Battle of Daejeon

The following is a transcription of the plaques at a monument for the Battle of Daejeon on Bomun Mountain in Daejeon, South Korea.

"Summary of Daejon Battle

Behold this place is where United Nations troops, having come to a distant foreign land, faced the enemy and fought, waving the United Nations flag. They have departed, but their achievement will ever shine brightly here.

The Red Hored [sic] which started the war on June 25, 1950, swept like a tide over this land and dyed it red. At that time those apostles of peace, the United States 24^th Infantry Division, were the first to enter the war in order to protect South Korea. Major General William F. Dean, commanding officer of the 24^th Infantry Division, established his operations headquarters at Daejon and set up a delaying action to slow the advance southward of the North Korean troops, pending the arrival of the main force of the United States Eighth Army. The first line of defense for the delaying action was planned for Pyungtaek-ansong, a second line of defense for Charyong mountains at the vicinity of the Chonan area, and a third line of defense was planned for the Keum River. But Smith Company of the 24^th Infantry Division was defeated by the North Korean troops at Jookmiryong which was spearheaded by tanks, pushed southward like an angry tide, and on July 16^th the Keum River defense line was broken, Then the 24^th Infantry Division set up the final defense positions at Daejon and made preparations for pushing back the enemy advance. Seeing this, the North Koreans boasted “If we just capture Daejon, the resistance of the Republic of Korea Army and the United Nations troops will collapse.” As they spearheaded their attack with the elite 105^th Tank Division, flanked on either side by the 3^rd and 4^th Infantry Divisions, our soldiers engaged the enemy in bloody battle.

In particular, Major General Dean, commander of the 24^th Infantry Division, stood in the front lines leading the United Nations troops, and when the North Korean tanks entered Daejon city limits, he fired a 3.5-inch rocket gun and personally knocked out a North Korean tank, thus giving a boost to the drooping spirits of his troops. But it was not possible to stop the North Koreans with their superior strength in numbers. On July 20^th the United States 24^th Infantry Division at last withdrew from Daejon, retreated to the Nakdong River and prepared for a rally. By means of this battle in Daejon, the Division rendered great service toward the establishment of a firm battle line, and in two days of fighting it achieved the military results of many hundreds of enemy soldiers killed, and 15 tanks and 21 cannons destroyed. On the other hand, the 24^th Infantry Division suffered the largest number of high-ranking officers lost since the Civil War, and its commander Major General Dean., after breaking out of the encirclement, retreated south toward Keumsan, but met with the misfortune of becoming missing in action.

However, with the success of General MacArthur’s strategy in the historical Inchon Landing, the South Korean and United Nations troops defending the Nakdong River battle line together initiated a general offensive. Then the 24^th Infantry Division, seeking revenge for its earlier bitter defeat, rushed into the vanguard and crushed the enemy force defending Daejon. So, on September 28^th our lovely Daejon was recaptured, the tide of freedom again overflowed her broad plain, and it was almost as though the hills and streams were shouting, “Long live Korea!” Now the sound of gunfire has ceased, pigeons are on the wing, and the wild flowers bloom beautifully on this hill where we are erecting this monument to preserve for ever the record of the comradeship of the 24^th Infantry Division in its bloodbought [sic] military achievement. The United States 24^th Infantry Division—its name shall shine gloriously for a thousand years!

December, 1981"

"Monument Inscription

On this bright hill where freedom’s sunlight shines, this monument to glory stands sublime.

On June 25, 1950
The day the Red Horde
Swept down like an angry tide
You, the United States 24^th Infantry Division,
Lifting high the United Nations flag,
Came to our defense in the name of freedom,
Fighting to the death on Daejon’s broad plain.
Your blood, indeed, was shed upon this ground,
But still reverberates the battle cry you raised.

Apostles of freedom,
Standard-bearers for peace,
Upon the hearts of our countrymen
Your name is deeply engraved!"

Turning Point (Soppong, Pai)

The bus was a shaky deal with open windows and doors to let in the smoke and heat from the roadside bush fires. All over Thailand and Laos they were slashing and burning new fields. It made a sort of permanent haze everywhere. I arrived in the dusty town of Soppong and hired a moto to drive me the 9km to where I wanted to stay. This was the first time on the trip I feared for my life (it would happen only once more in Saigon). I had my 20kg or so ruck on my back and he had my smaller pack on his lap. He was going at maniac speed and the road was big enough for one car really, only partially paved, and full of pot holes. Trucks and motos of all sizes came hurtling at us from both directions and I tried my best not to visaulize how painful it was going to be when I hit the ground with or without a moto on top of me.

But I survived. The place I stayed was called Cave Lodge, in a Shan village called Ban Tham Lod. The area is notable for its various caves and some prehistoric sites. There are, as everywhere in Northern Thailand, a number of different minority villages around. Tham Lod is also about 5km from the Burmese border. It's run by an Australian fellow, John, and his Shan wife. He's a caver and general adventurist. He's been living in the area for decades and has been running the lodge for about 20 years. Built it himself. It's a collection of bungalows around a bigger house (common area, kitchen, his house, dorm room, etc.). It's up on a riverbank and close to a cave that the river runs through; the town's namesake Tham Lod.

I was met by a cheerful crowd in the common area. There's a fire pit, hammocks, cushions, books, shrine, incredible pictures John has taken over the years of caves and people. The few days I spent there, there was a neat feel of people moving in and out, coming and going. Everyone was quite sociable and chilled out. There was a group from Yorkshire: an older couple and their daughter and son-in-law, a really fun Australian couple. These were all here for the caving. They werent professionals but knew what they were doing. There was an English couple who were on my same flight to Mae Hong Son and I'd see them again in Pai. There was a fellow, Alex, from Costa Rica but had been living in the US for a long time. He had been traveling in Myanmar and while there he consumed a hallucinogenic secretion from a frog (ie. "licked" a toad). On that trip he had a vision of his childhood invisible friend, a gorilla, and he had plans to have a tattoo done of said gorilla. There was a pair of strapping young gentlemen, English and Russo-American who did tai chi in the common room. I had originally thought they were studying some martial art in Chiang Mai but it turns out they lived in Pai. More on that storyline shortly.

While I was there I lazed around, reading, I went on a little walk around the area by myself, I went on a little tour with Alex. We rode out to see a "coffin cave," of which there are several in the area. It was just a cave with a couple remaining prehistoric wooden (!!!) big trough-like things that used to be elevated on stilts where they would lay the dead. I'm not sure what other details there are (grave goods, state of the body, etc). We also went to one of the Karen ethnic villages. We bought gas from them in a 2-L plastic bottle. One of the young fellas was quite drunk and kept stringing his favourite English sayings together "Thank you very much, Coca-Cola OK, very good, OK!" and was dancing and singing and being generally raucous, but fun. That night we went through Tham Lod, a cave with a river running through it. The coolest part was the river, which we traveled on with a bamboo raft, though we got to see some of the caverns by kerosene lamp. Every evening at dusk hundreds of swifts fly around like mad before they hunker in to their nests in the cave for the night.

My most enduring and cherished memory of Cave Lodge, though, is from the very first morning. I woke up in my little shack, opened my eyes and I saw a perfect, quiet, hazy morning forest image.

A crowd of the guests plus John the owner and his family were preparing to go on a kayaking/caving expedition for 3 days. I was very tempted to go, but I decided it was more money than I wanted to spend just then and I did want to head on to Pai. Looking back, it would have been awesome, but also looking back I wouldn't change much about my Pai experience.

You know, most people come back from Pai and have some story about life-changing experiences or attunement or just what a blast they had. So I do. It's a small place with not really a lot to do. It really is full of hippies, new-agey people, self-proclaimed mystics, and generally "alternative" sort of folk. That's mostly why I loved it there. From the basis of my emotional state then, it was an important nurturing and revealing place.

Some clips of what I wrote in my journal:
"I'm slowly being turned inside out."
"[People I met] have pulled some kind of valve and I'm watching my life's stories and feelings and choices flowing out in front of me in full body heaves and I'm seeing them for what they are."

It was here I understood that I didn't want to go back to Korea and that I needed to end my romantic relationship. I eventually understood that I did have to go back to Korea for a little while because I would have had no money. I was close to calling it all off and just going home, or staying in SE Asia (don't know how that would have worked out!), and a number of other wild ideas. While I ended up taking the cautious route (going back to Korea) I did decide to cut my contract. I am so lucky and happy that I came back, and I am so lucky and happy that I am leaving now when I am.

Anyway, I became enraptured with one of the guys I met at Cave Lodge, Jack, I tried out some tai chi, I spoke to some people with really positive things to say and interesting stories to tell. I ran into Marco, the Dutch guy I met way back in Melaka. I ran into Alex again. I ran into the English couple who were on the place in Mae Hong Son and at Cave Lodge. I did see a couple temples, some waterfalls, a Chinese village originally founded by refugee Kuomintang. Also witnessed/was initiated to the beginnings of Songkran (the Buddhist New Year--Pii Mai in Laos) festivities.

