'Tis the Season

Ho ho hold on!  Can it be that Christmas has come and gone already?  December always seems to fly by, and this year was no exception.  We were really curious to see what Christmas would be like in Korea.  We found it to be quite a subdued affair compared to the ubiquitous red and green and decorations in the U.S. or the Christmas Markets and celebrations in Germany.  There was very little in the way of lights or decorations on houses or apartments, and even the stores and shops had very little in the way of marketing that was specifically for Christmas.  Very different.  However...

...our downtown shopping district in Uijeongbu had this ever-changing display of light panels with Christmas scenes.  In addition, each panel also has speakers, so we were surrounded by really loud Christmas music and dazzling digitals.  And cold air. Really cold air.  Since mid-December the temps in the daytime have been mostly in the low 20's.  There were a few days where we got up to the 30's, but not many.  Right now, at about 8:00 p.m. it is 12 degrees.  These panels are up all year and so the theme of the pictures changes fairly often, as does the music.  These types of public displays on shopping streets are about the only Christmas decor that we saw.  We understand that the luxury shopping district in Seoul had a really elaborate display, but we didn't get the chance to see it - maybe next year.

Sarah got her chance to visit the DMZ.  She has been doing some volunteer work with the Red Cross.  One thing the Red Cross does is an annual Christmas project to take goodie bags and other things up to the soldiers stationed there.  Here is the sign outside the gate.  Camp Bonifas has about 60 American soldiers and a small contingent of UN representatives, as well as a large number of Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers.  It is a heavily patrolled and controlled area, as you can see by the soldiers in this truck next to our bus.

We had the chance to eat lunch with a lot of the soldiers.  Sarah really enjoyed talking to them and finding out about their families and how they like Korea.  Most of them seemed pretty happy with their assignment at Camp Bonifas.  After lunch, we got to hand out the presents - that was really fun!

Each soldier got a goodie bag with candy and treats (of course), toiletries, puzzle and paperback books, a towel and a Red Cross t-shirt.  They were pretty happy with that, as you can see on the left.  In addition to the individual gifts, they also got new pool balls and cues, darts, games, and even a Wii for their commons room.  It was really fun to be part of this effort.

After the Santa festivities were over, we got a tour of the DMZ.  Above, the line of white posts (sort of mixed in with the trees) marks the division between North and South Korea.  As on Layden's tour, Sarah was allowed in one building that bridges both countries.  She is standing here in the half of the building that is in North Korea.  The ROK soldier beside her in his Taekwondo pose really is a bit intimidating.  He held his pose through numerous pictures and never budged - more solemn and still than the guards at Buckingham palace. 

Sarah learned an interesting thing about the ROK dress uniform.  She noticed that the soldiers that were patrolling were making a rattling sound as they walked.   During the Korean war the South Korean troops were vastly outnumbered by North Korean soldiers.  In order to sound like a bigger army, South Korean soldiers put ball bearings in the pant legs of their uniforms.  In honor of those soldiers, ROK soldiers still put ball bearings in the pant legs of their dress uniforms where they blouse over the boots. 

Here is a VERY interesting animal!  It is called a Vampire Deer, and the only place that it can be found in South Korea is in the DMZ.  It grows no antlers - instead it has these really curious tusks.  It is, however, strictly an herbivore, so don't panic, even if it runs directly towards you.  It will soon stop, turn and run in the opposite direction.  Apparently it has very poor eyesight and often runs towards something to determine if it is friend or foe.  It is fairly small in size - like a fallow deer and also has musk glands, and is more properly referred to as a musk deer.  It is a very primitive deer.  The sparsely inhabited environs of the 38th parallel have made the DMZ a really wonderful wildlife refuge, with rare animals like this deer as well as all sorts of beautiful birds.  Sarah (and everyone on the tour!) really wanted to take her own pictures of the vampire deer that she saw, but photography is quite restricted so this picture from the web will have to suffice.  But this animal is for real - honest!

On Christmas Day we had an open house for soldiers and anyone else who wanted to drop by.  We had folks wandering in and out from 2:00 until about 8:00 in the evening.  It was quite fun.  Layden is here with one of the soldiers and our friend Rob.  Behind Rob is a rather lovely wooden chest with brass drawer pulls in the shape of turtles.  It is about 5 feet tall.  This was Sarah's Christmas present, and it has confirmed her belief that there must be a Santa Claus.  Layden was home all night on Christmas Eve, and didn't get up and go anywhere Christmas morning, nor did he get to the living room first.  There were no suspicious visitors either.  So, when Sarah walked out and saw this next to the tree, she was pretty surprised.  We have a spacious apartment, but it is notably lacking in closests or hidey-holes.  She has no idea where Layden could  have hidden this thing.  He isn't telling - he just chuckles quietly when he sees Sarah looking at her new furniture with a really puzzled look on her face.

