Korean Chess

There is a version of chess native to Korea called Janggi (장기). Despite the fact that Korea claims this game, it is based around the battle between two Chinese dynasties, the Han and Cho. The pieces in the game include elephants (象), horses (馬), chariots (車), soldiers (兵), cannons (包), royal guards (士), and Han and Cho kings (漢 and 楚, respectively). In terms of moves and compared to the chess you and I are familiar with, elephants and horses are similar to knights, chariots are similar to bishops, and soldiers are similar to pawns. Cannons, royal guards, and kings are unique to janggi.

Cordia and I, having seen old men playing it on sidewalks, have always found it interesting, mostly drawn in by the attractiveness of the Chinese characters engraved on the pieces. On our most recent trip to Seoul, we visited a park full of retired men spending their afternoon socializing and practicing their janggi strategies, needless to say, a favorite park of ours. This time we were approached by a man well versed in English, and I expressed my interest in the game. He offered to teach me.


We rented a game board and pieces ($1 for a 24-hour rental) and grabbed a bench. For the next 90 minutes, I was a student, and he taught me the legal moves of each piece and basic strategies. Soon there was a crowd of curious Koreans around our bench watching the action. With his guidance, I was able to beat him 2 times. Then he decided to take a break and a new challenger sat down. Instant defeat. It turns out you need more than the knowledge of legal moves and basic strategies to beat these people.

I made a promise to practice and on my next trip to Seoul bring more competition to the table. Given that I leave for my final trip to Seoul in exactly 7 days, I had better start practicing.

One for the road

Last night one of our managers took us out to eat after work. The seven of us stuffed ourselves full of samgyupsal (grilled pork), boiled egg, dwenjong jigae (soybean soup), rice, beer, soju, and coke. After a 2 hour party in the restaurant, our bill was only around ₩100,000 ($100). In Korea it's customary for restaurant owners to bring service (free) soju, beer, or coke to customers who stay a while, come often, or spend lots of money. We had been getting service drinks throughout our meal, and when we were paying out, the owner offered us some more soju. Instead of taking him up on the soju, we asked for a discount. Sure. He gave us a little discout.

This is normal in Korea. And there's no tip. Can you imagine this happening in America? Shoot no! Free drinks, a discount, and no tip...?!

This is just one thing we will miss....

Packing Up

Our time in Korea is coming to an end quickly, and while we're excited to see our families, friends, and some real texmex, we can't help being sentimental as we pack our year into boxes and put them on a boat to Texas. We have grown quite fond of this little country and its strange ways, and leaving it brings the same anxiety and sadness that leaving home brought. In an odd way, we've become comfortable being out of our element. This year has been full of lessons, tears, laughs, and love. We have been confused, lost, homesick, bewildered, stared at and laughed at so many times this year and have learned a lot about ourselves, our relationship, people, traveling, and of course Korea.

But not only will we be leaving behind a beautiful country with friendly people and delicious food, we will also have to say goodbye to our compadres. We've stuck to Mike and Diana since the day we met them (Mike in January, and Diana in August), and they've become two of our closest friends. We've gone on trips, eaten mandu, played cards, laughed about work, looked like weird foreigners, danced, sang in the noraebang until 5:30am, and drank tea together. They're both incredible people and great friends, and we'll be sad to move away from their neighborhood.

Our last day of work is December 16. Mom and Lindsey will be here December 18. We will depart Korea on December 22.

Let's eat lots of kimchi and mandu in the next two weeks!!

Names

The majority of Korean names are 3 syllables. The family name comes before the given name instead of at the end like we're use to. Some of my students names are Kim Min Hee, Bae Dae Gun, Park Soo Jin, Lee Young Min. I call them by their given name...Min Hee, Dae Gun, Soo Jin, and Young Min. Getting use to saying and memorizing names like this was a real challenge when we first got here, but now the names sound normal to us. They often have an English name that they use during class, and some common ones are Jenny, Sally, Tom, Peter, Kevin, and Julie. While the English names are much easier to remember, I would rather them use their Korean name in class...I think they're cool.

A Favorite Meal

A Strange Halloween

We spent October 31 doing a particularly strange and spooky tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. We took a tour with an American company which was lead by Koreans for part of the way and American soldiers for the other part.

Not only were we able to go into the DMZ which stretches across the Korean peninsula and is 4km wide (2km on either side of the border where no Korean civilians are allowed), but also we were able to step foot on North Korean ground. Before entering the DMZ, we were given a Visitors Delcaration to read and sign, stating that we understood that we were "entering a hostile area and [there was a] possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action." We had to follow a strict and conservative dress code, and we were warned more than once not to make any kind of gesture or body communication towards North Korea. We were taken right up to the actual line that divides the two worlds. On one side of the line stood South Korean and American soldiers on guard, and 50 feet away stood North Korean soldiers on guard. When we arrived to this area where North and South Korea both have buildings, we were taken into South Korea's Reunification Building, built for divided families to come and meet. However, this building was entirely vacant, and it has never been used save for the third floor in which the Red Cross has an office.

In this picture, you can see tourists, South Korean soldiers (in the black hardhats), American soldiers (in camo), and North Korean soldiers (taking pictures of us). You can also see the cement line that divides the Koreas. The building on the left is a conference room where meetings between N. Korea and the UN take place. Half is on N.Korean soil, and half on S.Korean. We were able to go into this building.


Before entering the building, a S. Korean soldier takes special measures checking the security of the room: locking the door into N. Korea, and standing guard the entire time visitors are present.

While in the conference room, North Korean soldiers came up near the windows to take pictures.


This guard is standing in a "modified Taekwondo stance" with half of his body behind the blue building. He is always on guard when visitors are there, and he stands in that position so that he can take quick cover if he needs to.


After leaving the dividing line, we were taken back out to the edge of the DMZ to a place where one of four tunnels into South Korea dug by North Korea have been discovered. We went down into the tunnel. Usually, when you do stuff like this, it's part of a history exhibit or something that is of the past. This is not of the past yet. Tourists are required to turn around and head back south about 170 meters from the border at the first of 3 barricades in place to keep North Koreans from entering South Korea. Soldiers expect that there are more tunnels being dug at this moment, but they don't know where yet.

We have limited pictures because of all the rules, but I think these give a pretty good idea of how intense the situation is. We even saw the world's most dangerous golf course!

Fall

It is certainly fall here now. The leaves are changing, and the air is no longer thick and humid. It's chilly and crisp. We took a trip to a Korean traditional folk village last weekend called Hahoe (pronounced Ha-whay). With the fall colors and the traditional housing, it was beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful place I've seen in Korea. The rice fields were golden, the air was clear, the trees were changing from green to red and yellow, the houses have thatch roofs and neat stucco walls and walkways. While we were there, we were able to watch a Korean Mask Dance, during which, of course, we the foreigners were called to the front to dance with the actors. We had fun dancing like fools in front of a couple hundred Koreans all laughing and taking our picture. Since we were all involved in the entertainment, we weren't able to capture on photo or video our sweet moves, but don't worry, our crowd was pleased :)





Mitch and Diana discussing the sweet dance techniques we used during our performance:



We made wishes and tied them to line that surrounds this tree that is over 600 years old:



Traditional housing with thatch roofing:



Our puppets!



What? We always walk like this:



Standing in the rice fields with Mr. Turnip Head: