A lot of things to talk about this time, most of which happened over the prolonged weekend due to the Korean holiday of Chuseok. This is a holiday celebrating the harvest according to the old lunar calendar that was once used in Korea. Some people even call it the Korean Thanksgiving; some similarities are there to be sure. Koreans return home (often the home of the eldest son) for a big meal with the family. This means lots of work for Korean women, who are expected to do all of said cooking. Ancestor worship is also part of the holiday - food is left out for them, and they're allowed to eat first before the living. Ceremonies are also held at home in honor of the ancestors. The younger generation seems to have mixed opinions about the day, with one saying, "I don't know if I'm going.. it's kind of boring." Many Koreans also use the holiday to travel, so buying a ticket to do so yourself can be very difficult. Trains will be packed heading out of Seoul before the holiday and heading to the capital afterwards, more so than usual.





I explained some of this in my last video update. You may be wondering why, when I'm talking about Chuseok, I have a picture of a spider at the top of this entry. The reason is simple: there are a lot of insects and spiders around the SCH campus. Being up in the mountains, that's not exactly a huge surprise. What is is how often these insects find their way indoors. In 3 weeks I've seen a dead grasshopper, moth and cockroach in our dorm building's lobby alone. Doors are often left open, as well as windows (to allow fresh air to come in and thereby improve residents' health). But bugs also get in, though they haven't caused any major problems; they end up dead quick once located. Though I have had at least 5 mosquito bites in the past week or so.





Spiders are another thing entirely. They don't come inside, but there are lots of them around the campus. Not only that, the spiders here are incredibly large, and one wonders how they got that way. The pictured spider was found on the way to an orchestra concert, and appears to be missing two legs while still being alive. So not only are the spiders big, they're tough. Best advice that I can give for that is to leave them alone and they'll leave you alone.

In the first active week of classes here, there were a surprising number of live performances from the fine arts department. First Chicago, then Romeo & Juliet (which I did not see), and also a live orchestra concert. For the Korean students, this is the end of the academic year, and thus it makes more sense for such performances to occur so early in the semester. I imagine they'd been rehearsing for the events since last semester, or the end of it anyhow. If you come to SoonChunHyang Universtiy and have the opportunity to attend such performances, I highly reccommend that you do so. Those I did attend were well performed and easily worth the investment of time I made in them. Best of all the performances are all free to attend, allowing one to take in entertainment without opening the pocket book. During the orchestra concert especially you may encounter people of some importance; I happened to spot the university's headmaster during the intermission.

The performances seem to all include audience participation as important components; Chicago had seating such that the action sometimes took place amidst the audience. After the final set piece of the concert, two encores were performed during which the audience was encouraged to clap along, and thus was included in the music. Another play I attended, but unfortunately cannot recall the title of, also had moments of direct participation with the audience. It's a very interesting thing to see, though I'm unsure of how much it relates to Korean culture.

Over the weekend a large group of international students travelled to Seoul - there were a lot of birthdays occuring over a few days. Not only did the first group have a hard time getting going, but it proved difficult to keep everyone organized once we did reach the city. Let this be a lesson that you should travel in smaller groups when travelling anywhere. Otherwise you'll end up spending half the time searching for everyone.

That aside, we stopped first in Yeungdeungpo (a few stations before Seoul Station) for both lunch and shopping. It was here that I found yet another instance of what seems to be pretty common in Korea: underground shopping complexes. With space at a premium within cities to the point where multiple businesses share sometimes very narrow buildings, it's understandable that such shopping areas exist. A similar one exists in Myeongdong, and I'm certain there must be others too. Inside these subterranean centers of commerce, it's like a more cramped version of a mall - individual storefronts, full of products that may likely be illegal copies of brand names. In Yeungdeungpo, the mall had mini-sized but more standard stores as well, such as the sporting goods store ABC Mart.

If you're in the market for women's clothes or shoes especially, you'll find them at any of these shopping areas. One thing I've learned about these sorts of places is that the prices are usually cheap, possibly due to the fact that may products are knockoffs. As long as you don't care about that you can find some good deals on clothing, if it fits you. Remember that Korean sizes will be one smaller than in the US (so a US large will be a Korean extra large). Also keep in mind that bartering will likely be expected at a good number of the smaller stores and stands. I've yet to remember that, and what few things I've bought were initially cheap enough that bartering seemed unnecessary. Bartering skillfully will get you that item you're looking at even cheaper. These underground malls can get a bit crowded, but generally aren't too swamped with people from what I've seen. Certainly not so much as the street level.

Also in Yeungdeungpo, we found a display promoting the Korean Grand Prix race in October. This provided a photo opportunity for two of the international students, and is how the above picture came to be. It just goes to show you that there are lots of things you won't necessarily expect to see when you travel in Korea. I try to just keep my eyes open and look out for little things that might not be so obvious at first.

