Korean Report – week 12
IDENTITY CRISIS
I appear to be going through Erikson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion Stage. OK, I am not an adolescent
anymore, which is the typical age to go through this stage, but sometimes we can revisit or recapitulate these
stages in new situations. I was having lunch with Eunju and I was telling her about my trip to Busan with the
Mississippi State Students. Ten of the Mississippi State students were staying at our university and another
ten were staying at a neighboring university. I used the word “our” and it confused Eunju. She thought the
students were from the other MSU: Minnesota State University. So, I had to clarify that some were staying
at “our university”, the Catholic University of Daegu. She laughed and said that I was becoming Korean again.
I am now identifying as a member of the faculty at this university instead of a visiting professor from my
university in Minnesota. Eunju then suggested that maybe I should work out an agreement to teach at
Minnesota State for one semester and come here for one semester each year. Later I told my other
chairperson in English Education, Dr. Jin Lee, about this and she said she would welcome me back in her
department too. It is so nice to be valued here!
COO-COO
No, I am not losing my mind! As I walked across campus, I heard a Coo-Coo bird’s call. I think that it
is the first time I have heard a real Coo-Coo bird! There are pigeons, magpies, pheasants, and mourning
doves here too that I have seen. There are also some other birds with colorful markings but I don’t recognize
them. I am not an ornithologist, but I always enjoy seeing birds and feeding them in the winter at home in
Minnesota. However, because of avian flu, I am keeping a distance from birds here.
GYEONGJU: THE ANCIENT SILLA CAPITAL
UNESCO named Gyeongju as a World Cultural Heritage Site and rightly so since the Silla kingdom
goes back to at least the mid-600’s A.D. You can just imagine the artifacts that I saw in this ancient capital
city! Not only did I see things, I was also told about them since one of the professors who was in our party is
a history professor who specializes in the Silla period. As we drove through the city, we saw many tombs of
royalty. The tombs look like tall, grass covered hills and are similar to the tombs that I saw in China. The
other graves that I have seen in Korea are small mounds on mountainsides, but these were like hills
constructed on the flatlands in the city. There was mound after mound. Most of these have been preserved
intact, but one was entered and many treasures were discovered. They also discovered that the body of a
young woman was buried near the royalty to act as a servant in the afterlife.
We drove past an interesting modern structure. It was a building that was constructed fairly recently
(2007) to commemorate the tallest pagoda in Korea, the nine story Hwanryongsa Temple Pagoda that had
burnt down. This ultra-modern building is called the Gyeongju Tower and is seventeen stories high. The
unique thing about this structure is that it has a large (nine story!) hole in the middle that looks like a pagoda
had been cut out of it. If you want to see a picture of it, go to google.com and search for Gyeongju Tower. It
is really fascinating! I wish I could have gone into the building, which now houses stores, restaurants, etc…
Then we left the city area of Gyeongju and drove up, up, up through a beautiful tree-lined wide road
with numerous “Danger” signs and no railings as we climbed the highest mountain in this province. At the top
of this mountain was a view of the East Sea, which we couldn’t see because of the haze, but it was a
spectacular view of rolling mountains. At the top of this mountain was Seokguram Grotto, a Buddhist
temple. Can you imagine what it took to build a Buddhist temple on top of the highest mountain in this
province by transporting large granite boulders up the mountain on a narrow mountain path in the mid 700’s
A.D.? It took them over 20 years to build the temple and to carve this famed Buddha statue. The first
typically red-painted building that one sees is the one that houses the great bell. This large bell is sounded by
ramming a chunk of painted tree trunk into it; the red cylinder of tree trunk is held in a horizontal position
with ropes that are suspended from the ceiling of this building. The Buddha statue is housed in its own
building higher up on the mountain. It is carved from granite and is perfectly positioned in its temple such
that the first rays of sunshine appear on Buddha’s face
A little farther down the mountain was another major temple at Bulguksa that was built at the same
time. This was a larger temple complex and looks like a walled complex of buildings. The Buddha statues at
this temple are made of bronze, gilded in gold and are situated in different shrines throughout the complex.
At Bulguksa there were two pagodas: one that was considered the female pagoda (named Dabotap) and one
that was considered the male pagoda (called Seokgatap). [When we came down the mountain and went to
lunch, I found a 10 won coin (worth about a penny) laying on the ground. It had a picture of the male pagoda
on it. Coincidence?---I think not!] There was also a fabulously painted large drum that was displayed on the
back of a carved turtle. Another interesting area at Bulguksa was one where rocks were stacked on top of
each other. My Korean friends directed me to make a wish for each rock that I stacked. This reminded me of
the rocks that are stacked in Sedona, Arizona, at the vortex sites. The vortices are considered highly spiritual
places, and, I guess one might leap to the conclusion that a Buddhist shrine high in the mountains might also
be a highly spiritual place.
