It's been a great three months in Korea. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting on the blog. We've had fun doing it.
This will be the last blog entry. Perhaps the blog will be revived if/when we return some day.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Keuriseumaseu
Today is New Year's Day -- Happy New Year!
We started the day at Erma's parents' home, where I participated in two New Year's day rituals: bowing to one's elders and eating tteok 떡 (glutinous rice cakes).
We're now back in Seoul, and preparing for our return home to America.
Speaking of holidays, it was rather extraordinary how Christmas-y it was both here in Seoul and in Qingdao in the run-up to December 25. According to Wikipedia, 10% of Koreans are Catholics and 18% are Protestants. That's a sizable minority, so one would expect Christmas to be celebrated here. What was surprising to me was the degree to which a commercialized secular Christmas has permeated the culture. As in America, for several weeks most stores and restaurants played Christmas music (the usual familiar melodies and English lyrics) and decorated with wreaths, trees, lights, and the like. Employees wore Santa hats. Stores advertised Christmas gifts heavily, and a few days before the holiday itself, many of them set up little stands on the sidewalks displaying their gifts sets.
It was even more surprising to see similar decorations in Qingdao, since a much smaller percentage of the population is Christian. As seems so typical in China, the Christmas stuff was overdone to the point of tackiness. Our hotel lobby was festooned with Santa statues and two-dimensional cardboard images, as well as trees and wreaths. Erma posed with this statue outside Meida'er 美达尔, a restaurant specializing in grilled skewered kabobs.
In the Qingdao airport, an automated sax-playing Santa with disquietingly flexible hips wriggled tirelessly in front of the duty-free store.
What does it all mean? I guess it shows that the trappings of Christmas--the presents, the lights, the colors, and so on--are just irresistible to most people. And the opportunity to profit off the holiday is irresistible to retailers.
After our return from China, we heard an NPR report over the internet on Christmas in Iraq. The reporter was asked by the Stateside anchor-person how majority Iraqi Muslims were reacting to the celebrations by American troops and Iraqi Christians. "Well," she said, "they really like the lights, just like everybody else."
So: Where in the world does Christmas still pass unnoted and unnoticed? Israel. Arabia, I suppose. Perhaps not for long!
We started the day at Erma's parents' home, where I participated in two New Year's day rituals: bowing to one's elders and eating tteok 떡 (glutinous rice cakes).
We're now back in Seoul, and preparing for our return home to America.
Speaking of holidays, it was rather extraordinary how Christmas-y it was both here in Seoul and in Qingdao in the run-up to December 25. According to Wikipedia, 10% of Koreans are Catholics and 18% are Protestants. That's a sizable minority, so one would expect Christmas to be celebrated here. What was surprising to me was the degree to which a commercialized secular Christmas has permeated the culture. As in America, for several weeks most stores and restaurants played Christmas music (the usual familiar melodies and English lyrics) and decorated with wreaths, trees, lights, and the like. Employees wore Santa hats. Stores advertised Christmas gifts heavily, and a few days before the holiday itself, many of them set up little stands on the sidewalks displaying their gifts sets.
It was even more surprising to see similar decorations in Qingdao, since a much smaller percentage of the population is Christian. As seems so typical in China, the Christmas stuff was overdone to the point of tackiness. Our hotel lobby was festooned with Santa statues and two-dimensional cardboard images, as well as trees and wreaths. Erma posed with this statue outside Meida'er 美达尔, a restaurant specializing in grilled skewered kabobs.
In the Qingdao airport, an automated sax-playing Santa with disquietingly flexible hips wriggled tirelessly in front of the duty-free store.What does it all mean? I guess it shows that the trappings of Christmas--the presents, the lights, the colors, and so on--are just irresistible to most people. And the opportunity to profit off the holiday is irresistible to retailers.
After our return from China, we heard an NPR report over the internet on Christmas in Iraq. The reporter was asked by the Stateside anchor-person how majority Iraqi Muslims were reacting to the celebrations by American troops and Iraqi Christians. "Well," she said, "they really like the lights, just like everybody else."
So: Where in the world does Christmas still pass unnoted and unnoticed? Israel. Arabia, I suppose. Perhaps not for long!
Paeshyeon
Erma was thinking about doing a blog entry on fashion (i.e. paeshyeon 패션) in Seoul, but it never worked out. We got a few good surreptitious pictures of girls' legs one sunny autumn afternoon in Shinchon, and it seems a shame to waste them.
So I'll present them here, with minimal commentary, since this is well outside my areas of expertise.
Stirrup stockings with high heels:
Stirrup stockings with wedges:
Knee socks with boots:
Stirrup knee socks with tennies:
Not shown here, despite our efforts with the hidden camera, are oft-seen high-heeled shoes worn with color-matched knee socks, the combination presenting the illusion of knee-high boots.
So I'll present them here, with minimal commentary, since this is well outside my areas of expertise.
Stirrup stockings with high heels:
Stirrup stockings with wedges:
Knee socks with boots:
Stirrup knee socks with tennies:
Not shown here, despite our efforts with the hidden camera, are oft-seen high-heeled shoes worn with color-matched knee socks, the combination presenting the illusion of knee-high boots.
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