Things I Learned About Korea…

Side streets looked like this, with small stores often displaying fruit outside. This street was in Anguk-dong in the old downtown, just East of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It doesn’t look the same now.

The Han River Bridge…

I remember several male Korean office workers telling me about an important historical tragedy from the Korean War. I hadn’t been in Korea long when they told me. They said there was only one bridge crossing the Han River in 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War. When the North Korean Army first invaded the South, many Korean people from Seoul crowded onto that bridge, trying desperately to cross the river, in a panic, to escape the North Korean soldiers. But the South Korean Army blew up the bridge so the Northern Army couldn’t easily go into the rest of the country. This killed hundreds of South Koreans who were on the bridge trying to escape. It’s something that all Koreans must feel was so traumatic. And they weren’t angry or resentful toward their government or the South Korean Army because of such a horrible event. That bridge is the oldest bridge in Seoul and it still looks the same now as it did years ago, with a lot of criss-crossed metal, designed in an old-fashioned way. I think it is kept looking old so the Koreans will never forget.

Leftovers Were Fed to the Pigs…

In the beginning of my time in Seoul, when I was I was eating with some Korean students, they told me not to leave toothpicks in my food when I disposed of it. They said everybody had to be careful of where they put their toothpicks because all of the food in the garbage was given to pigs and the pigs choked on toothpicks that were in the swill or slop and were sometimes killed because of it. Oh my goodness, I never had to worry about that back home, ever. Now, they probably have a different system. In the late 90’s, Korea was very organised and highly structured. Everything was efficient and geared to run smoothly.

Old poster from the U.K. saying people gave table scraps to farms to feed their pigs. I think this was more prevalent during the two World Wars.

I remember the Korean students telling me that all of their produce was grown in greenhouses throughout the country. I wish we did that in Canada, but maybe our cold winters are too harsh? Wè have to import a lot of our produce.

The Seoul Subway

When I first arrived in Seoul, I had no idea about Korea at all. I was at the mercy of Koreans who were strangers to me, to teach me how to function in public and help me to take the subway and even to shop in stores.

I was absolutely terrified of the subway before I used it. My hometown was small and any subway was 800km away, in Montreal. The TV shows and movies I had always seen were from the US and subways were always depicted as being crime-ridden and dirty. I remember dreading going on the subway. Soon after my arrival in Seoul, a Korean man who worked for my boss(a “recruiter”, who was a liason between foreigners and Korean companies) had to take me on a subway ride and explain to me how it went. I couldn’t believe it! The Korean subway was very safe and clean! One thing I noticed was that everybody was so calm, quiet and orderly. Hardly anyone spoke and usually everybody slept.

There were no special, protective gates like this on subways in the 1990’s.

A photo from the 1980s showing how the subway cars had no glass barrier in front of them like they have nowadays. The Seoul subway was like this when I lived there.

Games Were Not Digital…

When I spent time once, on a large wing of The Sejong Institute, a few of the men played what I call Korean checkers. There were many small, white or black, round stones that 2 opponents played very quickly. The stones were moved around a large square board.

In Canada, we didn’t have such a game, so it was interesting to me. The men were very serious about their game and one of them seemed to be angry about how it was going.

While I was taking pictures during one of my trips to GyeongBokGung Palace, I took a photo of Korean families playing an old game where sticks were thrown into tall, thin, metal receptacles.

Families playing a Traditional game in Korea.
(Photo:JCorvec)

Furniture in Seoul back then…

Most older people with families had Western‐styled beds and dining room sets. However, in the late 90’s, Korean people didn’t use “beds”, preferring to sleep on thick fabric mats. They told me that beds were bad for the body and back. Also, Koreans always wanted to sit on the floor when they ate a meal. They always laughed when I groaned after I had been sitting down.

Many Korean people had Western beds but instead they slept on “mattresses” like this, on the floor.

When I saw bedding like blankets for sale in Korea in the late 1990’s, there were just thick coverings that looked like comforters and there were no sheets for sale at all. Many pillows were what Westerners would call “cushions”, and they were covered in knitted coverings.

Korean Laquered Furniture

I have to mention Korean antique furniture. When I lived in Seoul in the late 90’s, there were many items of this special furniture in Korea. I saw some in my travels while visiting or shopping. The ones I saw were usually black and shiny, hence the term “laquer”, and they had blue, purple and silver-coloured mother of pearl incorporated into the designs.

This is what Korean laquerware looked like.

When I visited the home of a Korean girl I knew, her bedroom full of laquer furniture, like dressers and bureaus, with a lot of mother of pearl in shapes of cranes. I couldn’t stop looking at the cranes.

My students at the Sejong Institute gave me a piece of Korean laquerware at the end of the class. It was a jewellery box. A deer or horse is in the design.