Should I Stay or Should I Go...?

Days in Korea: 1 month
Contrary to the title, I am not talking about Seoul or Korea, so don't get worried! I LOVE it here!

I ended up being very sick this past week, a month into my journey. I've nearly run out of loose leaf tea I brought with me from China which drew me to the internet in an attempt to find a market where I could get some more. My attempted research landed me with a traditional market, conveniently located on the subway line I take to school (the Bundang line). The market is technically outside of city limits (on the outskirts of Seoul) but apparently still accessible through the Moran stop on the subway.

As I further looked into the Moran Market, I uncovered something ridiculously disturbing that has left me really, really scarred these last few days. I'm stunned by everything I have seen, read and the statistics I have found. Before I go any further, do a quick 'google images' search of the 'Moran Market', and you will see exactly what I'm talking about. (The power of images is EVERYTHING here!)

I am by no standards a vegetarian. I eat meat, cows, pigs, chickens, the usual things we Westerners consider to be livestock. I'm horrified mostly that the government is able to turn a blind eye to this. I heard of it happening in different rural parts of China, but was stunned to find a city and country so modern, fashionable and sensible committing such a horrific act. Walking down the street where I live in Gangnam, it's much what I  imagine Manhattan is like (I've never been) but at the very least it compares to Beverly Hills because it's so cutting edge. The Moran Market slashes my image of Korea completely, even though I have never been.

At first I thought okay, so it's a cultural thing. Dogs and Cats are reared as livestock just like our modern day chickens and cows that are often treated horrifically and abused until their deaths. But then I did a little more research and learned the true scope of the problem. Over 2 million dogs are killed in Korea annually for human consumption. This is huge!!  It's a problem that exists on a level far greater than I could ever have imagined. I then assumed, okay, it's probably a generational thing, and to an extent it is, until I found further stats showing that 1 in 3 Koreans has consumed Dog meat at some point in their life. I'm still grappling with the fact that they feel like dogs are livestock and I'm still conflicted and can't get past it. Koreans all through where I live love their animals to death, but in the Moran end of town they're simply traded and butchered like anything else. Not being a vegetarian, I'm not going to entirely criticize their choices. I see dogs and cats from the view of any Westerner - that they don't belong on your plate at the dinner table.

The big conflict I have with the whole thing is not simply that they eat them, but that they pretty much terrorize the poor animals as best they can before slaughter. Apparently when they are fearful the adrenaline produced makes the meat that much better, as a lot of men eat it for impotency problems.

So that's the dog's, next comes the cats. Again, the poor things are horrifically abused in these tiny little cages with their dead amigos hanging out beside them. They can hear the screams of the other animals when they're dying. The cats I find a little more traumatizing than the dog's because apparently they just dump them in scalding water and boil them in order to release some tonic they drink that is said to cure rheumatism and arthritis (bull-fucking-shit!)

So here is my real confliction - I half want to go to the market - I need to see that this is really still going on for myself. It's one of those things that I just can't believe until I see it; I'd like to give this society the benefit of the doubt here. After all, the internet isn't the most reliable source out there, the real thing is. Secondly, I half don't want to go, because I feel like deep down I know it's true and my heart just wouldn't be able to deal with seeing anything that terrifying. I'd probably end up buying all the poor things and donating them to a rescue society or something; I simply couldn't just leave them all there to die!
So end point - should I confirm all this? (part of me needs to validate it all) or should I simply mind my own business, be naive and pretend that things like this never go on.

The whole situation has been consuming my thoughts for the past few days since I found out about it. Every time I see a dog, my thoughts go back to this market. The market is only open every five days ending in 4 or 9, so those days have sort of become 'blood numbers' to me now when I see them on the calendar. The thought of it all just sickens me. How can people be so heartless? How can they differentiate between companion dogs and meat dogs? The whole thing is just insane...

- Sarah

Here, there and Everywhere!

Days in Korea: 21

So I'm beginning to think the 'promise' I made to update daily back in December may have been a tad bit 'unrealistic.'  Life can be pretty busy at the best of times and I'm finding it difficult to sit down daily to even take a photo or remind myself to update. So here's an attempt to fill in this week just past.
School has been the 'same, same' as they say here in Korea. It's been relatively uneventful thus far. Teaching Jupiter class, I have 17 bright students to look forward to everyday. Like any classroom, it will always have its challenges, but compared to China, I've got to admit, I'm finding it a cakewalk. It's nice only having to teach two or three classes everyday. It gives me lots of time to prep for the next day and time to just hang out with my students while they're just being 'kids'. I'm still finding it difficult to adjust to some parent's expectations of their children. They push them too far and have a completely unrealistic vision of their children given that most of these kids are 6. Even my Korean co-teacher thinks some of the mothers are a little crazy, but that's just how society is here. You have to push forward in order to succeed and end up in high places; most of these mothers should know better than any of us after all - because they've made it.

