Apr
18
2012
So I started a Pinterest board for all things beautiful in Korea. Mostly it is just for pictures of landscapes and people, but I’m open to adding anything really. Please take a look, repin and let me know if you come across something that I should add.
http://pinterest.com/iamjamieread/korean-beauty/
Feb
23
2012
It’s safe to say that for Korea, rivers represent the arteries of the country, providing it with a life essence that helps the country run and thrive. Over the years, Korea’s rivers have suffered from the country’s industrial growth and negligence of the greater society. That’s all changing.
As you can see in the videos below, not only is Korea reinvesting into their four major river systems, the Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River and Yeongsan River, they are planning on making them catalysts for cultural, economic and environmental advancements in the cities that traditionally have relied on these rivers. The videos are great and do a really good job of getting people excited to bring back the Chi that flows from the four rivers.
The Four Major Rivers Project has been declared officially completed in October, 2011. It had five key objectives: securing abundant water resources to combat water scarcity; implementing comprehensive flood control measures; improving water quality and restoring river ecosystems, creating multipurpose spaces for local residents; and regional development centered on the rivers. There are some debates as to whether it was worth the effort and money and environmental groups question the impact on the natural flow of the rivers. However, my initial thoughts are that the pollution being dumped into the rivers for the last 50 years likely had a greater impact.
See some more articles here:
The Economist - The dredgery must go on
The Hankyoreh – Decoding the Four Rivers Confusion
Jan
22
2012
Happy New Year! Lunar New Year that is.
I’m currently writing this while visiting Korea and preparing food for the Ancestor Ceremony tomorrow morning. This year in the Chinese zodiac is the year of the Dragon. Most people know the Chinese zodiac to have 12 animal signs but what they don’t often realize is that each animal also has one of five elemental signs. These exact signs only repeat every 60 years. This is the year of the Water Dragon.
According to the zodiac, dragons in general tend to be popular individuals who are always full of life and enthusiasm, with a reputation for being fun-loving and a “big mouth” at times. People born in the Chinese New Year of the Dragon are healthy, energetic, excitable, short-tempered, and stubborn. They are also honest, sensitive, brave, and they inspire confidence and trust.
People with the dragon sign neither borrow money nor make flowery speeches, but they tend to be soft-hearted which sometimes gives others an advantage over them. People under this Chinese New Year zodiac are well suited to be an artist, priest, or politician.
Generally, dragons are compatible with Rats, Snakes, Monkeys, and Roosters. They also tend to exhibit characteristics like-
However, they possess a couple of negative characteristics as well. For instance, they crave for attention and are egoistical by nature. They aren’t modest and have a bossy temperament. Their general tendency is to dominate others. They detest solicit advice and may be insensitive and tactless to their partners.
Dragons are often blessed with good health. The only thing that bothers them is stressful situations. At work, dragons are pretty imaginative and prefer taking a radical approach towards their work.
Dragons share similar kind of objectives as well as goals in life. The best suited occupations on their part are as follows-
The key to the Dragon personality is that dragons are the free spirits of the Zodiac. Conformation is a Dragon’s curse. Rules and regulations are made for other people. Restrictions blow out the creative spark that is ready to flame into life. Dragons must be free and uninhibited. The Dragon is a beautiful creature, colorful and flamboyant.
An extroverted bundle of energy, gifted and utterly irrepressible, everything Dragons do is on a grand scale – big ideas, ornate gestures, extreme ambitions. However, this behavior is natural and isn’t meant for show. Because they are confident, fearless in the face of challenge, they are almost inevitably successful. Dragons usually make it to the top. However, Dragon people should be aware of their natures. Too much enthusiasm can leave them tired and unfulfilled. Even though they are willing to help others when necessary, their pride can often impede them from accepting the same kind of help from others. Dragons’ generous personalities give them the ability to attract friends, but they can be rather solitary people at heart. A Dragon’s self-sufficiency can mean that he or she has no need for close bonds with other people.
The water dragon, born in 1952 and 2012 has slightly unique characteristics compared to others born wiht the dragon sign.
Water has a calming effect on the Dragon’s fearless temperament. Water allows the Dragon to re-direct its enthusiasm, and makes him more perceptive of others. These Dragons are better equipped to take a step back to re-evaluate a situation because they understand the art of patience and do not desire the spotlight like other Dragons. Therefore, they make smart decisions and are able to see eye-to-eye with other people. However, their actions can go wrong if they do not research or if they do not finish one project before starting another.
For all those born this year, yours is a unique an coveted sign in the Chinese zodiac. Use it well.
Sehai Pok Manu Paduseyo 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Happy New Year)!
Dec
28
2011
Rory and I will be in Korea for the 2012 Lunar New Year. I’m excited, even though I’m told that it is a very family-oriented holiday, without a lot of activity and fanfare in the community. My impression, mostly from seeing Chinese people in Canada celebrate the New Year, is that there should be lots of festivities and parades and firecrackers, etc.