I stayed in Pai for a week just idling: eating delicious food, drinking Kombucha, doing tai chi (sort of), hanging out, chatting. I needed it even if it sent me off into several deep-ends, in a good but exhausting way. For the next few weeks I really hit my stride in my travels and felt grounded but with a floating spirit.

Mae Hong Son and some festivals

Mae Hong Son was a neat little place where I could walk into town from the air port. I had some trouble finding a place to stay because most of the budget guest houses were full. There weren’t really that many tourists around though. *shrug* There was an important festival going on so maybe it was relatives and culture vultures that were coming into town. I finally found a place and crashed for 13 hours.

In my planning I was intrigued by Mae Hong Son because of its proximity to exotic, unreachable Myanmar. But Myanmar is totally reachable and I met several travelers throughout my trip who had been. I don’t know anything about the traditional and vernacular architecture of the area so I couldn’t tell if the houses and shops looked Burmese but the temples were definitely different than the other Thai ones. These were Shan, specifically, rather than Burmese. The tiers of the roofs are different, the style of embellishments are different, the inside decoration is a bit different.

I just wandered around mostly. I saw the two major temples, went in some shops, walked around the night market. The festival going on was the Poi Sang Long. It’s where the young Shan boys are about to be initiated as novices in the temple. They’re about 7 years old, give or take. They’ll do this in towns all over the area but there’s bigger ceremony in the larger towns like Mae Hong Son and Pai. The boys get all dressed up in fancy “princely” clothes complete with makeup and they’re paraded around town on the shoulders of a relative or on a truck or horse (so that they can’t touch the ground) accompanied by relatives banging drums and gongs, and a sort of decorated parasol. There are several stages of the goings-on, like cutting of the hair, absolution from the local abbots, partying with the family.

I woke up early the second day to see the big procession around the town. It was a gorgeous sunrise and everyone started to gather around the two main temples in their best clothes it seemed. They strap the possessions the boys will take with them to the temple onto poles which the women carry. There was a pickup truck with musicians and middle-aged ladies dancing. There were other offerings and gifts and drums and gongs. Everything brightly coloured. It was really neat to see everyone lining up. Finally they were off for a circuit or two of the town.

I’d arranged a motorbike ride to a “Longneck Village.” I recoiled a bit at the signs advertising tours to these villages because they don’t use the name they call themselves. They are part of the larger Karen group which has three major groups within it I think. The village I visited, Huay Sua Thao, was mostly populated by Kayan (that’s what they call themselves). I suppose tourists who haven’t looked into it at all wouldn’t know a Kayan from a hole in the wall (nor would I were she not a woman with rings on her neck) but I think the tour companies could have a bit more tact.

You pay an entrance fee (there’s an explanation about what the money goes towards, but I’m not convinced that it all goes to the village) and the sort of polite way to go about things is to buy something from their stalls then ask to take their picture. Most spoke enough English to talk about prices and say what items were. Not all of them are their own handicrafts but one woman had had a professional photographer take a number of pictures of her and some of the other women and she sells prints of these. I’d seen her face on postcards around Mae Hong Son too. There was one frustrating episode with a Thai man (I think?) who was barking at one girl who’d just gotten off a motorcycle. He wanted a better picture of her on it or near it or something. She didn’t oblige him but she looked pissed off.

At one point a small procession came by with men carrying logs, some gong and drum banging and girls followed with bowls of water which they were sprinkling at everyone. It was close to Songkran so I thought that might be something to do with it. We followed them up to these sort of totem poles, or rather poles with a small sort of temple on each. There was a foreigner there who was making a documentary about a village outcast and he explained what he knew about it (and then on the way out I noticed a board with explanations of different aspects of their culture).

In their creation story the earth lacked density so the creator deities planted a post and as the post grew, so did the earth and it became firm. The post is venerated and is called “Kan Htein Bo.” Each year they plant a new pole, preferably made of Eugenia tree, the first tree created. The old ones stay up but (as I saw when I was there) if there’s one that has rotted and fallen, they remove it. The part at the top has pieces to represent the Sun, Moon, a sanctuary for the deities, a streamer as a ladder to connect heaven and earth, and a spider’s web which humans must pass through to get to heaven (also a reference to their belief of the interconnectedness of all the parts of the universe).

When I was there they were just making preparations, building the new sanctuary thing for the top, etc. I was really lucky to see it though. Usually the tourists stay where the stalls are I think and don’t get to interact within the daily life and traditions of the village.

On the way to the village I saw some elephants meant for tourist treks. The scenery was nice, and the road was crisscrossed by streams and the pavement covered in algae under the water. Even though the driver always slowed down and took care at the stream we took a spill once. No one was hurt, and we were dry again by the time we left the village. My camera was completely submerged, though only briefly, and it survived. That camera took a real beating throughout my trip but it’s no worse for wear except the water stains on the inside lens and scratched viewing screen.

That afternoon I got the bus to Soppong.

More Thailand (Sukhothai, Chiang Mai)

I've been thinking for weeks about how best to organize the next few posts on my travels, where to put the division lines.

I left Bangkok the night of March 28, just to keep you up to speed with chronology. I forgot to mention one Bangkok anecdote: I was walking down the street towards my hostel and was passing Patpong Market. Something seemed really strange and eerie, then I realized that none of the stalls had their lights on, indeed most had candles. I immediately assumed that the power was out and I looked in to the permanent shops but their lights were on. Confused I started formulating explanations like a fuse was blown in the market's power supply. Then I passed some police cars and a camera crew. Then my imagination really got going. The answer came to me on a t-shirt: Earth Hour 2009. How cool is that?

Now, I had been to Ayutthaya, the UNESCO designated World Heritage site, former Thai capital. I'm not one to miss out on more sweet ruins so I went to the capital that preceded that one, also a World Heritage site, Sukhothai.

There's an excellent night sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. If you time it right you can save on time and money by sleeping on the train and stopping off on places along the way. I took a pleasant fan-cooled sleeper bunk train to Phitsanulok. I arrived just as it was dawning and was able to stash my big bag in a room at the station. After a quick bite I took a cyclo (or trishaw or whatever you wanna call it) to the bus station as the sun was coming up and the monks were returning from their alms rounds. Then I got a bus for an hour to Sukhothai, and then a shared mini van to the historical park. Then I rented a bicycle to get around.

These temples and other ruins have more obvious associations with Hindism, especially lingas and yonis which I hadn't known about before. I learned a lot about Hindu-Buddhist art and architecture and its Thai chronology. The Sukhothai period was know for its standing Buddhas. The creature garuda is the national symbol of Thailand and also the symbol of the monarchy. I wrote this in my journal "I think we're too plain and obsessed with realism and science in Canada. We would never use a crazy monster symbol like in association with our leaders." I really loved Sukhothai, it was more peaceful and less-frequented by tourists, at least when I was there. Really beautiful place.

Sawngthaew (pick-up truck with benches) to the bus station, bus to Phitsanulok, moto to train station. I hadn't been able to book another sleeper bunk that morning so I was in second class for the night trip up to Chiang Mai. Another interesting transportation experience to add to the list. These were rickety but reclining seats. There were fans, the lights were always on, and the windows were open, letting in the loud clickety-clack, various pungents smells, and every insect attracted by the lights or swept in by the wind came to join us. I'd wake up every so often and have to dust the dead bugs off me. The drink and food vendors were there but in fewer numbers and there were no people standing in the aisles, though they were between the cars. I didn't sleep much but I kept thinking about the miserable trip the third-class passengers must be having.

As I stepped off the train I felt a migraine coming on. I haven't had one for a couple years. It starts with one of my hands becoming numb and tingly and the sentation passes up through my arm, into my neck and face, down my throat and up to my eye. When I first notice it I usually stop all activity and go to bed, except for the time I was in the middle of an exam and this time getting off a night train in Thailand. Luckily I'd phoned ahead the day before to book a room so I got in a tuk-tuk and got there fine. But reception didn't open for almost an hour. Then the bed wasn't available until midday. Fuck, I was dying. I was able to eat, book a short cooking course for that night, then crash on the daybeds on a rooftop terrace. When I finally got to the room I slept the rest of the day and woke up fine.

I had a limited time in Chiang Mai because I'd booked a flight to Mae Hong Son. I planned to return to CM anyway. I hadn't planned on doing a cooking course but there was one just for an evening. I was really glad I did, I had a lot of fun. It was just me and a German couple and the thing was done at the chef's home just out of town. We made pad thai, curry, tom yum, some other stuff. I learned about some ingredients and got a cookbook out of it, included.

