"If the people prosper, how can the king not prosper with them?
And if the people do not prosper, how may the king prosper without them?"
-King Sejong, 4th Ruler of Choson Korea

1 March 1919

This is an important day in Korea.
It's a national holiday and all schools and government offices are closed.
It is a commemoration of an attempt to reclaim independence from the colonization laid forth by Japan.
Read about it HERE.
I inquired about it from several people, getting a few different answers, some saying it's Independence Day, some saying a 'Memorial' type day, others disputing both.
It an 'attempted' independence day and it's a day of remembrance for the people who perished in 1919.
The gist (and forgive me if I get the details wrong, one of the reasons I provided a link. This is for those of you who didn't click it):
The Koreans tired of Japan and laboring under their control and a couple of people set forth to write a 'Declaration of Independence' and many peaceful rallies were held, supporting the proclamation.
The Japanese, in their infinite wisdom, decided it wasn't for them to make such a claim. Many rallies were held and the Japanese took offense.
So, with this and many of the crowds not dispersing, they fired into the crowds.
7,500 people were massacred that day, many wounded, and an estimated 40,000 arrests were made.
Follow the link I provided and click the other links
please, there are some harrowing pictures, please view at your own discretion and please be present when children are viewing:

http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/Samil-2004.htm

http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/3-YuKwanSoon.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_independence_movement

Not all of the pictures are bad, but some may be considered 'graphic'.
They provide a much better explanation than I could ever hope to give.

I happened across a ceremony in Jongno-sam (3)gu today.
At this moment, I wished I was fluent in Hangul, for the ceremony was very moving, no matter what language you happen to speak.
It was in TapGol Park, a place I have been before and find to be very beautiful. I like going over there, especially on a Sunday afternoon. The park is packed with the older generations and it is their place. Singing, dancing, games, music, Soju, and a lot of other activities. It is very cool to be around, just to watch.
Today, it was for refection and remembrance.
In attendance were many older people, some dignitaries, and all of the branches of the military were represented. The military band played somber music, as well as The Korean National Anthem. A choir led the crowd in many songs, people bowing, and paying their respects. A monument was set up, with people's names being read off, as older people (I would guess them to be relatives of many of the survivors and deceased. See why I wish I was fluent?) laid flowers at the base of the monument, while the color guard handed them out and stood at attention. A 21-Gun salute preceded the events, sending chills up the spine, it would not be the last time it would happen. As the names were read, there wasn't a sound to be heard. Nothing. It sends chills up my spine and goose bumps on my body just thinking about it. It was beautiful. These are a very proud people and today it showed. I am glad I got to see this, it puts things into perspective.

The Koreans are a very proud people and they should be.
They have endured Chinese occupation, Japanese occupation, and a war, which affected everybody in this country. What we call 'A Police Action', devastated this country and as far as they are concerned, North and South Korea are still at war. A cease-fire stops any transgressions from either side.
That, and the presence of the United States Army.
The U.S. is wanted (by some) and needed (by all) to be here and insure the peace. Many believe when the United States leaves South Korea, it will open the door for the North. So it's not all that bad having our presence here, it provides a safe feeling for many South Koreans, which is worth it.

I may crack jokes and make outlandish stories about various happenings here and pick on certain groups, but I respect these people and their culture immensely. They will celebrate things, from the biggest to the smallest, Seoul seeming to be one large museum. Do they take it for granted? NO. The Koreans are quite aware of what has happened to their ancestors and celebrate the youth of this country, as to prevent them from forgetting. Their patriotism is very high, as it should be, in any country.
For example: They lost their first soldier, on foreign turf the other day. It was the first since The Vietnam War and it's big news here.
My heart goes out to these people and I now see why many foreigners choose to stay. Quirks aside, this is a pretty country and the people respect it VERY much.
As do I.

Quirks
As I have alluded to in previous 'updates', there are some cultural quirks (not Jamie, either) I have noticed while here.
I am not whining nor am I trying to change the culture, these are observations, just observations. Every culture has them and Lord knows, the USA has plenty.

