 40 of their clubs members went to Rotary’s International Convention in Chicago last year. We speculated that there may not have been 40 from the entire Florida district (6890) we represent that went to the International Convention. And it was held in America.
We ended the night with a walk around the downtown area of our hotel. Bought some cokes and candy, then off to bed.
GSE Korea Log 4
When reading these, keep in mind that they are unedited as I am typing as much as I can. Not to mention, most are late at night or early in the morning as we get virtually zero free time. Everybody we meet wants to spend as much time as possible with us. Even though the GSE program is supposedly set up to give a day off every now and then, I’m typing this on the 8th of May and don’t anticipate us getting even a half day on this trip. The most we’ve received is 2 ½ hours, one afternoon before a 6:30 dinner (and that includes time needed to shower and get ready). I will try to type a much more detailed version if and when I get time at home.
April 25, 2006
Up and out at 9 A. M. Eyes are burning like crazy from Yellow dust. Which is Yellow sand blown from the Gobi desert in China.
First up, breakfast at a Rotarians bagel shop called Paris Baguette. They thought they were feeding us Western food. Lol. I recognized very few things in the shop and most I didn’t even recognize as European style. I guess it was European style with an Eastern twang. One item I recognized was a chocolate chip muffin. Ate something that looked a little like a pig in the blanket and something that looked like a little pizza. Neither tasted like what they appeared to be. As always, however, the food was pretty good. Might have been the first time I’ve seen cheese in S. Korea. Jenny and Travis went for the milk.
Off to the Bulguksa Temple (National Historic Site Number 1). Very beautiful temple. Bulguk means Buddha’s land and SA means temple. The temple sits on Mt. Tohamsan. Built around 750 A. D. 33 step Cheongungyo and Baekungyo Bridge (stairs) is symbolic of the 33 difficult steps of Buddhist practice to reach Buddha’s land. Complex also has Dabotap Pagoda and Seokgatap Pagoda.
After a short drive and hike, we visited Seokguram Grotto – An artificial Grotto made of granite. The domed room houses the Bonjonbul, a Buddha statue in the shrine that they claim to be the most outstanding masterpiece in the world, depicting religious art history. It is an impressive Buddha, said to express compassion, generosity and clemency.
Our hosts made the mistake of giving our team the choice of what to do for a while. Our team wanted to go to a 4-tier golf driving range. It was pretty impressive, with an indoor putting range. Golf is very expensive in Korea, yet everyone seems to have 10 handicaps or better. So the use of driving ranges is quite prevalent and they are everywhere.
As some of you know, I have been playing some golf lately on a short par three executive course in Sebring. That course requires the use of Irons. Thus, since I haven’t played on a full-size course in quite a long time, I had never used one of these newer oversized drivers. I was totally out of whack and on my second shot, the club exploded in my hands and sent the head flying through the air about 50 yards, leaving me with the handle in my hands. Pretty embarrassing. I will however, either hit the driving range several times or purchase stock in a golf ball manufacturing company prior to moving to a full-size golf course.
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April 26th, 2006
Went back to the bagel shop for breakfast. Mmm, chocolate milk. Very nice.
First up was a stop at a house where the woman grew organic veggies and made Soap and dyes.
We had one stop at a famous Korean tea room. It was really nice, as we all sat around sipping tea and listening to Korean drum beats. The highlight was when the Koreans sang Arirang, the most famous and popular traditional Korean folk song. There are many variations to the song and it is hundreds of years old. It is a sad song about someone abandoning another at the pass and how that person who abandoned me will have their feet hurt soon. It sings about having many sorrows in my heart.
We then went into the main house and did a little dress up. Jenny wore a beautiful dress, while Travis dressed up in an outfit that made him look like Hop Sing from Bonanza. Looked good.. The highlight however was our fearless leader’s costume. Our instructor conned Ed into wearing it by stating it was for Korean Nobility. After he had it on, she let him know that it was her dance costume. We weren’t sure if we should call him a Puritan, a Pilgrim or the Wicked Witch of the East. We did however, howl most of the afternoon and into the night, often breaking out the camera for another look. We’d pass the camera around the group and just burst out laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt.
Notes:
One point a friend brought up was the fullness of the forests on the hillside, which is true. He said Koreans take pride in Arbor Day much more than Americans, as their forests were decimated by the Japanese Occupation prior to the ending of WWII. He says that most Arbor Days, every Korean takes many trees out and plants them.
Ed and I were wondering why there were no houses on the mountain tops or on the ocean (very few). We asked about the hills and found that many of the grave yards are built up in the hills. So families go back up and plant trees and such in honor of their ancestors. In addition, the Korean government did not allow much coastal development in fear of attach from the North Koreans. The coastlines house fortifications to defend them from amphibious assaults. So the Mountains and coasts are mostly owned by the government.
One more interesting story was that Koreans never were much into cardiovascular exercising (I think the nature of their work probably kept them fit) until they saw American soldiers jogging on the side of the road and wondering what the heck they were doing. Why would they run from place to place when they have vehicles? When they found out it was good for the health, they picked it up. They will often point out when serving foods those that are “good for the health,” such as Kim Chi and other Korean dishes.
McDonalds
Our translator told us a story of when the McDonalds opened in Gyeongju.. As you can imagine, it was a pretty large event for the very first McDonalds Grand Opening. She said her parents and her dressed up in their very best formal clothes to try the newest craze. As you might imagine they weren’t too impressed.
April 27th
We were transferred to a different group and met at the Youngchun District Rotary office for a tea and a meet and greet. We then went to visit the Vice Mayor for a photo op and then watched a welcome video about the many attractions in Youngchun. They had a nice banner made up in our honor and the vice mayor presented us with a watch.
From there we went to the Yongchun cultural center on the river. It was locked up as it was being reconstructed, but the operations manager came out and unlocked it and we climbed up into it despite most of the floor boards being missing. It had a wonderful view of the river.
From there, we visited the Yeongcheong Hyanggyo Daeseongjeon Confucian academy. It was built in 1435 Seven stone memorial mortuary tablets are housed here.
Then we visited the Suncynoltang shrine, constructed in 1433 to house the memorial tablet of General Yi Sun-Mong, who wiped out Japanese bases on Tsushima Island, which marauders used to mount attacks on Korea. He secured so many victories that he was nicknamed the General of Fortune.
At the end of the day we were dropped off at a private all-girls academy. Travis was a bit sick and a little upset as he didn’t want any part of staying there. Couldn’t really blame him as rest is at a premium. Ed asked him if he wished to stay in a hotel room instead and he said that he would give it a shot.
Little would he know how much fun he was in for and that the stay here might end up being the highlight of the trip for him. As Forrest Gump said, life truly is like a box of chocolates. You never now what you might get.
The next day it was funny watching Travis explain that he was perfectly fine staying here and that he didn’t need a hotel room the following night. Most of that is in the next blog.
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