한국 Travels: #4

The size of Seoul is both intimidating and inspiring.  I actually have not been doing much sight seeing in the first few weeks of living here, but with the Korean Thanksgiving Chuseok (추석) holidays and some friends visiting from Singapore, it was a good time to get out and about.

1. Palaces
There are 5 royal palaces in Seoul, and we made it to three of them.  A number of times the buildings had been destroyed, usually through wars and also by fire, and then rebuilt.  Korean architecture takes a lot of inspiration from the Chinese architecture from those dynasties, and much of the writing on the structures was Chinese calligraphy.  There was a spartan feel to the palaces, like vast spaces with buildings interspersed. I was told that the Korean used to use those areas for food preparation, as there was a lot of cutting of the vegetables involved.

People always think it would be romantic in those times.  I always think that it would have been great, but only if you were the royal family and part of their entourage.  It would most likely suck as you would have most likely been a slave or some servant! I always believe the future will be better for everyone.

There was a Secret Garden for one of the palaces that I really liked.  Beautiful old trees, old school pavilions to rest.  I think in winter it would have a super quiet feel, like you are the only person there.

There was a shrine that I visited which  I would go again purely for the serenity of the place.  The shrine was a large area, full of trees and old school Korean buildings that housed the "spirit tablets" of the ancient kings and queens.  Like a tomb I suppose.  The cool thing was that there was a separate "path" for the spirits to walk and they warned people not to walk along that path.   Probably not that fun to go in at night!

2. Namsan Tower
I couldn't believe how many people were there!  Just filled with tourists and a lot of locals as well (who may have been tourists from different parts of Korea).  Whomever did the marketing for Namsan Tower must be congratulated.   And don't be fooled by the Korean dramas, where the couple wanders around by themselves. it is a bit of a shit show just to get to the viewing platform :) The love locks are everywhere and very whimsical, but hard to find much peace when it is so crowded.  I was happy that it was full moon, got some good photos with the tower.

Whilst we were on the hill, Seoul itself does not have the building compactness that makes the Hong Kong skyline so dramatic from Victoria Peak.  The the view is ok, just like on a hill.

3. Lotte World Mall
I didn't make it to Lotte World, I heard it is not bad.  The mall next to it has a very large supermarket with lots of good goodies.  Bought some biscuits and other things to try out with tomorrow's park meeting with school friends.  Lotte World Mall itself feels like Takashimya or a Times Square.

I appreciated the time alone walking around the palaces (I had one day before friends came to visit).  It was good to use the camera again, get some good photos.  Having the fixed lens is good, but macros need more work.  The colours of the leaves are still very green, I think in November when the leaves turn I will have to go back to the Palaces to check it out and take some more photos.

한국 Travels: #3

It turns out that my room mate is working for a company that deals with North Korea on a regular basis, advising them of "approaches" or "policies" to improve their situation.  We had a fascinating talk about the future of the peninsula and what it means for unification.  He also had a German background so it was also interesting to compare the possible unification in Korea vs the unification that happened in Germany.

Some interesting points:
1. The population split in S Korea vs N Korea is 50m vs 25m.  In comparison, the split of W Germany vs E Germany in 1989 was around (?) 70m vs 16m.  So the economic hit that S Korea would take to bring N Korea up to par would be a massive cost.

2. With that kind of shift in populations, then do you allow N Korea parties to participate in elections?   That was something I had just considered during that talk.

3. There is an active black market for the transfer of goods.  The problem is that with all the internal spying that occurs, one doesn't know whom to trust.  So two people doing exactly the same things might either get money or get thrown in jail.  Super tough to live in that environment.

4. It is China that is keeping country going, but it wants the country to be stable.  N Koreans are doing their own thing which is causing its own instability, which may lead at some point to China just saying "no more".  If that time comes, then we really may have a refugee crisis.

5. The desire for change will not come from outside, but from inside N Korea.  It is with all that black market trade that information comes into the country.  People get to see what is in the outside world and at some point in time, enough people will say "hey, this ideology doesn't work anymore, why am I sacrificing so much?" or the other extreme things get so bad that people won't care what the consequences will be.  There was an incident in 2009 when N Korea changed its currency, leaving everyone basically broke.  There was a lot of resentment of the government for that action so if something similar happens again it could be the reason for a mass movement.

6. With reunification, there is a massive need for infrastructure investment.  This could be a great opportunity for construction and infrastructure companies in S Korea.  For sure the government will subsidise the rebuilding.

