whats it like?

Korea is like a freezing cement jungle with little warm caves that serve spicy boiling things, and sparkling lights that hang off the buildings, and everything so blue, pink and moving. The signs are crowded on to buildings, like las Vegas only tinier, vertical-er and in the video-game dimension... It all seems like an anime video, surreal because its cartoonish and perfect on the surface, like you know what impression everything is supposed to give, is strangely incongruous with the truth. The whole place is bubbling, with cute digital noises, and bright cartoon characters on everything, like the jettisons come to Asia.

Life is supposed to look perfect from the outside, and the dark fields of human imperfection kept under a blanket of privacy. So the city is seething with secret life in its belly- there are rooms to rent for friends to sing noribong, or watch dvds all night, secret restaurant meetings behind closed doors, and rows and rows of apartments that house that house the mysterious personal aspect of everyones lives; Inviting people over to your house is not big in this culture I think; people would rather just meet outside someplace, so anything you might want to do with someone in your house, you can do in a designated area for a fee. Like any city, money is your only ticket to being throughly welcomed, but even more so in Korea.

Its a strange city, and it crosses over to the spirit world in parts, letting out its inhabitants occasionally to wander the buses and subways late at night.. You might only see one for a second through the window, and only ever by mistake, a or reflection or shadow that looks a little too much like a dragon to be perfectly normal. The Spirits don't bother people like they used to when the face of earth was still dark at night. Formerly feared and revered, now they are vagabonds who slip between the cracks and hide in the corners, they are logos on trucks and buses and food packages. Not like in New York where every available inch has been taken over by humans... here there is still room for them to exist.

Koreans are still big on folk-shamanism- One of the reasons I got my nice job is because my boss's fortune teller said I would be good. Even the copious Christians still go. Seoul skylines are littered with glowing crosses, mostly red. Look out the window from the buses at night and you can count 20 in one glance sometimes. They are on top of the commercial buildings, which allow them to put a steeple and neon cross at the top, so you can go to church, play pool and do your shopping in one stop.

Once known as the Hemit Kingdom, this place has its own secret traditions, so different from Japan and China. China is like a cup of tea that never ends, Japan is like a flower falling on the moonlight water in spring, and Korea is like Confucius eating spicy noodles while talking on a cellphone.. Well not really.. I'm not really sure what it is yet.

I don't want to sound negative about it what so ever. I love the Asian cultures as a general rule, for it accommodates to the body and mind much better, because they've learned how to do it nicely after so many years. I see I can find my own way to feel at home here. And the friends I have made here so far are great! Mostly J&J and Paul, plus some others on the fringes who have been very kind and I am planing on knowing better soon. So far I have been finding it is harder to make Korean friends, as there are few people who speak English, and those who do get a little overzealous about it, and scare you off by buying you too many drinks and appetizers at once and then declaring you are brothers and sisters for life.. Hopefully soon i'll find some cool Koreans who speak English or Chinese. Either would work better than Korean- so far I can say, Hello and thank you, noribong, I would like some tea please, plus the names of food such as albob, kimbop, and of course, babimbop. Love, annie


Please check out this awesome comic book "Korea Unmasked" by Won-bok Rhie if you are curious about Korea.