So again this weekend I found myself playing tourist (I have so little time to soak up the sights, I need to make the most out of my days off!) We ended up going to the most famous palace in Seoul Gyonbokgung Palace. It was cheap to enter (3000W) and we spent several hours soaking up the sights. Somethings reminded me of similar places I've been in Shanghai; but no matter where I travel, there always seems to be a little ambiguity. The weather was beautiful and it was an excellent place to take photos (I mean, it did make the cover photo of Lonely Planet's guide to Seoul!). The mountains off in the distance behind the palace were beautiful and reminded me of just how diverse the landscape of this country really is. After leaving the palace, we basically walked a giant circle around the outside of the grounds (trying to get to the mountain) and ended up stumbling upon the Blue House (Korea's version of the White House). Security was tight. There were cops and guards stationed about every two feet up and down the entire length of street surrounding the property. According to Lonely Planet this was for good reason as well - apparently some North Koreans got within a few hundred yards while executing an assassination plot!

Gyonbokgung Palace

Entrance to Gyonbokgung Palace

On Sunday (again another warm and sunny day!) I found myself venturing back to the land of Buddha. This is actually not as easy as you would think, because Korea and Seoul in particular are attempting to bring about a modern revival of Korean Buddhism. Korean Buddhist temples are few and far in between. Christianity and churches are the norm and dominate here. The temple we went to (Jogyesa) was actually located just down the street from the palace! The grounds of this temple were humble; lots of empty space with not a heck of a lot going on compared to other temples I have visited. The shrines inside the monastery were beautiful. This temple in particular is the only one in Korea to have a shrine dedicated to the three Buddhas. Gilded in Gold, surrounded by tapestries, with lotus lanterns decorating the entire ceiling, I was glad I took my shoes off and ventured inside. It's views like these that made me want to come back to Asia in the first place! 

3 Buddhas at Jogyesa Temple

Probably my favorite photo of the day, a close up of  Bhaisaiya or medicine Buddha for short. 

After mellowing out at the temple for awhile and enjoying the sunshine, we decided to make our way over to Insadong - an outdoor hand craft traditional market street. There was so much to take in here (and so many people!) if you're ever in Seoul looking for some good hand crafts, silks, parchments, cards, jewelery etc. to take back with you, Insadong is the place to go! I know I will be going back here when I have money, and when I need to pick up some goodies to send home :)

Cheers for now, and I'll try not to wait a week in between updates. For now I'll leave you with a picture that makes me smile, almost as much as the 'raise the roof Buddha' (yes, that one) that I brought back from Shanghai. I present to you (I know, his stance means something important, but let me have this one... ) 'Jive Buddha' and his trusty elephant!

 Keep Smiling,
Sarah.

Tranquil Moments

Days in Korea: 13
Although I've been here nearly two weeks, today I needed a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of my ridiculously busy end of town. I decided the fastest way to achieve that was to visit a local temple (Bongeunsa temple ) in my district. It is only 4 subway stops down the metro and didn't take long to get there. Every time I visit temples I find there is such an interesting dichotomy between urban mayhem and the serenity found within the grounds. I've never quite figured out how temples manage to always be so peaceful and relaxing in the middle of such chaos but they are!

This particular temple was surrounded by a green space (I guess it was kind of like it was in it's own little park!) Bells within the grounds drown out the sounds of nearby traffic and the gentle creaking and swaying of trees was calming. Incense was burning all over and the smell carried through the entire grounds. I sat around for awhile taking in the sights and sounds of my surroundings and de-stressing from the hectic way of life in Seoul. The most impressive feature of the temple however was Maitreya - the Buddha of the future statue. The statue was all around impressive towering over the entire property at over 23 meters in height. It is also the largest statue of Buddha in all of Korea!

close up shot of the Maitreya

It's days like today that make me wish everyday was Sunday! I love being able to escape to places such as this every once in awhile.

My Apartment is a Poster-child for Daiso!

Days in Korea: 7-8
With all the excitement of leaving the 'love motel' I forgot to post a blog entry yesterday!
After a not so busy day at school cutting felt boards for the wall, I was able to move into my apartment in the late evening. It's in a (generally) good area, being right behind the main drag in Gangnam gu. The area is very wealthy with high end designer stores occupying the main street. Apartments in Gangnam are apparently ridiculously expensive because of the high cost of living in this area. My apartment is down a side street just off the main drag, for which I am VERY fortunate! Everything I could ever possibly need can be found in a walk less than 5 minutes. I got to have my first taste of some 'street food' with a nice plate of Korean boiled dumplings (called mandu here). Needless to say, I will be going back for more! My apartment is small, but I was fortunate to have received a lot of things and furniture from the teacher who previously occupied the apartment!  To make my place a little more cheery, and to grab some cheap essentials (cleaner, clothes, etc) I made an all important trip to Daiso. Daiso is a Japanese chain that exists here in Korea. It's a 1000W and up store, so it's sort of like a Canadian dollar store, but much, much better, with fantastic selections! I got lots of things to spruce up the place and make it my feel like my own. Looking forward to living here, I just need to get used to the cramped kitchen! But then again with my dumpling addiction I probably won't be spending a lot of time in there anyways....

My tiny, itty bitty kitchen. You're looking at ALL of it. 

My bed, furnished by Daiso!

This is the side wall with most of m furniture

Lucky to have 2 desks! one for my art supplies and work, another for getting ready in the AM! 

Lovely Korean bathroom, again you're looking at the entire room!