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Exploring Cheonan-si and a Day of Seoul Food…

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Chile pepper, fish sausage and a jello paste made from acorns are some of the side dishes that are common.

Chile pepper, fish sausage and a jello paste made from acorns are some of the side dishes that are common.

Our residence during our stay in Cheonan is the new dormitories of SangMyung University. We have very comfortable private rooms and baths that would normally be shared by two students. These rooms are more like a standard hotel room with two beds, two desk/shelf units, two closets, lots of convenient storage, and a bathroom that would be typical in many hotel rooms. The main difference is the slightly recessed entry foyer which serves as a repository for your shoes and any guest you might invite in. It’s easy to see why most Koreans avoid lace-ups and stick with sandals or Velcro strapped sneakers.

The statue of the famous naval commander surveys downtown Seoul.

14th Century rooflines versus 21 century high rises.
14th Century rooflines versus 21 century high rises.The facade of the dorm at SangMyung University, Cheonan.Three golden Buddha statues dwarf worshippers at an ancient temple in Seoul.

The campus would usually be bustling with 7000 students, but it is summer break so the grounds are quiet as is the strip of shops and restaurants nearby. However, once you venture into Cheonan proper, the streets are a crowded bustle of business as usual. One of our first trips included a visit to the Arario Gallery in downtown Cheonan. The gallery and surrounding plaza is a veritable visual arts feast for the senses with modern sculpture inside and out and a fabulous new painting exhibit gracing the interior walls of the three-story gallery, Arario also has locations in Seoul, Tokyo, and New York. The gallery’s mission is to bridge the cultural gap between eastern and western art. The dynamic oil paintings of Young Geun Park currently featured at the gallery reflect this focus perfectly. Park re-imagines scenes painted by the European masters, such as Rueben, while adding a modern style and decidedly eastern flair. I can’t wait to share the photos and information on these works with our GACA art teachers so they can expand their repertoire with our students back in Florida. I know my colleague from Oak Hall, Robert Ponzio, is equally eager to impart his newfound knowledge with his visual art students as well.

Saturday found us departing on the Korail commuter train for Seoul. The cars were packed with people young and old, and why wouldn’t they be? A round trip ticket for the 80 kilometer journey is just about $8 US. Pay no attention to the seat assignment on your ticket, however. People sit wherever they find an opening and many are forced to stand. For just a few dollars more, we purchased a return trip on the KTX bullet train. The hour and 15 minute journey back to Cheonan was reduced to 25 minutes thanks to the high speed rail, and your seats are actually reserved!

After securing a taxi and a rollicking 10 minute ride to the center of Seoul at Si Chung, a plaza that includes not only city hall but also one of the recently restored palace gates, we found ourselves in the shadow of Yi Sun Shin. We were met there by one of our Korean Oak Hall students, Chae, who graciously sacrificed part of his day to show us around the city’s center. Yi Sun was a brilliant naval commander who warded off numerous Japanese invasions against overwhelming odds during Korea’s golden age in the 16th century. His statue rises over the promenade from Si Chung to Gyeongbokgung (palace greatly blessed by heaven) which was originally built in 1395, was nearly completely destroyed by two different Japanese invasions over the centuries, and has been nearly completely restored for visitors today. In between is an ancient Buddhist temple, and a recently restored river that once flowed through the heart of the city but had been disrupted during the last century of development. Thanks to an enormous public works project that is still ongoing, the river’s flow has been restored. It provides a tranquil green space that contrasts sharply with the urban glass and steel looming overhead on both banks.

We made our way through the historic market district swarming with bargain shoppers and street vendors hawking everything from art supplies to fish sausage on a stick, down to the main temple and Korean folk museum. It was awe-inspiring, to say the least, to see the gently arcing temple roof lines silhouetted against the backdrop of modern Seoul. The ancient presses up against the new almost everywhere you look. The knowledge that the cut stones beneath your feet had been placed there by laborers for the emperor more than 6 centuries before was nothing short of thrilling.

I have returned to my room at SangMyung in Cheonan exhausted but inspired by the sights and sounds of Seoul. I gained new knowledge and respect for this ancient culture that is often only studied as a footnote that merely focuses on the United States’ three years of fighting in an undeclared war. There is a rich heritage of heroism and sacrifice, ingenuity and invention in Korea that needs to be a more detailed part of Asian studies in the USA. As I write this entry, I am nothing if not somewhat humbled by the experience and truly ready to meet my students for the first time tomorrow afternoon.


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