Allophile

[allophile]

The most beautiful island you’ve never heard of…

"Ulleung-do." Doesn’t ring a bell? How about "Dagelet Island," as some Western maps continued to label it on into the 20th century? I’ve even met some Koreans who haven’t heard of this volcanic outpost about a hundred miles off the east coast of their own country…

As I was going over past entries today, after having finally slept through the night (die, jet-lag, die!) a week after returning to the US, I remembered that I hadn’t yet posted anything about one of the highlights of our recent travels: Ulleungdo! It was the one place where we did NOT have wi-fi during our month in Korea.

Hmm, how to compare…for lushness and steepness, think of the setting for “Jurassic Park,” subtract the dinosaurs and tropicality, replace with Siberian currents, pines and junipers…a NE Asian Capri…a greener Korean Corsica...

I could go on and on, but right here, right now, I won’t. Just know that this island—only 7 miles wide with just 10,000 people clinging to its verdant cragginess—is one of the most beautiful spots in Korea. It’s a bit of a trek to get to, (ferries are frequently canceled due to rough seas), and you really need to learn to read the Hangeul script to get by, but if you make the effort, you’ll be rewarded with fresh seafood, medicinal mountain vegetables, maritime vistas and splendid isolation…

[allophile]

Pine, pavilion, island...taking the time to soak up a landscape, observing details at the speed of meditative brushstrokes...Looking back on my last day in Seoul, five days ago, thankful that this painter on the grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace so graciously allowed me to document his artistic process...A visual reflection on the literal meaning of "re-membering" travels...

[allophile]

Arrived back in Arizona last night after not sleeping for 30+ hours...maybe that will help me beat the jet lag? At any rate, the difference in time zones makes me think of this piece of street art I saw in Seoul's Hongdae district a couple of weeks ago: cows painting the night? Covering up unwanted background music? Make it so... Looking back on the past month—a map to put it all in place...

[allophile]

A last evening, and a last morning…

At the end of the day yesterday, I was doing some last minute shopping in Namdaemun market, a stone’s throw from the city’s old South gate. It’s been in operation for six hundred years and it’s one of my favorite spots in Seoul: alleys behind skyscrapers full of vendors hawking everything from ginseng to socks, cell-phone covers to grilled squid tentacles, luggage stores, facial-cosmetics boutiques that sell skin-lightening “bb-cream” for men (?!), and wholesale handicrafts that make it a great spot for gift-buying…As I was leaving, I noticed this pick-up full of fresh produce, just parked on the main boulevard beneath a bank-tower, with the gate in the background: an iconic sight for the S. Korean capital…

And, from this morning, looking out at the high-rise residential landscape of the Mapo district, from my friends’ 10th-floor apartment…Last-minute packing this morning, for my afternoon flight. Returning to the U.S. from East Asia is always mind-bending for time-zone-adjusting: I leave here at 4:50 this afternoon, and land in Dallas for my connecting flight to Tucson at 4:00 p.m: flying ‘back in time.’

As for the weather—comparing Seoul to Tucson—I’ll be flying from humidity to a furnace. The monsoon hasn’t arrived yet in either place…which has been convenient during my last few days here. Seoul receives about twice the annual rainfall as Seattle, with half of that falling just during the summer “jahngmah” season, from late June through August: almost non-stop rain, frequently torrential—so important for the rice paddies…

Have I really been here for a month?