Ashtrays
This is a smoking society, so if you are one of the people who cries every time you walk into a restaurant and see smokers, DO NOT COME TO KOREA.
As is the case at places in KC, they won't listen to you and you'll continue to cry about it, as you sit down and eat, anyway. There is no such thing as a 'non-smoking' section.
The few places you cannot smoke are subways, buses, and schools, although I am sure there are other places, I haven't seen them. Actually, you can't smoke in office buildings, which makes perfect sense, anyway.
BUT.
They do try to alleviate the amount of smoke in places, they put water in the ashtrays.
This can be good or bad.
This makes people hold their cigarettes and not put them down, which also makes for a chain smoker.
And, there is NO chance of an ashtray fire, which is always nice, but it leads to another problem.
Spitting in ashtrays.
Yep, spitting. Not the big-hocking-lugie type, but the regular type of spitting.
I cannot bring myself to do it, but many others do it and though it grossed me out to start, I have learned to look the other way when someone is doing it.
Spitting is for the floor or outdoors or the bathroom or the baseball field and in Pacman Jones' case, women's faces.
One of those things it took a little getting used to, save for Pacman.

Street Puke
Yep.
Puke.
THAT I cannot get used to, ever. That is one thing which should be done in only one place, OK, maybe a couple.
1.) The restroom. One of the many uses for the toilet.
2.) Harling's Upstairs. I mean, that place always smells of a fraternity's basement. Every time I have been there. I don't get it.
3.) Behind dumpsters. Away from the public eye and the smell of the dumpster will mask the odor.
4.) Home. The most obvious place. GO HOME and get sick.

I myself, haven't gotten sick here, or at home, for that matter. Not to say I haven't, but I chose (as in the past) to do it in the privacy of my own home. That's part of having a place to go home to. (I know, I ended a sentence with a preposition, but I don't care)
NOW.
It's everywhere. At first I thought it to be just an accident, they happen, but when I started to continually see it, on streets, sidewalks, and in the restroom (at least someone tried), I realized it is accepted and probably embraced. I will NEVER get used to seeing it, ever.

Walking in a straight line
No matter the time of day, no matter where you are, you will be bumped.
Example:
I am walking down a hall in the subway, pretty much have the place to myself, except for the lady walking towards me. I give her, or so I thought, enough room. The hallway was about eight meters wide (that's almost 24 feet, Gramma Pat) and I have one side ALL to myself.
So I am walking, thinking I am doing OK and the lady runs into me. I looked around, maybe she was trying to get out of the way of someone, but no, she cannot walk in a straight line. Weird, I thought and NO, she wasn't drunk. It was only 11:00 AM.
I figured this was an isolated incident and moved on.
NOPE.
It happens all of the time. And not in the mad rush on the subway. Being bumped is part of the game and I have actually come to enjoy it. I am twice the size of people and I love to watch them bounce off of me. Except for the adjumas, I hide from them. My mama only raised one fool and he lives in Omaha.
I will be in subways, with no people around and the guy in front of me, walks right into me. I will be on sidewalks and will be run off the curb or into a storefront. I will be in the grocery store and be run into the huge can display (I wasn't even IN aisle seven!!!!).
I attribute most of this to the hand phone talking and walking. They cannot do that, walk and talk at the same time.
Myself? I only mastered this within the past five years. You should see them walk and chew gum at the same time.
Which brings me to another quirk.

Gum Chewing
They love for you to know they are chewing gum.
Snapping, chomping, just regularly rude.
At home, if you did it in my presence, I would say something to you. Be you a stranger, family, or friend.
I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR IT.
I could not care less if you are chewing gum, there is no need to advertise it to me or anyone else for that matter.
I cannot do that here.
I thought, again, it was maybe the person I happened to sit next to, but NOOOOOOOOO, it's everyone. To me it's like fingernails running down a chalkboard, so if I hear it, I quiver and move away. I moved away from a lady on the subway one day, all the while giving her the evil eye and wincing EVERY time she did it.
One of my pet peeves.
I cannot help it, it's just who I am.
So. If you ever do it around me and I punch you in the stomach, reach in your mouth and grab your gum, it's nothing personal.
It's ME, not you.
Actually, it is YOU and I don't want to hear it.
And when I come back to KC, I look forward to the people who chew their gum in silence, besides, if you chew your gum with your mouth open, it lets all of the flavor out, right Mom?

Where do YOU stand?
And I don't mean politically or religiously or any other idea.
Where do you stand when you are waiting for an elevator?
Hopefully, you stand off to the side, as to allow others to get off the elevator.
Not here.
I find it funny.
They stand right in the middle and try to get on as people are trying to exit.
Same goes for the subway.
There will be 10-15 people attempting to exit, while one person is right in the middle, trying to get on and race for the nearest seat.
The funny thing is, people get run into more by doing this.
I find myself standing to the side, laughing out loud, wondering if anyone else thinks it's as funny as I do.
By the looks on their faces, NO.

As stated, THIS IS NOT WHINING.
Observations.
You all wanted to know what I observe and well, you got it.

