Busan Journal, Day 21

Over the last two weeks access to blogspot, my blog vehicle, has been limited due to technical problems on their end.  As a consequence I have several half-finished drafts for blogs that I could not finish and post.  So, today, while service is on-line, I will write about a number of disconnected things.

Post, Interrupted

On Sunday May 1st we went to Busan's Chinatown after church.  I had thought to catch the last day of a festival that I had understood to be going on.  The first thing related to a festival that we saw was an outdoor karaoke event that had attracted older male singers with questionable voices.  It had attracted a considerable crowd despite the talent on stage, but we decided to look around rather than take a seat as several people with yellow sashes encouraged us to do. 

Sometimes it is useful to not speak the language.

The only other event that looked festival-related was a dart throwing opportunity for which there was an enormous queue. Apart from the rather alarming presence of onlookers right behind the circular, spinning dart board, the most interesting thing we saw were costumed teenagers we thought might be waiting to perform.

Then we discovered that some of them were in the dart throwing line, too, so a performance was not imminent.

We decided that this was not a good time to see what Chinatown really had to offer, due to the crowds, and that we would need to come back another time to look around.

Here are a few random bits of information.  You might think it would be easy to spot a blond woman in crowds of dark haired people, but it is not.  Also, we found nearly as many store signs in Russian as in Chinese in what is called Chinatown.  We are told that the population is shifting away from the predominance of Russian merchants toward a growing Chinese presence.  If that is the case, then this Chinatown will get bigger and more interesting in the coming years.

Later the same week we traveled to Seoul on the KTX (Korean Train eXpress) because I had Thursday off. Children's Day.  Of course.

Chloe met us at Seoul Station.  She served as our language and transportation facilitator for those three days. On our first afternoon, she took us to the traditional market in Insadong and then to a not so traditional performance of Nanta, which is a rhythm-based drama on the order of "Blast," but with a restaurant setting and story line.  Lots of flashing knives and flying cabbage.

On Friday we took the subway and then a long bus ride out to a Korean folk village near Yongin.

We almost bought a samurai umbrella during one of several rain spells, but opted instead for a cheaper though useful standard model from the convenience store.  In addition to the village houses, gardens, flowers, and folk dressed in Hanbok, traditional clothing, we saw what is called Farmers' music and dance and the beginning of a traditional wedding ceremony.

The Farmers' dance involved a lot of acrobatics and was energizing the way athletic dance can be.  From that arena went to the house where the wedding was to take place and found good seats near the spot where the bride was brought out.

Unfortunately, mid-way through the ceremony a misty rain returned and the actors packed up and left.  No happily ever after.

The couple went in under the porch roof and stood for pictures anyway because what is a wedding without the photos. 

I notice that there are similarities between the pretend wedding and the real one.  In neither case is the couple allowed to smile, according to tradition.  The difference is that in the real wedding, the couple is only pretending to be somber.  I know this because we had dinner with them a few days ago.


The day after the Folk Village we went to the Seoul neighborhood called Bukchon, which has traditional urban houses, art galleries, restaurants, and so forth.  We rode with Mi-Sook and Jong-Myoung and Chloe. Jong-Myong and Chloe are bilingual, Mi-Sook speaks mostly Korean, and we speak only English, so conversations are interesting.

I realize as I write that I will need to write more later about a number of these places, so I will end the odyssey here. 

It has been, all in all, an event few weeks.  We continue to find Korea a rich and amazing place.  We are grateful for the opportunity to live here these few short months.