In a way, Koreans still hold many of the traditional values around the holiday that have been commercialized in surrounding Asian countries. This is why I am most excited to go this year. Korean New Year, or Seollal (설날), is the most important of the traditional Korean holidays. The three-day holiday is used by many to return to their home towns to visit their parents and other relatives to perform an ancestral ritual. This year, Rory and I will perform the ancestral ritual known as charye (차례) in our colorful hanbok.
What is the ritual you ask?
Firstly, the room must be spotless cleaned first, then a screen and a table altar are placed in the room. On that table several foods are presented. The placement of the food has a certain order.
Jwa po woo rye: On the left, jerked meat. On the right, rice drink
Doo dong mi seo : East : head. West: tail
Hong dong bek seo : East: red color. West: white color.
“Chi bang” is the paper where the names of ancestors are written. On the left men’s names are placed with women at the right. Written vertically from left to right the order is: great great grand parents, great grand parents, grand parents, parents.
When offering to ancestors, transparent liquor is served. Vegetables may include ko sari, doraji, sookju namul. The broth is made of mussels, shrimp and pulp or squid fish. Jerky can be both of fish or beef. There are some specific rules, however. For example, peaches are not included among the fruits offered (can someone tell me why?). Also, fish with names ending in “chi” like kong chi, kal chi are no used either. These rules are commonly observed, but people tend to serve what the deceased liked most while they were alive. The idea is that the deceased ancestors must be well nourished so they have enough energy to give many blessings to their descendants.
This is an illustration of the various elements involved in charye:
Performing the ritual is called Chesa (Charye) and it involves the following:
Here’s a video on the proper way to bow for New Year’s (in case you ever find yourself with a Korean family)
I’m also excited to take part in the tradition of sebae, which is a traditionally observed activity on Seollal. Children wish their elders (grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents) a happy new year by performing one deep traditional bow (rites with more than one bow involved are usually for the deceased) and the words saehae bok mani badeuseyo (새해 복 많이 받으세요) which translates to please receive many blessings in the new year. Parents typically reward this gesture by giving their children new year’s money (usually in the form of crisp paper money) and offering words of wisdom, or deokdam. Historically, parents gave out rice cakes and fruit to their children instead. I’m looking forward to the money though.
In addition to these traditional rituals, many Koreans also greet the New Year (both Western and lunar) by visiting East coast locations such as Gangneung and Donghae in Gangwon province, where they are most likely to see the first rays of the New Year’s sun. Many traditional games are played with children as well. The traditional family board game Yunnori (윷놀이) is still a popular pastime. Traditionally children would fly kites and play jegi chagi (제기차기), a game in which a light object is wrapped in paper or cloth, and then kicked like a hackysack.
On New Year’s eve, people clean their houses and light it with colorful lamps. Koreans will also often take a bath with hot water and burn bamboo sticks to casts off the evil spirits.
See the latest post on the Chinese New Year of the Dragon and what it means.
Dec
26
2011
VisitSeoul.net has a pretty cool Facebook app that lets users experience various elements of Seoul, South Korea. It’s part of a bigger push by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to attract visitors to the Peninsula. In fact, Korea, China and Japan in a (rare) showing of solidarity, are in the process of identifying and developing tourist routes to promote tourism in the greater East Asia region.
When I travelled Asia, I felt that Korea, being situated between Japan and China, was often overlooked by people on the backpacker trail. Of all the cities I went to though (aside from Hong Kong, which I loved) I felt Seoul was a perfect blend of Chinese tradition and conservatism, Japanese style wackiness, Western influence and thousands of years of uniquely-styled Korean culture that results in an amazing experience. I highly recommend anyone to go there for at least a week. In fact we are travelling there for the Chinese New Year in January. We’ll definitely be posting about our trip so stay tuned.
Check out the Travel Details section of this blog for information and maps on getting around the city and what to see and do.
Dec
21
2011
The Obama family stopped by Dubai recently and asked us to be in one of their Christmas family portraits. How do you think it turned out?
Those elf costumes were a bit itchy
Dec
19
2011
From Global Voices:
Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator who ruled for the past three decades, has died at the age of 69. According to North Korean state television’s official report on Monday, Kim passed away from “mental and physical strain” during a train ride on December 17, 2011. The South Korean Twittersphere erupted with various responses. Although the death of one of the world’s most notorious dictators is something people might welcome, most South Koreans have expressed concern about the instability his sudden death would bring to Korean peninsula.
Here are some reactions from world leaders.
I’m really interested to know how the leader’s death will affect relations between the Koreas. Many South Koreans on Twitter have expressed a mix of reactions ranging from excitement to outrage to remorse. It’s understandable given the South’s long-held desire for a unified Korea, their strong blood link to the North Koreans and the fact that many people (including my father-in-law) have family roots in the North. Of course it was widely understood that Kim Jong Il was a dictator, an excentric and an all around weird guy who put many of his own citizens in harm’s way for the sake of pride and irrational political statements, but he was still very much a national symbol (if not an infamous one) of the peninsula.
