A Few Views of Korea

Having just returned from a few weeks in the Orient on business, I'm still reflecting on all the places I visited with my business associates. I was so busy I barely had time to process it all, but luckily I had my iPhone with me so I snapped lots of photos. I thought I'd share a few here. All of these are from an area in the very south of South Korea called Gyeongju, which is quite old and rich in history. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Sometimes East Does Meet West

For me personally, one of the more interesting aspects of international business are the relationships one builds with one's business partners. Unlike many western business practices, Oriental cultures value relationship building and cultural exchange before-- or as part of actual business discussions. Of course, western business customs do often involve things like golf or dinner, but it is very different in Asia. 

Western business is very transactional--we like to "get down to business". Oriental cultures prefer to get to know someone over time, and are very focused on the long term nature of future business opportunities. When time permits, it may even include visits to local cultural customs. For example, my Korean colleagues brought me to a temple where they allowed visitors to ring the huge bell. It was really cool to experience that and hear the loud bell gong, buzz and reverberate.

Being a student of the world, I welcome such opportunities. During my business travels to Korea, for example, my business colleagues brought me to visit a temple, nestled high in a mountain.

In front of the temple area were hundreds of colorful paper lanterns hanging over a courtyard. I learned that each lantern had individual paper "prayer cards" inside a plastic sleeve, hanging from each lantern. Curious about this custom I approached the temple to learn more.

First, I was asked to drink the sacred mountain spring waters at the base of the temple entrance. I was a little hesitant but I set aside my usual sense of caution and gave myself permission to delve into the custom. Putting my faith in the Buddha, I drank the waters, which flowed from three dragon mouths, into a stone basin.  It was oddly peaceful, alone with nature.

I met with one of the monks, who explained the lanterns. He handed a special card to me, and asked me to write down my name and names of family members or anyone else for which I wanted him to pray. He then asked me to write down what I was seeking, for myself or for the names I wrote.

He read the card slowly, meditating for awhile. A woman directed me to the temple to pray. She explained that the card would be hung from one of the lanterns, and the monk would pray for my wishes for three years. Naturally, I was amazed by this.

Shortly after speaking with the monk the woman invited me to have lunch inside the temple. A vegetarian lunch was prepared, which was delicious. My business colleagues told me it was very unusual for a visitor or even a foreigner to be invited inside the temple for lunch with the monks. It felt special to me too, but I didn't question it. I never question why things happen, as I believe it is all in the divine order.

Rick's Roadshow: Jeju Island, South Korea, Day 2

Rick's Roadshow from the Jeju island in South Korea continues. The weather was quite nice yesterday, perfect for hiking and enjoying the natural island terrain. My business colleague wanted me to see a few more sights of his native home, so we spend part of the day outdoors. We hiked up to the top of some very high peak- as you can tell from this photo above left. It was a breathtaking view for sure. Below is an interesting rock just off the coast. A legend about a woman whose husband went off fishing and never returned, waited by the coast for her husband so long she turned into a rock, waiting a long time, but he never returned. A cute story, nonetheless.

"The Lonely Woman" Rock- a legend of sorts

I mentioned at the end of yesterday's post that we took a little cruise around the island. Here are a few photos:

this rock is beautiful, isn't it?

this rock has some more of those hexagon shaped rocks

I was happy that the waters were nice and calm!

the reflection garden at my hotel

the Hotel Shilla was very cozy

The hotel hiking paths led to this stunning view

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Thought I'd close with a couple of dragons, just for fun.

  

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I'm off to Beijing next, so stay tuned for more from Rick's Roadshow from Asia.

Rick's Roadshow: Jeju Island, South Korea

Welcome to a new edition of Rick's Roadshow. I'm traveling parts of Asia on business, but as regular readers know I always bring a camera along to capture the interesting elements of my travels. My time in South Korea began on Jeju island, a subtropical island just off the coast of Korea. I flew here with my Korean business colleagues, who wanted me to see a different side of their country. As I have limited time for blogging on this trip, the commentary may be limited, so I'll jump right into the photos. The above photos are an interesting natural wonder, of sorts. These rocks along the coast have a naturally formed hexagon shape, and are a major tourist attraction here. Quite fascinating.

