The Hands of Living Mutually

The city of Pohang is famous (okay maybe that’s pushing it), Pohang is well-known for two things mainly; Asia’s most profitable steel mill, POSCO, and for the abundance of seafood (easily seen at Jukdo Market where every species of fish, crustacean and seaweed abound). On every street and alleyway, there is a seafood restaurant (not of my culinary taste – raw, moving, alive squid and catfish are a real treat here).

But Pohang has a third, lesser known tourist treasure. Well beyond the smoke and haze of the POSCO factory, lies a small fishing village, Homigot, on the east of the city. While the beaches in this little town aren’t the most beautiful and are too rocky for swimming, there is a piece of art worth seeing; the “Hands of Living Mutually” or “Hands of Harmony” as they are better known.

These are two massive bronze and granite sculptures of hands stretching up to the sky. The oddity in the situation is that the one hand (the right hand) stretches up from the water in a small cove. And the second bronze hand (the left and of equal proportion) stretches up from dry land on the Homigot Sunrise Square. The hand in the water is the main attraction, particularly at sunrise, when the sun seems to be rising through the fingers of the hand. As Homigot is on the east coast, the sun rises here first in Korea.

Apparently, the hands were constructed in 1999 “to symbolize continuing efforts of all Korean citizens to pursue a better quality of life” (www.frikworld.com). This charming little place is a bit of an absurd tourist magnet. Photographers from all over the country come to take pictures of the sun rising through the fingers of the hand. Some use cellphones, others are professionals. Some will even venture into the water to be closer to the Hand and prove they were really there.

A couple friends and I decided to visit Homigot on a day off. We didn’t make the sunrise, of course. I am not sure what I was expecting but I was a little disappointed by the Hands of Harmony. It is obviously a fantastic artistic concept and quite a sight to behold, this hand stretching up from the ocean. But the Hand was really only a few metres from the shore and it wasn’t nearly as big as I had expected. Beyond the Hand though, stretched the ocean as far as the eye can see. We had a little childish fun scrambling over the rocks and taking silly pictures. The water was also pleasantly warm.

According to the locals and some blogs, New Year's Eve is presumably the best time to visit as there are fireworks and the Homigot National Sunrise Festival runs until 7:30am. Some people go during summer, when the weather is more pleasant. There are hotels scattered around the place and they are in walking distance but some visitors bring a sleeping bag, insect repellant and some soju to get them through to sunrise.

A good one and a half hour bus ride from the Intercity Bus Station or an expensive cab ride away, visiting the Hands of Harmony is a pleasant outing, whether one visits during the day or to watch the sunrise. There is a lighthouse and museum in the vicinity as well as some tourist stores, seafood eateries and several little food and beverage stalls. Don’t buy the roasted chestnuts though, they are expensive and not at all worth it (from experience). A slush puppy is definitely recommendable.

And it is one of the places you just have to see in Pohang city…

Tennis makes memories...

My limited experience of Korean tennis has taken place in the mountains (where I work) and at one tournament in the city. Overall, it has been most surprising, decidedly enjoyable and a little strange, to say the least.

When I arrived at my main school in a little village in the mountains, it was winter and not very pretty. The school is relatively small, with the big field in front and outbuildings at the back, where teachers can stay overnight. The caretaker of the school stays there permanently. There are also the "toilets". What I did notice was a dilapidated old gravel tennis court behind the janitor’s house. I assumed that no one used the court anymore and that it had been left to ruin.

March and most of April passed by in flurry of stress, miscommunication and traveling. I hadn’t thought of tennis at all. After all, I hadn’t really played in England and I suppose I hadn’t expected to play much in Korea either. But in mid-April as the blossoms began to show and the trees and grass got a little greener, I noticed some of the teachers heading over to the tennis court. Next thing, they were rolling the court (which is literally made of sand, similar to beach sand) over and over to compress the soil. Then, the net went up (it is far too high but there is nowhere to attach it at the centre) and the lines were painted with chalk. I couldn’t believe it.

The men obviously assumed I didn’t play tennis, for when I told them I could, they were incredibly excited! I still don’t think they thought I could actually play properly, for when I hit the court one day, all the students were allowed to come and watch me for a few minutes. This never happens in Korea. Academics come first, always, no exceptions. So this must have been a BIG deal. The next day, the teachers even started to call me “Tennis Ace” in the corridors.

When we first started to play tennis after lessons, the other teachers were very rusty. But over time and with much practice, everyone has greatly improved. The music teacher has a ‘killer’ volley and smashing skills; the Korean teacher is a master of touch and with practice, has clearly shown he is by far the best player at the school; the vice principal must have been brilliant in his heyday, he still has the forehand to show for it; the math teacher is young and keen to learn, he picked up the backhand slice after only a few attempts. He has a wonderful style.

In the last few weeks, my main co-teacher, who is just starting out, bought a new Babolat racquet. The school bought a box of tennis balls the other day. And the head teacher and sport teacher headed off into the mountains yesterday and came back with a truckload of red clay to add to our “beach court” (as I affectionately name it).

The court is obviously very uneven as we do not have professionals rolling and measuring for us. In some places, the balls bounce and in others, they do not. If it rains, the ground is saturated and actually dangerous to play on. We do, anyway. As I said, the net is about 10 inches too high and there are no proper fences so the balls get lost on a regular basis. But as the vice principal says: “Same conditions for all!” And so we get on with it.

At the end of April, my school entered six of us into the Pohang City interschool tournament. My little school had great aspirations with me on the team but unfortunately, it was a doubles tournament and I couldn’t win alone, although the Korean teacher and I came very close. (Doubles seems to be the main form of the game, probably due to the lack of tennis courts)

I was one of three women present and the only foreigner. This created much fuss and it also meant that there were many people watching our court. My mother and a few others will know that I am not very good under pressure and even worse when there are people watching. I managed to keep my cool though and I played a good game. We may have even won our second match if we had played the usual ‘best of three sets’ format.

Korean tennis etiquette is truly something to behold and is probably my favourite part of tennis in this country. When both couples are ready to commence the match, all four players walk to the net and bow and shake hands as a sign of respect for each other. On completing the set, all four players walk to the net and bow and shake hands once more.

There is no such thing as the spinning of the racquet (rough or smooth, up or down, W or M, p or d). One person from each couple with do “rock, paper, scissors” to determine the winner. The winner can then choose to serve of receive. Whichever side you warmed/knocked up on, that is the side you remain on. Before serving the first ball of every game, the server will greet the receiver when he serves to them: “Annyeong-haseyo!” (Good day!/ Hello!) I suppose this is similar to what I would say at home: “Enjoy the match!”

The scoring is my favourite. In tennis scoring, we use “fifteen, thirty, forty, deuce, advantage”. If we are to shorten the score when playing social, we use the abbreviations “five-thirty”, “thirty-forts”, “your ad” etc. Here in Korea, they say (and it makes much more sense, if you ask me) “fi-thir”, “for-thir”, “service” (server’s advantage) and “receive” (reciever’s advantage).

Thank goodness I can play tennis. It has saved my soul here in the mountains. Sometimes, I’ll only play once a week (as most of my lessons are in the late afternoon right before we go home) or sometimes, I shan’t play at all. But sport, like music, is common ground. It is a form of communication all by itself. I always say it and I shall say it again; without sport (and in particular, the game of tennis), I would have far less wonderful memories and far less friends…

Gyeongju - the "Museum without Walls"

Gyeongju is, without doubt, one of the most spectacular places I have been to. I had little trouble seeing why it had been nicknamed the "Museum without walls". One can literally walk, in open air, through all the cultural and historical wonders at leisure. If one lives closeby, like I do, it is the perfect day trip in good weather. And most of the sites-to-see are within walking distance of each other.

On this particular Sunday, I was not in the best condition health-wise and I did not get to Gyeongju early enough in the morning. But I saw as much as possible in the time I was there, guided by some friends who live in the area. It was a delightful, cultural day in the sun...

