"Fan Dance" Seoul by Assenczo

My visit to South Korea was part of a voyage that took me from St. Petersburg, Russia to Ottawa, Canada via China, Korea and Japan. (See my South Korea page)This made it difficult to appreciate Korea on its own because parallels and comparisons are inevitable. Sandwiched between two giants Korea has always been under pressure to ward off somebody else’s ambition of where Korea should belong. After the impressive monuments of imperial China and compared to the strong Japanese culture, I had to place Korea somewhere and find the unique advantage it had over the other two. I found it.

They say the language is totally different but I could not appreciate it since I am not an expert in Korean, Chinese or Japanese.

Korean buses seem to be the best I have ever seen. Luxury lines of three instead of four rows with reclining chairs and impeccable maintenance did it for me. The price was extreme value for what was on offer. Superb roads could only contribute to the sense of luxury and speed in crossing practically the whole country – from Seoul to Kyongju.

Another specific feature is related to the food. Unlike Chinese food at this latitude it is very spicy and mostly meat based as opposed to the Japanese fish based one. Believe me, this sauerkraut of theirs is a miracle and the myriad ways they can prepare it are mind bogging. Kim Chi is the way to go!

A fourth feature that makes Korea different is the number of churches in towns. For being in this part of the world one expects more Buda related temples but the fact is that they are hidden in the mountains and if you are not hiking the impression is that Korea is a Christian country. Well, this is not very far from the truth.

Namely, because of that possible confusion, a visit to Kyoungju is indispensable (See my Kyongju page). This is a place with many monuments to former glory with mounds (that Goosebumpy closeness to East European past time) and many temples in the expected line of faith. But wait, there is no other temple like the under water temple of Mun Mu (located some 20km east on the sea shore). Some might argue that this is in the realm of myths but others are trying to prove it scientifically. Whether true or not, poor Mun Mu does not seem to be up to the job of saving Korea from the Japanese. (See my Taebon page)

In retrospective, visiting Korea in the company of its mighty neighbors is not such a bad thing after all. It sharpens the senses and offers view points which might be not available otherwise. As an epilog to my travels, I met many Koreans in Canada and I received many confirmations of what I saw in their land, reiterating the culture of polite but alert communication with foreigners.