Travel Log Korea from the begining and onward
Currently in South Korea.... Join the list by mailing korea@saradevil.com .
| Actually that was a few days ago, but I figure I haven't sent an e-mail of which that was the title, so I thought it might be okay now. So the New Years here was actually fairly quite. We spent the begining part of the evening at a small quite bar close to the school called Khan were we drank a bit, and mostly talked and feasted on a great deal of anjou ordered by Mr. Kim. I asked Mr. Kim if the calander year change would be as big as the Korean New Year in February, but was told that the calander new year is actually a time people spend with their families or their co-workers and was not a very big holiday. Which seemed to be the case, although it was obviously something special as when the party headed downtown we found it considerably difficult to drive into the usual areas to get close to the usual bar, that being Gypsy Rock which is still one of the most popular for foreingers, although lately not usually as crowded by foriengers. We found while driving that there were quite a few police out, and that all of the intersections which one might normally take to drive downtown were blocked off by police or large string of taxis and eventually everyone was walking to the destination. The New Year itself was rung in with noisemakers and sparklers, and I was a bit worried being that the bar is the in basement and handing fire to people who have consumed to much alcohol is not usually a very good idea. After Gypsy Rock we departed and made our way to yet another western bar, were apparently the GI's were making short work of themselves and since there appeared to be a rather nast brawl going on, it was decided to head elsewhere, at which point it was about three a.m. and I decided to go home. New Years day was very quite with many business being closed, which I thought was surprising since Christmas had been such a bustle of activity, but I suppose I can understand, as most people were awake till the wee-hours. Yesterday, Mr. Kim asked us how different this had been from a New Years in the states, to which we all had our own response. Suprisingly, there were no fireworks, which made is very different from my last two New Years, and seeing as how I am in Asia you would think there would have been some, but, alas, or thankfully, no. He also asked us our opinion on the continued postering by the president towards North Korea and how we felt living in South Korea knowing that a war is not entirely impossible. I didn't have much of an answer, and sometimes when Mr. Kim asks these questions it seems he is looking more for the opinion of the male teachers than of me (Mary being gone has me being the only forgien girl in the office) but frankly, I'm sometimes worried, and sometimes not. Since the new President is less willing to completely roll over to Bush's demands, and is more willing to engage and talk to North Korea, and interesting political situation is going to arise. There is always talk about reunification, which could be easy, or could make putting Germany back together look like a cakewalk, but who knows. For the most part, it is an accepted fact here that if the Americans (when I talk to Koreans, they almost always say that the Americans will invade, not recalling that the North and South are still at war, it seems) decided to invade, the North will probably make short work of Seoul with a couple of well placed missles. The fact that the North has started to try and restart it's Nuclear reactors has very few South Koreans in a fuss, although it still makes me a bit uncomfortable. Recently I talke with my korean friend Jay (Micha's friend that I've adopted) and he mentioned that in a few weeks he starts his active duty. I was quite surprised even though I knew he would soon be going into service. I like Jay and the thought of him on the front line bothers me. He's a bright, well thought young man, and if things get more crazy he might not have the opportunity to be around much longer. That really bothers me. |