16 Feb. 2008: West Side Story
Today, I'll admit, was rough.
I was supposed to wake up at 6:30a to travel to 인천. Mark signed a contract with a different school, and he's frantically trying to move into his new apartment and simultaneously pack his bags for a trip to the States. Sensing the (quite obvious) symptoms of stress, I offered to help. We agreed that I would arrive between 8:30 and 9, as his new coteacher would arrive around 9 to take him to his new place.
I did wake up at 6:30a. I promptly turned off my alarm, fell back asleep, and woke up again at 7:00a. Let's suffice it to say I was not about to make it to 인천 on time. I had decided the night before to take the bus to 안양, and from there head over to 인천 by subway. I didn't know if it would be faster than bussing to 서울역 and then taking the subway, but I've always been curious about the 333 안양 bus and decided to satiate my curiousity. The drive was pleasant, except I was playing DS and wasn't paying attention to the bus stops, and consequently got off on the wrong stop. It was only a 10 minute walk to 안양역, though, so it wasn't too bad.
On the subway Mark called and told me that when I arrive at 구로역, where I would be changing trains, to take the 동인천 Express Line instead of Line 1 headed to 인천. I did this, and was quite pleased with how much faster it was than the regular line! It skips probably half the stops, and cut my travel time by quite a bit.
By the time I arrived Mark had most of his belongings packed, so I just started cleaning up his kitchen. Let me emphasize again how much I love my school. His place is so tiny; I think it could fit into mine two or three times (at least his new place is bigger, but more on that in a bit). He paid me back by buying me pizza (yummm! Dominoes in Korea also gives garlic butter, which I believe is an amenity limited to Papa John's back in the States). After lunch we tidied up a bit more, then began the travel back to his new place.
Hopefully within the next few weeks he will find some closer public transit routes, because once we got off the bus (OMG, the bus ride from Hell! The driver insisted on randomly speeding up right before the stops, then slamming on the brakes) we walked forever and then some to reach his new place. This part of 인천 is a bit older; it does not have the conglomerate superstore chains (he's lucky that he's within walking distance of a 김밥집 & GS25) but has some slightly dodgy mini-marts. Instead of high-rise apartments, there are many older houses.
His apartment is a welcome change as well. As foreign urbanites, we've gotten quite accustomed to our studio flats, and his new pad is so different! It's more like a bedroom in a traditional house. The moment one walks in one faces the kitchen area, with a small refrigerator, sink and desperately-needs-to-be-cleaned stove. There is a sliding door leading to the living space, which is about the size of a decent bedroom. There is a window in the bedroom, and three doors: the first leads to a deck/laundry room; the second is a closet, and the third leads to the bathroom.
We spent some time cleaning up, but both had to go; he needed to visit his uncle in 서울, and I had promised to see 할머니 in 부평 which, fortunately, is only a few stops away.
I took the train to 부평시장역 and searched for the actual marketplace. I wasn't quite sure where I was going, as I had only been there once. I vaguely remembered the bus numbers to 할머니's complex, but wasn't sure about those either. Regardless, I wanted to get some gifts before I searched for a bus and headed over. I first hit up a small hole-in-the-wall shop and asked the elderly clerk for a large size of Bita drinks. He got them, but apparently hadn't upgraded his shop to accept credit cards. Being cashless and not seeing an ATM nearby, I apologized and walked out.
The moment I walked into a small grocery store I asked the clerk if they accepted plastic. She said yes, and I proceeded to shop. Grabbed some Bita drinks, 딸기 & traditional Korean cookies, paid, and walked out. I decided I didn't want to lug my Bita drinks around searching for the bus stop, so I hailed a cab, gave him the address, and settled back.
Grandma was so happy to see me. Her face actually beamed. I think she gets kind of lonely and bored sometimes, living alone, and she was really excited and felt really special that her random foreign granddaughter came out to see her.
When I talked to my mother about it she asked me how we communicated, and I'll put down the response I gave her: basically Grandma speaks to me in Korean, I listen very hard, I ask her to speak slowly, she speaks at the same speed, and I either pick up enough key words to make a hopefully valid response, or I give her a perplexed look and say, "할머니, 몰라요."
We spent a lot of time looking at photo albums, and it was really funny to see pictures of my brother and me when we were little. As I looked, I saw a lot of pictures of 화규삼촌 & his family. I also saw his and 숙모's wedding picture; they were both hot! Gives me hope for what the mysterious 성우 looks like, lol. Recent and old pictures were haphazardly dispersed throughout the albums. In one of the albums there were five photos taken at a swimming pool, and I saw a very handsome young guy with a very nice physique. In four of the pictures he was sporting aviators, but in the last picture he didn't have his sunglasses on, and I was slightly shocked and disturbed to recognize the man as my uncle. In between the pictures of unknown people though, it was quite homey to recognize my aunts and uncles, and my grandparents; it reminded me that we're all family.
