Chusok
The so called Korean thanksgiving was this past week. It's a time for pilgrimage and family reunion. all of those souls who've strayed from home reunite in the domicile of their youth. fittingly enough, i too was able to see a few members of my family: mom and dad. they left our home town northfield and endured the 14 hour pilgrimage by plane to be with me, and to experience what turned out to be a rather dead Seoul. being chusok and all, most everything shuts down and everybody goes home (which is often a distant refuge from work apparently). but by the end of the week things returned to status quo and they saw the full force. We checked out the markets, the Seoul namsan tower, my home in the subdistrict Shinchon, the intricate transportation system, the food, among numerous other ineffable, miniscule details. i was happy to show them a piece of the pie.
posted by Tom at 1:32 PM
1 Comments:
hey tom - ben downs here! This read has been so uplifting. Invocation of cliche aside, I really can't tell you how excited I am for you. It sounds like the trip of a lifetime.
I, too, am in a new country. Or at least it feels like it. I am working on my master's degree at U of Illinois with Ian Hobson. About 95% of the piano students here are imported from South Korea. And yes - all quite good and extremely disciplined. I told one of my office mates yesterday that I was destined to learn Korean by the time I had finished my degree, thanks to the plethora of asian verbage flowing around my ears.
I must admit, I'm a little bit jealous of you. I have always wanted to study abroad, and especially in an environment which would require the acquisition of a new language, culture, and way of thinking (not to mention the benefits that an aura of "tall blonde American guy" might yield :o) ). It sounds as if you have aclimated quite well to your new surroundings and people.
Keep up the postings, and I'll keep up the responses. I'd give you my e-mail address, but I'm a little bit worried about posting that in a public forum - I've gotten the proverbial electronic shaft by doing so before.
later,
the tall blonde American,
ben
Post a Comment
<< Home