When I returned I started chatting with a lovely nice American girl, Katie, who had been to Manitoulin Island (how unusual and awesome is that!) and we eventually went out for food/drinks with a whole crowd of Aussies, Canadians, American, Swede, UK... I had my heart set on reggae and dancing, both together ideally. We hopped around as each place shooed us out. We ended up at a place called THC, a really chill place with reaggae so I was very happy. Then a cute thing happened, and Katie forgive me but I thought it was so adorable. Katie was up getting a drink and a nice-looking French boy said something to her. Now, she's taken French before but was startled and nervous and sometimes we forget our languages when that happens (even our native tongue). She told me the little story when she got back and pointed him out. He notioced us looking/talking about him so he came over. (I might add that this simple assertive but unaggressive action gave me a very favourable first impression of him, nice work Olivier!). Katie was so cute trying to practice her French but slipping into Spanish all the time, and Olivier was so lovely and patient.

So the whole crowd (including new additions and subtractions) hauled off to somewhere else. Not sure cuz the rum and coke buckets were starting to get to me a little, but I know there was dancing and I know I talked about Paris Combo, and I know I danced with some Thai girls and one told me right away she likes boys and not girls (just in case I guess). There is photographic evidence of a tuk-tuk ride with like 10 people inside. Anyway arrived upstairs at some breakfast place having, well, breakfast as the sun was coming up and then everyone was pairing off. Just me and Olivier and Damien, two lovely French boys, were left; lucky me! I was pleased to find I could converse fairly easily in French and not be talking about school, Aliant telecommunications, or breastfeeding (...yeah, old call center job). I rolled in around 10 am and slept. Then caught the plane that afternoon. Needless to say really, but I didn't see a single tourist or historical or religious site in Chiang Mai and I didn't end up backtracking there. But I had a fabulous time. I met a pair of lovely, outgoing, positive Aussie ladies that I'd run into again later.

I sound like a teenager, retelling a "night out" story but what the hell.

Next post will be about Mae Hong Son and Soppong.

Walking ATM and Apparent Racist

Those who've traveled in SE Asia know the deal with moto and tuk-tuk drivers, and touts and hawkers. They're at every corner, in front of every tourist attraction, crowded around the door of your bus as you step off, in your face while you're eating dinner. Sometimes you walk down a street and a successive chorus of "tuk-tuk?" precedes you, sometimes you are hollered at from across the road "Hey lady!". But sometimes they'll start by making eye contact and simply say hello. You, not wanting to be rude, say hello and if you're lucky you can walk by quickly enough. But more often than not they'll follow up with "How are you?" "Where you come from?" "How long you stay in ____?" and you answer politely as these are quite normal questions and random children will often ask you these. Then come the kickers: "What you do today/tomorrow?" or "Do you have plans today/tomorrow?" I always know it's coming but still for the sake of politeness I tell them the truth which is usually that I have no specific plans. Then they give their pitch for a marvelous and cheap moto tour. You are never able to say no once and have done with it. They will try to convince you. I even told a guy right off the bat today that I didn't have enough money and he tried three more times to convince me and even lowered his price before he finally left me alone. It's like they don't understand that maybe I don't want a fucking tour or maybe I actually can't afford one now even if I wanted to. They approach me unsolicited and seem to expect that I will be ever so grateful they did. They seem to believe they know what I want better than I do. I don't usually mind smiling and shaking my head or saying "no thank you" 100 times walking down a street as long as they don't engage me otherwise, but having to sit through the bullshit conversation, the friendliness that is just a ploy to sell you something really fucking pisses me off most of the time.

I know well enough that these moto drivers are not like the majority of the local people. I've had enough good clean conversations and interactions without a sales pitch to keep my head about me and not make irrational generalizations. My tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap told me that he thought Koreans were impolite because when he is in the market area and calls out "tuk-tuk?" they don't even look at him. I explained that it can be really tiring and irritating to have to be polite to every driver that hollers at you. But I took the comment to heart and I've never been intentionally rude to hopeful drivers.

I have had, and maybe others have had similar, experiences in Korea where I want to ask a stranger on the street for directions. I may have a map or I may be able to stammer "_____ where please?" only to be frowned at and waved away or have a head shaken at me. I've had instances where I merely walk up to someone and am waved away before a word leaves my lips. It's vastly infuriating but all you can do is walk away and fume to yourself. Today in Dalat I had my book open to the map and I wanted to know which road to take to get back to the lake. All I had to do was point at the picture of the lake with its name in Vietnamese written on it. I approached a woman in her little restaurant and was immediately waved away. I was pissed off but I went across the street to a group of men playing a game and they helped me no problem. They didn't speak any English.

In Dalat there is this group called "Easy Riders" who are dudes with classy motos and excellent English who will take you around whatever sites you want or even on several-day tours. They all wear a coat with "Easy Riders" on the back. The true Easy Riders are in Dalat but others around Vietnam, especially in Hoi An and Danang areas, call themselves this. It just so happens that I traveled for five days from Hoi An to Dalat with one of these "fake" Easy Riders and it was really great. Like every other tourist city I get a handful to dozens of approaches a day from these guys and other drivers.

I was standing on a corner today, a few hours after the first directions incident, looking at my map to find a particular cafe. An Easy Rider (third one of the day by my count) came and stopped in front of me and made to begin speaking. I looked up, shook my head and walked away. It was mostly because I was trying to concentrate on the map and while he could have helped me I didn't want to get involved in the tour pitch song and dance. I'm not used to moto drivers offering help without making you sit through their spiel afterwards. He drove up again and asked me if he could help. So I told him what I was trying to find and he pointed out the way. Then he told me that what I'd just did was really not good, the waving him away. And I conceded that it was a bit rude and apologised. He then said to me "If you don't like me and my people, if you don't like Vietnamese people then you should go home." I was taken aback and explained it's not like that, that when someone comes up to me on a moto I expect that they want to sell me something and that I'd been approached by a few Easy Riders already today and that it can be annoying, apologised again. He said "No I don't want to sell the tour, we Vietnamese are very helping. If you ask us something we are helping but we don't like people like you." Trying to explain some more I told him about the rude lady earlier. He said it was because she didn't speak English (which doesn't excuse her I don't think) and I countered with the story of the men who did help me with no English. Apparently not listening to or not understanding me, the driver repeated "If you don't like Vietnamese people then go home because we don't want you around." Finally at breaking point I said "fine" and walked away. Just like with the rude convenience store owner in Daejeon I couldn't keep my grip and I burst into tears as I walked away.

I shouldn't even need to justify the fact that I don't dislike the Vietnamese. Even for all the frustrations I pour out about Korea and Korean social habits, at the end of the day I don't hate or dislike Koreans or any other group of people. How many of you non-Americans have said or thought to yourself that you would not like to live in the US, for example, because of the social culture and/or politics? No one calls you on it. I didn't even express any dislike of Vietnamese culture or social habits, only the business habits of the fucking moto drivers.

I feel like there's nothing I can do to avert experiences like that. The lesson here was that maybe I was a bit rude even if I didn't deserve the comments he made. I realised I'd done the same thing that the lady earlier had done. I hadn't given him the benefit of the doubt just like she didn't give me the chance to try to communicate. But I don't really believe that he wouldn't have tried to sell me a tour, and maybe the woman didn't really believe we could communicate without frustration or embarrassment.

I've cooled down about it now but it really pains me that someone is going around believing I'm a rude racist and maybe telling all his friends about it. What would you have done?

Picking it up again (Bangkok, Ayutthaya)

So where was I? Oh, Bangkok. OHHHHHH, Bangkok.

Just after I got settled into my dorm room I went out for dinner with a couple of the girls staying with me. One English girl just out of uni and loving the world and another English girl who works all over the world with limosine services or something also loving the world. We ate at Cabbages and Condoms. This is a really good restaurant for food quality and atmosphere actually and part of its proceeds go towards sex education especially in more remote areas of Thailand. They have a gift shop with all sorts of fun t-shirts and postcards as well as nice handicraft tourist things. There were mannequins whose attire was made entirely of multicoloured condoms and contraceptive pills. They give you a condom in lieu of an after dinner mint.

So then we went to Khao San Rd. Yep.

Alright alright, Khao San road is a sort of infamous backbacker party area. It's excellent for people watching. You may find vendors of fried insects, Ko Pha Ngan full moon party t-shirts, people to dread or braid your hair, tons of clothes and DVDs and knicknacks and what have you. There was a man with a young crazed-eyed elephant and his shtick is that you pay for some food to feed the elephant. Something completely fucked about this elephant in the middle of Bangkok like that. I saw another one on Silom Rd. You'll also find touts to take you to a ping pong show, usually in the Patpong area.

So we went to a ping pong show. Um, maybe you should just look that one up. What happens is they don't charge cover but you have to buy an outrageously expensive drink. We understood this but had been quoted a different price by our tout than the matron wanted. She got quite upset. We left after having paid the price we were originally told though. I don't think I'd encourage anyone to go see one of these shows. I didn't exactly know what I was getting into. Live and learn.

Patpong and Silom Rd. were interesting areas for observing the sex trade in action. You have your ping pong shows but also live sex shows and bars geared towards selling the girls or boys. I read a memoire called "Bangkok Boy" and really got the nitty gritty details. Just incredible.

