"The Climb"

On Election Day a few of us hiked up Gwanak Mountain (Gwanaksan). It was a fairly warm day, and the hike was pretty exhausting for some of us who are out of shape!

It was well worth it though as we reached to summit and could see most of Seoul. Next time, I hope to do the hike at night. What a view that will be.

There were 2 other parts that really stood out. One, our feet were tired from climbing over rocks and up the stairs built into the mountain, so we took a break and soaked our feet in a small running stream. It was extremely cold, but felt great! Two, once we reached the bottom, we relaxed in the shade at one of the few small restaurants that serve makeoli and pajeon. Always an amazing treat.

Here are some photos of the hike:

Overlooking Gwanak

Stonewall facade on the way up to the temple

Some hikers taking a break at the Yeonju Hermitage

The temple overlooking Gwanak

I loved the view...

Another part of the temple teetering on the edge of the mountain...

Seoul Racehorse Park

Seoul Grand Park - Seoul Land in the distance

Southern Seoul

Half of Seoul

Southern Seoul - The Han River

A closer shot - Namsan tower and the Han River

Panoramic - Gwansan

Our little group...

"Vote or Die"

Yesterday was Election Day in Korea. Most public schools (but not all private schools) are given the day off which made for a nice day of hiking Gwanaksan (Gwanak Mountain) which I will post within the next few days.

Today, I'm taking the time to talk about current events, especially the elections.

The elections in Korea can be summed up in one word. Annoying. Ok, maybe two words:

VERY ANNOYING.

There were many candidates running this year, and there were at least 8 positions to fill on the provincial and district levels, including governors, mayors, and other district personnel.

I think I'm going to have to make a list of things to discuss:

1. Promotions

In the U.S. it is normal to see some people holding signs, or have a poster on their front lawn. In Korea, the candidates hire crews of people to go all over the province or district and greet people, chant and sing, hand out business cards, and even dance. They do this for about 2-3 weeks, every day from 7am-10pm. The worst is that they have these huge trucks that blast their theme songs all day, and at night the candidates or supporters come and give loud speeches. It really gets to you when you live close-by or are trying to eat dinner and hold a conversation at a nearby restaurant.

This is what it is like:

2. The Cheonan

The elections also seemed to cause a lot of issues, including international issues. Some Koreans believe that the Cheonan incident which was blamed on North Korea (see my previous posts here and here) has been fabricated by the current ruling government (and possibly with the aide of the U.S). Some of the claims are that a U.S. sub actually destroyed the Cheonan via torpedo, a U.S. submarine crashed into the Cheonan by accident and it is being covered up out of fear of anti-American protests as the government feels the need to keep U.S. troops stationed here to help deter North Korea. Others state that the current conservative administration in South Korea fabricated the evidence to point the finger at North Korea to strengthen the party. (like how Fox "News" seems to always boosts the GOP and smear the left while being "fair and balanced")

3. Lee Myung-Bak

Continuing the above thought, the President of South Korea (Lee Myung-Bak) and leader of the conservatives, is pretty much despised as a leader by the majority of Koreans I know. Most of my students agree as I have heard them say many times "I hate Lee Myung-Bak!" They also compare him the George W. Bush, and using that analogy, I can completely understand their feelings of distaste for their elected leader.

4. North Korea

North Korea takes great interest in the elections as well. Once Seoul announced that North Korea was the culprit of the sinking and that Lee Myung-Bak stated he would be severing any business with the North, the DPRK retaliated by stating that they would sever diplomatic ties with the South until the "puppet" and "traitor" Lee Myung-Bak was out of office. North Korea has supposedly been using cyber-warfare to try to fight the current administration by smearing the leaders.



From the Chosun Ilbo:

South Korean intelligence agencies say North Korea has launched a cyber campaign using stolen IDs of South Koreans to plant propaganda claims on South Korean portals. Posts made under the names of South Koreans accusing their "traitorous" government of fabricating evidence linking North Korea to the sinking of the Cheonan are more or less identical to a statement by the North's National Defense Commission posted on a website operated by the propaganda apparatus.

Intelligence services say North Korea is trying to make it appear as if people in the South are questioning the evidence presented by the government.