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom, the longest surviving kingdom in the country, for nearly a thousand years (BC 57-935) and has a vast amount of historical and cultural heritage. UNESCO has designated Gyeongju as a World Heritage site (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/). After visiting this fascinating place, this is hardly surprising and one can see why it is one of South Korea's biggest tourist attractions, even a millenium after the demise of the Silla dynasty.

According to the Korea's official tourism site, Gyeongju is the nation's most popular fieldtrip destination. (In fact, one of my schools' fieldtrip is to Gyeongju next week.) Ponds, tombs, mountains, temples, grottos, observatories and museums abound in this amazing place. It is also home to many of the greatest Buddhist treasures in Korea.

Cheonmachong Tomb (Tumuli Park) is home to ancient tombs of kings and noblemen of the Silla Dynasty. There are 23 tombs in total, the most famous being Cheonmachong and Hwangnamdaechong. Inside the tombs, relics can be seen from a time long past; remains, crowns and other gold accessories.

Gyeongju also boasts Cheomseongdae, the oldest existing atronomical observatory in Asia (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/). According to the visitkorea site, it was originally designed to look to the stars as a means to forecast the weather. As one of Korea's national treasures, it is quite an impressive site up close.

What Gyeongju is most famous for amongst us foreigners, is the cherry blossoms in springtime. There is a definite window period to see the blossoms, however, as they last in Gyeonju for only two weeks. My trip to Gyeongju was at the end of the two weeks. Sadly, there was only one tree still cherry-blossoming in Tumuli Park. We certainly made the most of it by taking hundreds of pictures. The cherry blossoms at this time of year are absolutely beautiful.

So are the flowers in springtime, something Gyeongju certainly does not lack.

These particular flowers did not smell pleasant, hence the hilarity of the situation...

There are several places in Gyeongju to see some of the traditional Korean buildings and temples. The woodwork and designs of these buildings is something to behold.

Gyeongju "Museum" is certainly a place I will be visiting again, for its temples, a paddle around Bomun Lake and trip back a thousand years. Truly remarkable, I tell you.

The madness continues - April 15 to 17...

Once you realise that time flies in South Korea, you also come to realise that a year is not that long, actually, and that if you don't hurry up, you won't see everything you want to see before you leave the country. On the weekends, there is no time to rest or catch up with your writing and no time to stay at home and recover from a heavy week. There is exploration to be done and fun to be had and thus, the madness continues weekly; it's a cycle of non-stop movement, travel and happy exhaustion...

On April 15th, I planned to go and visit a friend, Bells, in Gyeongsan, about an hour and half by bus from Pohang city. From Heung-hae to Pohang, it is at least a 45 minute bus. So, all in all, the trip takes a good two hours. We had arranged to meet for supper and have an early night. Well, as Murphy is my dearest friend, my co-teachers decided to leave school an hour late. For most, this would be a minor setback in the evening's plans. For me, it was a giant hurdle, for I work in the mountains. This means:
- the carpool must drive back to Heung-hae (45 to 50 minutes depending on traffic),
- I must walk to my apartment from the drop-off location (approximately 15 minutes),
- I must collect and pack my belongings (10 minutes),
- I must walk to the bus stop (which I just passed on the way home) and wait for a bus to arrive (anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes),
- I must catch the bus to Heung-hae (45 minutes),
- I must buy a ticket for Gyeongsan and wait for the next bus to leave (average time for waiting + trip = 2 hours).
Therefore, total time travelling = minimum 4 hours = mission.

If I had got the right bus, I would have been there for supper at 20:30ish. Alas, I only got the 20:20 bus and only arrived in Gyeongsan at a mild 21:40. It ended up being quite a late supper, to say the least. Bells and I headed to the student area called Yeungnam, where the University is situated. Our "quiet supper" started very well; we went to a little bar/restaurant and ordered rice and pork and a pitcher of beer. As we were thinking of leaving, we started a conversation with a couple of young students to our left. They offered us a shot of a drink called Chong-ha, which is similar to Japanese saki (wine). Bells looked at me from across the table and said: "You know that if you accept that drink, we will never leave this place." And I said: "Oh no, rubbish. It's just one little drink." Well, the night did not end. We made friends with everyone in the establishment, I spoke every Korean word I have learnt since my February arrival. Our last stop was at a noraebang - a karaoke/singing room - with some of our new-found friends. It was a fantastic Korean experience, truly fantastic!