I can't remember all the order of everything for the rest of the time I was there. I spent 5 days or so. I didn't get to Katchanaburi (Kwai River and all that) just because it was inconvenient from where I was staying. I did do a day trip to Ayutthaya, though. This was a former royal capital, 1351 to 1767. The Burmese invaded on several occasions and fianlly dismantled the city. The new (the present) Thai dynasty was later established at Thonburi/Bangkok. So Ayutthaya in a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has some ruined temples and bits of wall and palace. You know I love that stuff. A lot of it has been stuck together again with kind of unsightly concrete or something. The overall effect is lovely though.

The train up to Ayutthaya is 3rd class. Hard benches, open windows, ceiling fans, people in every square inch of space sitting, standing, squatting, hanging out the open train doors. Food and drink vendors squeezing along the aisles yelling out what they have. A real milk run.

I took the river taxi half often. It's so much nicer than sucking in retarded amounts of exhaust at face-level in a tuk-tuk. A tuk-tuk is a motorbike rigged with a place for passengers at the back. Even though there's a roof (which usually impedes your view) it's open to all the city's elements. The river taxi is cheaper, too. And you don't have to haggle. (200 baht! Oh it's very far! I went there for 80 last night! 100. Ugh, fine.)

My first day of proper site-seeing I met a nice handsome Danish guy, Klaus Andersen (oh yes, how Danish!) at the pier. We went around the Royal Palace and it's adjoining temple. You've heard about the King of Thailand? How he's pretty much venerated more than the Buddha? I had to rent a sarong to go around the palace because my three-quarter pants weren't decent enough. More like a hobble skirt. And yet never in mosques in Malaysia or Singapore was I asked to change my attire (I did have the sense to wear long-sleeves though...even in the Bangkok Palace too!). The palaces and temples of Bangkok are outta control! So much colour and glitter and mirrors and embellishments. It's really amazing to look at and be around, just mind-boggling. In one temple, Wat Pho, they have a HUGE reclining bronze Buddha: 46 meters long and 15 meters high.

Klaus travels differently than I do. He stays in nicer hotels, won't eat stall food. But we had a good chat about European and dogme films (kudos to Matt Sheedy for my education). We went to a nice jazz bar too, with Platoon playing on silently behind the bar. I've never heard Ella Fiztgerald kinda singing emenating from an Asian face. She was excellent.

There's a lot I didn't see and do in Bangkok. I'd visit again for sure. But what a job it does on you lungs! When you hear about Bangkok traffic being outrageous, it's true. It really is the cock of the block, though. I'm a long way from Bangkok physically and emotionally. I'm writing this bit from Luang Prabang, Laos.

More to come eventually!

Moving Right Along (Kuala Lumpur, Penang)

I saw pretty much all I wanted to see in Kuala Lumpur in one day. I didn't go up the Petronas Towers. I've been up Taipei 101 and while the view of the city would have been nice, I just didn't care that much. I did see a performance of different Malaysian dances, including representation of other resident ethnic groups (the indigenous tribes of Borneo, Chinese, Indian). I took a few videos. It was really well done; they were great performers with great dances. Talking to Jacki from Alaska, she asked me if they were smiling. I said yes and she said then they weren't really traditional dances because these things are serious and solemn usually.

I spent a day getting to Pulau Perhentian Kecil. I expected to have to stay the night in Kuala Besut where the boats leave from just cuz I got in a little late. There was a later boat though. I met Jacki on the boat, she's Alaskan Inuit and a diver. I hung out with the divers, then, and picked up a lot. I hadn't allotted time and money for a diving course but I wanted to go snorkelling. I was so stoked because the sites around the islands are said to be some of the world's best and they guaranteed I'd see a sea turtle. The next morning it began to pour and it didn't stop until two days later. So I didn't go snorkelling. I mean I could have stayed an extra day and shortened my stay elsewhere like Kota Bharu, which in retrospect might have worked well because I was bored after the first day in KB. It's made me seriously think about getting SCUBA diving certification. I'm meeting divers everywhere. It's like a cool club and I feel left out!

Kota Bharu was neat though. It's a fairly conservative Muslim city. "The Islamic City." They have their own sultan and businesses close on Fridays, a mosque or prayer space on every second block. There are signs around providing words of wisdom in Arabic and English. Most signs are in Arabic and Malay. It's not an exciting city but it prides itself on its Muslim-ness and promoting Malay heritage. They have a lot of little museums and a cultural centre where they do free shows: shadow puppets, martial arts, different music. I saw a shadow puppet show and took a couple videos. I also saw a coconut drum performance. The other thing is the promotion of handicrafts, especially batik and weaving (like baskets and stuff). The trouble for me was that there was all this gorgeous batik cloth around but the only clothes with batik were the ugly Muslim equivalent to moo-moos. :P Well, you know the long flowing tops and shirts they often wear. Not my style. There was also a really interesting market.

I made it to Penang/Georgetown with no problems too. I really liked it there. I could have stayed even longer than the five days I spent. There was a lot to see and do and the hostel I was at was really comfortable and the manager, Kenny, was excellent to chat with. I saw a lot of heritage buildings and sites; a fort, shophouses, mansions, colonial style buildings, cemetery, the usual. But there was a neat temple outside of Georgetown that they call the Snake Temple in English. It's a Chinese temple, I can't think of the deity just now, but they have live pit vipers hanging out inside. They just sleep on these sort of wicker stands in the day. I'm not sure what they do at night. It was kinda neat. There was a "snake farm" on site as well where you could see a lot of different kinds of snake. I kid you not: a huge King Cobra, an 8-meter long python, a baby anaconda. The guy took out one monocle cobra so we could see what it does when it's pissed off. They had a couple pythons just crawling around and a monkey. When they brought the pythons near the monkey she'd grab onto it and stand on it, put her face to it. It was weird but cute and I got some great pictures. The snake would just move out of the orbit of the monkey's chain if it got sick of it.

I also took a short hike in the National Park on Penang out to a place called monkey beach. Indeed there were groups of wild monkeys around. Long-tailed macaques. They were really neat to watch. Of course I went into many temples. The food on Penang was so excellent and so varied. I met an Australian woman who was staying at the hostel. The ATM ate her debit/credit card! We explored together for a couple days. I like meeting people to hang out with. I don't think I expected I'd be so social, cuz I'm not usually. It does get a little lonely sometimes, which is strange for me to say. I usually like being alone. Anyway it's been good, then, meeting people. We checked out a fruit farm, and it was the first time I'd ever seen a woman in an Iranian burqa. It was a neat change of pace to get a glimpse of Muslim tourism throughout Malaysia.

I got to Bangkok in a more round about and expensive way than I should have but now I know for next time.

There are way more things I saw and did and heard about. This is the super abridged version. It'll be too much to recount at one time by the end. It already kind of is. I'm a bit grumpy just now because my attempt to burn pictures onto a CD was a failure. I know how to fix it but I'm just irritated.

The Early Days (Singapore, Melaka)

Someone I met in Melaka said sort of ominously "It's always good at the start." She's been traveling for over six months. She's from Norway and started the trip in Brazil. She's had some interesting adventures for sure. I hope I don't have her adventures though.

Singapore was what I would have been looking for in Shanghai I think. Very visible European heritage, pizazz (pizzaz?) and cosmopolitanism. But thinking on it again, I doubt that Shanghai would be like that. Hong Kong wasn't like that for me.

Anyway, the neatest thing about Singapore is how modern it is and how, well, cosmopolitan it is. The major groups are Chinese, Malay, and Indian and they let it all hang out. But I got tired of the pizazz. Can't I just spend some time at a WWII site without there being a super audio-visual guided tour? It was also quite expensive, comparatively. I would recommend anyone to visit though. EVERYONE speaks English.

Melaka was really great. It didn't take me long to see the main sites but I liked just hanging out in my really great guesthouse. Part of it was a 100-or-so year old blacksmithy and the other part a Chinese medicine shop. It was very airy and open but safe enough. There were four single-traveller girls staying in the dorm. It was right in the heart of Chinatown which has some beautiful old houses. I was across the street from a Malay style mosque and a Hindu temple, and down the road a bit was a Chinese temple. One night we awoke around 3:15 am to drums and music and shouts and lights. There was a procession to the Hindu temple. I scrambled for my camera and ran outside. A whole crowd of people dressed in their saris and whatnot were in the street around a big electric-lit garlanded shrine housing some statue which they brought into the temple. The guys were handing out some fruit it looked like too. It was so surreal. In the evenings you get Muslim calls to prayer blasting and echoing through the narrow streets. And then the smell of incense from all manner of shrines and temples everywhere.

And what makes me happier than a ruined church and very old grave markers? Melaka was at its prime in the 1400s under a muslim sultan, then fell to the Portugese who were then defeated by the Dutch who then ceded the town to the British in a treaty. The ruined church was originally Portugese. Inside they have displayed Dutch and Portugese grave markers as early as mid 1500s. There's a statue as well of St. Francis Xavier whose "incorrupt" body was temporarily buried there en route to his final resting place in Goa, after he died on Shangchuan Island (China, not far from Macau). What a friggen interesting guy. Buddy went all the way to Japan in the late 1500s.

So I made it to Kuala Lumpur today with two of the girls I met in Melaka. The Norwegian girl will probably travel with me to Pulau Perhentian on the east coast in a couple days. I miss the quiet and chill of Melaka but I'm sure KL has cool stuff to see. Massive mosques I think.

It's been just a week. It's still hard to believe I have over two months more. I love hearing stories from other travelers. Everybody is so different. I hope I don't feel agitated and sick of traveling by the end. I don't want to be bitter. It feels so good to just do whatever I want whenever I want and to not be cold. I don't mind the heat.

Trip Summary

Here is my projected itinerary for my 3-month South-East Asia trip. It has gone through many revisions over the 6 or so months I've been planning it but I'm happy with it for now. It looks pretty rigid but it's not. The only fixed events are the flights and the time spent with Brad in Cambodia. I know that without this guideline I would spend too much time in a few places and I'd be angry with myself for not seeing things I know I want to see.

I scoured online forums and tourism sites, I asked friends about their own trips, and I read through two publications of LP's SEA on a Shoestring (an old one and a new one...they have slightly different suggestions believe it or not). I spent a lot of time researching and working out a budget. I should be a travel agent. It's a lot of money and an uncertainty of ever getting to do this again so I want to do it well and not be a complete flake about it. But it's also in my character to research and attempt to be in control.

I get squirmy-excited everyday now in anticipation. So, eat your heart out:

SINGAPORE (4 days, Mar. 4-8)
-Singapore Zoo & night safari
-Asian Civilizations Museum
-Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
-East Coast Park
-Colonial District, CBD, Little India
-Raffles Hotel
:
March 8: bus to Melaka, Malaysia (4.5h)
:


MALAYSIA (17 days, Mar. 8-24)
Melaka(3 days, 3 nights)
-Dutch & Portugese areas
-Muzium Rakyat
-Villa Sentosa
-Chinatown
:
March 11: express bus to Kuala Lumpur (2h)
:
Kuala Lumpur (3 days, 2 nights)
-Colonial District
-Chinatown, Little India
-Golden Triangle (Petronas Towers)
:
March 13: Night bus to Kuala Besut (?h)
March 14: ferry to Pulau Perhentian Kecil (1.5h)
:
Perhentian Kecil (2 days, 2 nights)
-island, beaches, snorkel, jungle
:
March 16: ferry to Kuala Besut (1.5h)+ bus to Kota Bharu (2.5h)
:
Kota Bahru (2 days)
-night market, mosques
-cultural center demonstrations
:
March 18: night bus to Butterworth (7h)
March 19: ferry to Georgetown
:
Penang Pulau
-Georgetown (2 days)
-Teluk Bahang/Penang Nat’l Park (2 days)
:
March 23: ferry to Butterworth + night train to Kuala Lumpur
March 24: flight to Bangkok, dep 13:40/arr 14:40
:


THAILAND (19 days, Mar. 24 –Apr 11)
Bangkok (4/5 days)
-Ko Ratanakosin area (temples, palaces, etc)
-Chinatown, markets, whatever
-day trip to Kanchanaburi (Kwai River)
:
March 28: Night train to Phitsanulok (6h?)
:
Phitsanulok (1 day)
-base to check out Sukhothai, UNESCO ancient city
:
March 29: Night train to Chiang Mai (5h)
:
Chiang Mai (2 days?)
-I’m sure there’s tons to see. If not, move on
:
March 31: flight to Mae Hong Son, dep 16:10/arr 16:45
:
Mae Hong Son (1 day, 2 nights?)
- chill out, look around
-Thai/Burmese/Shan temples, architecture, food
:
April 2: bus to Soppong (~4h)
:
Soppong area (4 days) - chill out, trekking, caves
:
April 7: bus to Pai (~1h)
:
Pai (1 day, 1 night) - chill out
:
April 8: bus to Chiang Mai (~4h)
:
Chiang Mai (1 night) -stop over
:
April 9: bus to Chiang Rai (3h)
:
Chiang Rai (half day) -Hill Tribe Museum
:
April 9: bus to Chiang Saen (1.5h)
:
Chiang Saen (2 days, 2 nights)
-hang out
-bike to Sop Ruak (Golden Triangle & House of Opium Museum)
:
April 11: bus to Chiang Khong (2h) + ferry border crossing to Huay Xai, Laos
:


LAOS (17 days, Apr. 11-29)
Huay Xai (1 night) -stop over
:
April 12: bus to Luang Nam Tha (~5h)
:
Luang Nam Tha area (6 days)
-ecotours & treks, hang out
-Muang Sing
:
April 19: bus to Luang Prabang (9h)
:
Luang Prabang area (6 days)
-UNESCO town, temples etc.
-Nong Khiaw, Muang Ngoi
:
April 25: Night bus to Vientiane (10h)
:
Vientiane (3 days)
-temples, monuments
-French architecture?
:
April 29: flight to Siem Riep, Cambodia dep 06:30/arr 09:25
:


CAMBODIA (10 days, April 29 -May 9)
Siem Riep (4 days)
-Ankor temples
-Cambodia Landmine Museum
-Brad arrives May 1st
:
May 2: flight to Phnom Penh dep 19:50/arr 20:45
:
Phnom Penh (3 days)
-Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda
-Tuol Seng museum (Khmer Rouge stuff)
-Choeung Ek killing fields
-Wat Phnom
-Brad leaves May 4th
:
May 5: bus to Kampot (3h)
:
Kampot (2 days, 2 nights)
-French architecture
-caves, brick temple outside town (Phnom Chhnork)
-Bokor National Park, Bokor Hill Station?
:
May 8: bus to Phnom Penh (3h)
:
Phnom Penh (1 night) -stop over
:
May 9: bus/boat package w/ Capitol Tours to Chau Doc, Vietnam (?h)
:


VIETNAM (14 days*, May 9-24)
*vague plans; around Mekong Delta (not w/ tour), a few days in HCMC
Chau Doc
-various religious buildings
-nearby Sam Mt. w/ cave temples
-Ba Chuc, KR massacre site? Cham village?
:
bus probably to Can Tho (?h)
:
Can Tho area
-floating markets
-Ho Chi Minh tin statue
:
bus probably to Vinh Long (?h)
:
Vinh Long area
-floating markets?
-villages, ruralness
:
bus probably to My Tho (?h)
:
My Tho -look around briefly
:
ferry to Ben Tre (20 min)
:
Ben Tre
-markets
-Phoenix Island
:
May 20?: ferry to My Tho (20 min) + bus to HCMC (2h)
:
HCMC (3 nights?)
-Reunification Palace
-War Remnants Museum
-religious buildings, esp: Notre Dame Cathedral, Jade Emperor Pagoda
-markets
-day trip to Ta Ninh/CuChi tunnels?
:
May 24: flight to Fukuoka*, Japan dep 01:30/arr 08:00
*visa run, maybe Nagasaki, back to Daejeon via Busan on May 27, I hope

Wise beyond my years

One of my kindergarten students was in a fight with a classmate. She was being sullen and refused to participate in class activities and would lash out at the offending boy in Korean occasionally. The time came for the class to go upstairs to the playroom for gym class and Ally (the offended) shut herself inside the classroom after everyone left. This sort of thing has happened with her before. I went back in and tried talking to her, trying to coax her upstairs. "But I'm very sad and angry. Luke and David are always touching me and the girls." I told her Luke makes me angry too but that we can't be sad and angry all day. We should try to be happy. And she said, "But Teacher, I'm a kid."

Yes, absolutely. One reason why I know I shouldn't make teaching children a lifelong career is that I keep wanting them to make rational adult decisions and take responsibility for themselves and I sometimes get really frustrated when they don't. Rationally, I know I can't expect that of them but I haven't been able to totally shake it yet. My immediate response to moody kids is to ignore them partially cuz I don't want to deal with them and partially because I think giving them attention is just perpetuating the behaviour.

But I mean, it's not always that they're acting out. Like with Ally, she was just pissed off at a jerky boy, for good reason. She showed me that I'm both right and wrong. They're more mature sometimes than I give them credit for, but they're just kids. They can be wise beyond MY years.

Sokcho and Seoraksan

October 3-5/08, Friday to Sunday.

I got to Sokcho no problem Thursday night, at like 1:30am. I went into a little motel behind the bus terminal, luckily they were still up. It was perfectly located for me and get this: 20 000w/night (~20 CAD). The room was small but with bathroom and TV and small fridge with water and Vita 500 (vitamin C drink). It worked out SO well. I stayed there all three nights.

So on Friday I just started walking. I had had vague plans but I woke up late and laid them aside a bit. I saw some beaches, and fishing stuff. There was squid drying EVERYWHERE. I saw some squid boats with the special lights. I even came across a little squid cleaning plant. Shallow concrete vats with ajummas sitting on pails cleaning squid. They have this specialty that I didn't try, it's squid sundae (sausage). Instead of meat and stuff stuffed in an intestine, it's stuffed in a squid tube. I came across some in a market but I had already had a feed of raw fish. I really wanna try it though. I did have a squid deop bap though, just squid and veggies in a spicy sauce with rice. I had to complete the squid cycle: live squid in tanks, squid boats and fishing gear, squid cleaning, squid drying, squid packaged for sale, squid eating!

