Catching up...big time

Apologies for being away for so long--class and day trips, combined with an abnormal amount of fatigue kept me away from the blogosphere for an extended period of time.  Hopefully my memory serves me right when I recount this past weekend's journey...

Last weekend we went to Jeolla-do in the southwestern part of the country, where the city of Gwangju is.  We were originally going to tour the site of the Gwangju uprisings in the '80s, although when we got there, all we saw was a huge construction site and a fountain with a tacky, bright orange inflatable flower on top of it.  Apparently that fountain is all that's left of the artifacts of the uprising!  (I didn't bother with a picture, because there really wasn't anything to see in that area...)


This thwarted our plans for much of the day on Friday, so a lot of that day felt like a lot of walking around aimlessly, hoping to find some history along the way.  We did, however, make our way over to the 5-18 cemetery (5-18 referring to the date of the Gwangju uprising).  People who died in the uprisings, as well as who we presumed to be family members of the victims who died much later, are buried here.  And if this doesn't take the cake as the most peaceful place in the country, I don't know what does...

Just past the main gate

View of the tower from the back, where the graves are

I apparently have a morbidly artsy side as well.

We in the States don't normally associate South Korea with dictatorships, but shortly after the partition (and even as early as the '80s) their government was also very chaotic, and even though a president was elected, it eventually turned into a dictatorship because the then-incumbent wanted to keep his position of power.  Korea--or at least Gwangju--was even under martial law at one point, leading to this uprising.  It was a little...sobering, for lack of a better term.  Quite horrifying to learn the price people paid for democracy, even if their uprising paid off in the end.


From the cemetery, we went over to the nearby city of Namwon and into Chunhyang Park, named for the eponymous folk tale.  It's also a peaceful place, complete with a bridge that's supposed to bless a couple with a happy relationship if they come and cross this bridge at least once a year.  Apparently this is also the park where the events of the story supposedly take place, as the government pavilion where Yi Mongryong first spots Chunhyang is in plain sight on the other side of the bridge.


Saturday (after probably one of the best nights of sleep I had gotten in a long time), we went to Independence Hall (독립기념관).  While an impressive sight from the outside, the museums inside (understandably) had a Korean slant to them, one exhibit going so far as to say how other cultures--namely the Chinese and the Japanese--are distorting Korean history.  I wasn't terribly impressed, although I will say they do make quite the impression on tourists.  I know they mean well by their wishes of reunification and whatnot, but the journalist in me couldn't help but wince at the blatant mud-slinging against Japan and China.  Then again, maybe they have a point if they're saying the other two gloss over the occupation period (~1910-1945) completely...


Having exhausted our weekend trip agenda earlier than we expected, we returned to Seoul via bus around 4 pm.  The next day was completely free, but I met up with my dad's friend's daughter, Hyunji, who will be attending Pitzer College in the fall.  She and I, along with a friend of hers, went to a fortune-telling café in Gangnam.  While it sounded like a load of hokey to me, I couldn't help but be intrigued by the different markings the fortune teller was making on the paper.  Was it bad that I started wondering whether there really was a purpose to some of the markings he was making?


Scam or not, we met up with two of Hyunji's other friends at Coex Mall.  The last time I was in Korea, I complained about the cave-like feel of the underground shopping center.  Except this time, it didn't feel very cave-like at all (probably because there was more stuff open this time around) and, while still crowded, was considerably less so than I remember the last time.  There's a movie theater in the complex as well, and I watched HP 7.2 yet again.  This time, I enjoyed it a little better, although I still have my gripes about it.  (I'll spare you the details...this is already getting quite long.)


This then brings us to Monday, where we took a tour of Incheon--about an hour and a half away by subway.  Shortly after getting off at the Technopark Station (what a name for a station), we were treated to this view:

Notice something missing?  Traffic, perhaps?

Never mind the fact that our plans to take a water taxi were thwarted when we realized the taxi is closed on Mondays.  What startled us the most was the modern look of this part of town (called Songdo) but the relative lack of people.  Even a stroll through what I think was called Songdo Park (pictured right) didn't help matters, as we were wondering why this modern-looking city--built on reclaimed land, no less--had virtually nobody around!  We suspect it has something to do with the prestige of Seoul and what status living there grants its residents.  You can't be just close to Seoul, you have to be in Seoul, I suppose.  Kim Yu-na, the well-known figure skater, invested in some properties in that area, and even that apparently can't attract people to come to this area.  Sad, really, as it looks like this city could have potential.  Apparently at night it gets a little more lively, although with what few people they have there I don't really see how much more lively it could get.


So we spent about an hour and a half walking around before we got taxis to Incheon's Chinatown, which wasn't much to write home about either.  Our plans were thwarted once again when we discovered the cultural center in Chinatown was also closed on Mondays!  (Monday is Korea's Sunday, I suppose.)  So with most of our agenda essentially shot down, we spent another hour or so--you guessed it--aimlessly walking around, although we did find a Chinese bakery out of the deal, so I guess it wasn't so bad.  I did feel, though, that our professor was trying to legitimize the trip by explaining some stuff about a statue of Confucius we found in a small pavilion...most, if not all of us, saw right through it.  I suppose the fact that we were all tired--one of us was borderline passed out--didn't help matters.


I was, quite understandably, wiped out from all these events--I think I was about to fall asleep in class for the last two days.  I spent most of today taking it easy (to think I wanted to hike Dobongsan with Wendy today!  I would've passed out!), although I did have a nice meal with some family.  And yet tomorrow, we're supposed to go on a downtown bus tour of Seoul...although whether we'll be able to go at all is still up in the air, as the rain (sadly) has returned.


5 days until my return to the States.  Time certainly has flown.