Signing off from Korea, then…

[allophile]

On my last full day in Korea, before running last-minute errands and shopping, I decided to start the day in Gyeongbokgung Palace. Originally constructed in the 1390's when the then-new Joseon dynasty established Seoul as its capital, it truly feels like you're in an oasis from Seoul's wi-fi frenzy when you're within its walled compound of courtyards and gardens. Much of the palace was either destroyed or 'dismantled' during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), but the Korean government has been actively restoring it... It turns out that the last Wednesday of every month is free to the public; the admittance charge is very cheap as it is, but it's always nice being able to avoid paying for something when traveling. Throngs of schoolchildren—it's not summer vacation here yet for them—were here on field-trips, along with tour-groups of mainland Chinese, but Gyeongbokgung is large enough so you can still find some tranquility away from the crowds. So, first photo: I arrived before the first 'Changing of the Guard' of the day, but I heard some of the cacophonous-yet-infectious medieval military music in a side-courtyard...so, following my ears, I found the troupe rehearsing its routine. I know, I know, it's a cliché to say that someplace is a "fascinating blend of old and new" (I mean, what major world city isn't, really?), but Seoul's local twist on that reality is just so colorful... Second and third scenes: Hyangweonjeon, the hexagonal "Pavilion of Far-reaching Fragrance" in its tranquil lotus-pond, truly one of the loveliest spots in Seoul. (My parents went on some of their first dates in this area, incidentally.) While relaxing under the gnarled pines, I became absorbed watching this artist's deft brushstrokes; he graciously allowed me to document his artistic process... The rest of the photos: some of the carved animals, both real and mythical, that preside over the granite balustrade surrounding the palace's throne hall, Geunjeongjeon. A friend of mine describes the monkey as being 'pre-Picasso.' (I wish I'd come up with that description myself.) ...and then there are chickens, tigers, and 'haetae,' the fire-eating justice-loving guardians that have become the 'mascot' of Seoul...

[allophile]

"The Gaht-bah-wee rocks" ...and this curious seaside geology is a Mokpo must...

[allophile]

If you're in Mokpo, you HAVE TO hike Mt. Yudalsan! It's not very high, (228m/748ft), but the wooded steepness and cragginess make it feel like a true trek. Along the way, airy pavilions with fantastically painted ceilings are perfect places to rest and take in the views...near the peak are some rock-carvings...and from the top, the views of the Mokpo suspension bridge, the forested islands, and the Yellow Sea beyond are vertiginous...Hiking back down to the waterfront, a few small palm-trees give a whiff of the subtropics; Jeju-do island is just a few hours away by boat...

[allophile]

The old center of Mokpo is full of architecture from the end of the Joseon Dynasty period through the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). Some of it has been well-preserved—note the beautiful, if historically ominous, brick work on the former Japanese Consulate…but much awaits restoration.

The city is to be commended for not tearing down these structures, even if they do bear witness to a painful episode in Korean history.

The old Japanese quarter today is ‘pleasantly decrepit,’ it must be said—while the district between the train station and ferry terminal is of great historic interest, it ain’t quaint in the sterile post-card-sense. It’s full of warehouses and working-port businesses, along with some good seafood, and it’s safe despite its rough edges…but it’s a world apart from the glitz of Seoul’s Gangnam or the gentrified charm of Jeonju’s hanok village…

And that’s precisely why it’s worth visiting if you’re in Korea’s SW corner…

[allophile]

I’m in Mokpo, a port city in the extreme SW corner of S. Korea…

…and, this being Mokpo, I felt compelled to have octopus for a late lunch…here, in a soup. Kind of funny how I ended up at this place—first place I tried (guidebook recommended) was closed for remodeling, then second place was semi-closed (3 pm IS a weird time for lunch), so, rather than going to the ‘trouble’ of opening up their kitchen just for me, the owners kindly told their son to show me—walk WITH me—to ANOTHER restaurant! And it turns out that the place he showed me is a place that has been featured on Korean TV! (Koreans are wild about travel-eating-shows)…Thus did I end up at “Dokcheon Shikdang.” SO fresh—as you can see, the cephalopods are swimming right up ‘til dinnertime…

[allophile]

