Introduction to Korea

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

We'll take the subway to the National Museum of Korea today.

But first, we make a stop at Namdaemun Market, one of the largest markets in the world.

This market goes on street after narrow street, with shops on the first and second floors as well as the basements and hundreds of stalls in front of the stores.

Clothes, food, jewelry and household items are all for sale here; the quantity of clothes and jewelry boggles the mind. Who consumes all this stuff?

We buy dried fruit and nuts. We'll come back here later. Off to the subway.

The entrance to the museum houses a ten-story pagoda.

We bgin with the archaeological exhibits that give evidence to the people who lived on this peninsula from 8000 B.C. on, then move to Korea's history. The Mongols ruled the country for some time. The extent of the Mongol empire was vast - these are the same fierce people who threatened Rome.

Busy boys, those Mongols. Not someone you'd like to run into along the Silk Road on a dark night outside your tent.

Korean history is well-preserved because Korea has always placed a high value on education. The literacy rate was high and even small villages kept good records.

The Koreans, like the Chinese, were invaded and ruled by the Japanese from 1910 to 1945 and suffered greatly. The Japanese sought to erase all traces of Korean culture.

The painting exhibit surprises us-many of the 20th century works on display are Impressionist. I don't remember Asian art being influenced by the European painters of this period. They're very beautiful.

The museum has a fine collection of pottery and porcelain. We are drawn to the pieces with clean, simple lines; that includes most of them. The large exhibit of Celadon contains exquisite pieces.

Among the many Buddhist sculptures is the statue of the Contemplative Buddha, (the Maitreya, or future Buddha)probably made in the 7th century. It has the effect of making you want to stop and spend some time contemplating as well.

It's late in the afternoon by the time we finish. Outside, Bernie takes pictures of the lake and pagoda in the park in front of the museum.

We want to visit a large riverside park and perhaps take a ferry ride across the Han River, which is a much larger river than I had imagined.

We've just missed a ferry by the time we arrive in a taxi, and there won't be another one for two hours. The sun is going down now. It's been a beautiful day but it's beginning to get cold so we decide we won't wait for the next one.

We ask directions to the subway-or Bernie does, since he's the one who speaks some Korean-and walk to the station.

Seoul's subway is not as easy to figure out as Beijing's so we spend some time going over the maps. When we emerge at our stop near the hotel, we need to ask which exit to take to get to the hotel. At some stops this is not such a big deal, but here, if we choose the wrong exit, we'll be on the wrong side of an eight-lane highway.

The subway employee who told us which exit to take shows up on the street outside. He's on his dinner break, heading for a restaurant, but he takes time to walk with us to the place where we turn to go up the hill.

People in both China and Korea have helped us like this so often, going the extra mile (sometimes almost literally) to be kind to strangers.

Tonight I want to try one of the hotel's restaurants, but I don't know which one, so we walk around to each, examining the menus and prices. Cheap is not an option here.

At last I decide on the Taipei Chines, thought you'd think I'd have had enough Chinese food lately.

Fortunately here, as in China, so much food is served that Bernie and I can share. We enjoy beef and peppers and broccoli with mushrooms.

After dinner we're back in our room watching a TV show featuring young mixed-nationality couples: Korean-Russian, Korean-American, and maybe some others. Apparently they share funny stories about how the differences between their two cultures has affected their marriages.

I can't understand any of it but I get a lot from from expressions and gestures.

When we were in Beijing watching TV, we were surprised to find that we could follow a Chinese soap opera subtitled in French quite well.

We're ready for bed now, and turn off the lights to enjoy the view. We're on a hill overlooking Seoul and the city is spread out below us. It's exciting to watch the cars, the people, the lights.

I debate whether to close the drapes, but it's unlikely I'll ever have this view again, so I leave them open.