NO! I do not mean the DMZ or North Korea, those I have yet to do. No this last week I participated in an expedition to an island in the East Sea that is claimed by both Korea and Japan. The island is known to Koreans as "Dokdo," the Japanese call it "Dakeshima." Both nations claim this speck of land to be theirs, and for such a miniscule amount of earth, it is HUGE deal to the people of Korea. It is such a hot button issue to Koreans, that even mentioning it can lead to animated tirades about the ancient rights of Korea to Dokdo and the malevolence of the Japanese.
This subject is such an important issue to Koreans that some historical societies in Korea find it their duty to inform people about it. This happens to include foreigners like myself, as well as exchange students in Korean universities. The expedition I participated in was sponsored by a group known as the Isabu Association, a group who focus on Korea's ancient claims to the islands of Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Their belief in this issue is so strong that they not only offered to coordinate this trip, they paid for all the participants! This magnanimous offer was much too good to pass up in this blogger's opinion. Though he suspected (and was often warned) that this association was more than a little biased on the subject. Not only that, but previous groups had been photographed, filmed, and quoted for the purposes of drawing attention (and asserting) international approval for Korea's stance of this issue. Though I suspected my participation in this trip could lend my face and words towards propaganda, I smothered my pride in rationalities. Most who know me know that I am more or less apolitical and that I do not participate in my home nation's political process. So when I considered the notion of my pride and dignity being sacrificed for propaganda I though long and hard. I concluded:
"Meh..."
To be perfectly frank, I couldn't imagine this trip to force me to do anything any more humiliating than things I had already done at high school pep rallies. Though nationalistic pride is on a slightly grander and more intimate scale of feeling than school pride, I find that I am equally aloof to both phenomena. So I filled out the application, pursued the issue relentlessly and joined three of my fellow Hongcheon residents on the journey to Dokdo. After all, who really is going to pass up a free trip (and four days off of school) simply on a matter of principle? (Yes, in this regard, my standards are that low). However, in spite of all the fears and warnings, I was pleasantly surprised by how little we were pushed to pose for pictures and make statements for the organization. Though much of the information presented to us by various museums and historical societies had a blatant bias, all of the participants I spoke to during the trip recognized the angle of information. More than once we were able to stop and share a laugh about it.
But enough on that, the trip:
The trip lasted from Tuesday to Friday, taking me from my home in Hongcheon to the coastal city Samcheok, and the Islands of Ulleungdo, and Dokdo.
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| Samcheok Museum |
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| Apparently people in these parts take their "Tug-o-war" VERY seriously |
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| A display in the Museum |
Tuesday night was spent at a hotel in Samcheok.
Wednesday met us bright and excruciatingly early (5am). From there we climbed aboard the local ferry for Ulleungdo and crossed the East Sea (a 5 hour trip). Doped up on seasick meds we more or less moped about the ship, serenaded by the sound of vomiting passengers. I unfortunately did not sleep much on this ride. I did however, discover the joy of wandering about a bouncing boat while groggy on medication. I was more than once found giggling while haphazardly stumbling up and down the ship. I suppose seasick medication is the cheapest drunk feeling I've ever encountered (the potions are about 1,000 won a bottle, that's less than $1)
We landed Ulleungdo to discover it was too late to see Dokdo, so we were loaded into buses after lunch and raced around the island. Sadly it was often too fast to take pictures of incredible cliff faces and amazing seascapes. However, there were a few spots we were allowed to take pictures. I was more amused by climbing over rocks and acting like a kid. I don't think I'll ever be over my affinity for jungle gyms.....
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| My buddy Kevin on the mountainside |
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| Fellow adventurers in front of Turtle Rock, note the Turtle diving face first into the sea just over Olivia's left shoulder. |
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| Yep this is me, being awesome...on a rock. |
Though we were able to see a great deal of Ulleungdo on Wednesday, we were not able to spend much time in any one spot. The longest we were anywhere was 10 minutes! I found this to be irritating, but it encouraged me to run and play as much as I could every time we stopped. The evening came crashing down on us sooner than we expected and after dinner we retreated to a local pension (resort like group of cottages on the mountainside). We were travel weary and sore from being cramped inside Korean buses (which do not have any notion of leg room! This is a problem). However, in spite of our long day and the promise of a longer one in the morning, I was pleased to find many of my fellow adventurers mingling in the cold evening air. We stayed up late into the night, talking, playing games, and enjoying modest amounts of the local brew: pumpkin mackoli.
(Mackoli is a common Korean rice wine (that can be bought at any convenience store), however, Ulleugndo is the only place you can find Pumpkin Mackoli.)
Though we all enjoyed imbibing this unique brew, I must confess that it tastes more or less like ordinary Mackoli. However, as with all alcohol, the joy of the drinking is as much based on the quality of the company as the quality of the alcohol being consumed. Thankfully, the friends I found on this trip were as many I've found in Korea, fantastic. Though we did not make a late night of it on Wednesday, we did beat back the cold with many cups of Mackoli and a lot of laughs.
Thursday led us to Dokdo, but more on that later. I apparently I have to go teach now!
-Mg out
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