As you move along the cost, it is normal to see tiny fisherman (and fisher-women too) hauling in a variety of shellfish, and selling them along the coast. My travel guides were locals who knew the area quite well. I was intrigued to see a tiny woman in a diving suit busy, with a set of bowls, several cutting boards, a knife and buckets of sea water scurrying back and forth. As I approached, she was shouting at me in Korean and pointing the various bowls, each containing a live creature from the sea that was unknowingly still moving around in a tiny plastic bowl, ready to be sold.

I was fascinated by all the activity. She never stopped working, just because we walked up. Then she did something that made my eyes pop out of my head. She quickly began cutting up one of the ugliest shells and forcing out the creature from within. She removed the guts, and super gross parts, and splashed some sea water on the remains to "clean the meat".

I looked at all the various bowls, buckets and boxes- there were many. I tried to recollect my Marine Biology course back the fall of 1990, but to no avail. I couldn't recognize a single variety. To make myself feel better, I pretended that these must have been some local, Asian variety of shellfish so naturally, I couldn't be expected to recognize any of them. Well that made me feel better anyway, but I digress.

Then she started slicing up that one shell fish meat with her cutting board and knife. Again she splashed some sea water on the slices. Then in quick, jerky movements, grabbed a plastic plate, and a few bowls. She poured out some Korean red chili peper sauce (from an old water bottle I might add), and whipped out a pair of wooden chop sticks. All was placed on a plastic table adjacent to her. My travel companions all ooed and ahhed, some money was exchanged and everyone dug into the plate of super-fresh mystery-shell fish meat on a dish. Now, for those of you who recall The Venetian Scare from a few years ago, know all too well that I have sworn off shellfish. So there was no way in hell I was going to eat this- never mind how it was prepared. I quickly (but politely) refused, citing my allergies to shellfish. It was, however a unique experience that I quite enjoyed watching. For the sake of time, here are a bunch of photos:

these "grandfather" statues are all over the island

Fish cakes- were actually a sweet treat made of a bean filling

"Medicine Fountain Temple"

Tomorrow I'll share some photos of a day cruise we took around the Jeju Island, with some beautiful photos of the rock islands and coast line. I hope you will be able to return again, tomorrow!

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Rick's Roadshow: Seoul, Korea Day 2.5

Rick's Roadshow from Seoul, Korea continues for one last day before I head off to my next destination. Plenty of exciting places yet to come on my Asian World Tour! But for today, I wanted to share some photos of my visit to the National Museum of Korea. Being my last day I had some early meetings and wrapped up my day's work well before lunch. That gave me some free time to check out the museum. Well that plus it had been raining cats and dogs all day. I rarely have time to visit museums when I travel, so this was a real treat for me. The museum is huge, and relatively new, so all the exhibits had the latest and greatest technology, not to mention everything was nice and shiny too. In this photo above left, I'm standing in front of a very old Korean bell from a temple. I love things like that. I only wish they had a recording of it so I could hear the deep sound.
I used the self-guided tour with the headset to learn about each exhibit. It would automatically start playing as you approach a particular item of interest. As I think about it, the tour was pretty cool actually. If something lost my interest I could walk away and the narration would stop. This painting above left caught my eye, both of them actually. Not only due to its huge size but also because it seems so peaceful. I was careful not to use any flash photography in the museum, although regular photos are permitted. So today's final post from Korea is all about things I saw at the museum that I enjoyed for some reason. OK so here goes, come along into the museum for a little visual tour. Although as usual I forgot to take ANY notes so you'll just need to look, click and smile.

above: Gojoseon Eight Article Law: CLICK ON THIS PHOTO ABOVE TO BIGGIFY. Read the laws of Gojoseon, developed in Korea in the 1300's. Only 3 of the 8 survived, the others were lost, but these three rules seem to make sense to me...
Boodahs Galore!
I could post 20 or 30 easily, but I won't. So here are just a few:

above: this Boodah is seated in a mini temple

above: now doesn't that make you feel all relaxed and at peace?

above: Bodhisattva, the most famous and treasured Boodah in Korea.

above: A very old Korean Gong.

above: This outdoor Korean structure is over 1,500 years old and now resides inside the museum.

above: Tea Pot I suppose?

above: Dragon Gong, I liked it so much I bought a mini replica.

above: Ceylon green vase

above: a folding screen

above: a Korean restaurant where I dined for lunch. I just love the ambiance, its so cozy and intimate. Well that's all for today I'm afraid. Please come back again tomorrow, where Rick's Roadshow continues from Taipei, Taiwan!
-Rick Rockhill