There have been some interesting things happening this week, and today i'll touch on a couple of them. Firstly, we had our second national holiday in Korea on Monday; this meant once again that there were no classes. While our previous holiday was the Korean equivalent, more or less, to Thanksgiving, Monday was Gaecheonjeol, or National Foundation Day. Korea's a country with a very long history, so the concept of this holiday needs explaining to a Western audience.

You might be wondering if National Foundation Day is Korea's version of Independence Day. This is not the case - independence day for Korea is August 15, the day Japan surrendered at teh end of World War II. This liberated Korea, and the Republic of Korea was founded officially in 1948. National Foundation Day goes back millenia before the R.O.K.'s existence, and before the Roman Empire.

It's celebrated as the founding of the original unified Korean state of Gojoseon by the legendary King Dangun. The story of Dangun is more creation/founding myth than actual history, but is worth retelling here. As the story goes, long ago the Son of Heaven (a god himself) came down to earth and found a tiger and a bear who had a strong desire to be human. Both had prayed for this devoutly, so the Son of Heaven, Hwanung, gave them a test of faith. They were to stay in a cave for 100 days with only vegetables and garlic to eat, and to spend time every day praying.

The tiger gave up and soon left, but the bear remained and followed Hawnung's instructions. Impressed by the bear's devotion Hwanung transformed it into a beautiful woman, and married her soon afterwards. They later had a son named Dangun, who unified the Korean people and founded the Gojoseon state.

In my Introduction to Korean History course, we learned that Dangun wasn't the name of an individual leader. Instead it was more likely a title like 'king' or 'emperor'. In other central Asian-derived languages, similar words (like dangor) mean 'shaman'; the Dangun then was probably some kind of religious and political leader. During the same period bear totems were worshipped, relating to the creation myth. By the counting of National Foundation Day, Korea is now 4344 years old!

For the history course, we are required to make one 10 minute presentation on any topic from Korean history. I already know what I'm going to present. Certain parts of ancient Korea remind me of Japanese history, so I will be presenting a analyzation of comparitive histories. For instance, just as Dangun was a religious and spiritual leader, one of Japan's oldest recorded leaders also served the same function. The Queen of Wa recorded by the Wei kingdom in China was named 'Himiko' which translates as 'sun priestess'. Maybe this was a title as well, to describe the religious/political leader of the Wa kingdom. All in all, very interesting to consider.

Elsewhere, I have once again seen the generosity of the Korean people in action through a new friend. Above you can see myself with my roommate, JungJae, better known here by his English name of Jacob. This Friday there's a soccer match between the Korean national team and Poland, and I'd been trying to buy a ticket. The Korea Football Association's site, though, was entirely in Korean and accounts are required to reserve tickets. As a foreigner, I was unable to create an account.

In stepped Jacob. He first created an account in his name, then helped me pick a seat for the match based on what was still available. This was a lot of help but Jacob went on to call KFA the next day to ensure I could pick up the ticket with his ID. They said it was fine as long as I had the confirmation number, and he relayed the information to me. With that known, I was able with his help to buy my ticket! He even gave me tips on how to prove I purchased it without a printout, and is letting me borrow his ID card for the weekend to get my ticket.

So Jacob has gone way out of his way to help me out. I am indebted to him, and cannot thank him enough for doing all of this just so I can see a soccer match. Hats off to you, Jacob!