Asia

Children's Grand Park

I missed out on my usual blog session yesterday, so I thought I would be prolific and write two blog entries today.  This morning my family and I went to Children’s Grand Park in East Seoul.  It has just about everything a child could want–a huge playground, botanical garden, a small zoo, a camel ride, an elephant theme show, and a water park where children can play in an artificial stream.  I have to admit, it’s pretty cool.  It only cost 900 won (90 cents) per adult, and young children are admitted free of charge (parking is a bit pricey).  You can’t beat that price.  We still spent 14,000 won for lunch and a few thousand more for some drinks and snacks, but all in all it’s a cheap date.  The elephant theme show costs 6,000 won (about $6.00) per person.  We decided to pass on the show.
 
My son had a great time at Children’s Grand Park.  He played for about an hour on the playground, sliding down slides, playing on the teeter-totter and on all sorts of kiddie rides.  He had the most fun at the water park .  If you come to the Children’s Grand Park, be sure to bring a swimsuit and towel for each child.  We didn’t and had to improvise.  Our son waded into the water in his daiper.  By the time he was finished, it weighed about a pound after soaking up water!  He had a great time playing in the water, climbing on the rocks, sitting in the boat, and climbing the small step waterfall.  After he finished, daddy lent his shirt to dry him off.  I’m sure I elicited some stares from onlookers as I took off my shirt to use as a makeshirt towel.  After all, everyone around us was Korean.  It reminds me of a time in 1994 when I visited rural China.  A freakish rainstorm drenched me as I walked in the countryside.  I sought refuge in a kind peasant woman’s house.  Not thinking, I took off my shirt to wring it dry on her dirt floor.  I’m sure I broke just about every rule of etiquette doing that!  I’ve wizened up a bit since then (I hope).  I’m sure she didn’t know what to make of this person who was probably the first Caucasian she had ever seen in her life. 
 
After we left the water park, we visited the park zoo.  My son was especially enthralled with the monkeys and the lions.  He loves the animated features "The Lion King" and "Madgascar," whose main characters are lions.  I pointed out "Simba" and "Alex," his favorites.  For the first time, he encountered many of the animals he read about in books and played with as toys, including an elephant, zebras, ostriches, tigers, kangaroos, and yaks.  I wonder whether these animals lived up to his expectations, because live animals are really never as cute and cuddly as their stuffed or drawn counterparts.  Next to the elephant pen, we saw a film crew filming the park.  I’m not sure why they were filming; perhaps they were filming a scene for a Korean drama.  Perhaps my family inadvertantly became extras in the film.
 
The park is very much a family-oriented park.  I saw some childless couples but nary a single person.  The majority of the park visitors clustered in families.  I saw some families visit without the fathers, many of whom have to work on Saturdays.  It’s interesting that Korea is a very family-friendly country, yet at the same time it has the lowest fertility rate of any OECD country (just 1.19 children per woman in 2004–the OECD represents the world’s top 30 economies).  Korea is going through a so-called "kid crisis" where the population is increasingly aging (7.2% of the population was aged 65 or over), and fewer and fewer couples are having children.  The park today was filled with families.  I saw more families here than I’ve seen elsewhere in Seoul.  Central Seoul is very much dominated by singles and couples.  I see very few children in Seoul beyond the school girls and boys who use mass transit to travel to and from school.
 
Thought of the day:  I thought it very odd that Children’s Grand Park would feature a plastination exhibit.  A macabre art form developed by Gunter von Hagen in Munich, Germany, plastination is very creepy to those who are squeamish about death and an affront to those who believe in the sanctity of the body after death.  Plastination is a process by which those who donate their cadavers are embalmed with plastic rather than formaldehyde and then carved into artistic art forms.  The plastination exhibit at Children’s Grand Park was well advertised throughout the park with vivid images of corpses that underwent plastination, including fetuses and deformed children.  I kid you not (no pun intended).  When I was in Munich in 2003, I thought about visiting BodyWorlds, home of the plastination phenomenon.  However, my American traveling companions thought I was crazy.  Plastination grossed them out.  I caved in to peer pressure and did not visit BodyWorlds while in Munich.  I personally find plastination intriguing.  I am amazed by the fantastic creations that result from plastination, and I’ve pondered what would prompt someone to donate their body to be plastinized and put on display.  Instead of being buried, one’s body ends up in an artistic exhibit for all the world to see.  Not surprisingly, plastination conjures all sorts of moral and ethical issues.  I am an American who finds plastination fascinating, yet I still think it is in very poor taste having a plastination exhibit on display at a children’s park.  This is especially true with regard to the photos of the fetuses I saw.  I wondered whether Koreans have objected to this exhibit.  Considering that Korea may be the first nation to clone a human being, I would not be surprised if Koreans generally do not object to plastination exhibits at a children’s park.  The COEX Mall also has a plastination exhibit, indicating that Koreans find this odd mummification process very fascinating.  I’m certain many Americans would be appalled.