I went on this 100-year old cable ferry across one of the harbours to this village which is featured in the hit Korean TV show Autumn of My Heart. Never heard of it. Ugh what a lame title anyway. The market I saw was pretty cool. Right on the port, dry fish vendors on the land side, live fish and food venders on the water side, alongside fishing boats. I saw this little out of the way something too. Probably an old scholar's house or small shrine of something. It was deserted and locked up. It was up a little hill through some old houses and near some military "don't come in here" place. Sokcho is really likeable: pretty laid back, on the ocean, fishing-ness, Seorak nearby. Korean Newfoundland maybe. Why am I working in Daejeon again?

So I walked all along the coast and then got a bus to Naksan (part of my earlier plan) which was like 10 minutes away. I saw a very small insectarium. And, one of the best temples I've seen in Korea. Bested maybe only by that one in Songnisan with the Big Jesus Buddha (Brad's moniker for it). It's on a hill right on the ocean. It's main attraction is a big white statue of the goddess of mercy. You can see the Seorak range from Sokcho and so you can from Naksan. There's a little shrine for her just down the hill a bit dug into the hill with a window so that when you are in there venerating you can see the top part of the statue: her head and shoulders, through the window. It is SO neat. That's not all. The main hall has a big gold Kannon statue (Kannon is the Japanese name, dunno what the Koreans call it) and six other multi-limbed and multi-headed deities, and many many small statues in gold colour and wood in behind and a gold coloured embossed scene of something or other I dunno but it's stunning. I took as many pictures as I could until they told me I couldn't. I'm a bad person but it was so cool.

Next day I slept in later than I wanted but I was ready to go at 8:30 but the next bus to where I wanted wasn't til 1030. So I went to a lighthouse. There were some exposed rocks with ppl fishing and magnificent waves crashing (nothing like Cape Spear of course) so I took some pictures and chilled out. I went up the lighthouse and got some cool pics of the town and mountains. Then I got the bus to Osaek.

Lonely Planet said the quickest route to the peak of Seorak, Daecheongbong, was from Osaek. I started my hike around 11:45. I had packed fairly light except the 2L of water. My GOD the first 1.3 km was HELL. I kept doubting myself, I didn't think I was gonna make it up, I kept stopping, I was worrying I was going too slow to make it back down in time to catch a bus back to Sokcho, I was cursing myself for not being fit, I was thinking how I've let myself go physically, I was thinking that if Brad were there I woulda pushed myself harder. But that was the worst. I was fine for the rest of the way up. I was wearing my waegukin (foreigner) shirt and good lord did the Koreans ever fucking love it. Every third person I passed the other way would comment and laugh about it, give a thumbs up, joke with me about it ("Are you a foreigner?" "Yes, how did you know?"...*points at himself* "Hangukin (Korean)"), they'd say "right on," "very good!" "wonderful!" It was a riot. I felt like the whole mountain was talking about me. I think they get that the joke is the redundancy but I think they like that waeguk is wearing a hangul (Korean language) T-shirt. You don't see that everyday.

I fell in with a couple from Daegu. He spoke English well enough, is an automotive engineer. She was cheery and nice, only spoke Korean though. They shared their lunch. I didn't have much to offer. Crappy kimbap. Didn't wanna insult them.

I reached the peak in about three hours from the trailhead. It was all clouded over so there wasn't any view. It's not that spectacular a peak, if you remember, unless there was a view I think. I got the pictures, built my inukshuk and flew down the mountain. I almost ran most of the way and didn't stop til halfway. Then I stopped and refuelled. Calves were getting shakey by then. I had recalled a story my coworker Jeff told me about a man he met on the Chuseok weekend on a mountain, can't remember which one, but near Chungju Lake. He had said it's best to go down the mountain like water, follow the path of least resistance. Easier on the joints and everything. So that's what I had been doing. But then I arrived at the pitch of hell again (I went up the way I came). I went over a bit on each ankle and that scared me into snail pace. It wasn't as hard as the way up but man it was hard. 1.3km of uneven rock stairs. By that point no one was passing anyone unless they had stopped. We were all taking our time. It was almost 5 o'clock so the light was fading a bit, which added to the anxiety a little. I was so relieved when I made it to the entrance and it was still light out. I duck walked a little down the sloping road. Very slowly. I got some hydration and ramyeon and got the bus back.

The colours were out alittle, especially near the top. But this particular trail was straight to business and there were no vistas to take pictures of because of the tree cover. I didn't mind because I planned to go to the more famous part with the bare rocky bits the next day. But when I inquired about the bus to Daejeon there was only one at 1145am. I didn't wanna muck around with many kinds of transpo and it had rained the night before I probably woulda had the same cloud issue and risk of more rain, and I may not have been able to make it anywhere the state my legs were in. So I took the looooong bus ride back, which turned out to be through a gorgeous mountain river valley most of the way and through idyllic farming villages. I was so proud of myself though. I made it up and down on my own steam two hours short of the Lonely Planet estimate. I really want to go back to Seorak to see the really scenic places and a temple within the national park but I feel like that'll be easy and I can do it anytime since the mountain and I have come to terms.

Visit to an Oriental Doctor

From my journal Sept. 6, 2008 (abridged):
Joy, my boss, took me to see an oriental doctor for my back. I was having pain and restriction of movement. She had to translate on the spot and go through a diagnostic survey with questions about my toilet habits, whether I sleep and digest well, whether I like to drink cold or hot water. Very different from home; not least in the fact that this was my boss being privy to this very personal evaluation.

So the doctor, once I went into his office, poked and prodded. It didn’t bother me, but he did touch areas where Western doctors won’t touch without alerting you to it and the intention, and receiving permission. Nothing scandalous, and always professional. Just different. I noted but was not phased that my boss was present all this time. The doctor did a bit of chiropractic, but not as sort of firm and assertive as doctors I’ve seen in Canada. He also used a hand-held massage thing on my back.

I was still having pain so he brought me to a table surrounded by a curtain and left me there for 10 mintues. This table, though was a massage table with little “fingers” moving up and down my back. Cool. He came back and gave me acupuncture. He used a few needles on my back but took them out quickly. Joy had told me before that he uses “medicine” on the needles. I assume it’s a mild topical anaesthetic or something. Then he turned me over and put two needles in each of my hands, two in each of my feet, and one on each calf. He left me like that with a heat lamp directed on my feet.

Soon a woman came and rolled up my shirt to expose my belly. She put some material over it, in a donut shape, and a towel over my hips. Then she brought this smoking circular pot thing and put it over my stomach, resting it on the donut thing, over my bare belly. It had burning herbs or incense but it wasn’t sweet-smelling. She pulled down an adjustable silver vent from the ceiling and put it over the pot to catch the smoke. I guess it was meant to warm my stomach in a particular way as well as provide some sort of aromatherapy. Some of the hot ash fell on me.

After awhile she came and took everything off, cleaned up the ash and took out the needles. Then she brought this big complicated machine. Picture the pneumatic armband they use to take your blood pressure but big enough to cover you torso. One by one a lateral tube (there were maybe six) would fill up with air thus giving a sort of squeezing massage/chiropractic. Pretty cool. And that was it. They took me out of it and sent me on my way. When I walked out I was almost in tears because my back felt no better. It only cost about $33 but I had been really hoping I’d get some relief. But after about 20 minutes I started to feel better. My back hurt less. They had suggested I go back for more treatment. A couple days later, I remembered a trick that my chiropractor in St. John’s showed me. She’d put pressure on a muscle knot for 60 seconds and it would loosen. I did this on the worst knot in my back and it worked like a charm. Such a simple thing.

I had tried to be prepared for anything, and take everything in stride. I found myself analyzing everything, with my very limited medical knowledge, in Western terms and not thinking in a Korean way, not accepting the Korean way. And I thought myself to be open-minded. I suppose my impression of oriental medicine going into it was not much beyond that “witch doctor” image. I didn’t quite expect a straw hut and rooster entrails but I didn’t expect a sophisticated pneumatic machine or special sensor to measure one’s aura. “Scientific.” They were playing Western classical music the whole time. Korea is weird sometimes.

The Church of God

Thursday, Oct. 9/08
I didn’t want to be combative and I didn’t want to argue. I was genuinely interested. I wanted to know more without attracting unwanted attention.

There was a knock on my door on Thursday night, around 8:30 I guess. I thought it was strange, since no one at work actually knows where I live except Jamie and Joy. Maybe it was them. Maybe it was Glenn or Krista. It was a couple of women with a survey. One look at the survey and I knew why they were there and they wouldn’t just be waved away. So I answered questions about what I believed about God, Jesus, and some specific Bible citations. The last question was something like “What do you want to know more about from the Bible” and the answers were even more constricting than the previous questions: the Bible is true, the existence of God, the image of God … Heavenly Mother… so I left it blank. They questioned this.