North Korea is believed to have trained between 500 to 600 hackers and deploy them in cyber operations against South Korea. A so-called massive denial of service attack in July last year crippled not only major websites in South Korea for days but also the homepages of the White House and the New York Stock Exchange. Intelligence officers believe North Korean hackers stole the personal information of some 1.6 million prominent South Koreans over the last five years. 

The election results (as of today) have shown the current state of displeasure with the conservatives, as the democratic party has won and overwhelming amount of gubernatorial and district seats. You can read about them here and here.

I'm just glad they are over. I no longer have to listen to the annoying campaign music, I won't be awoken by the sounds of chanting 13 stories below me, and I won't have to dodge in and out of the gauntlet of campaign crews handing out business cards and literature on my way to and from work everyday! As if Gunpo wasn't loud enough every day...

As a side note, it is my one year mark! I will be posting a video within the next 2 weeks reviewing my adventures!

"Fan Death"

In the western world, "Fan Death" is roughly known only as an Italo Disco band based out of Vancouver.
However, to the average foreigner living in South Korea, it is a very, very serious epidemic. (insert sarcasm here)

Fan Death is a Korean urban legend that many Koreans take as fact. The myth is as follows:

"If you leave an electric fan running while you are sleeping in a room with the windows closed, you will suffocate and die."

I had heard of fan death well before I left for Korea and thought it too pointless to really blog about since almost every westerner who has a blog writes about this strange phenomena. But I feel like being unoriginal today.

Death via electric fan sounds rediculous to most people, so it is very strange that many educated, rational, Koreans swear it is true. So true, that all electric fans sold in Korea have timers on them so you do not accidently leave it on all night and kill yourself. And they even have warnings posted as well:

A simple search of Wikipedia cites many "explanations" into the phenomenon, but here are the basics of how fans could kill you. Try not to laugh...

1. An electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside. (sounds like a plot of an episode of Star Trek)

2. Electric fans chops up all the oxygen particles in the air leaving none to breathe. (My favorite explaination)

3. The fans electric motor uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide. (even though they don't use fuel like a candle)


4. If the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing. (I do this all the time in the summer and to my recollection have never died)

5. Fans contribute to hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature.^[2] As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature, and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia. (Maybe.... if you are extremely old and feeble, and possibly using the fan in the middle of the winter with your windows open)

6. Fans contribute to prolonged asphyxiation due to environmental oxygen displacement or carbon dioxide intoxication. (A bunch of fancy scientific words that means nothing because it's a load of hooey)

7. Fans directly on the body deprives "skin-breathing," leading to suffocation. (Maybe we shouldn't wear clothing either because clothes deprive our skin of breathing)

The government's take is:

The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South Korea's five most common seasonal summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected.^[10] Also included among the five hazards were air conditioner explosions and sanitation issues, including food poisoning and opportunistic pathogens harbored in air conditioners. The KCPB actually published the following:

If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes [the] bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [an] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration [sic] and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated and doors should be left open.

There are even cases of professionally published articles both stating fan death as truth and denoucing it as myth. I think I'm going to stick with it as a myth seeing how I have slept with the fan blowing directly on me with my windows closed on multiple occasions and have still lived to tell the tale.

 Now, where can I find a "I'm A Fan-Death Survivor" T-shirt, bracelt, and ribbon to wear and promote awareness....?

Perhaps it only effects Koreans?

Nope. Here's a video someone posted testing that theory:

A special thanks to Kelly O. R. for the suggestion to post this.

Happy Birthday to you as well!

"Let's Get Physical"

My middle school recently held Sports Day - the equivalent of American schools' Field Day.

In Korea, Sports Days are held at every school as if they were professionally organized. There were tents set up for the kids to rest in the shade, water and snack locations, and the events were very well planned. The homerooms dress-up in team outfits that they purchase from retailers who specialize in team uniforms.

 

As for the events, my favorite was the jump rope contest. Each homeroom per grade competes against the others. The jump rope contest is a timed event in which each kid individually jumps over a rope spun by two students. If a student fails to jump over, they have to go back to the end of the line until they complete it. Next, 2 students have to jump the rope together...then 3...and then 4. The times of each round are averaged and the lowest time is the winning homeroom. It was rather enjoyable to watch four students hold hands and jump, only to have one trip and force all four to try again.

