Gwanghwamun Plaza: Treeless Wonder

Going to Anguk station. Transfer at Chungmuro. Waiting for the train.

After the 2S2 initial meet up at the Twosome Place cafe near Anguk station, we took off to visit the newly renovated Gwanghawmun plaza.
Although the new design was interesting and funky there was a strong lamentation by Rob that there are no trees. In their place were these, as he called it "plastic pods" which offered minimal shade.

Rob isn't the only one with lamentations on this treeless wonder. Blogger "Seoul Village" writes:

As pointed out earlier, the square itself cruelly lacks natural shade. It was a deliberate choice for security reasons : like Seoul Plaza, the area might be used as a demonstration spot, but this time right in front of the Government's headquarters. On the other hand, no more ginkgo trees means that you can enjoy the panorama on the mountain from any point. But this flat area will be as chilly in winter as it is mercilessly hot in summer. More than the embarrassing sea of flowers covering the Northern section of Gwanghwamun Plaza, waterworks do provide some welcomed refreshment, and flower pot benches do grow a few useful metallic umbrellas... but under a scorching sun, it's safer to bring your own shade.

Everyone must suffer the eye-sore of no trees and the berating heat and cold due to the fear that protesters will come to this area, which they often do. I also wonder if the scheduled water fountain display that shoots up water can double as a way to deter protesters..hmm?
Consider this though, before the area was restored there were ginkgo trees but due to planning issues they didn't make it into the renovation. Actually you can still spot them on the other side of the road.

The plaza restores Gwanghwamun’s significance as the center of Korea’s history, politics and culture. To restore the uninterrupted view of Gwanghwamun, Gyeongbokgung, Mt. Bukak and Mt. Bukhan, the gingko trees planted by the Japanese were transplanted in May of 2008, signaling the start of the Gwanghwamun Plaza project.

One wonders that if those trees were of a different variety and planted by Koreans that they would have been spared being pulled out. I guess their main purpose was for one to get an uninterrupted view of it all, which yes is very possible now when you walk through the plaza.

Minus the trees and you are left with a granite floor, pod like shelters and various sculptures along the plaza strip.

The waterway, 2 centimeters deep and about 1 meter across, runs for 365 meters along the plaza's east side. On its floor lie 617 stones recording with major events from the beginning of Joseon in 1392 through 2008

The carpet of flowers is located at the northern part of the plaza. Measuring 17.5 meters wide and 162 meters long, it presents 220,000 flowers symbolizing the 220,000 days from when Seoul became the capital of the Joseon Kingdom up to the opening of the plaza.

For a great synopsis of the history of Gwanghwamun area take a look at My Nice Day!'s post. If you look through this post you will see design choices for the plaza, one of which includes trees.source

Apparently we came around the time when they recently revealed the new King Sejong statue.

The second quarter will be unveiled on Hangeul Day, commemorating the birth of the Korean writing system, on Oct. 9.

The long-awaited bronze statue of the Great King Sejong (1418-50), who is credited with promulgating ``Hangeul'' with a group of scholars, will join that of Admiral Yi Sun-shin on Gwanghwamun Plaza. It will be the landmark for entry into ``The King Sejong Story,'' an artistic underground museum space for pedestrians below the plaza's bed of flowers and water fountain streams.

Wanting to check out the underground museum required waiting in a very long line. I will have to check it out when the crowds are fewer.

There will be five permanent multimedia exhibition halls focusing on King Sejong's humanity, democratic ideals, sagacious leadership, the creation of hangeul and developments in science and the arts under his rule. A sixth zone will be allotted for temporary exhibitions.

Seated up high above everyone and glistening amongst the sunshine you do feel a sense of awe. I tried to find out what material it was made from. My guess is bronze but really it doesn't look like it. Maybe a mixture of something.

Anyways, the statue sure sits proudly in the plaza.

Although there are a lack of trees and amazing urban design the plaza is a new hot spot to check out. Who knows? Maybe as time passes additions and subtractions will be made to the plaza. I hear it is a wonder to check out at night as the fountain performance is lit up. Finally, the Gwanghwamun gate itself will eventually be reveled and I guess the whole thing will be complete.

Caring About Dokdo

Some have said that no one in the world would give a crap about Dokdo and the dispute Korea and Japan have over these tiny islets in the sea.

Well I guess we don't have to care about the rocks themselves, instead let's focus on the dispute.