Them: “Have you studied the Bible?”
Me: “Yes I’ve read it. I was brought up Catholic so I’m familiar with that interpretation and I studied Medieval History and so have studied a lot about Christianity.”
Them: “Then you know about Heavenly Mother.”
Me: “The Mother of God?”
Them: “No, the wife of Jesus.”
Me: “Mary Magdelen?”
Them: “No.”

Wouldn’t you be intrigued? Is this some new feminist mother-goddess cult? God as woman? Genderless divinity? I should have known…I am in Korea after all. I had heard indirect comments about coworkers and friends being accosted by these evangelists. They are called the Church of God. They snagged me with a survey, spoke perfect English. I asked for reading material, they produced a Bible. Then one asked to use my bathroom and then we were sitting on my floor and I was being shown Bible passages. But not against my will. Like I said, I was interested. They were sly and not annoyingly pushy or preachy. They didn’t say until near the end they were Church of God, perhaps knowing their reputation among foreigners. And indeed had they mentioned it first off there’d have been no conversation at all.

So most of their evidence is semantic and metaphoric, and much of it comes from the Old Testament prophecies and from Revelation. They also pick and choose from Paul and stretch some Gospel stuff a little thinly. First off they are Christian. They believe in the Trinity and the death and resurrection, and transubstantiation, the whole bit. They believe that Jesus IS God, not just the Son of God, and this is one of many ways around the mathematical magic trick that is the Trinity. But each member of the Trinity has a female counterpart, a wife. The first citation they showed me was from the end of Revelations, something spoken to John by the seventh angel about “the Lamb and his bride.” They point out Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast, how heaven is like a wedding feast and wonder how can you have a wedding without a bride? They refreshed my memory of the basic structure of social interaction is the nuclear family, mother, father, and children. Without children there is only man and woman, and how can there be a Father without a Mother? They showed my sections of Genesis and other books where pronouns and possessive pronouns referring to God are plural, in the original Hebrew they assured me. This last thing of course is usually explained in terms of the Trinity, but given the other evidence, they must conclude that God was not alone at the time of Creation.

So according to Revelation and the OT prophecies which lay everything out so cleanly and clearly, they believe that after the Second Coming of Christ, the Heavenly Mother—the wife of God or wife of Christ or whatever—will herself be made flesh and come to Earth. This will be at the end of the Seventh Age (the Age of the Holy Spirit which is heralded by the Second Coming), and of course precede the Last Judgment soon to follow. It gets better. Guess what: Jesus has been and left again. In Korea in 1948. We are living in the Age of The Holy Spirit and we didn’t even know it. And within one generation from 1948, they figure about 100 years, Heavenly Mother will come as well. And the Apocalypse. But they didn’t dwell on the Hellfire at all actually, unlike Jehovah’s Witnesses.

They have an interesting symbolic theme regarding Passover which I found very interesting, theologically. The first thing is the blood. If you know the story of Passover you know it’s bloody. They explained that how does a mother who has lost her child early on recognize her own after many years but through a DNA blood test. So how do the Heavenly Mother and Father know their own but through their own blood running through us. (Oh this sounds juicy, please tell me how we’ve got a bloodline and who’s got it!) Through the Eucharist, though they don’t call it that, we can receive God’s blood and be recognized. (Darn, that was no fun!) They only take the body and blood once a year at Passover, which for them is fittingly the anniversary of the Last Supper, what Catholics call Holy Thursday. I think they said it was the thirteenth day of the first month of the Jewish calendar or something like that. There is of course the prophecies of Jesus being the ultimate sacrificial Lamb of all the lambs killed in the Jewish Passover tradition, and indeed Jesus was killed during Passover. Jesus thus made void that practice among others. The Church of God says this is the “new covenant” spoken of at the Last Supper, basically the abolition of Jewish Passover.

One more thing about Passover. The first Passover happened during the Exile in Egypt, where the Jews, God’s Chosen People, were enslaved. Moses said “Let my people go,” Pharaoh said “Hell no,” and God said “I’ma plague your ass” and sent the seven plagues. The last plague was the Angel of Death and the Jews were instructed to smear lamb’s blood over the door of their houses so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” them. Now true to his word for ever more, disciples who have been marked by blood will be spared from plague and disaster. These women told me that over a million people are part of the Church of God and apparently they have never had disaster befall them. Even the ones in America during 9/11 or Hurricaine Katrina, even the ones in the 2004 Tsunami, they said they were not personally harmed. Now don’t get me started about why that’s bullshit.

There are some key ideas of Christianity that they didn’t highlight at all but maybe that’s because they understood me to be Christian. They do not have female ministers but the ministers are allowed to marry. Tell me what kind of church that believes in a Heavenly Mother wouldn’t allow for female ministers? I don’t like the emphasis on and sanctification of the heterosexual nuclear family unit. I find it difficult to believe that this has much of a following outside of Korea mostly because of the Korea-as-the-New-Jerusalem thing, and I guess it doesn’t because like they said, “over a million” people.

They stressed the importance of getting baptized quickly, first thing, and *then* learning about everything. (Ahem) When I pointed out that I had been baptized in the Catholic Church they showed me a passage in the Epistles about some Jews having been baptized by John the Baptist and how that didn’t count anymore after Jesus because they had to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So I’d have to be baptized, they said, with the knowledge and acceptance of the Heavenly Mother. One of the women in fact said she was baptized three times in three different churches, chuckle chuckle, so it doesn’t matter how many times you are baptized, she said. (Bit of a pattern with her, is there?)

I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to my specific views on religion and spirituality in order to intone a creed for those who ask for a number of years. I like learning about religion, I like talking about it, I like experiencing it (for example attending a Baptist mass, or visiting a contemporary Buddhist temple). But I do actually steer clear of debate, with atheists especially, but also with any faithful. I ask probing questions more to to see if they can give me intelligent answers and satisfy my own curiosity, not for the purpose of their concession to any view I hold. (And I went nowhere near the issue of homosexuality and other such touchy subjects with my guests). But tonight I came to understand and be able to communicate something about how I think about spirituality. For the Church of God the way of salvation is to join the team and get others to join the team. You get on the team through baptism, and stay on the team through the Eucharist and evangelism. Lots of religions and sects and denominations are like that. This is not news. Some are more exclusionary than others. The other thing is about mindless ritual. Well, not mindless: there’s just plain too much mindfulness of it. It’s another way, along with joining teams, to convince yourself that you’re doing some good for yourself without actually doing anything. I don’t believe in life after death and I don’t believe that joining religious teams and having team meetings and performing team rituals is going to ensure any sort of benefit beyond a feeling of social belonging and, in the case of rituals, a sort of calming meditation.

Not revolutionary or particularly revealing to you; momentous for me to be able to begin to consolidate, understand, and be confident in myself. The conversation with the Church of God women was a catalyst I guess. They made offers about getting baptized and learning more (I don’t think they usual speak that long with anyone because they were almost at a loss when they finished preaching) and they invited me to a gathering next week at the church. I won’t go and I won’t answer my door for awhile unless I’m expecting someone. I feel bad for having led them to believe I was interested in becoming part of their church. I didn’t outright lie, I just didn’t show all my colours. My friend and former roommate Matt Sheedy was always talking about the importance of positive dialogue between representatives of different faiths. That was sort of the spirit I invited the women in with, but I failed because it was one sided. I assumed there would be frustration and negative feelings if I opened up about my non-belief and leftist social views. They may have been patient and reasonable if I had. They may also have spent more time on me, trying to plain old convert me to the Light of Christ.

Trip to Democratic People's Republic of Korea

NORTH KOREA (June 14-15 2008):

Brad and I did an organised tour with a company called Adventure Korea. All foreigners. Two bus loads full. We left Seoul by bus on Friday night and drove to the East coast, to Hwanjinpo beach where we watched the sunrise (nothing special, it was cold and rainy) and had breakfast. So I touched the Sea of Japan--er I mean East Sea. We got our "passports" sorted out at the Hwajinpo rest area along with at least 30 other buses of Korean tourists then went north a bit to the Goseong Inter-Korean Transit Office to go through security and stuff. Once through we had to get on our assigned bus and the huge bus convoy (like I said, 30 or so) drove out in assigned numerical order. We couldn't take pictures on the bus from this point onwards because we drove through a military area on the South side and we just aren't allowed to take clandestine photos from buses at all in the North.

We drove through the militarized zone on through to the demilitarized zone, being waved farewell by a couple soldiers. The DMZ was nocitably demilitarized. The coastline within 10km I guess of the DMZ on both coasts is lined with hard core barbed wire and some guard posts. The DMZ was disturbingly quiet and clear of any development save for the road and a railroad. I read in my guide book that the lack of human activity in the DMZ has created an accidental nature preserve, better kept than many in the world. They hope that when/if Korea reunites it will continue to be preserved. The DMZ if you didn't know is the no-man's-land between the North and South; it technically belongs to neither though there are some special farming villages within it, and Panmunjom is a town in it as well and these are under South Korean jurisdiction I think.

