March 10th, The steadfast Ox and the Ancient City

This morning we left the hotel for a local mountain that is covered with carvings and sculptures. We hiked up the mountain to look at the Buddhas, but all of their heads had been removed by the Japanese during the 1910s. Either way it was still cool to see their use of practically every visible rock as a testament to their love of Buddha. We saw some monks at one of the carvings and they told us to bow to Buddha to find a good husband (we bowed alot :-) ..) and he said he was celibate in this life because he had not done enough bows in his past life. I am glad they have such an amazing sense of humor about their lives. He actually pulled me aside to tell me I was very beautiful, which I thought was an interesting testament to the effect of western culture (how many Asians are blond with blue eyes...ironic). We also went up to the top of a hill on the mountain that had a giant stone pagoda, it was incredible to see the detail that still remained hundreds of years later.

Our next stop was the museum of History...we went to the Buddhism and Archaeology buildings. It was filled with golden crowns and pottery and other royal artifacts found in the tombs of the kings buried in local burial mounds. The underlying theme that I could not shake for the entire time in the exhibit was the continuity across cultures of the world. Somewhere in history it was decided that wearing a piece of medal on your head made you more special than everyone else. Also, alot of their pottery looked like that of ancient Greece and Rome. It proved they were very in tune with nations around the world, it just took a little longer to get there.

We also found out it is the year of the ox, the steadfast ox, the worker that will persevere through anything. Something I will take back with me as I have to persevere through these last weeks of class. Become the ox...that will have to be my motto for the next 8 or so.

Our next stop was a king's burial mound, they were very similar to other cultures (like Egyptians and Inca, Aztecs) they buried their leaders with things for the afterlife. Here though, they actually killed his horses and servants and buried them with him. Tough life. They laid gifts in with the body and food, then covered the site with rocks about 20 feet high, then mud and sticks for waterproofing and planted grass on the whole mound. The bodies did not survive because they were not mummified and the moist air and wetness of the soil contributed to their wearing away as well, but all of the gold survived. It was 22 karats...wow.

Korean culture has been a joy to travel in because they are into the meshing of the ancient with the modern. All of their buildings have traditional designs, even their gas stations. It is cool to see them embrace it. We ate another traditional lunch, but afterwards we all went and raided the convenient store for sweets. All this salty food is making us crave ice cream and candy...so funny.