Another Update... So Soon!

I've been a busy girl!

Last Saturday I went into Itaewon and then Hongdae with Wennie and some other teachers that we've met who live in and around Seoul. It was a busy weekend, because the Thursday coming up was Buddha's birthday and a holiday and there were activities going on around the city. We ended up just walking around checking out the little vendors that set up everywhere on the street. I was a good girl and didn't buy anything, but it was tempting!! We went for some delicious Korean bbq and had fun doing pretty much nothing. Everyone else was drinking soju and smoothies, but after my mishap at the DJ fest I'm sticking with my no more soju rule.

After dinner we went to a place called Bricxx in Hongdae. It's a cool little lounge with a tree in the middle, a pond at one end, and low couches and tables. And hookah! Fun, but William (a teacher from Youngdo at another campus) and I decided to go home early. It was around 11pm by the time we left, and the last subway runs till midnight. We knew we wouldn't get the whole way home, but were hoping we'd get close enough for a cheap cab ride the rest of the way.

Two stops after Hongdae the train stopped, and everyone got off... there was a message playing but my Korean is still limited to hello, goodbye, thank you and numbers so we had no idea what it was all about. Finally someone saw us just standing there and said something like "train finish"... it was pretty funny. So we waited for another train and it happened again... we just sat there until someone said "train finish." Glad to see some Koreans are looking out for the foreigners!

So, we were not even a quarter of the way home, didn't really know where we were and had no idea which direction was the right way. Finally we got a cab, and it was the most interesting ride of my life. I finally have experienced what it's like to talk to someone who just wants to practice their English. I think the cab driver thought he was speaking English, and kept on talking... somehow with the little Korean we know, some hand gestures and lots of 'ne' (yes) we got him to take us to a bus station that we knew. So next the bus, then a stop between our areas in Bundang and another cabride.. and I was home. And it only took 3 hours (normally the subway is about an hour and a half)! Definitely an adventure.

Sunday night I met up with William again and we went back into Seoul for the Lotus Lantern Festival Parade. On the way there we decided that Seoul is like malls on Christmas at home, but every day of the year. There are so many people wherever you go, no matter what day it is. You know how when there's a parade or festival all you have to do is follow the crowd to find out where it is?? Not here.

The parade was beautiful. The festival was for Buddha's birthday, and the parade is two hours of lanterns and huge floats that are all lit up... complete with fire breathing dragons. It was one of those 'Whoa, I'm living in Asia...." moments. We went to a temple nearby after that had literally hundreds of lanterns strung in the air, like a ceiling. I'm not even going to try to describe it... you had to be there. The colours were unreal.

Thursday was a holiday so we went back into Seoul again (don't worry Susa the subway is cheap). There was supposed to be a ceremonial lighting of the lanterns at the temple we were at on Sunday, but it was absolutely pouring rain. To the point where my umbrella was so wet the water was dripping through. So we went to the National Museum of Korea. instead, and the thing is HUGE... two hours and I don't even think we saw a quarter of it. Korea has so much history, and it was great to learn some background information on my new home! There were also some ceremonial dance performances which were pretty cool.

This weekend I had a pretty quiet weekend. Friday night we had girls night at Wennie's, and Saturday I went down to the river in Migeum and read for a while in the sun. On a more serious note, today I went with William (my explore Korea buddy!) to visit a safe house for Korean Comfort Women. By far my most memorable experience so far.

A little background information.... Comfort Women is the name for Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during WWII. The women aged from 16 - 30, and were abducted, lied to or taken by Japanese soldiers during the war. The Japanese army had had problems in the past with losing large amounts of soldiers due to STDs, so the government's solution was to create 'Comfort houses' or brothels. The majority of the 200,000 women were Korean. The brothels were all over Asia, but Korean women were placed outside of their country so that they wouldn't know the language and wouldn't be able to escape. In Korea now the women are called 'halmoni', which means grandmother.

Of the 200,000 women only approximately 125 Korean women have come forward, and around 50 of other Nationalities. The house that we went to is a safe house for 9 of the Korean women who are still living. There's a small museum at the house, and there are a handful of volunteers who give an English tour once a month. It is unreal to hear about what these women went through. They even have the 'tickets' that soldiers were given. On a weekday, or a slow day, the woman would 'service' around 30 men. If a woman was pregnant and didn't abort the baby would disappear, and if a woman became sick she would disappear. Our tour guides were bilingual and had spent a lot of time talking to the halmonies; they have horrible stories about being abused and even stabbed.

The saddest part of this story is that the Japanese government has not taken responsibility for its actions. An 'Asian Women's Fund' has been created to provide the halmonies with enough money to live on their own, but the government has given money to help the women in the same way that we would give money to help them. The women (all in their 70s or 80s) go to Seoul every Wednesday to protest at the Japanese Embassy. They have a list of things that they want from the Japanese government, including a monument and an official pardon. But so far nothing has happened.

After walking through the museum one of the halmoni's gave a testimony that the volunteers translated into English. She shared some of her experiences, and her frustrations with the government. She taken to China when she was 16 one day after school, was a comfort woman for 3 years, and stayed in China until a few years ago. She did marry (which many halmonies don't), but said that her husband had no idea that she had been a comfort woman. That really hit home for some reason. Her life is in China, but she came back to Korea to fight the Japanese government with the other survivors.

Knowing what these women went through is one thing, but actually hearing a halmoni talk about her experiences is something that I don't think I'll ever forget. She mentioned over and over how she feels she cannot die until the Japanese government admits they have done wrong. You didn't have to speak Korean to hear the hurt and anger in her voice. And to look into her eyes and think about what she has seen was a feeling that I can't put into words. I think the biggest fear of the halmonies is that once they are gone everyone will forget what happened to them.

Lots to think about tonight....

Love

Ashley