Lunar New Year

As stated in a previous rambling, I went to Incheon, site of the largest Chinatown in Seoul (or South Korea).
Not all that.
I am NOT knocking it, as there were some cool things to see in the area.
It's just this city shut down for the weekend.
A comparison:
How many of you have been to the State of Minnesota for the first weekend of fishing?
How are the roads?
Is there anything else to do in The Twin Cities (or Albert Lea, for that matter)?
NO.
Everyone is on the road, going to their favorite fishing hole and if you aren't part of it, you are nothing. Seoul is no different, the expressways are a parking lot.
Welcome to Seoul and Incheon for Seolnal (Seoulnal, Sul-Nal--different spellings for everybody, kind of like Qaddaffi)!!!!!
We started off early, or as early as we could, 10:15, and headed to Wangsamni for a McDonald's breakfast. You cannot start a trip off without an Egg McMuffin.
They don't have Egg McMuffins, the have a BACON version, still good, but I want the real thing.
After we finish our breakfast we head to the subway, which the connection we needed was in this neighborhood and it made the easy choice for MickeyD's Rainbow Room.
After waiting for what seemed days, we were on our way, to the largest train station in the city.
People left, people right, little girls and boys in the best Seoulal dress, and two Americans, looking for something to do.
We make it out of the station, after trying to find the express to Incheon, which never happened.
So.
After about an hour and a connection, we hit Incheon, landing as Macarthur and his boys did in 1950. Although, we weren't celebrated, there wasn't any resistance, nor will there be a statue of us erected any time soon.
You could have fired a rifle (to coin a phrase) in any direction and you would have been safe from attempted murder charges.
We expected a parade, not for us, but to celebrate Seolall.
We wanted dragons, firecrackers, little spinning things, lanterns, smoke, screaming, cheering, and all of the stuff accompanying said celebration.
We even checked message boards to confirm our desires.
Problem.
Someone forgot to tell them we were coming and everybody took off for their favorite fishing hole.
Not to say there wasn't anyone else there, just not what we wanted.
So.
We take off walking towards a park where Macarthur's statue is supposed to be, finding the entrance to be 100,489 steps.
Good thing I am out-of-shape.
So after fighting off The Abominable Snowman halfway up the crest of the steps, we find one of the things on the to-do-list.
A nice little park, "Freedom Park", if you will.
There's some nice sculptures, a monument to the South Korea/U.S.A love affair, Macarthur standing in all his glory, and a chicken coop.
Pictures of all of this will follow. Possibly.
Walking around, pounding our chests and chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A, U-SA!!!", we get to the second (or third) best general of the United State's Army's statue.
It's pretty cool and there's another plaque stating the greatest of the former Lieutenant Macarthur.
OK
We have seen it and we have been here 30 minutes.
Now what?
OH, what we haven't seen.
We walk down the steps to see what else there was to view and find the smog in Incheon (on a day when ALL factories are shut down) worse than Seoul's. We could see most of the man-made harbor and the industries surrounding, but it made our eyes burn.
But it wasn't the smog making them water.
After finding a group of old men playing a game similar to Othello (AND who wouldn't allow us to take their picture--again, pics to follow)we come across a monstrosity.
The Chicken Coop.
Only this wasn't your ordinary chicken coop, it was a kind of bird sanctuary.
Kind of.
I say this, because there were some rabbits, a couple of deer, and other small varmints running around.
There were some turkeys (THERE YA GO BERNIE, turkeys, other than the ex-pats), some peacocks (hehe), some chickens, a couple of roosters (they go nuthin' on Kauai), and little birds flying in and out of the screen at the top, mocking all of the critters who couldn't get out.
I call it a chicken coop, because of the smell.
It was FOWL.
Now.
I wasn't around when my Uncle Jim's coop was up and running, but I have been around a couple and the stench is enough to curl your nose hairs and kill you, if you are allergic to poultry.
After scratching our itchy eyes and picking our jaws off the ground, we move on, battle-tested and weary of our mistake to come down the Macarthur's Landing Area.
The place looked like the neighborhoods of Seoul (go figure) and the allure was starting to wear, especially since the 'Egg' McMuffins were digested and our stomaches were screaming for some sustenance.
Guess what we found?
Go ahead, GUESS.
NO, not a MickeyD's.
A Chinese restaurant, in CHINATOWN, of all places.
We talked to a foreigner, I say this, because we are ALL foreigners, who had his lunch on his chin (we couldn't bring ourselves to stop staring or tell him about it) and he sent us to the busiest place on the street.
I had the Juju Mein, noodles, noodles, black sauce, and a TON of white onions (wanna kiss, Debby?).
Griff, my cohort, had the hot (spicy hot, well, and temperature hot) pork noodles.
Both were good.
We struck up a conversation with an adjuma (yes, they do talk) and she told us she lived in Albany, New York for a while.
After we told her we were sorry she had to live there, she tried to pawn her granddaughter off on Griff.
He politely declined.
So.
Now we're off to find something to keep our attention for the next day.
Didn't happen.
Stores are closed, no entertainment, no parades, and we really didn't want to buy any of the crapcrapandmorecrap, they were trying to force down our throats.
Walking, we're walking, we're walking.
It's time to ditch this little hullabaloo.
The train station is in our sight and we make it there, through the rush of nobody and the sound of silence.
We decide on Bupyong, rumor has it, there are some 'Western Bars' in the area.
'Goose Goose' is allegedly one of them.
We attempt to find it.
We walk, in the wrong direction, my fault, and decide to walk back.
Bennigan's is found and we figure if there is one around, other western type stuff is probably to be had.
We find a pretty cool shopping/HOF/boutique area and we are sure 'Goose Goose' is there.
Turning corners, being eyed by little Korean prostitutes (no confirmation, but they wore more makeup than Tammy Faye), and no luck finding 'Goose Goose', Griff decides to go into a couple of stores asking where it was.
After being chased out of three of them, I guess 'Goose Goose' doesn't translate well, we come across a western style bar, aptly named, "Western Ice Bar".
SCHWEEEEEET!
I need a beer or three.
We found heaven.
All of the beers you could ask for, except Newcastle.
They had an empty bottle of it, so we assumed they had it.
I asked and was informed they didn't carry it, which was not cool, so we ordered another beer.
While we were deciding, I got up, walked around the bar, took the Newcastle bottle off the shelf and through it against a mirror.
"If you don't carry a beer, TAKE THE BOTTLE OFF THE SHELF!!!!"
And I walk back around to sit down.
Griff and I thought we should take the 'World Beer Tour'.
We started n North Korea, Taedonggang.
I guess Lil' Kim Jung Il purchased an old German brewery's equipment and brought it to NoKo to make his own.
That's about the only good thing the little guy has done.
It was good and if I come across it again, I will drink it.
SO.
We go to Belgium (those monks make a fine brew), France (They surrendered, again), Germany (they surrendered, again), The Philippines ( I shall return, staying with the theme of the day), and other countries (it didn't matter after the first group of beers where we went).
We befriend one of the bartenders and get a hook-up on some food.
He studied at Cambridge (electrical engineering), he had a British accent to boot and was studying at some other university in Bupyong.
Now.
It's time to figure out what we are to do for the night.
The subway will close soon and we aren't sure if we want to stay in Bupyong for the night.
We decide to leave and call Richie (as the Koreans like to call him) and find out what he is doing.
We are to go to Sinchon and to another bar we like.
After the debacle of the ride, Griff speaking French to me and me speaking Spanish to him, we make it.
We have made it, alive (barely) out of Incheon.
Sinchon is another deal.
As some of you know, when Axton hits a wall, he leaves.
Without telling anyone.
Good byes suck when you can't see past the end of your nose.
After 4 or 5 pitchers of beer, I decide it's time.
I can't even speak English correctly, at this point of the night, let alone tell the cabbie where I need to go.
I find one who's willing to go across town and fall into his cab.
Do I make it home?
I'm pretty sure I did, I think.
And it ain't because of all of the hops, barley, and carbonation.
It's because Seoul turns into a racetrack after midnight, when the cabbies take control of the road.
I am loosey goose-goosey and am being tossed around the backseat of the cab, all the while, hoping the glasses I yanked from the bar don't break in my backpack.
Finally, I recognize something near my home and direct Mario Andretti to wind his way thought the back alleys and narrow turns to my street.
I make it, with only 1/8 of a kilometer to walk or stumble or crawl.
NEVER have I been so happy to find my little home away from home, as my girlfriend can attest.
I talked to her, I think, and passed out in my bed shortly thereafter.
So.
I have conquered Sollal, Bupyong, Sinchon, and Incheon and have learned our plans to exit South Korea for Chusak (The Korean Thanksgiving) is a pretty good idea.
If this city was empty for this holiday, imagine what it will be like when everybody doesn't leave their homes for 4 days?
We are going to Cambodia.
Maybe we'll find another Western Ice Bar.