The students also competed in relay races, tug of war, and the third grade boys compete in a popular soccer game.

 

This is the 3rd grade class president - he's also a big fan of me and calls me "brother". 

He's a good kid.

Unfortunately, my camera battery was drained from the weekend, and I forgot to recharge it. I did capture a bunch of photo's in the morning and complied them into a video.

Enjoy!

"Evidence"

Tension is mounting slightly these past few days due to the new reports coming out that North Korea is being held responsible for the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan on March 26th. (see my previous post here).

According to the Joongang Daily there was evidence of a North Korean serial number found on a torpedo fragment:

“A North Korean-manufactured torpedo that carried a 250-kologram [551-pound] warhead is confirmed to be responsible for the explosion."

The decisive evidence was torpedo fragments collected from the sinking site. The propeller of the torpedo was recently recovered and a North Korean marking was on it, the ministry said. The marking read “1 Beon” using the Arabic numeral and the Korean letter that means number.

The recovered components were identical to the designs of a North Korean sonar-tracking torpedo depicted on an arms export catalog of the communist regime.

The experts also based their conclusion on analysis of evidence collected from the site of the sinking, the hull of the salvaged ship, postmortem examinations of the dead sailors, seismic waves, simulation of underwater explosions and currents near the sinking site, the ministry said.

 Here is a decent overview from CNN:

The DPRK has denied the allegations:

North Korea immediately challenged the report and threatened to go to war if the South retaliates or imposes sanctions. The North's highest power organ, the National Defense Commission, chaired by leader Kim Jong-il, also said it intends to send a verification team to South Korea to disprove the probe's findings.

Last week, Kim Myong Chol, who is often called an "unofficial" spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea, wrote the following as it was posted on the Asia Times Online website:

Mission impossible
There are four important points that make it clear that a North Korean submarine did not sink the South Korean corvette.

Fact 1.North Korean submarines are not stealthy enough to penetrate heavily guarded South Korean waters at night and remain undetected by the highly touted anti-submarine warfare units of the American and South Korean forces. A North Korean submarine would be unable to outmaneuver an awesome array of high-tech Aegis warships, identify the corvette Cheonan and then slice it in two with a torpedo before escaping unscathed, leaving no trace of its identity.

Fact 2. The sinking took place not in North Korean waters but well inside tightly guarded South Korean waters, where a slow-moving North Korean submarine would have great difficulty operating covertly and safely, unless it was equipped with AIP (air-independent propulsion) technology.

Fact 2: The disaster took place precisely in the waters where what the Pentagon has called "one of the world's largest simulated exercises" was underway. This war exercise, known as "Key Resolve/Foal Eagle" did not end on March 18 as was reported but actually ran from March 18 to April 30.

Fact 3: The Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise on the West Sea near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) was aimed at keeping a more watchful eye on North Korea as well as training for the destruction of weapons of mass destruction in the North. It involved scores of shiny, ultra-modern US and South Korean warships equipped with the latest technology.

The incident has become a huge issue, and is gaining momentum as the new evidence agreed upon by the multi-national team of US, Australian, Swedish, and South Korean experts that the North is the culprit and that the serial number discovered is the "smoking gun".

Relations are also being strained due to Kim Jong Il's recent trip to China where he was publicly embraced as China showed it still supports the communist dictatorship as it's friendly neighbor.  The trip had been anticipated for quite some time, and was made in early May shortly after the Cheonan's sinking, perhaps as a way to strengthen ties and support if it came to light that the North was involved.

President Obama has pledged his support to the South, as the two countries are very close. Obama phoned President Lee Myung-Bak. "The South Korean presidential office said Obama supported South Korea’s response to the incident and said he “fully trusts” the investigation conducted by a team of international experts."

From the Joongang Daily

“President Lee and President Obama agreed that North Korea must honor its international obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874 and its commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs,” a statement by the Blue House read. “At the same time, the leaders said North Korea must stop its belligerent course of action and that they will strengthen their alliance.”