Saturday was difficult, to say the least. But we managed to wake rather early and head to Daegu. Gyeongsan is a relatively small place in Korean terms but it is also a semi-suburb of Daegu, a very large and happening city. Daegu is all lights and shopping, restaurants and tall buildings. I managed to purchase a desperately-needed sports cap and a handbag and we caught a bit of an outside concert for charity. The highlight was the finding of a little second-hand shop on the way to the subway. It was a lovely day, indeed.

In the late afternoon on Saturday, Bells and I took the bus to Pohang. It was the perfect time of day for a scenic trip through the rural areas; the light was soft and made the mountains and farming fields look movie-worthy. We listened to depressing love-loss, heart-break music and enjoyed the break in the madness.

After one hell of a good party, we woke up on Sunday for our trip to Gyeonju. Gyeonju is 30 to 40 minutes by bus from Pohang. This little place is full of absolute wonder. It isn't called the 'Outside Museum' for nothing. We had a glorious day, despite the aching headaches, in the sun and in the tombs and under the cherry blossoms and amongst the Spring flowers. A truly cultural experience for once...

Meet Mozi...

Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, is an awe-inspiring, frightening, wonderful, deathly, life-changing place. I shall never be the same again after my visit there on 25 to 27 March. Never the same.

That weekend symbolises the first pay day, the first big trip to Seoul and the reunion of hundreds of Korean English teachers. It was EPIC (no pun intended)! Most of us newbies' tanks were running rather low on Won by 25 March and were desperately in need of a bank account re-fuel.

The epic trip actually began in little Pohang on the Korean east coast, about a thirty minute bus ride from where I live in Heung-hae. Hopping onto the 6:30 pm Pohang-to-Seoul bus, I had serious second thoughts about a five-hour trip after a long week at school. Five of us left from the Pohang Express Bus Terminal, beer and soju in hand to make the trip seem a little shorter. By hour three, I was so tired, I had to take a little nap. It was an incredibly bad idea as when I had to wake up, I was grumpy, cold and unhappy. I had to nudge Scotty every few minutes to keep him from drifting back into 'lala' land. When we arrived at the hostel after an hour-long subway trip after the five-hour bus trip, I was actually ready to simply curl up in bed. It was not to be, however, as the rest of Team Awesome (Claricle, Tashalicious, Kaitles, Christoffle and Hells Bells) were waiting for Scotty and I to arrive. We met the eighth member of the Seoul crew, Jo, also trying to find her way to the hostel. And our Seoul trip began properly at 1am on Saturday morning...

Frightening...South Korea has a population of approximately 49 million people. Well over 10 million of those people live in just one city: the capital, Seoul. It is a frighteningly busy place; there are people everywhere all the time. The subways are full, the streets are crowded and there is never an empty restaurant. The Pohang crowd arrived in Hong-dae, the student area where our hostel was, at 1am. When we walked out of the subway exit, there were so many people. Thanks to Claricle and her excellent map, we were able to navigate ourselves rather easily, I would have thought. Scotty was in charge of directions. If it wasn't for Tashalicious coming to find us, we'd still be wandering around Seoul at this point. Scotty was convinced we had to go the completely opposite way?

After dropping off our possessions, we were off to find somewhere to have a "quiet" drink. Everything was still open. I can see why young people want to live in this part of the country. I did no work at Rhodes and there was nothing to do there actually. In a place like Seoul, I may have fallen seriously off course.

Awe-inspiring...Despite being frighteningly busy, Seoul is also quite amazing. It is such a jacked-up place and very different to where I am living, obviously. In our short time there, we only went to two small parts of the city; Hong-dae (the student area and home of Hongik University) and the shopping haven (Myeong-dong), which has all the fashion stores. I have no knowledge of any of the following places as I cannot afford to even set foot inside any of them but us girls browsed around Zara, H&M and all the little side shops. I took a list of things I needed to buy and came home with nothing to show for it besides a straw summer hat I will probably never wear again (even though it looks quite good upon my head), a head band with a huge black flower attached (which I wear ALL the time) and some red nail polish for the nails that I bite daily! Ridiculous. The fashion of the majority of the Korean youth is rather awe-inspiring, however, and I long to learn something "fashiony" in my time here. It is definitely an area in which I lack serious talent.



Deathly...On Saturday night, after a lovely reunion party with the other teachers in Seoul, we all headed to a dance club, THE dance club in Hong-dae apparently. It was literally a deathly place. We paid some exorbitant sum to get in, only to leave straight away again. I have never been into a building where there are so many people. It was like taking part in a voluntary stampede. You did not have to move your feet at all. You were simply carried with the crowd up the stairs, men groping and kissing you from all directions. It was horrific. And definitely a fire hazard - danger zone - health and safety code red - place! In England, they would have torn that place down long ago for every kind of law infringement. It survives happily in Seoul. I am not sure how there have not been any deaths-by-stampede yet. Most of us came out from the underground hell after approximately four minutes, heaving with anger and shaking with fear. Some of the guys were actually wanting to punch anything in sight. Fortunately, we went straight back to the little bar from Friday night and all was well with the world again.

On Sunday morning, Scotty and I made our way back to the bus terminal to meet our fellow Pohangers and return to the east coast. Not looking forward to the 5 hour bus ride, we decided to have a little lunch before boarding. Stupidly, I sent Scotty to the counter to order two chicken burgers. He came back almost immediately with the purchases in hand. This was to be our second deadly experience of the weekend. It was apparently meant to be a tender grilled chicken fillet on a roll. Unfotunately, it did not seem to be grilled at all, was almost raw and had a revolting soya/kimchi/fish taste to it. Yummy. Even Mozi would not eat it! Never again shall I trust a man to order food when he is hungover and useless. Only joking Scottles!



Wonderful...My thirty or so hours in Seoul were quite wonderful. After a month in the mountains, it was like going to London for a party after caring for a grumpy English granny for 3 weeks. Absolute feedom! We had a brilliant party on both nights and it was so good to meet up with the orientation crew of English teachers again.

In the day on Saturday, we interrupted our shopping spree with a visit to Kraze burger (a Korean burger franchise, I believe?) for lunch and met up with the boys, Jo and Tashalicious who had skipped the shopping madness for a more calm exploration of the surroundings. Kraze Burger's service left a lot to be desired but their food left nothing at all. It was delicious!

We also stayed at a fantastic guesthouse called "Blu" in the Hong-dae area. As the Claricle has been year for over a year, she booked us in for the two nights and promised fluffy duvets and breakfast. We got just that. It was perfectly located and very comfortable. I actually regret not sleeping for more than 2 hours a night in that lovely bunk bed. The peanut butter and jam toast, coffee and orange juice in the morning was close to the best part!

The only "un-wonderful" moment was when I lost my favourite ring in the subway station. After a good search and a very good sulk, Kaitles was able to cheer me up by finding me a new friend. We named him Mozi and he goes everywhere with me these days; my miniature Korean mascot. After a good day's retail therapy, Kaitles, Hells Bells and I stopped at the subway station again. I asked if they had found a ring by any chance. The guard asked me what colour it was and I said it was silver. He gestured that he may have found one and reached down for what could well have been my ring. It was not though...sadness swiftly suffocated my soul again.

Life-changing...Seoul is a place never to forget. It is quite the most overwhelming experience I have had in a long time. With Team Awesome in tow, it was a truly life-changing experience too. When and if I am ever brave enough to return to Seoul, I will make sure it is a cultural trip to see more of the amazing sights and learn from what such an amazing city has to offer. It is certainly a place where dreams come true and money is spent very quickly. I can't wait for Round Two...

(All Seoul photos: by Claire Keet)

Never forget...

Sometimes, when I sit in the teachers' office in the mountains of Gyeonsangbuk-do, unable to communicate or to escape, I wonder if the world has forgotten me here in the middle of nowhere?