A matter of perspective

A comment by newcomer ma posted on yesterday’s blog entry got me thinking about relationships between Koreans and foreigners.  Thanks for your perspective–I really appreciate it.  As always, I enjoy hearing other people’s experiences in Korea.  I only have one perspective, my own.
 
I pondered ma‘s comment mentioning how easy it is to befriend Koreans.  This got me wondering as to why people can have such different perspectives the same subject.  My perspective on Koreans is a bit different.  When I write that I find Koreans to be the most wonderful yet elusive people I’ve ever encountered, I realize that this assessment is only based on what I’ve encountered here since I arrived earlier this year.  I talked to my wife tonight, and she says that her perspective is different from mine.  She finds Koreans very easy to befriend.  She is a Chinese American, so the Asian perspective she shares with Koreans likely helps her better relate to Koreans.  On the same token, she has had some difficulty befriending American in the United States (her husband excepted, of course).  A friend of ours, who is in her third trimester of pregnancy with a toddler and has had some bad encounters in Seoul, says that she finds Koreans somewhat rude.  Another colleague who is single, male, and handsome says he has no trouble befriending Koreans.  Americans in trouble in Korea that I have assisted tend to have a negative view of Koreans.  However, at the same time I see many Americans interacting with Koreans, and I know that thousands of Americans and Koreans marry each year.  I’ve met and read the blogs of foreign English teachers who generally have a wonderful experience with Koreans.  It’s an interesting dynamic.
 
I am a Caucasian, married, professional male.  On most days, I wear a business suit.  I interact with Koreans primarily at work, both customers and coworkers, and at night I usually return home to spend time with my family.  My job gives me a good insight into the Korean psyche.  On weekends my time is usually preoccupied with family activities, including getting together with friends.  Unfortunately, I have very little time to meet new people, so in a way, my own situation hinders me from meeting and befriending Koreans.  I am a very gregarious and open person, and I believe my demeanor does help me get to know Koreans better.  I suspect that my lack of time and opportunity, as well as the fact that I am in a job where I often act in an official capacity, hinder my ability to develop strong friendships with Koreans.  I wish it weren’t so.

Cicadamania!

I walk out the door this morning, headed to work.  Parked on a post next to my front door was a 2"x1.5" brownish object.  I took a closer look.  It was the shell of an oversized cicada, the largest of all the creepy crawly insects roaming the Korean countryside. It’s pretty creepy looking, this large insect with big eyes and black legs that look like pincers.  Although the back of the shell was ruptured, indicating the cicada had already flown away, it sure looked like a real cicada to me.  I posted a couple of photos of the shell stuck on the post next to our front door on this blog entry.  I have yet to see a real cicada; all I have seen so far is a couple of cicada remnants hanging from trees and posts.  Fortunately, these cicadas are not nearly as aggressive as the ones I experienced last year in Washington, D.C.  The ones in D.C., ominously known as Brood X, seemed to be attracted to humans and went out of their way to land on people.  It was quite unnerving.  Korean cicadas, although much bigger and a bit more menacing in appearance than their American counterparts, are much more platonic.  They hang out in the trees and buzz up a storm.  Because the area surrounding my home is suburban and relatively wooded, the noise emanating from the cicada brood is very, very loud.  The sound they make reminds me of the crescendo of multiple electric shavers used at once.  Unlike the ones in D.C., these cicadas have taken to the trees.  I have not seen a single one come down below the tree line.  When I was in D.C., the cicadas were so thick at ground level that you had to watch your step or risk crushing cicadas under your feet.  It was very disquieting.  Korean cicadas make a lot of noise, but that’s about it.  Seoul city folk don’t get to hear it as I do living in their concrete jungle.  Living here and listening to the cicadas brings me closer to Korean nature, whether I like it or not.  The sound lately has permeated our house, occasionally keeping me awake.  Tonight the cicadas are quiet.
 
Today was an eventful day.  The Six-Party Talks on North Korea’s nuclear program resumed today in Beijing.  I wish the U.S. negotiating team success.  As for me, I was busy helping someone with an emergency situation, and I dealt with a few new issues.  I had a late lunch with a nice Korean colleague who assisted in resolving the emergency.  During our lunch, she offered her insights into the Korean psyche.  When asked why it was difficult for Americans to get to know Koreans personally, she responded that it could possibly be because Koreans respect foreigners’ privacy.  I hadn’t thought of that before.  I wonder to what extent it is true.  I explained that Koreans don’t need to feel that way, that most Americans are easy to befriend.  Americans are generally private people, more so than Asians are.  It may be that because Americans are somewhat individualistic, they tend to limit how much they interact socially.  Still, I think that Americans in Korea are willing to sacrifice some privacy for the opportunity to meet good Korean friends.  It could also be that Koreans’ perception of Americans individualism exceeds our propensity to be individualistic.  Nevertheless, there seems to be some credence to the idea that privacy and individualism may hinder foreigners’ ability to befriend Koreans.