This weekend was my monthly Seoul stint. I haven’t been planning it that way—it’s just how it’s happened. Seoul is such a happenin’ place and it’s so close (relatively) to me, that I end up there more than I intend. It’s all right, though…I really do love the city. Sure, the pollution is horrendous and there are people up the wazoo, but there’s nature within spitting distance (though I usually don’t take advantage of this), there are wonderful restaurants everywhere, there are historical sites and museums on every corner, there are movies and festivals and English bookstores…and to top it off, I’m totally on top of the public transportation system! Every time I go back I learn something else about the city—a little neighborhood to visit, an amazing sight, a cute little shop—and I just fall in love with it more. It’s currently my favorite city, but there’s really not much competition. Cape Town is much more beautiful, but there are the problems of safety and transportation…it receives negative marks for both.
So anyway, there I was, in my city. Bianca and I had made plans to visit a house where former comfort women live. We went with this organization called Sharing House that arranged bimonthly English tours. It was definitely an interesting experience. I didn’t realize how widespread the system was. I forget the exact number, but there were perhaps 100,000 such women on or near various Japanese bases scattered throughout their East Asian empire, from Indonesia to Burma to northern China to Korea. The were recruited to replace local prostitutes, who often harbored STDS. I was told that at one time, 1/7 of the entire Japanese force was out with a venereal disease; thus, the government moved quickly to find and implement a new system to “meet their needs.” Many of these women were Korean. They were abducted from their homes, often via Korean middlemen (traitors), and sent abroad to service soldiers, sometimes up to thirty per day, and usually for no pay. I cannot even imagine what that would be like. The math is not pretty. And then, with the end of the war, most of them didn’t have the resources to get home, and those who did were shunned by a society deeply ashamed of what happened to their women. The women we met were now in their 80s and looked like typical Korean grandmothers. I absolutely cannot imagine something this grotesque is part of their makeup.
At any rate, the big concern with these so-called “comfort women” is that Japan absolutely refuses to admit it had any part in this dirty affair. For a long time, they denied anything of the sort even happened. Now, they insist that all the women were willing participants, which most sources dispute. For Japan, it is a matter of honor to not admit they instigated something so shameful, and I don’t believe they will ever make a public admonition of guilt. There’s simply not the international pressure to force them to do so.
I also don’t understand how this is a problem unique to Japan’s military empire. It seems to me that given similar circumstances—fighting for prolonged periods far from home—the same thing would have happened to any nation. I suppose it is perhaps unique in that it was apparently organized from high up, but still…were there not any problems of this nature in, say, Europe? And also, why do men apparently need sex so badly? Is it something to do with confronting death daily? Because otherwise, I can’t understand their lack of control. I mean, I’m far from home, too, and I haven’t been frequenting brothels!
There were a lot of other foreigners on the tour—perhaps twenty—and being around them reminded me why I sometimes hate other Western tourists. We easily knew the most about Korea among them—even more than our two guides, who maintained, even under my questioning, that Korea existed as a country from 1945 to 1950! I mean, it was because it was not a country, because it was divided into American and Russian spheres of influence, that Korea is split today. They seemed to have conveniently forgotten the meddling roles other countries played in the ultimate fate of the peninsula. I was irritated by their lack of even basic knowledge and it led me to question some of the other claims they made, but it was still an interesting tour. The other tourists, though…man oh man! They’re the typical ESL teachers, I suppose, though I’ve met so few I’m not really sure if I could generalize into a type. They work in or around Seoul, they live with other foreigners, and they know next to nothing about the country in which they reside, even when they’ve been here for years. It’s embarrassing to be grouped together with such people. At least it made me feel good about what I’ve managed to learn so far. My host mother mentioned today that I study a lot…I guess it’s not going unnoticed, either!
That night, the two of us met up with Nika in Insadong and watched the welcoming parade. She had spent the day at Jogyesa, Seoul’s most important temple and the host of the Lotus Lantern Festival. We saw all sorts of lanterns, dances, traditional outfits, traditional music, a huge paper dragon that ran around all over the road, and even some baby monks! Seriously…they were nearly infants. Sooo cute.
