Feeling American

When most people start their vacation, what does Juho do?
Goes to school.

The second half of my Korean adventure started on Monay as classes finally began at Yonsei University. International Summer School: pretty much me and 500 Korean Americans. For fairness’ sake, there are a few people from different Asian countries and a handful of white Americans. But no worries, everyone seems really nice and I’ve made a bunch of new friends already. And of course I already knew many of the intern-kids beforehand. A lot of the bad stereotypes have also been broken, because there are a lot of actually intelligent and opinionated people. Most students in the summer program are from really good school such as UCLA or UC Berkeley. It makes me a bit jealous though, once I start thinking that maybe I could have gone to a school like one of those. But then again, there’s always the Master’s Programs. Almost everyone else is living at the International House dorms. I’ve decided to stay loyal to Ted and stick around at his place for the rest of the summer. I think I’ll get more out of Korea by doing homestay and not just only hanging out with Yonsei kids.

I’m taking Comparative Asian Economies, Mass Media in Korea, Marketing and Management Strategy and Korean for Beginners. All my courses seem really good so far. Having Korean in the afternoon might become really tiring at some point, though. I have class every day from 9 am to 5 pm. No lunch break. Thank god for kimbap, which is like poor man’s sushi, so rice and other mixed ingredients in a seaweed roll.

It’s weird, but here in Korea I have this new-found American identity. I notice myself becoming more and more Americanized all the time. Maybe it has to do with the fact that all foreigners are just naturally assumed to be American here. But hanging out with people from the States all day probably has something to do with it as well. As soon as I start talking someone says “Wow, you have no accent in your English” (meaning that I sound authentically American :D), to which I respond “Well, I spent some time in the States when I was a kid”, from which they presume that I actually am “American” and treat me as an equal. Even a Swedish girl who knew that a Finnish guy called Juho was coming to the same party as her, thought that I was American after I introduced myself. Apparently I was missing the “Scandinavian coldness”.

Friggin' Hong Kong, baby!

Monday morning at the same time as the Korea-France football game ended, a group of tired but eager travellers dragged themselves into a bus to the airport. Destination? Hong Kong, China. This week was my only vacation week, so I decided to join a group of friends who were going to the free trade haven. Our group consisted of Lauri, myself and an entourage of six Japanese girls from Lauri’s Korean class. We must have looked like having a harem of midgets. I love those girls! It’s a pleasure to just to observe how they are so full of enthusiasm and excitement about life.

Our local tour guide Karman, a friend of the girls and Lauri, had reserved a hotel for us at an island called Cheung Chan just outside of Hong Kong Island. It was an half an hour ferry ride away, which sometimes felt a bit overwhelming, but was ok in the end. The island had beautiful beaches, cheap prices and rumouredly some historically important ancient cave carvings, which we missed even though we walked the market spot on several occasions.

I can’t rave enough about this, but Hong Kong is amazing! I totally fell in love with the zest of the city. Alive, vibrant, modern, clean, humid, exciting. I think the Hong Kong skyline viewed from the Kowloon side is one of the most impressive pieces of man-made scenery I’ve ever seen. Breathtaking. In addition to walking around, we went to see Victoria Peak mountain, took the special tram and saw the Avenue of Stars. It was truly a great city. Maybe someday I’ll get the chance to work there...

If you look at travel guide books about Hong Kong they all say that the main attraction of the city is … SHOPPING! I was pretty suspicious about it beforehand. What sort of city has nothing else to offer than shops? Apparently Hong Kong is such as place, just because nothing else is needed. There are so many stores for every single taste and style everywhere. Whether you are looking for 5000 dollar Gucci or 5 dollar Cucci, HK is the place for you. Thankfully we didn’t have that much time, so my credit limit was left un-exceeded for the time being.

According to those same travel guides Hong Kong is also internationally renowned for its cuisine. The city more than lived up to its expectations as plate after plate of more and more delicious dishes appeared at out table. At one restaurant we had Beijing duck, where they brought the whole duck to the table and then the chef cut it to pieces in front of us. Pretty awesome. On Cheung Chau we indulged with various fresh seafood plates. There was octopus, shrimp, mussels, crab and a helluvalot of other fruits de mer. It was excellent! And the whole thing was under 3 euros per person.

Oh, and some of my articles have been tagged by other news sources! Like my article about the closure of a website was distributed by Asiamedia. Though we’re still talking small scale here, it’s pretty exciting :).

Football fever!