When she was younger 할머니 used to travel quite a bit. She's been to various places abroad (including the States, New Zealand, and, if I remember correctly, Thailand?), as well as numerous sites in Korea. Looking at those pictures, seeing the history in them, made me want to travel all around Korea. I also saw a photo of them at 남한산성, and I immediately decided to visit as soon as I could.
Grandma cooked me dinner. She fried some fish, which was delicious, and her 반찬 was really good, but I'm a bit iffy on the 고기국. It's made up of beef, but not the kind of beef that I'm used to. Random organy items...something that was black. I'm not too picky about my food, as long as it tastes good, but this didn't taste good. I tried to eat as much as I could so she wouldn't feel bad, but it wasn't enjoyable. I just shoveled lots of fish and 김지 down my throat to remove the soup flavour from my tongue.
When I left she kept insisting that I stay the night, but, in addition to preferring my own bed, I had left my contact supplies at home. I had fun trying to explain it to her, but I think she eventually understood that I had to go home. She packed some food for me, and off I went.
19 Feb. 2008: Death #1
Death #1 occured on 19 Feb, 1978. Thirty years later, I attended the memorial service.
The last memorial service I had been to was a few years ago over Labour Day weekend, for my grandfather. But that was just one where we visited the gravesite, then went to 할머니's house for dinner. I had never attended a traditional Korean memorial service, and was interested as to what it would be like. I had seen them on TV, and judging by 명수's account, the actual service is similar to what is on TV: you hike up the mountain, pour the soju on the grave, and peel pears.
삼촌 picked me up in 서현 at 6:30p to take me to 부평. I was a bit curious as to the hike, as twilight was rapidly approaching; would we have trouble walking up the mountainside in the dark? Then I supposed that we might actually drive to the gravesite instead of hiking; this seemed more likely, since 할머니's legs aren't in the best condition.
When I arrived I realized how wrong I was. They are a Christian family, so they mix Korean tradition with Christian practices. Therefore Grandpa's memorial service consisted of the whole family crowded into 할머니's bedroom, singing hymns (I tried to follow as well as I could) and reading Bible passages. Then we all sat down for a family dinner.
Afterwards we had a rather interesting ride through 서울. 삼촌's 착은숙모 lives somewhere between 목동 & 여의도 (we had gotten lost, so I'm just spitting out the general area based on some subway stops and the National Legislature building) and he was taking her home. I enjoyed seeing an area of 서울 I hadn't really explored, and it's much more fun by car than by foot. I also saw some not-so-discreet prostitutes walking around, which is not a sight I'm really accustomed to.
After dropping her off we headed back to 성남 via the Olympic Expressway. I hadn't taken that road since the taxi drove me from 인천 airport on my arrival to Korea, and all of my first memories came back to me: seeing the 한강 & 서울 Tower for the first time, being dazzled by the city lights...
삼촌 didn't take the 경부 Expressway that I'm used to taking by the bus; he took another road that led past Olympic Park. I was pretty lost; I thought we were on the west side of the Expressway, but apparently we were on the east side the whole time. I still don't really know how we got home, which slightly irks me because I pride myself on my sense of direction and am obsessively concerned with knowing my location at all times; in new places, I actually make it a game of trying to figure out where I am and in what direction my destination lies.
22 Feb. 2008: Death #2
This morning as I crossed the street to the bus stop I saw a police officer, dressed in a silver jacket with a fluorscent yellow traffic vest.
Another officer stood at the crosswalk.
A third officer paced around bus stop.
A fourth officer traipsed around 서현 station.
Two more officers were parked near the busy intersection that leads to 이매, 야탑 & 모란.
My initial deduction was that some important dignitary or celebrity was going to be in the area.
Not so, I found out at lunch. The teachers were talking to each other in Korean over a meal of 부대찌개, and 명수 suddenly asked me if I had heard of it.
"Heard of what?" I asked.
She then proceeded to inform me that the charred body of a woman was discovered floating in the 탄천 (a small tributary running through 분당)...right behind my house. Then she asked me if I had seen anything.
"No," I replied, "but I'm kinda tempted to go for a run along the 탄천 tonight."
I remarked on how surprised I was that something so sensational could happen in our prosperous and rather boring neighborhood. She then proceeded to tell me of other murders and dramas that had occurred over the years.
Five years ago, a flight attendant had wrapped up a night partying with friends. Rather drunk, she hailed a cab at 서현역. The driver murdered her. Death: affirmed.
A few years ago, during a domestic dispute, a husband turned on the gas, then lit his lighter, causing a huge explosion that was heard for kilometres around. "Did they die?" I asked. "Yes," 명수 replied, but 이창희 said, "No, she lived." Death: his-affirmed; hers-debatable.
During another domestic dispute (presumably involving a different couple), a husband pushed his wife over their deck rail. Death: affirmed.
Let's suffice it to say that I've returned to my old habit of sleeping with my knife under the pillow, which I haven't done since I left the States.