Camp Red Cloud Chapel

Late in the evening on Christmas Day we got a little bit of snow!  Didn't last long but it was enough to make this officially a White Christmas.   We really missed our family - especially children and grandchildren - but it is wonderful to have the blessing of being together and to have Layden home safely from Iraq.  We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. 

The Glory Days of Autumn

Well, there has been another long gap between blogs - seems like it is hard to keep up.  Autumn here was glorious this year.  We had lovely weather  and the leaves were beautiful.  We really enjoyed this season.  Now that the days are colder and shorter and the holidays are approaching we have been reflecting on the changing seasons, and how each has its own beauty and its own treasures.

The leaves on the hillsides were very colorful and sometimes stunning.  Unfortunately, most of the time the colors were quite muted because the air was hazy, but once in a while the brilliance came through.  Uijeongbu is sort of in a bowl, so there are mountains or hills all around and they were all lovely. 

The urban streets had charm as well.  These trees are in front of our  apartment.  They looked like cones of fire in the sunlight.

Sarah was quite intrigued with the play of mist and light and color which she tried to capture in this watercolor.  This is part of the mountain that we can see from our office window.  She enjoys watching it during different times of day and in different weather.

Rice, Rice, Rice

WELCOME to the city of Icheon and the annual fall Rice Harvest Festival!  Autumn is the time when rice is harvested and stored for the winter months.  Icheon marks this important annual event with a festival that celebrates all things rice.

The rice and folk festival is held in the city of Icheon at their cultural events center.  This city is known for its fine ceramics, and is also the heart of the region that is known for having the finest rice in all of Korea.  Icheon rice was presented annually to the emperor as tribute.  Today rice that bears the blue Icheon logo seen above is considered a superior rice.

Our trip to Icheon was free - sponsored by the city of Icheon.  A tour bus was sent to take us from our base to the festival (nothing like a free bus to keep those American GI dollars circulating in the local economy - smart move, Icheon!).  Tour buses in this country are quite the affair - from the flat-panel screen and the pleated silk curtains to the matching tasseled cover for the water dispenser.

One of the first things we saw at the festival was a collection of jangseung (spirit poles) that guard villages and keep away bad spirits. Here, you could try your hand at carving your own.

Sarah is trying her hand at making a woodblock print on yellow rice paper.  She chose the tiger - it is for "good luck all kinds."  After she made her print she thought she would carry it carefully until she got it home, and then frame it.  But, that is NOT how a lucky tiger works.  After she finished her print the assistant carefully folded it and put it into a little silk bag so she could keep it with her all the time.  So far, so good - maybe she can find one for good luck with Korean driving!

The street artists were pretty good at portraits - they were a popular stop for many people.  We found it amusing that across the walkway....       

...were a bunch of children with crayons, paint, and brushes.  Future street artists in training.        

Here is a woman who hand-weaves with rice grass. She seemed quite expert at making baskets.

Remember "rice man" at the beginning of this post?  He was made from rice cloth - rice grass that is woven on a loom and used to make things like mats, but also cloaks.

Here a woman is helping a boy grind rice with a hand-turned stone grinder.  And, on the right, a father and son are playing with a hoop.  The idea is to use the stick to keep the hoop upright and rolling.  Kids- you may remember hoop rolling from pioneer and frontier festivals.  Interesting how some things seem universal.

One event that got a lot of attention was the rice cook-off.  The rice had to be cooked  in a traditional iron pot on an earthenware platform with a wood fire underneath.  There was lots of activity keeping the coals and flame at just the right proportion, not letting the pot boil over, and all sorts of other technical details, all watched by a panel of judges.

Naturally there were little restaurants and food booths all over the festival grounds, serving all sorts of things - bowls of rice, rice pancakes, rice dumplings, rice wine, rice milk - if it was made of rice you could get it here.  And, of course, after the cooking and the eating there is usually cleaning - this woman with her knee-high waders and rubber gloves is at the back of a restaurant cleaning out big rice bowls and colanders.  She is using a hose, a giant bottle of soap, and is smack in the middle of the concrete "wash tub."

Perhaps one of the most popular events at the festival is the tug-of-war with a giant rice rope. 

We watched this for a while - lots of cheering and excitement.  Eventually Layden was persuaded to join in.