Following MISSISSIPPI to KOREA's blog post about this issue mentioned in the Boston Glob, I came across a thoughtful remark left by "PN" in the commentary.

There is an interesting disconnect between how East and West view Japan. Westerners think of Japan as a modern, polite and peaceful nation. A land of smiling faces and cute cartoon characters.

In Asia Japan is more noted for its fascist, imperialist past - a nation that killed tens of millions of innocent civilians, forced hundreds of thousands of girls and women into sexual slavery, and conducted medical experiments on live human subjects. Millions of people who suffered under Imperial Japan are still alive today.

Imperial Japan, in many ways, was much worse than Nazi Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes
This history is common knowledge to any school age kid in China and Korea, but is swept under the rug by the Japanese education system. The US education system isn't much better in this regard.

Japanese territorial aggression goes back way farther than WWII. It's a centuries old story for Japan to claim land that does not belong to her.

I see a lot of people wondering what all the fuss is about. This conflict is not just about two little rocks in the middle of the sea. An issue like Dokdo will only make sense when put into proper historical context.

A great point was made in this quote, which is that the citizens of Eastern Asia have an internally historical relationship with Japan. If you grew up in a nation that had been raped and ravished by another nation, than you might too feel a little sting underneath your grin. And I think the same would go for the citizens of Japan, although I have no clue, that they might feel a bit of pain for the context of their history.

Ah well, who knows if this issue will some day be put to rest. For now it will always make for great topics to discuss and I guess make fun of.

In the meantime please enjoy these photos of a Dokdo Documentary DVD I found at the Kyobo bookstore in Gwanghwamun.
I didn't purchase this oh so collectible item (on a budget lately) but if I did I think it would look something like this:

Sorry, Dokdo Korean Documentary Trailer - Free videos are just a click away

The awareness campaign for Dokdo here in Korea spreads to T-shirts, hats, pencil cases, notebooks and so on. A spectacle, really.

Buzz: Expatriate Adjustments

Let's face it, sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the world. Especially if that world doesn't even have grass and is all covered in cement and cigarette butts.

The word on the blog streets is that Expat's complain a hell-of a lot. So much that it is indeed annoying. Now the buzz is why the hell do expats complain?

Certainly there must be better things to do with your time like:

• Read up on the culture you are living in.
• Try to get to know a native person around you.
• Think objectively about your situation.

The Gordsellar states the necessity to complain is practically a natural cause and effect relationship.

A look at how a complaint is turned into a firestorm:

Say you come from the pristine suburban land that is America. On your streets are mostly friendly people who say "excuse me" or "hello, how are you today?". The landscape is laid out in a pedestrian friendly manner. People make eye contact and help you if you need it.

Your life is familiar and you know how to function within your environment.

But then you pack yourself up and move to South Korea.

You are out of your native habitat and everything and everyone seems different. After having a few bad days and nights these people and these places begin to look ugly.

Everyone and everything around you becomes a scapegoat for the natural crap that is going on in your life. You need to rant so you find outlets online and speak unthinkable things about the people and culture around you with disregard for the truth.

Although you are just one person your flames of spite ignite a torrent of fury across the Internet, which ripples its away around the globe.

Thus giving the impression that foreigners can't stand it in South Korea.

Conclusion:
It doesn't take much thought to understand that when you throw a big rock into a small pond it makes a big splash.

But this sort of splash can leave a residue behind that affects writers on the Internet that aren't pissed off.


Problematic:
I think as an expatriate blogger myself I am constantly having to check myself and ask:

Am I sounding like I am complaining?

When all I want to do is write about my opinions and realities that I experience. I feel that when we try to be politically correct most of the time, it pitfalls into an area where the true raw feelings we experience are washed away.

REALIZATION:

Please know that complaining isn't only reserved to the American in Korea. Koreans, UKer's, South Africa and others complain their asses off while in America.

I know because I heard an ear full of this working at summer camps where these people worked (except the Koreans).

My boyfriend would constantly complain about America and its poor transit system and lack of cleanliness. (visited San Francisco).

All in all just remember this first: when you take a fish out of the water it is going to gasp for air.

I leave you with that.

All apologies

BBC news reports that the Korean President has apologized for his hastily decision to trade beef with America.

"As a president, I did not want to miss this golden opportunity," he said of the trade agreement with Washington.

Mr Lee said he had realised his mistake while watching lines of candles filling city streets after dark during one of the protests.