What's next for North Korea? Another CNN report:

As for the daily lives of the people of South Korea? It feels as though nobody is worried. This has been the manner I've witnessed all year. The North constantly has threatened war for decades that it has become second nature to hear it. People go about their daily lives and don't pay much attention to the posturing of the North, its propaganda.


Next post: Sports Day!

"Glow in the Dark"

This month marks the preparations for Buddha's Birthday (May 21st). Similarly to Christmas, the decorations have been up around the city well in advance, along with multiple festivals and things to see and do.

Just about every Westerner around Seoul decided to attend the Buddhist Festival and Lotus Lantern Parade held in Insadong, Seoul this past Sunday. The last time I saw so many white faces and heard that many people speaking English was last year before my departure.

The festival was amazing, with many interesting kiosks to attend. There was meditation techniques, exercises, food tastings, and arts and crafts from around the globe.

I made the pottery and box. During the lantern parade I was given the lantern by someone in the parade. (The swastika is a asian symbol used in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism that Hitler stole and adopted for the Nazi's)

Many countries were involved, including Cambodia, Thailand, China, and we even saw white American, South African, and Dutch Buddhists!

The highlights of the festival were the arts and crafts. We got to make some pottery, and a paper box that came out beautifully. (see above)

Between the tents we came across some traditional dancing, sand artwork, and musicians - to name a few

 

 

At the nearby temple, there were lanterns everywhere. It was beautiful!

After the festival, we got front row seats for the Lotus Lantern Parade.

Here are some of my favorite photo's followed by a video I made.

 

 

 

 

Here is a video of the festival and parade: It's about 8 min long - sorry!

"Maximum Consumpion"

We attended Seoul's 2010 Topokki Festival this Sunday near Yangjae station at the AT Center. (by the way topokki is also spelled tteokbokki - (tteok meaning rice cake)

From Wikipedia: Tteokbokki, also known as Topokki, is a popular Korean snack food which is commonly purchased from street vendors or Pojangmacha. Originally it was called tteok jjim (떡찜), and was a broiled dish of sliced rice cake, meat, eggs, and seasoning. Tteok jjim an early variant of modern tteokbokki, was once a part of Korean royal court cuisine. This type of tteokbokki was made by broiling tteok, meat, vegetables, eggs, and seasonings in water, and then serving it topped with ginkgo nuts and walnuts. In its original form, tteokbokki, which was then known as gungjung tteokbokki, was a dish served in the royal court and regarded as a representative example of haute cuisine. The original tteokbokki was a stir-fried dish consisting of garaetteok (가래떡, cylinder-shaped tteok) combined with a variety of ingredients, such as beef, mung bean sprouts, green onions, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and onions, and seasoned with soy sauce

The festival (I call it a convention) was full of topokki vendors giving out samples of their chewy concoctions, while also selling bowls of their different varieties of the dish. Among them were; chili, teriyaki , BBQ, garlic, black bean, and mushroom cream.

I've grown to enjoy the dish, as it is a popular street food that grows on you. 

(as well as lingers in your stomach like a brick!)

Besides the vendors, you could also see the winners who created new and unique topokki dishes. There was also a dance competition and an eating competition where the dishes increased in their levels of spiciness.

On the second floor of the AT Center they had a handful of vendors that were showing off business opportunities. You could sign up to purchase a franchise and run it yourself, visit the Research and Development station and see what kind of topokki they're working on. If you wanted, you could purchase cheese injected topokki, or grab up the last bag of chocolate sauce infused topokki!

While were were walking about, we started to get stares, as there were not many foreigners in attendance. SBS, one of the most famous TV networks in Korea tried to get me to do an interview. I refused (I don't like being on camera!) But my friend Domenick got the chance to be the star.

I made a quick video while they were taping, and recorded the interview off my TV that night.

 

You can also watch the full interview on SBS here.

I ended up giving a quick interview to a radio station as well (and wasn't too keen on that either!). Even the MC of the eating competition tried to get me to participate. Sometimes I just want to mix in with other Koreans so I don't stand out so much!

I also found this nicely done video on YouTube. Check it out if you want a better sense of the convention.