I just got back from an interminably long, hot bus ride back from the airport after seeing Rebecca off. So, with the help of some really loud music and a few beers, I shall assuage my loneliness. Ok. Ok. That was terribly maudlin (and yes, I am listening to cheesy love songs), but I AM bummed.
We had a great week together. Rebecca hasn't been to Korea before so I had great plans to do some touristy stuff, which included seeing some of the temples and mountains and hiking around a bit. These plans were rather quickly dashed when Rebecca told me that the only hiking she wanted to do was up the escalator at any given department store or around the streets of shopping districts. I was fine with this because a) department stores are air conditioned and it's summer here in Korea, and b) Rebecca's idea of shopping with me was to to sit me down in a coffee shop or some such place and go off by herself! Hell, she left me in the Seoul Pub to go wander the stores of Itaewan! That's my kind of shopping. I LOVE this woman! We also went to see NANTA, which, if you live in Korea and haven't seen it, or you are coming to Korea, IT'S AN ABSOLUTE MUST! The show is so much fun. This was my third time seeing the show and it was just as great as the first.
We also did some exploring around Gongju and Daejeon. We went to Santa's of course because she wanted to see that hallowed temple of beer and good times. We spent a lot of time walking around, taking busses from place to place and, amazingly enough, have NOT ONE SINGLE PHOTO from the whole trip. Go figure!
Anyway, it was wonderful to have her here, even if only for a week. I'm going back to my beer and songs like this:
BABE - Styx
Babe, I'm leavin'
I must be on my way
The time is drawing near
My train is going
I see it in your eyes
The love, the need, the tears
But I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
So please believe me
My heart is in your hands
And I'll be missing you
'Cause you know it's you babe
Whenever I get weary and I've had enough
Feel like giving up
You know it's you babe
Givin' me the courage and the strength I need
Please believe that it's true
Babe, I love you
Babe, I'm leavin'
I'll say it once again
And somehow try to smile
I know we're feeling
We're trying to forget
If only for a while
'Cause I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
Please believe me
My heart is in your hands
'Cause I'll be missing you
Babe, I love you
Babe, I love you
...and so it goes.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Bears of Gongju
In order to put this little story into some perspective, I figure a little history is in order.
Gongju came into being during what is known as the Three Kingdoms Era (57 BC - AD 668) in Korea. The Goguryeo Kingdom controlled the northern part of the peninsula including what is now present day North Korea as well as parts of China above the Yalu River. The Silla Kingdom controlled the southestern portion, and the Baekjae Kingdom controlled the southwest. In AD 475, Goguryeo overran the Baekjae capital near Seoul. The new capital Ungjin (meaning Bear Port) was established on the Guemgang River where present day Gongju now stands. Ungjin remained the capital of Baekjae until AD 538 when the capital was moved to Buyeo. Baekjae was eventually destroyed by Silla in AD 660.
Bears are an enduring part of Korean mythology beginning with the origin of the Korean people in which a bear and a tiger pray to Hwanung, the son of Hwanin, the "Lord of Heaven", to make them human. Hwanung gives them a task to perform. The tiger gave up before the task is complete, but the bear stays the course and is eventually turned into a woman (there's a "why bears hibernate" thing in this too, but we won't get into that). The bear-now-woman, Ungnyeo, makes offerings of thanks to Hwanung who decides to marry her. They have a son named Dangun Wanggeom, and thus the Korean people come into being.
Gongju has its own bear legend which I'm stealing basically verbatim from the VisitKorea website. it goes like this:
One day, a female bear, lonely after years of watching humans go about their business, kidnapped a local fisherman to make him her husband. At first, the fisherman was afraid and refused to become the bear's husband, so the bear kept him trapped in her cave by blocking the mouth with a large boulder. The bear took good care of the fisherman and, after a few years, their relationship improved to the point they had two cubs. Deciding she could now trust the husband to stay, the bear left the cave unblocked as she went off hunting for food. The fisherman, seeing his opportunity, took off. Upon returning and finding the fisherman gone, the bear, consumed by grief, jumped into the Geumgang River with her two cubs and drowned
After the bear's death, the Guemgang River became rough and the fisherman couldn't work. To calm the bear's spirit, other fisherrman built a shrine to the mother and her cubs. This shrine gives Gongju its original name, Ungjin or Bear Port.