Then we went out for tea and drinks. The three of us are all really into tea, fortunately, and Insadong is THE place for tea in Seoul. We wandered around until we saw a welcoming place, which is my new favorite drinking place of all time. First of all, the ambiance was unbelievable—warm browns everywhere, fancy decorations, good lighting, cleanliness…you couldn’t ask for more. It had atmosphere that immediately struck me favorably. Second, it had an entire page in the menu dedicated to teas, and they were all delicious. At least, the six we tried among the three of us were. They all came in different fancy ceramic mugs depending on the type of tea, which definitely added to the charm.
My friend Paul met us there about the time we switched over to bamboo liquor, which is my new favorite drink. It’s so delicious and even comes in a big bamboo-shaped glass! Unfortunately, they don’t serve it in every drinking establishment, so it was certainly an added bonus to find it here, too. We also had some tofu kimchi, which is one of my favorite snacks. It consists of a centerpiece of grilled kimchi and blocks of tofu surrounding it. You eat a piece of kimchi and tofu together and it’s orgasmic. We actually ordered a platter of plain kimchi, which is usually free, when we were still drinking tea and I’m convinced the waiter thought we were insane—foreigners who REQUEST kimchi, and on top of that, weirdly eat it with tea!!! We ended up having more than a few bottles of soju, too, which fueled the Bianca show. I really wish I’d gotten her on tape…she was in elaborate story-telling mode and absolutely everything that came out of her mouth was poetic, evocative, and knee-slapping funny. I don’t know when I last laughed so hard. In the end, this place tops even the Ninja in Sincheon and I am sure we will have to hit up this bar at least once more before the end. I’m sure Bianca would be game—she was already planning her future with our waiter, who she would win over with promises of a green card and a future in T-shirt modeling.
I cannot believe Bianca is leaving me. I will really miss her terribly. She is one of my favorite people of all time, and even more—I feel that she brings out the best in me. I am more intelligent, more witty, more thoughtful, more sensitive, more fun around her. I am most like the person I wish I were around her. So I suppose I am lamenting her departure for selfish reasons, too, but I will of course miss the unique Bianca sparkle next year. Who else is going to exchange unending witticisms with me? Who else is going to be excited about cultural hotspots like the Kitchen Utensil Museum? There will definitely be a B-shaped void in my heart come July.
On with the narration. On Sunday, we wandered over to Insadong again (only a few blocks from our love nest) and took in the actual Lotus Lantern Festival, which was perhaps the most incredible public event I’ve ever seen. First of all, it was huge, cramming hundreds of booth in perhaps ten blocks or so. Second, there were free crafts everywhere. You could make lotus lanterns of various sizes. You could color Buddhist pictures. You could color Buddhist puzzles. You could make rosary bracelets. You could make stamp paintings. You could have your face painted. Luckily, since we arrived early (before they even officially started), we had our choice of events for a while. Third, there was also free food galore. Booths were giving out so much free food, and it was all delicious vegetarian fare! I had several varieties of ddok (of course!), absolutely fabulous fake meat, various teas, all kinds of vegetables…and more food I can’t remember now. We hardly needed to buy food, but I did, anyway, because it was so good, and I was not disappointed with that, either! Finally, there was a section of the festival dedicated to NGOs and it was interesting to see what’s going on in Korea in this sector. Since I am not in touch with the news here and there are obviously few organizations at work in my part of Korea, I forget they do exist here and they do some pretty amazing work. One of them was organizing a letter exchange for students in Laos and Cambodia, and there I wrote to a ten-year-old Lao girl. One of them was campaigning for zero food waste, just like I would have done in the States. And on top of all the fabulous free food and crafts and the general hustle and bustle and excitement, there were performances going on all the time. The sun was shining and my heart was happy. I can’t remember the last time I had such a good day.
And to top it all off, it only took me 2.5 hours from the Seoul bus station to my house, a record time! (It usually takes 3-3.5) BLISS.