But then I remember a song from Stellenbosch days, a song I hold so dear. Even if everyone forgets, the memories remain with you always...

"It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
Until it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never
Been this way before

All you can do is try to know
Who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

You'll come back
When it's over
No need to say good bye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
Until they're before your eyes

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say good bye..."

(Regina Spektor - musical genius)

My Epic Trip from Daejeon to Pohang, Sunday 20 March – An UNNECESSARY schlep

After a rather splendid Saturday, spent braai-ing on a rooftop with wonderful friends in Daejeon and a good party at the legendary Cocoon club, I was looking forward to a stress-free return trip to my little town, Heung-hae, just north and inland of Pohang city. As with most things in “Dynamic” Korea, this was not to be the case.

We all woke up late on Sunday morning feeling rather awful actually. It was clearly a successful South African braai, wasn't it? A friend, Helyn, was going back to Gyeonsan. Because this is "half" on the way to my city, I thought I would break the journey by going some of the way with her and then going the second half on my own.

We arrived at the train station at 2pm after the worse and longest cross-city bus ride of my entire life. It was about 90 degrees Celsius on the bus and we were wearing coats, carrying bags and pillows. There was not a centimetre of space to work with either. Apparently, everything happens on Sunday mornings in Daejeon? We didn’t know where to put our bags and everyone was looking at us really strangely (firstly because we are foreigners and secondly, because we were carrying one million items). I won’t be carrying a pillow with me ever again. It was clearly a societal failure!
It is truly ironic that the day you really feel like sitting down, you have to stand up, and you have no idea where you are going and the bus is swaying from side to side as if you were on the sea in a storm.

What we also did not bargain for was several trains being sold out or the fact that the train times would not suit our exact needs. “Oh, why,” I asked Helyn, “is that train to Pohang at 5pm and not 3pm?”
The earliest train we could catch to Gyeonsan was at 3 o’clock. To pass the time and to feed the hangover hunger, we stepped into the little “Asian food” restaurant and bought the Korean version of chicken curry and of course, rice. As a tantalising little side order, we were given…kimchi (fermented cabbage). Koreans eat this famous national dish with every meal, absolutely EVERY meal. Yum! I had to politely push mine off the tray for fear of it ruining my meal entirely.

At around 2:45, Helyn and I trundled off to the train platforms. Our tickets showed a large number 3. Naturally, we assumed we would be leaving from platform 3. We arrived at the platform at 2:55 and almost patiently waited for the train which had cost us a pretty 15 000 won (over R100) to acquire, I might add. And that was only getting me halfway home, remember?
I just had a funny feeling that we were not in the right place. I told Helyn to check with a guard closeby who shook his head violently and pointed in the opposite direction. We were, in fact, leaving from Platform 6 and had to run up some stairs, down an escalator (while squeezing past some annoyed train-catching veterans) and find our carriage number along the platform. We somehow managed to do it in exactly three minutes and arrived panting (and cursing the Korean rail system) with two minutes to spare. How we did it, I'll never know. But I sure was ecstatic! It is amazing that happiness can be so easy.

We had a rather pleasant train trip back to Gyeonsan (Helyn's hometown). Then came the subway trip, of course. I felt like I was in England again except everything was in Korean. Thanks be to goodness that Helyn had done this part of the trip before. We managed to arrive at our destination without much stress apart from the intense "cabbage" smell the entire 30 minutes. Someone on that train was NOT well inside.

After exiting the subway station, we had to navigate our way to the bus station where I would catch my bus to Pohang. At 18:20, I said a fond farewell to Hells Bells and hopped on the bus. A mere 1 hour and 40 minutes later, the bus stopped at Pohang Intercity Bus Station. What relief to be closer to home. At 20:10, I climbed onto my last form of transportation, (you guessed it...a bus) to my town of Heung-hae. In one day, I had used every available form of public transport in Korea. I suppose I should view this as a positive point?

Nevertheless, arrival time at 105 Dreamville, my apartment: 21:00. Seriously? Seven hours to travel 300km? Next time, I will most definitely be going the direct-3-hours-on-a-bus route, won't I? NO DETOURS ever again...sorry Helyn!