In the afternoon, we went to the Gyeongju National Museum. The largest temple bell in Korea is
displayed here. There was one building that literally had one display: the gold crown (97% pure gold, 2%
silver, and <1% other materials) with jade ornamentation plus the gold belt ornaments. The crown looked
like a circular band with antler-like projections. The jade had been carved into comma shapes with tiny holes
drilled through each piece to attach the jade to the gold. How did they do that before the year 1,000 without
benefit of electric drills and other machinery? There were other buildings with many other ancient artifacts
that I will describe in another section of this report. There were numerous Buddha statues that had noses
missing or damaged. I was told that this was because it was believed that if women rubbed the nose of
Buddha or scraped off a portion of it to drink in a tea, they would have a son.
On the way back to Hayang, I saw another large gold-colored Buddha peering over a mountain. I
think I am beginning to feel satiated on Buddha statues.
THE LAND BRIDGE:
I have been finding more and more evidence of a land bridge between Asia and North America. First
of all, there is a physical resemblance between some Koreans and some Native American people. (Even
Korean people who have been to the U.S. and visited some American Indian populations have commented on
the resemblance). I first saw arrowheads and a picture of a Korean man on a horse with a bow and arrow at
the Daegu National Museum; I saw more arrowheads at the Gyeongju National Museum. When I was in
Busan, I saw a pipe with a long neck and shallow bowl that resembled the shape of an American Indian
peacepipe. The graves are similar to some American Indian burial mounds. Drums are prominent in both
cultures and Korean traditional dance is done in a circle as a group. In the Gyeongju National Museum I saw
beaded necklaces and pottery. There were rock carvings with pictographs like one might see on the Jefferson
Petroglyphs close to Mankato. I have seen tall wooden poles with face-like carvings on them, similar to
totem poles. Additionally, in the Gyeongju National Museum I saw a miniature house that was used to house
cremains and this reminded me of the Athabascan spirit houses that I saw in Alaska---they looked differently,
but a similar idea of housing the spirits of the dead so souls wouldn’t go wandering. I will keep looking for
more correlations. I find this really interesting.
STRANGE INTERACTIONS OF THE WEIRD KIND
Most of my interactions have been very, very positive, but there have been a few, rare, really weird
ones that happen occasionally, typically when I am out and about on my own.
1.
There was the man who saw me in Hayang, grabbed my hand, saw my ring, and started kissing my
hand.
2.
There was the man who saw me, patted his butt, and pointed at mine and said “Big”. Then he
proceeded to communicate that I should jog and drink green tea.
3.
There was the man who came into a coffee shop where Mike and I were talking. He kept pointing at
Mike and mimicking drinking in an attempt to get Mike to buy him some soju, Korea’s alcoholic beverage.
Then he reached over and pinched my breast. Mike promptly pointed to the door and then got up, opened
the door, and led the man outside.
FAN DEATH
Koreans believe that if you leave a fan running all night in a sealed room that it will cause death. To
prevent fan death, one must leave a door or windows open or have an automatic turn-off switch on the fan.
The Korea Consumer Protection Board, a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer
safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South
Korea's five most common seasonal summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected. There
are 47 million Koreans and most believe in fan death. To my knowledge, Korea is the only country that has
fan death. (P.S. I don’t have a fan in my dormitory room, but I do have an air conditioner so I am risk.)
MEDICAL EXPENSES
One of the English teachers fell down three stairs last week and fractured his foot. He went to the
hospital for the typical care: x-rays, casting, and crutches (he refused pain medication). His cost was a grand
total of $45. Oh, yes, he has to go back each week until the cast is removed for an additional total cost of $6.
Maybe the American medical community could learn something about rising medical costs if they visited
Korea.
20th. BIRTHDAY CEREMONY
After my English class, a young man, Jeongik, came forward with individually wrapped long-stemmed
red roses. Five people were turning 20 this month, so they were honored by each coming forward to stand
on the stage of the classroom and receive a rose. Jeong-ik gave a short speech in Korean to honor them.
Then all the students sang a traditional Korean song. A chocolate cake appeared and those streamers that
come out with a bang again appeared. The students dove into the cake with their fingers and suddenly I was
having a piece of chocolate cake pushed into my mouth. As I looked around, this seemed to be what many of
them were doing---pushing cake into each other’s mouths and then smearing frosting on each other’s cheeks.
I believe that this 20th. birthday (which would be the 19th. birthday in the U.S.) is similar to our celebration
of a 21st. birthday. Koreans sure like to celebrate!