22 Feb. 2008: A Mountain
(it's almost 3a, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. Will finish this entry later)
OK. I'm at work right now, but I've finished all my tasks, so I'll take some time to type up this entry:
Today Bryan and I headed to 남한산성 for a wee hike. Friday the weather was beautiful, but apparently (unbeknownst to me) a cold front had moved in Friday night. When I went for a trail run Tuesday I had on a base layer under my shell, and I was burning up, so I decided that I would be safe leaving my base at home and just wearing my shell. Bad move. I was freezing. I'm just glad that I decided to take my earmuffs & gloves, or I would have been in really bad shape.
Last summer when I climbed 천계산 I was fairly in shape, and it was still pretty rough. But 남한산성 is an easier hike than 천계산 so I hoped it wouldn't be too bad. Yeah, it was bad. Apparently I'm in worse shape than I had previously supposed.
When we arrived at the park we sought out the map. We didn't really know where we wanted to go; I had seen some of 할머니's pictures from the mountain and really wanted to see what appeared to be a palace. Neither of us knowing an extensive amount of Korean, we just found the prettiest looking site on the map and decided to head for it. According to the map it was a fair ways away, but within about five minutes we had reached our destination: a temple. The steps leading up to the temple were lined with miniature stone monks upon whom previous visitors had laid coins, either for prayers or good luck, I suppose. At the top of the first flight there was a frozen-over fountain surrounded by stone sculptures. We pondered the purpose of the fountain, then continued up the stairs.The third flight led to a hallway guarded by warrior statues. Bryan and I had the same idea when we saw them: their abs looked like corn-on-the-cob.
corn-on-the-cob monk
We decided to check out the view from the hill west of us, which appeared higher than our own. This would require crossing over a narrow, shallow ravine created by the small stream that courses down the hill during the warmer months. Wearing our 외국인 features like diplomatic immunity badges, we proceeded to create our own trail towards the ravine, but were pleasantly surprised to see that there was already a trail there, most likely to aide in the water run-off from the temple's fountain. The actual ravine was dry for the most part, but there was one part that was completely iced over. I didn't want to risk muddying myself, so I quickly but cautiously crossed on the ice. As I neared the opposite edge I took my eyes off the ground to search in front of me for the trail's continuation. That was a mistake: I misstepped and slipped. I don't know exactly how I landed, but I know that a lot of the impact went to my hands, as my palms hurt for a bit afterward. Bryan took no time informing me that I landed flat on my butt. After verifying that I was ok we both found it quite amusing.
The hike up the second hill was beastly. This hill was considerably steeper than the first, but between frequently slipping on the mud and panting for breath, the scenery was beautiful. We also saw a bridge that crossed the ravine where I had just had my little accident. It led directly from the fourth landing of the temple. Talk about ironic.
We finally summitted and were greeted with a paved road. We decided to veer left, since we could see some fortress walls in the distance. The stroll was pleasant; the sun was shining and we felt considerably warmer than we had at the base or at the temple. I even gathered the courage to remove my earmuffs for a whole five minutes.
I had thought that when we reached the gate we would be greeted with some strong fortified castle, but I was disappointed. The gate only offered more choices: continue forward, veer left, or veer right? We saw the castle walls coursing around the top of the hill north of us, so we chose left. Walking along the fortress wall would keep us on the ridgeline, which (thankfully!) would prevent us from making another leg-straining trail hike.
[Curious, I just now Wikipedia'd the origins of 가위, 바위, 보. It struck me that the game is, indeed, international, so I wanted to know where it originated. Apparently it is known by names of all languages and its origins lie in China. Even cooler, though, is the fact that there is a similar game called Bear, Ninja, Cowboy, which I believe will for me replace Paper, Rock, Scissors in the near future; it involves full-body stance.]
The watchtower was closed, so we headed back down. We decided to abandon the road and take some trails down. It was very pleasant. We found ourselves in a beautiful grove of trees; the sun filtering in made it even more picturesque.
Eventually we ended up near a frozen waterfall. Perfect photo op. The cool thing about this one was that it had a hole in it about chest level to me, just begging us to try to climb inside. We tried (which was hard, because we were standing on a sheet of ice). Having already fallen once, I wasn't too adventurous, but we did end up breaking off a few very large, thick icicles trying to get inside. As it were, we were unsuccessful.
Somehow we lost the trail and ended up basically slipping down the rest of the mountain (serious soil erosion occurring) until we found ourselves nearby some farms. One was fenced around with a bright green fence, but it was incomplete. We took advantage of this oversight. I don't know how many private properties we trespassed on (but were careful not to ruin any crops!) before we eventually made it into town, shoes (and in my case pants) filled with dirt and bracken.
A pleasant dinner of 비빔밥 set us up for the trip home. We could have taken the subway, which would have been much faster, but I really wanted to try the bus, since it wound through an area I had never explored before. The streets were narrow and lined with cars, allowing only one car to pass through. Being larger and capable of crushing other vehicles, the bus often forced itself the right of way (being a frequent bus rider, I have come to love Korean bus drivers!). The area between 남한산성 & 모란 is an older neighbourhood, and I found it very interesting.
A nice day. Tiring, but I had a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment