2nd Seoul

October 20, 2019-

2nd Seoul 

Our morning lecture was given by a professor who had spent time teaching in Canada. He was engaging, informative, and totally understandable. His opening salvo was throwing out a large number and asking what it represented. I must have had a good night’s sleep because I guessed it was the gross domestic product. I was right. Off to a rolling start, he began to draw us into the amazing recovery of S. Korea when the war ended in 1953. From devastated cities, a starving population, and loss of young males, they have increased their GDP 13 times.

He attributed the success to Korean culture and broke it down into five parts. Education is paramount. The Koreans were fortunate to have one of the most straightforward alphabets in the world. There are only 14 consonants and 10 vowels, and it is phonetic. The ease of learning to read has made illiteracy uncommon. Education is free and compulsory to grade nine. The remainder is pay as you go. The government is phasing in free education over several years starting with grade twelve and working backwards. Even though there is a fee for college, there is an over education problem with 68% of S. Koreans graduating. Many end up working in lesser positions including as servers in restaurants or gas stations.

Symbols are important to culture. Korea’s main symbol is the taegeuk, or yin and yang. It’s on the flag and is used so much it appears in unexpected places. Sometimes it is multicolored as in the google chrome or Pepsi logos.

Beliefs,values, and norms also influence culture. While Americans prefer individualism, Koreans value filial piety. Although several religions are practiced, 56% of the people claim no affiliation. Anger is to be suppressed. The suicide rate is very high.

At the end of the talk, David asked a question whose answer brought into focus a lot of cultural issues. He asked why children of Koreans and westerners were rejected after the war. Our teacher told us that in an effort to impart pride in Korea, people were taught from ancient times that they were descended from a mythological figure. They shared blood with this creature, and this blood had to be pure. By the time the USA decided to allow mixed race children from Vietnam and Korea to immigrate, the Koreans were adults. 

Whew! That was a lot to absorb. Watching the changing of the guards was next on our agenda and a welcome relief to brain strain. We went to the “Paris” gate again to watch a most colorful spectacle. Serious looking men in bizarre uniforms and hats paraded past camara toting tourists vying for the best positions. I used my height advantage to the max. Little did we know that at the end of the demonstration there would be ample time for photos as the guards hung around and posed. 

Reality of place and history hit us between the eyes at our next stop. The War Museum was not as graphic as some but definitely conveyed the atrocities The lead up to the Korean War and our involvement was a chaotic attempt to avoid it. S. Korea was woefully ill equipped to defend themselves and welcomed foreign aid. General MacArthur, beloved by Australians for “returning” and Japanese for helping form their post WWII democracy ,won over S. Korea with his unexpected and daring landing at Inchon. Even with that, there was much bloodshed as borders were won and lost. There was a 10% loss of life on the part of S. Korea and from 15-20% loss for the North.

Our afternoon lecture was given by a professor specializing in conflict resolution. His parents are refugees from the North who fled South during the war. They will never see or communicate with the relatives they left behind. To young S. Koreans today the war isn’t on their radar. There is no love lost for the North and they care little about reunification. He is,however, hopeful that Trump will keep working towards a peace agreement despite his own domestic problems. You see, there is still no treaty, only a cease fire. The “war” isn’t over; there’s just no fighting. He sees Kim easing restrictions on private enterprise and delegating some power.

On the pessimistic side, he said that S. Korea Is tied economically to the USA military complex. How did such a poor, devasted country rebuild? The answer is that the new leader went to Washington, DC and struck a deal with the president. S. Korea would supply soldiers to help the USA fight in Vietnam in exchange for funding. Oddly enough, the money ened up being used for the benefit of the country and not in the leader’s pockets.  Casualties for America in Vietnam numbered over 500,000. For S. Korea it was 360,000. As long as there is tension between North and South, the South will be tied economically to the USA military complex. They are one of our best customers.

Now for some lighter notes. There is universal healthcare based on income. The professor pays $70 a month for coverage. 

People living in the South whose families fled North Korea aren’t as discriminated against anymore unless they’re recent arrivals and poor. 

David has become our unofficial water bottle opener on the bordello bus for those too weak or arthritic to open their own.

Jinny’s English is still a mystery.

We still haven’t had Korean food. I don’t count the chicken soup. Lunch was at a buffet where selections ranged from sushi to pizza. We ate so much at lunch that our evening stroll through a nearby neighborhood past numerous eateries netted us no dinner, especially not the live baby octopus stew.

S. Korea has a low crime rate. Their youth are too busy studying for college eligibility. There’s no time for drugs or mischief.

We have everyone engaged in a quest for a hippo. Our now thirteen year old granddaughter is still collecting them. Hippopotamus is “Hama” in Korean. I even googled it and have the Korean spelling on my phone. Another couple is searching for peanut butter to make sandwiches in their room. They found jelly yesterday.

Tomorrow we lunch with Buddhist monks. Still no Korean food.

Toby

With Palace Guard