The entire country of Korea has gone ballistic over football (got the pun, quite clever, huh?). Everything revolves around the World Cup. The streets are filled with red and white banners with catchy slogans like "Reds go together", "Korea Fighting" and "Again 2002". Those readers of this blog who know me at least a little might be familiar with the low interest level that I generally have for group sports. But this time I’ve sort of been drawn into the frenzy. Korea played Togo last night and Lauri, Otto, Brian (, some Korean chicks) and myself headed to Seoul City Hall Plaza to watch the game. It started at 10 pm, but Lauri and Brian came already at 2 pm to get us a good sitting spot. The ambience was amazing! At one point I got on Brian’s shoulders and …wow. There were 150 000 strong crowd who all wore red shirts. Before the game started there was pre-show of popular Korean bands. At one point the host came into the crowd to interview people. Of course he spotted us. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but we just shouted and were all supportive of Korea. It was pretty amazing to see your face on these huge-ass screens and have thousands of people scream with you. Soon after, this woman came to talk to us, wanting to do a live interview for TV. First we were to scream and shout like maniacs. Then a reporter would ask us a question, to which we were to reply “KOREAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!” Then she’d ask another question to which we had to reply: “Dae-han-min-guk!” and clap. We practiced a few times and then we were live. I think it went quite well. It was a lot of fun anyway. And of course Korea won the game, so the feeling was quite exhilarating. Here’s a news story of the happening: http://cbs.sportsline.com/worldcup/story/9495570.






I also participated in another big event, but a slightly different one. The Korean Queer Culture Festival was held last week. It culminated with a Street Parade on Saturday. Korea Times staff reporter Juho Tuovinen was on the job. I had real press card and everything. I interviewed a lot people, took tons of pictures and of course walked the walk. I’d never been to a pride before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. It rained all day and I was in really bad mood at first. Korea is a really conservative country and homosexuality is not well-accepted here. About 1000 people participated, which was a lot, but still it was really small for a pride. But the atmosphere was amazing. There was a true sense of unity between the people. Everyone seemed sincerely proud to be there. I ended up hanging out with the foreign crowd. I’m really happy I had the assignment because otherwise I would have never gone. It was truly a great experience. You can read a watered-down version of the article from http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200606/kt2006061316313367670.htm. See how they changed my title from Korea Times Intern to Contributing Writer :)? If you want to read more of my texts, here’s another article that I wrote: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200606/kt2006061316360567670.htm. It’s about an expat website that got shut down because Koreans were offended by some of its content.





Annina and Pete left for China, but on their last day we took a trip to Everland, a really big amusement Park. I love rollercoaster’s and all the wild rides and in Everland there were plenty. We had a great day! Ted gave me this discount card (like Plussa-kortti or a JC Penney card) to use. The ticket saleswoman didn’t exactly get my drift and I ended up accidentally paying everyone’s entrance with the card. Apparently it had a credit card in it as well. Ups. We’ll of course we gave Ted the cash later, but it’s not that often that you commit credit card fraud. And since when has it been possible to mistake me for a Yoo Wan Sik?

Funny phenomena

Once you’ve stayed in country for more than just on vacation, you start to notice small details that you wouldn’t usually pay attention to.

Cars
Like Finnish people only use Nokia cell phones, Koreans only drive Korean cars. You will only see Hyundais, Kias, Daewoos and other Korean brands. And all cars look alike. They are either black or grey, large executive type cars. Many cars also have these small blue stickers on them. Because there are so many cars and so little space here, people have the habit of bumping into each other. Though it might take away from the aesthetic appeal, having those thick blue stickers on the side of your car ensures the paint stays intact while the car is waiting in the parking lot.

Like no other.

Those are the little blue thingies that I meant. Same car in the pic.

Bangs
Bang litereally means room. They are the Koreans’ favourite pastime. They are several different types of bangs, of course. Norebang’s are the most popular ones. You have this place that is filled with small rooms that fit from 5 to 15 people and you just go there and sing. Your own private karaoke. We’ve gone a few times, but most people (especially me) sing so badly that the experience is more excruciating than pleasant. In addition to Norebangs there are PC bangs, Playstation bangs, board game bangs and DVD bangs. Why would anyone want to watch a DVD in private room somewhere instead of watching it at home, you might ask. That’s right: they are extremely popular among young couples.

White skin
Korean women want to have white skin. Here having white skin means that you’re not poor and that you’re not (oh good heavens!) from South Asia. Here whiteness is associated with cleanliness. So women here do everything in their power to whiten their skin. They use as strong sun block as I do, they wear non-revealing clothes even though its hot, wear these sun caps that protect their face, and yes: whitening cream. It’s weird to familiar cosmetics brands such as L’Oreal, Elizabeth Arden, Givenchy and others advertising skin whitening products. We even had an article in the Korea Times on how and why women should whiten their skin. These products apparently destroy all the melanin in the face or something. 60% of Korean women use them. First I was bit disturbed by the whole white-craze (ok, I still am a little), but you have to remember that Westerners are equally obsessed with tanning. Fake tanning, self-tanning lotion, inside sun, sun powder, the list goes on.

Ajumas, or old ladies, sporting their sun visors.

Teri oonjon
Unfortunately, if you're a businessman in Korea, something you will inevitably have to partake in is big drinking sessions which are supposed to be bonding experiences for company people. During these drinking sessions, you'll probably be forced to down way more booze than you're accustomed to. If you drove your car to the drinking venue, don't worry! Certain factions of Koreans (like company men) are so used to drinking themselves into oblivion, that they came up with a convenient service whereby you can still come home in your own car! Instead of taking a taxi and leaving your car in a parking garage or on the street, you can hire a driver to drive your car home for you! These saviors are known as a teri oonjon in Korean. This clever service doesn't cost much and you can request for a teri oonjon at most bars and restaurants. It will save you overnight parking fees, taxi fare, a possible night at the police station with fines, or it may just save you from hurting yourself or someone else.
(Courtesy of www.seoulstyle.com)

This one is just for your enjoyment: a traditional Korean bathroom. No, we have normal one at home, the photo's from a subway station. Some of them have mirrors. Not kidding.

Field Trips of the Gentle Tiger

The time just seems to pass by so quickly. Every day I get to experience, taste or do something new. I feel so lucky to be here. For the past few days I’ve been hanging around a lot with Otto, Pete and Annina (yeah, that’s right: Finnish people). But we’ve been participating in a lot of culturally significant soirees such as Norebang (karaoke), so I don’t feel bad.

Last weekend a bunch of us Finns took a trip the notorious Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is the 4 kilometer wide strip of land between North Korea and South Korea. The place has a very misleading name, because it was full of soldiers and barbwire and road blocks. I didn’t know it before, but the two countries are still officially at war with each other. After the Korean War in 1953 only an armistice was signed. For me the highlight of the tour was a tunnel that the North Koreans had dug to the South. It was a pretty gloomy place. While walking down the tunnel about 70 meters underground I was just thinking to myself “Imagine where you are right now!” The downside of the day was that is was raining nearly the entire time. The view of the North Korean side was really foggy. What was also surprising about the place was that it was full of life. There were souvenir shops, army bases, a train station and people actually live there. The unification process of the two Koreas is at full speed and both sides are really striving for it. Though it may seem utopistic, the people here actually believe that some day the country will be united again.
Even though it's raining in South Korea, the sun always shines in the North.

Wouldn't wanna take that train.

We're such badasses.

Without the helmet a tunnel tour would never be so authentic.

The entire day of Sunday I spent at the temple where Annie goes. I partook in some meditation, did some ritual walking and listened to two Zen masters’ Dharma-talk. I learned the basics of meditation and a few things about the Buddhist way of thinking. We also went out for dinner afterwards with a lot of nice Korean and foreign people. Unfortunately I did not experience enlightenment, but the visit was still worth it because I made a lot of new acquaintances. So I just might give temple another try some weekend.

Temple-hoppin'.

Danny and I went out a few days back in Itaewon, which is the area designated mainly to US military troops and other tourists. I made Danny take a walk on the wild side and we bravely rose up a place ominously called Hooker Hill. I don’t think I’ve ever seen prostitutes before, so it was a real hoot. Actually it was pretty lame: there were just girl sitting on the porches of bars. Some of them made a little effort to try to get us in, but surprisingly they were met with little interest. On the next street we encountered a group of five Portuguese gentlemen with two Korean hosts entering a shady looking bar. So naturally we followed them in. Knowing my nerdy nature, I still can’t believe we had the chutzpah to do it. But again, it was a disappointment. There were just some girls there who were willing to sit down and chat with you. Once we found out that the company was included in the pricing (one beer for 15 000 won, which is like 13 €), we suddenly felt the urge to leave. I was so disappointed :).

Excellent news on the professional field: I got my first article published! It’s not a very big or socially significant piece, but at least it’s a start. You can see the caption online at: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200605/kt2006053015471467670.htm. So from hereon I shall consider myself a renowned international journalist.

One thing I love about Korea is that they can actually pronounce my name here. After years of being dubbed Jewhoe, Yuuhuu, Yahoo, Huo, Hugo and Ugo, I’ve finally found a place where they understand me. I won’t let the fact that they think its spelled Yoo Ho bother me to the slightest. As you know, in Asia the last name comes before the first name. Ted’s last name actually happens to be Yoo. Therefore I am officially a part of the family. What’s even cooler is that Yoo means gentle and Ho means tiger. So from hereon I shall only refer to myself as Gentle Tiger.