The crossing into DPRK was unceremonial and unmarked except for the guards at the road block and the occasional soldier standing at intervals along the railroad or in guardboxes at small intersections, each holding a small red flag which they wave to let you know to stop whatever you're doing and frig off. While the South Korean Inter-Korean Transit Office was new, modern and huge the North Korean version was four small hardshacks each with an x-ray scanner with its computer, metal detector and desk, all under essentially a big sort of tarp tent. Port-a-potties outside. Blasting over and over was this catchy, boppy, synth-y, drum machine-y, happy song which we found out later had something to do with reunification and togetherness. We had to go through security in order of bus number and within the buses each person was assigned a number as well. We didn't even show them our proper passports, we had these special cards with our photo, name, nationality, place of work, occupation, that kind of stuff. They stamped that (unfortunately no stamp for our proper passports except the South Korean "departed" and "entered" stamps from Goseong). Our guides kept reminding us that we had to take care of our "passports" because there was a fine if they were damaged. But we were also supposed to wear them all the time. One guy from our group damaged his somehow, like a little rip or water damage or something and apparently on our way out of the country the guard was "very upset."

So we were in North Korea. All the North Koreans we met had the small pin of Kim Il Sung over their hearts, the train station had a big portrait of him on the outside. We weren't allowed to take pictures as I mentioned, so I haven't any pictures of the small villages in the distance we passed or the people working in the field or the many many bicycles going up and down the dirt track a short distance off. Every so often there would be a guard post at a road junction which lead off to a village or military something or other. The soldiers hats look disproportionately large, and the soldiers, while mean looking, were rather slightly built. They told us that we shouldn't take pictures of anyone without their permission, but unfortunately no one seemed to want to oblige.

The first day we went to an area called Manmulsang. There was a heavy drizzle and a heavy fog but Brad and I went all the way up to the craggy peaks. It happened also at the hike the next day that many of the other foreigners only hiked part of the way, and I kept thinking if you know this is a hiking trip, and you know that you aren't fit enough or willing to do it, why on earth would you shell out that much money to mill about the base of a mountain, even if it is in North Korea. Go on the Kaesong day tour for that. The hike wasn't easy, though. It wasn't that high up but we were like mountain goats clinging to iron rails and ladders and stairs, dodging ajummas and adoshis (middle-aged women and men respectively, of a certain character), all shrouded in the mist. Near the top it got so that all you could see was the person behind and in front of you, the path below you and the rock beside you. Otherwise it was like we were in a cold, wet, white void. It was at the bottom of that mountain that I bought the postcards.

We got back to the tourist village and got settled into the hotel. This area, Onjeonggak, is owned and operated by Hyundae-Asan, a South Korean company. There is a small South Korean bank (incedentally the one I have an account with) some restaurants and a bar, and convenience store (Family Mart), a "Korea Sparkling" (South Korea tourism) duty free store, an auditorium, a hot spring, and a few hotels. They are nice hotels, with South Korean TV stations available. Fucking weird, this is. A little capitalist oasis surrounded by the simple calm of farmland DPRK.

After we got cleaned up and changed we headed over to the auditorium for an acrobatic performance. The Pyeongyang Acrobactic Troupe. They did a lot of the Chinese/Russian (as far as my limited impression goes) with spinning plates, bicycles, climbing poles, etc. Some of it was spectacular, some of it didn't dazzle me. Not that I could do any of it. *shrug* I'm glad I went though. They played that song from the check point. The ajummas were lovin it, waving enthusiastically at the performers.

We had some basic food court kinda meal because all the restaurants were booked up, made a reservation for the Northern style restaurant, bought some stuff at the duty free (candy, liquor) and had a bottle of Taedonggong mekju (mekju = beer). We went to bed early because we essentially hadn't slept for two days. We woke up early for breakfast then we were on the buses again to the Kuryong Pokpo (pokpo = falls) hike. As we left the tourist village the hotel and "Korea Sparkling" staff were all in a line waving to the dozen-or-so-bus-long convoy. Weird.

The day was clear and gorgeous this time. We had the option of doing a light walk around Samilpo lake as well, and some people opted for that. But again, we wanted mountains. There were relatively less people on the trails this time and the paths were wider so we could pass the slowbies. There were a few children's groups, girl scouts and taekwondo classes and that sort of thing, and a busload of particularly older people. The main route was a pretty easy climb, following a beautiful crystal clear, pale rock bed river with little falls and bigger falls and pools. We were told that we would be shot if we touched the water---no not really. We were told we would be fined if we touched the water, but that didn't stop the ajummas from bathing their faces and filling their bottles, and it didn't stop me from stealing a handful to taste. It tasted like water. I'm sure if I had had the guts to fill my water bottle I would have found it to be as sweet and wonderful as the spring water I had at Top of the World park in the Rockies. The main path ends at a pavilion with a good view of Kuryong falls.

We back tracked a bit and went off on another trail, more precarious, that took us up the water way even further so we could see where Kuryong begins to fall. It was there I built my tiny inukshuk. Not all the foreigners went up that high but they should have because the wider view over the mountains was stunning. Literally breathtaking.

There are a number of trails all over the place, but we had to stay on certain ones. There was always someone standing at junctions and branch-offs. It was interesting because they'd be decked out Korean style with the height of mountain hiking apparel--plus Kim Il Sung pin. We saw some workers, general labourers I guess, closer to the trailhead all wearing the same thing, which was also the same thing as the workers we saw randomly on bus rides along the roads or in the fields: something vaguely reminiscent of a Mao suit. These guys looked rougher. Also all along this hike were all manner of Korean and Chinese writing in the rock. Some were accompanied by sophisticated-looking reliefs, others looked like ancient graffiti, some were haphasard, some were official looking and probably just telling us to stay on the trail, or telling us a legend for that spot or the name of the falls, and some were just GIANT. These mountains have been a place of pilgrimage for a long time. There are a lot of Buddhist legends and sort of hagiographic stories that take place there. There used to be temples and hermitages and whatnot before the war. So that would explain a lot of the writing. But I don't actually know because I can't read Korean that well and Chinese not at all.

There were shuttle buses ready to take us back to the tourist area whenever we were ready. We still had a few hours before we had to leave to go back south, and we had a lunch reservation at Okryukwan the northern style restaurant. 'Ok' is 'house' I think and 'kwan' is pheasant but I dunno what 'ryu' is but it might be a kind of food. We had kwantang (pheasant soup). Pricey and pretty basic but delicious. Then we went to check out the big portrait of the wee Kim dynasty in which Jong Il looks much taller than he actually is, and less weird-looking. We could have our pictures taken by a staff member of the adjacent hotel. As far as we know it's to ensure we don't take an inappropriate or unflattering picture of the picture. So this either means they haven't quite caught onto photoshop or they haven't figured out how to get around it without enraging the money givers (tourists). I dunno. The picture turned out pretty good of us in front of the picture though. Only after the fact did I realise that we should have mimicked their poses but they may not have let us do that.

After that we mostly just strolled around. We did get a personal shuttle bus (only because we were the only ones wanting to go) to the seaside. I wanted to touch the communist East Sea/Sea of Japan. The shore was built up with hotels and things so there wasn't a good view but I touched the sea and we saw some small villages in passing, and workers fixing a sort of bunker, and workers in the fields and cyclists. Nothing jarring at all though. At the tourist village they had a big tableau of pictures from the past few years. They all had to do with some celebrations having to do with inter-Korean cooperation and brotherhood and solidarity. They were handing out little Korean flags (this is just the whole Korean peninsula in blue on white) but I didn't manage to get one. They had some photos covered up and we learned as they were uncovering them as we drove off in our convoy (as we had guessed before) that these had Kimmy J in them. Too bad. Woulda been nice to see them properly. That weekend seemed to be an anniversary of something to do with inter-Korean cooperation. Maybe the tourism deal, I dunno.

The way out was pretty much the same as the way in but backwards. The South Koreans were very concerned about illnesses on us, as they would be. The North Koreans as far as I know didn't check anyone's cameras for illegal photos. I figured they'd pick us apart, being foreigners.

I'm definitely glad we went. I'd still like to try to get to Kaesong and Pyongyang someday. The mountains were absolutely beautiful. Nothing like you can find in the South. There was a feeling of calm and quiet because there isn't so much development, neon, cars, etc. Idyllic in some ways. You're always thinking "communist this" and "communist that." And we would always make fun of Kim Jong Il under our breath. Brad and I watched some documentaries about DPRK; the one about the gymnasts, and a CNN one about clandestine video footage by North Koreans. To remind us.

I posted a BBC article on Facebook about how a South Korean woman was shot dead in the Geumkang area for being in a restricted area. It was probably by accident that she was there. This was about a month after we were there. They sent all the tourists packing and they aren't allowing anyone in for awhile. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7501126.stm

Anyway, there it is.