Here he is (white shirt, white hat, blue jeans), getting ready for the big pull.  It was so much fun that he tried it again on the opposite side.  He got to be quite popular because whatever side he was on won.  He had to give it up after 4 or 5 pulls - it is more work than you might think.  (We have a great little video clip of this, but for some reason can't get it to load on the blog anymore.  If you know how to make it work please post a comment and I will post the clip.)

Could there be anything better than your own rice-cloth pig?

Too Long Away!

It has been WAY TOO LONG since I updated this blog. The autumn weather here has been very seductive, leading me to long bike rides on crisp but warm and sunny afternoons, and walks in the neighborhood to admire the trees. And so I missed out on a posting about...

CHUSEOK
Chuseok is a very important Korean holiday. It occurs in the 9th lunar month of the traditional Korean calendar, which means the date on our calendar usually falls sometime from late September to early October. This year it fell on the first weekend in October. Chuseok is often referred to as "Korean Thanksgiving." On this holiday, families gather together for a big feast and to honor their ancestors. They do this by taking all the best foods to the ancestral cemetary and making offerings to their ancestors. After they lay out the food and light the incense, they turn their backs and wait politely for the ancestors to enjoy the meal. After a reasonable interval, they turn around and eat whatever might be left. As you can imagine it can turn out to be quite a feast! I wish I could get a picture of this, but we were not invited to attend anyone's family celebration - it is very much a time of family solidarity rather than socializing with outsiders.

This ritual constitutes the traditional part of Chuseok. What else happens is a whole lot of cooking, so I took my camera down to our local grocery market to catch some of the action.

Here is a shopper dressed in a hanbok, and even the checkout lady had one on - very festive! The hanbok is the traditional Korean dress, and many people wear it during the Chuseok holidays, which usually go over 3 days, The first day is to cook and prepare or travel to wherever the family is gathering. This is such a massive movement of people that the Army gives soldiers Chuseok off just so we won't have to travel on the very congested roads and metro. Day two is the celebration and feast day, and day three to recuperate and travel home.

An important part of Chuseok is the giving of gifts, usually food, to the hostess and family members, and maybe even the ancestors. The grocery had a wide selection of pre-packaged gifts of the most traditional and treasured foods all ready for the celebration. Above on the left is a gift set of very fine mushrooms, and on the right, dried fruit.

A favorite delicacy is Asian Pears, and also big beautiful apples. If you remember from an earlier posting, these pears are really BIG - bigger than a softball. And they are delicious. However, even though these are quite a popular item, it is not quite as popular as...

SPAM! Yup. Spam. Here is a presentation gift box of 12 cans of Spam, which will run you about $44.00 in U.S. currency. We found it a little surprising and quite amusing, but there is a reason for this. During and after the Korean War, Spam was a big-ticket item on the black market. If you could afford Spam you were well-off. If you gave it as a gift you were seen as very generous and held in high esteem. If you received it as a gift you were obviously a person of importance, worthy of honor, or maybe in a position to return a favor...imagine influence-peddling with cans of Spam! Anyway, it is still seen as a great gift to give and to get. And Spam does seem quite popular in its own right.

Here are packages of individual Spam slices, all ready for your sandwich, your skillet, or just a snack right out of the package. As well as plain Spam they also come in flavors like cheese, sweet potato, herbs and onion, and (of course) garlic and red pepper.

If you aren't a Spam fan, you could give a gift of this lovely string of beribboned fresh fish, packaged on a bed of ice in a styrofoam container.


Of course, all this food will leave the ancestors thirsty. What could be better than a gift set of fruit juices from Italy, packaged in a lovely Mona Lisa carton. Sarah got quite a chuckle.

Our own Chuseok feast was considerably more simple. Out of respect for tradition we did each have a slice of Spam (cheese for Layden, sweet potato for Sarah) and found that it tastes pretty much as Spam usually tastes. We also tried some festive treats. On the left is a plate of goodies. The round molded disks were made of rice flour. The other treat on the plate is something called pak (or bak - the pronunciation of the first letter is between a p and a b). It is glutinous rice filled with things like sweet plum paste and red bean paste. Quite delicious. On the right is a sweet. The center is a rice and honey concoction that faintly resembles Rice Krispie treats (not as sweet) and it is surrounded by a hard candy coating in bright colors. Also tasty. All in all, we have to say that we really enjoyed this holiday.

On a closing note...

We had our first stateside visitor. Matthew Edlund was here all the way from Sarasota, Florida. Thanks, Matthew for taking the time to stay with us for a couple of days. We really enjoyed having you. For all the rest of you - we have lots of space and a great neighborhood to visit, so if you are in Korea come on by - we have room for you!