7. There are significant mineral deposits in N Korea that can be mined.  I think the Chinese are doing that already.

8. Access to tourist areas in N Korea is not that off limits.  Might be worth a trip to go there.  Have to go through Beijing though but definitely possible.  Also there are some Singapore organisations e.g. Chosun Exchange that does work in educating the people on how to start businesses.  Might be worth exploring when I get back to Singapore.  Assuming my Korean improves haha

9. In terms of business, most males are allocated jobs in specific industries and sectors.  So they have to be there for certain hours.  It is actually the females of the family that have the ability to trade and develop a side business.  Actually it is what Chosun Exchange focusses on.

Very enlightening talks.

한국 Travels: #2

When I thought about places that would be challenging and interesting in terms of learning the language, Korea came to mind.  Funny enough I did not even consider Japan.  Goes to show (at least to me) the amount of cultural influence Korea has compared to Japan.

Having said that, I would generalise and say that I think Japanese people are much more polite than Koreans are.  I have been practising speaking Korean to random strangers in the street, asking for directions.  More than once I have been totally ignored, even once shooed off by the person.  My experiences in Japan would make doubt that it would happen to me there.  

My friend pointed out that it could be because I look Korean and hence people would just think I am accosting them.  If I looked Caucasian, I may have gotten a much more positive response.  It reminds me of New Yorkers thinking other New Yorkers are rude, even though I found them to be very polite and friendly.  My Asian looks and Australian accent there puts me totally in the "tourist" category and most people are by nature friendly to tourists.

Anyways, my 한국말 is slowly improving.  I can understand more in written form (because I have time to look up words) so my text game is getting better!  The university classes are good, they are picking up the pace, I am definitely in the right level.  The amount of vocabulary to learn each day is significant, I can see that if I don't review the words I will easily fall behind.

한국 Travels: #1

It has been a hectic 4 days getting into Seoul.  Firstly I arrive and go straight out to a club with a friend that lived in Singapore and now is living in Seoul.  It was fun, I got quite drunk and that was roughly the night!  However, I learnt a few things:
1. Some decent RnB clubs in Itaewon (이테원), need to check them out a bit more.
2. I have to admit that there are just a lot more good looking people around.  Half of this I am sure is due to the newness of it, but I was checking out more people.
3. I am still very scared of approaching people, guy or girl.  However, this must change.  A good thing my Korean friend told me from his travels in Shanghai when he didn't know anyone: he was able to speak "bar Mandarin", and it was purely just placing no emphasis on the result.  I need to live my "hard on the method, easy on the result" and extend it out to my bar behaviour.  Plus need to learn more "bar Korean"!

Met up with some friends over the week, with them I need to just speak more Korean.  I am looking to increase the channels that I use to meet people outside of study, things like Meetup, this app called Hi There, even Tinder is a good place.  Let's see what happens, but good advice from another friend:  It is Fuck Yes for Everything, at least initially!

Unfortunately I failed my Korean placement test, so I am in the beginner class.  So we are really starting from the basics, with pronunciation of the vowels.  Let's see how quickly this class escalates to talking full sentences.  Given the amount of talking that we do now (around 2 hours, with lots of practise time), I think it was the right choice to go to this 서강 대학.

I have also committed to 3 months boxing class.  The place looks good, the teacher was an semi-pro/amateur boxer who can speak some English.  I feel committed to it and will try to go 5-6 times a week and get ripped haha

So some things I have thought about:
1. This is a chance to be a different person in a different land.  "Why not?" should be the overriding question.  And if it doesn't mean some life threatening situation, probably good to try it.  That talk my Korean friend gave me feels like the talk my friend gave me AT THE END of my Sweden exchange.  Only this time it is at the start!

2. I need to maintain a good structure for work, when to do work and when not to worry about it.  This is also a good time to reflect on what I want to do going into next year.  Could be some job opportunities available back at Lend Lease.  Not sure if that is something I really want to do, but could be an option.

3. Really think in the language in order to learn the language.  This might mean more journals in Korean, or randomly asking people questions in Korean.  Just keep pushing to the "edge of fear"!

4. It will be over as soon as it gets started, so make the most of it.  Having said that, I shouldn't make it a pressure thing otherwise I won't enjoy the moment.  I have to sit back and think "wow!  I am so grateful to have made it here!"  There is a balance.