Seeing Hangeul script on an Islamic-tiled façade—not as out-of-place as it might first seem... Yesterday I found myself in Seoul's Itaewon district at mid-day, and so the hilly streets leading up to the mosque were full of people leaving Friday prayers: Saudis, Egyptians, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Korean converts. With around 35,000 Muslims, the Islamic presence in Korea is tiny, but very visible in Itaewon. Although the religion was re-introduced in the 1950's by Turkish UN forces during the Korean War, its history on the peninsula goes back to the Unified Silla Kingdom (7th to 10th centuries C.E.); merchants from the Persian Gulf traveled here—it was the end of the Silk Road...And some of the earliest outside mentions of Korea were by Persian geographers. During the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), the capital (today's Gaeseong, in North Korea) even had a Muslim quarter with its own imam. By the mid-Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), however, as the country became more and more of a 'Hermit Kingdom,' Islam all but disappeared from the country until the mid-20th century. Twenty years ago, Itaewon was still very much an American-dominated enclave—with nearby Yongsan US army base, Itaewon had its fair share of 'massage parlors' along with tailor shops and souvenir stalls for GI's; 'counterfeit' jeans, watches, and sneakers lined the sidewalks... Today it's truly an international area; yesterday I walked past a Nigerian animatedly arguing on his cellphone in Korean! Expats from all over flock here for a taste of home while Seoulites come to the area for a whiff of elsewhere: French bistros, Turkish kebabs, Brazilian carne, Spanish tapas, pubs with Guinness on tap...Several embassies are tucked into the hillside leading up to the landmark Hyatt hotel on the lower slopes of Mt. Namsan, and the fabulous Leeum Samsung Museum of Art presides over the district's eastern edge.

[allophile]

I went for a run this morning, across the Han River's 1.4-km long Mapo Bridge, which connects to the island of Yeouido, the skyscraper-and-government-bureaucratically dominated 'Manhattan of Seoul.' An art installation has been placed along the length of it—mirrors with phrases, some whimsical, some poetic, some didactic. Called "Bridge of Life," it's sponsored by Samsung Life Insurance Company. The bridge is somewhat infamous in Korea for the number of suicide-jumpers who have plunged into the Han from it... This particular phrase reads: "Now, time to look back on yourself..." The golden skyscraper in this scene was, when it was opened in 1985, the tallest building in Asia—in fact, the tallest skyscraper outside of North America; recent structures in Shanghai and Dubai are now more than twice as tall as the 249m/817ft "Hanwha 63 City." Incidentally, a scene from the upcoming "Avengers" movie was filmed here recently.

[allophile]

Back to Seoul after a week-and-a-half of traveling around the country…Nice to relax in a room with a view—afternoon and night—of the city’s old South Gate—officially called “Sungnyemun,” but popularly still called “Namdaemun.” Built in the 1390’s when the newly established Joseon dynasty selected Seoul as its capital, this venerable structure survived centuries of wars and invasions until a few years ago when an act of arson badly damaged it. Three years ago, on my last visit here, the gate was hidden behind a reconstruction structure…the restored gate was finally unveiled last year.

[allophile]

Alas, pleasant Jeonju, we must part...(one last riverside run this morning, a green farewell...)

[allophile]

I peeked into a room in one of the 400-year-old halls of Jeonju’s “Hyanggyo” (Confucian academy) earlier today and saw this: a group of retirees going over a passage written in classical Chinese on the chalkboard…People’s images of Korea today are so often synonymous with Seoul: wifi, K-pop, traffic and speed. Here in Jeonju’s Hanok village, it’s all about tradition and grace…thus, the district’s belonging to the Italian-born “cittaslow” (‘slow city’) movement…

[allophile]

On the sidewalks of Jeonju—guys playing "baduk" ("go") and "Changgi" (Chinese chess)...But all is not just fun and games—across the street, a lady warning that medical chip implants are the "666" sign of the beast...

[allophile]

Oh, the joys of Konglish/Engrish! From a menu seen in Jeonju this morning: "Aluminous!" "Crab Formal!!" Bon appétit...

[allophile]

Theme & variations in Korean ceiling décor—all from just one small riverside pavilion, "Hanbyeokdang," (which dates to 1404) by the Jeonju River...geometry, stylized floral motifs...