Thus I give you, The Bears of Gongju!
Gongju came into being during what is known as the Three Kingdoms Era (57 BC - AD 668) in Korea. The Goguryeo Kingdom controlled the northern part of the peninsula including what is now present day North Korea as well as parts of China above the Yalu River. The Silla Kingdom controlled the southestern portion, and the Baekjae Kingdom controlled the southwest. In AD 475, Goguryeo overran the Baekjae capital near Seoul. The new capital Ungjin (meaning Bear Port) was established on the Guemgang River where present day Gongju now stands. Ungjin remained the capital of Baekjae until AD 538 when the capital was moved to Buyeo. Baekjae was eventually destroyed by Silla in AD 660.
Bears are an enduring part of Korean mythology beginning with the origin of the Korean people in which a bear and a tiger pray to Hwanung, the son of Hwanin, the "Lord of Heaven", to make them human. Hwanung gives them a task to perform. The tiger gave up before the task is complete, but the bear stays the course and is eventually turned into a woman (there's a "why bears hibernate" thing in this too, but we won't get into that). The bear-now-woman, Ungnyeo, makes offerings of thanks to Hwanung who decides to marry her. They have a son named Dangun Wanggeom, and thus the Korean people come into being.
Gongju has its own bear legend which I'm stealing basically verbatim from the VisitKorea website. it goes like this:
One day, a female bear, lonely after years of watching humans go about their business, kidnapped a local fisherman to make him her husband. At first, the fisherman was afraid and refused to become the bear's husband, so the bear kept him trapped in her cave by blocking the mouth with a large boulder. The bear took good care of the fisherman and, after a few years, their relationship improved to the point they had two cubs. Deciding she could now trust the husband to stay, the bear left the cave unblocked as she went off hunting for food. The fisherman, seeing his opportunity, took off. Upon returning and finding the fisherman gone, the bear, consumed by grief, jumped into the Geumgang River with her two cubs and drowned
After the bear's death, the Guemgang River became rough and the fisherman couldn't work. To calm the bear's spirit, other fisherrman built a shrine to the mother and her cubs. This shrine gives Gongju its original name, Ungjin or Bear Port.
Thus I give you, The Bears of Gongju!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Justice Korean Style
Here is yet another mind boggling example of the down right weirdness of the Korean judicial system. A young Korean couple, who, due to their addiction to a computer game, allowed their 3-month old daughter to starve to death last September, were sentenced by the courts last week.
The father was sentenced to TWO YEARS in prison while the mother was given a suspended sentenced because...wait for it...she's giving birth to their second child in three months and PROMISED the judge that she'd take better care of this one!!!!
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?
The twisted irony of all this is that the couple let their actual baby starve while obsessively caring for an online baby!
It calls to mind another great moment in Korean Justice that happened a couple of years ago. Two Korean men, grandfather and uncle to a 12 year old mentally challenged girl, were arrested for repeatedly raping the girl over the course of several years. Neither of the men received any jail time mainly because the older of the two was deemed too ill to go to prison and needed to be cared for by the other guy. That's bad enough. The real kick in the head is that the judge in the case gave the two men custody of the girl because...get this...SHE HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!!!
...and so it goes.
The father was sentenced to TWO YEARS in prison while the mother was given a suspended sentenced because...wait for it...she's giving birth to their second child in three months and PROMISED the judge that she'd take better care of this one!!!!
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?
The twisted irony of all this is that the couple let their actual baby starve while obsessively caring for an online baby!
It calls to mind another great moment in Korean Justice that happened a couple of years ago. Two Korean men, grandfather and uncle to a 12 year old mentally challenged girl, were arrested for repeatedly raping the girl over the course of several years. Neither of the men received any jail time mainly because the older of the two was deemed too ill to go to prison and needed to be cared for by the other guy. That's bad enough. The real kick in the head is that the judge in the case gave the two men custody of the girl because...get this...SHE HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!!!
...and so it goes.
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