Sights in Yeungdeungpo and Itaewon, including an Indian restaurant next to Burger King.

After Yeungduengpo, our group travelled to meet a friend near Itaewon, near the large US Army base in Seoul. Previously all I'd heard about the area was that it was an expensive tourist oriented area. What I found was a section of Seoul that's easily the most westernized of any I've seen in my time in Korea. Almost all of the shops had English signs, and there was also a large concentration of Western establishments in the area. Burger King was amongst them, and illustrates how expensive things can be in Korea - a hamburger will set you back almost eight dollars here.

Itaewon also had the same large concentration of street vendors you'll see in other shopping districts of Seoul. Their merchandise ranged from souveniers to hats, watches and other miscellaneous articles of personal wear. Many had brand names on them but were most assuredly not authentic items. However, if they fit you and you don't mind their being fake, as I mentioned before you can get a very good deal. Even sports jerseys are available in this form, steeply discounted from what an authentic one would cost in America.

It was kind of strange to see all of the western businesses side by side with not only the street vendors but also the myriad smaller shops. Commonly found all over Korea from what I've seen, they also carry items of questionable authenticity. More remarkable to me was that so many of these kinds of shops, along with bars, PC rooms (where you can use a computer for a nominal fee) and other smaller businesses often share buildings. Each takes a suite or maybe a floor of the building, making the most use out of the limited space in a country where that space is at a premium. You can barter in Itaewon as well, but the prices seem to be generally pretty reasonable at first too. Again, though, unless you go to an official store the items will not be authentic brand name merchandise.

While traveling and studying in Korea, there's a lot to take in. Sometimes when you're thinking about cultural differences, the food and where to shop you forget the political situation South Korea is in. There was no peace treaty signed between the North and South, and so the threat of war is still present. Sometimes you only realize this when something really unexpected leaps out and reminds you. At the subway station in Itaewon (and others elsewhere in Seoul) you can find cases with gas masks in them, along with an instructional video on how to use them. Ostensibly these could be used for any sort of attack, but the relationship with the North has to be the underlying cause of such precautions. It was sobering to see this, something inspired by what can sometimes be written off as a cold war relic of sorts, right there in the modern train station.

On the way to Hongde, we experienced the normal phenomenon of an incredibly full subway car in Seoul. If you travel in the South's capital by subway or bus, you can expect to experience this at some point. Be ready to push your way onto the vehicle, because the locals will do exactly that to get on the train or even snag a prized seat. The picture above illustrates how packed a subway car can be, even on the weekend of a national holiday where many people leave the city to visit their families

A Hongde street vendor's wares, including a likely knockoff White Sox cap and an oddly worded 'California' hat.

Our final destination for the evening was Hongde (Hongik Univeristy Station). There are many bars, restaurants and clubs in the area, and a number of the international students had birthdays over the weekend. Thus it was decided that the group would go clubbing in an area famous for being a hotspot for Korean nightlife. As we arrived in the evening, the neon signs were already shining brightly and proclaiming whatever club, bar or specialized business owned them. Many young people were already out in the early evening, moving from spot to spot as they enjoyed their weekend's beginning.

It was strange that there were some flyers for some sort of live entertainment deliberately placed on the ground near one club. I'm not sure what purpose this would serve, other than it being one more place where people might spot the announcement. Very peculiar. Amidst the chaotic hustle and bustle there were a few foreigners, all college age and presumably studying at Hongik University or a nearby establishment. Also present were more street vendors, selling the same items that their counterparts in Itaewon had on offer.

On the subway I've also encountered on three occasions a single man selling some item he had a number of, walking from car to car making his pitch. The products being offered included a back brace, electric shaver, and extending flashlight. No one seemed interested, and the subway is intended to be a quiet place, so this was very interesting to see. Even in a country with one of the world's biggest economies, people sometimes have to do unorthodox things to bring in money it seems.

It's also worth mentioning another case of a Korean going out of their way to help a foreigner. A Korean student from SCH came with us and provided translation services. When our resident married couple needed a private bedroom (they sleep in separate dorms on campus), she went out of her way to hunt down such a room for them. It took two hours, but we finally located one and everyone ended up very happy and also very impressed with this assistance. When thanked, she proved very humble about what she'd done. Yet we all knew how much trouble she'd gone to, and really appreciated her invaluable assistance.

The next day, a smaller group of us went to the National Museum of Korea. That visit is worth its own entry, so this is where my first blog about activities during Chuseok will end. As always, I encourage interaction by readers. You can reach me by email at: HangukMartyn@yahoo.com with questions, comments and feedback. Thanks for reading!