He said he would ensure no US beef from cattle more than 30 months old would reach South Korean plates - a voluntary additional guarantee which Seoul's top trade official is currently attempting to secure in Washington.

Older beef is thought to be at greater risk of BSE.

So will this mean no more protests? Or that the issue is resolved, my guessing is probably not. I also wonder if those who were against the beef thing, find this apology sincere or not.

Anyways, just a short post...don't want to delve into it too much.

What to make of all this Mad Cow?

After listening to the Seoulpodcast go on about the Mad Cow scare issue here in Korea I thought I would provide my own digestion of this topic. I had a little taste of this on my own when I was in Insadong being a tourist and walking around the shops. There were a few tables set up on the sidewalk, along with someone dressed as a cow and others hollering for signatures. As the curious person I am I walked up to the booth. The people there spoke some English and just told me briefly what they are fighting against. I signed their petition due to the sheer excitement out of it and in return got a sticker and some buttons. These little buttons are actually cute for being meant for a cause. Some of these are against the new President's idea to build a canal from one of South Korea to the other. But generally I don't know how effective cuteness is to fight a matter which may or may not be so serious. I guess I have a hard time imagining Hello Kitty taking on the evil of the world and winning. But it may be possible.

Seriously, though this issue is a hot topic here and is becoming conflated out of proportion. But I don't think there is anything wrong with a strong group of people peacefully protesting this import of American beef. I think if you look at from an objective view point you could see that the protesters feel strongly against their President not making it clear to them why this is a good idea.

I think it may be important to ask a Korean how they feel about it and so I asked Bo Kwan. He tells me it is more about being against the President. Also not all Koreans are up in arms over this and even some feel that the protesters are going too far.

Some might ask whether this colors the perception Koreans have of Americans?

Actually I don't think so because it has to do more with the internal policies of the Korean government.

But it certainly is interesting to have the image of this in your mind:

Earlier on Saturday, about a dozen farmers in traditional funeral clothes marched to the protest site, carrying signs with anti-government slogans - along with the severed head of a cow. BBC news

For me it doesn't really make me think twice about the beef I eat over here, because in general I am thinking about several things anyways about the food I eat. I just see this thing as something that will boil over, possibly into a tasty soup.

Olympic impressions

Update here on the buzz of the Olympic Torch.

I didn't go out and see it all for myself but I have to say the whole thing is quite impressive. I did see a bit of it from the office window. For those who don't know my office is on Sansome and Jackson street. My building is right in front of the Pyramid building. I believe when at the time when the route was drastically altered there were a large amount of protestors disoriented. At that time they spread out amongst the streets. I saw a large group of protestors go down Jackson street. Some went left and others went right. But it seemed most were lost.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of my own of this event. The ones posted here are taken from SF Chronicle online. As we all know there were a lot of protestors. I have been watching it Live on CNN without audio in my cubicle.

Yes, a big part of me wishes I were out there capturing it all. I will try not to fail on the next big event.





*Joy

Historical mind bending torched

Hello,

So I am still working Part III of my series of choosing a ESL teaching job abroad (Korea). In the meantime just wanted to mention how today is the day when the Olympic torch passes through San Francisco.

I have to say the weather outside today looks really nice for the relay. However there is a storm brewing elsewhere that may cause a ruckus. Of course, we all know what that is, why it is the protestors.

On the frontpage of the San Francisco Chronicle today the Torch protest is top news. I have been kind of shamefully too busy to pay attention and digest properly why people are protesting the Beijing Olympics. But from what I understand it has to do with China's treatment of Tibetans both in the past, present and future. From my perspective I feel that these protestors are using the Olympics as a way to gain support for their cause.

I think it is a just cause and that these people should use the lime-light for the purpose of finally getting some justice.

I work with a Chinese American 40 something and two 60 yr-old Phillipino women. The buzz between them about this protest is that they are for it, but they contend to stay in their cubicles and type away their lives. Basically hearing the 40 something chatter away about Tibet and what-not is better office chatter than her usual "my-children-blah blah blah, and did you know that soy can kill you!?"

Anyways I wish I had brought my camera to work because I could have taken some snapshots during my lunch break. Ah well!

I would like to add that I think it will be more interesting and perhaps more educational for me to see protests going on in Korea. Which, by the way has its own history of protests. I too was kind of shamefully suprised when I learned that other countries protest wrong-doing. Of course this was just another moment in my life when I became less ignorant.

;)

Joy