Kim Jong Il was often parodied for his eccentric behavior
I’ve heard arguments about what would happen if the border between North and South were to open. There would be an influx of businesses to the North to exploit the untapped market as well as an influx of Koreans to the South who would end up taking many of the low paying jobs and creating a job crisis as well as strain the already difficult housing situation. Inflation in Korea would rise rapidly. But on the other hand, people would be free, be fed and be reunited with family. It is a tough situation and hopefully Kim Jong-un, Kim’s successor will be able to work with South Korean officials to find a sane and rational long-term solution to the long-standing standoff.
I’d be happy to hear from anyone with their own views on this death and the future of the Koreas.
More links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/19/kim-jong-il-north-korean-leader-dies?newsfeed=true
Dec
12
2011
When I was travelling Korea in 2005, one of my favorite day trips from Seoul was the walled city, Suwon. In fact, it is the only remaining Korean city with a complete wall intact. I had a great time walking around the top of the wall, posing for young school children who wanted to take my photo and enjoying the spring weather.
Suwon was an hour’s subway ride outside of Seoul and short bus trip from there to the wall. The city is quite large, with over a million people, but I was more interested in the historical significance and beauty of the wall and the interior city with its markets and busy alleyways.
Hwahongmun, otherwise known as Buksumun, is the gate under which the river flows. The gate has the obvious function of being a bridge, but also housed cannons for defensive purposes.
The walls were one of Korea’s first examples of paid labour. The walls still exist today, though they, together with the fortress, were damaged severely during the Korean War.
The city was full of colour
According to Wikipedia, Hwaseong Fortress (which means Brilliant Castle) was originally constructed under the guidance of philosopher Jeong Yag-yong. In 1800, shortly after the death of King Jeongjo, a white paper detailing the construction of the fortress was published. This proved invaluable during its reconstruction in the 1970s.
These lanterns were hanging in someone's driveway
The fortress walls once encircled the entire city, but modern urban growth has seen the city spread out far beyond the fortress. The walls are now a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and often used in materials promoting the city.
The main gate of the wall is now a through way for the city's traffic
I would suggest it to anyone who has a day to spare while visiting Seoul.
Here’s a CNN documentary on the fortress:
Oct
25
2011
Aparently today (October 25th) is Dokdo Day!
For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Dokdo Islands (A.K.A. The Liancourt Rocks) are a small set of rocky islets in the East Sea off the coast of Japan and Korea. They have been hotly contested by the Japanese and the Koreans, as both lay claim to them. It is a touchy topic in Korea and even in 2005 when I was travelling there, I distinctly remember watching a game show with the old Korean lady I was boarding with, where the contestants had to sing a song about Dokdo, which apparently almost all Koreans know. This song was seriously stuck in my head for 6 months travelling through Asia.
Apparently the Koreans’ claim to the island has led them to develop a bit of it, building a lighthouse, a helicopter pad, a large South Korean flag visible from the air, a post box, a staircase, and police barracks and even hosted a basketball tournament recently. In 2007, two desalinization plants were built capable of producing 28 tons of clean water every day. Both of the major Korean telephone companies have installed cell phone towers on the islets.
There is no extent that South Koreans won't go to promote their claim of the islands.
According to Hancinema, singer Kim Jang-hoon will publish a photo collection entitled “Kim Jang-hoon’s Dokdo Concert” to commemorate Dokdo Day. In addition, he will hold the “Dokdo Festival” from October 26 until November 5 at the “Boda” Visual Art Center in Yeoksamdong, and the festival will include various programs such as a Dokdo photo collection, exhibition of installation art, and library program that keeps rare articles regarding Dokdo.
Regardless of who holds claim to the islands, Dokdo is very beautiful and home to many species of fish, birds and animals. This Dokdo Day, let’s just be happy that we can be witness and share in nature’s beauty. Happy Dokdo Day!
Related links:
The Dokdo Rap - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX5NWYrLM0Q
A creepy video narrated by and from the point of view of the island itself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SoBhxrVLG4&feature=related
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/dokdo_or_takeshima.html - Good group of images
http://www.truthofdokdo.com/info
Oct
19
2011
For much of the world, when people think of Korea they think about how well behaved, clean and well mannered the country and culture are. Well, there is one occasion when these stereotypes fly out the window. The Boryeong Mud Festival is an annual festival which takes place during the summer in Boryeong, a town around 200 km south of Seoul, South Korea. Like all festivals, it started small but now attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the small town each year.
In addition to great fun people have throwing, smearing, squishing and splashing mud all over each other, the mud is considered rich in minerals and used to manufacture cosmetics, so essentially people also get a high quality mud pack equivalent to a high-end spa treatment.
Although the festival takes place over a period of around two weeks, it is most famous for its final weekend, which is popular with Korea’s western population, many of whom are English language teachers. The final weekend of the festival usually falls on the second weekend in July.
Above and below are some pictures from Hannah371. You can see a slideshow of her work on Flickr.
Here are some more great photos. Be sure to check out the official website to learn about how you can book your trip for next year’s festival!
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