"THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS SOMETIMES FUNNY" - A Visit to the Korean War Memorial

Back in Seoul – and on our last full day in Korea – we visited the Korean War Memorial.  It is a beautiful, imposing building with some striking statuary in front of it.  Inside, I was surprised to discover that it was a memorial to all wars the Koreans have participated in – not just the “Korean War”.  There were, of course, tanks and planes from the 1950-53 conflict and an explanation of it, but there were also displays and artifacts from back to the Three Kingdom period, through the Silla, Goryeo, and Josean dynasties.  There was also a touching memorial room for those who died in war, including the American soldiers who died defending South Korea.  Maeve, one of our colleagues, found her uncle’s name on the wall of slain soldiers.  He died during the Korean war at the age of 16. 

Korean War Museum

A monument to peace - walking around this is a very tranquil experience 

Model of an ancient Korean ship

Armor display

From General Paik's slide show

The outstanding and unforgettable part of this visit, however, was the session we were privileged to have with General Paik, Korea’s first 4 star general who was  the leader of the South Korean forces during the war.  He’s 92 years old now but comes to work at the War Memorial Museum every day and seemed please to meet with us and explain his part in the war.  In his office is a painting of him shaking Douglas MacArthur’s hand, but in his presentation we saw photos of him and General Ridgway, General Van Fleet, then President-elect Eisenhower – all the way up to the current commander in Korea, General Thurman. 

General Paik with MacArthur in Korea

Shaking General Paik’s hand was awe-inspiring.  As we greeted each other and he took my hand I couldn’t help but think of the other hands this man had touched.  He explained that when he was working side by side with MacArthur, he was only 29 years old (MacArthur was 72).  When asked if he agreed with Truman’s decision to fire MacArthur, the General gave a fairly diplomatic response, saying he didn’t know enough about the reasons why the firing occurred, but he did know about the army’s needs for the chain of command to be respected.  He added that he thought MacArthur did a good job for Korea and its people while he was here.  He sort of obliquely inferred that the reason North Korea invaded the south back in 1950 was because of the United States’ diminishment of forces after WWII.  He said, “The American government is sometimes funny – after WWII was over they cut back the army to 10 divisions” – which he felt left South Korea vulnerable to the North.  I remember when I took Dr. O’Keefe’s Military History course – a recurring theme was the American dislike of large standing armies, so I understand why we cut forces back so drastically after the world war – but General Paik evidently thinks that cutback resulted in another conflict. 

The general graciously answered our questions, though skirting anything controversial.  Actually, according to Dr. Peterson, the general himself is controversial as what he had to do in the name of military success in securing the 39^th parallel in the 1950s obviously was not without collateral damage. He spoke excellent English – having gone through officer training at Fort Benning, Georgia – but had a military interpreter for most of the Q&A sessions.  Afterwards he autographed copies of his book that several of us had bought and shook everyone’s hand.   I can’t wait for the next time I teach the Korean War so I can tell my students about this remarkable experience. 

2012 Fellows with General Paik

                                     

"EAT EVERYTHING ON YOUR PLATE AND DON'T TALK" - HAE-IN TEMPLE

Whether or not it was strategically planned, the Korean Foundation saved the best for last on our field trip. Hae-In temple is a beautiful Buddhist sanctuary and an active monastery as well.  Unlike some of the other sites we've visited, Hae-In is a place we didn't just see - we experienced Hae-In.  Once again we had quite a climb to get up to the top of this holy site, but once at the top of the hill we could hear the chanting of the faithful and knew it had been worth the effort.

Climbing up Haeinsa Mountain... there's a beautiful brook in back of me

Hae-In was built during the 9th century.  One of its unique features are the prayer mazes which faithful people follow as they chant their prayers.  But what makes it really special are the 81,000 wood blocks upon which are carved all of Buddha's teachings.  They are housed, library style, in this temple so that prints can be taken from them and used to spread the word of Buddha.  Amazingly, though the temple was built centuries ago, they have quite sophisticated (and time-proven) methods to keep the wood blocks in good shape. First of all, before they even cared the blocks they took the wood (mostly magnolia wood, I believe) and soaked it in sea water for three years.  Then they exposed it to winds for three years. Then they carved the blocks and built a storage structure to keep them in condition.  Besides building the temple so high above sea level to avoid moisture, the temple is facing in the precise direction in order to take advantage of dry winds.  Additionally, the building that holds the blocks was built on a base which has layers of calcium oxide, salt, lime, charcoal, and sand to absorb moisture.
  

Ironically, a few years ago someone got the bright idea to build a new storage area for the blocks with state-of-the-art technology to preserve them.  Luckily, they  moved only a few test blocks into the new facility to see what would happen.  The test blocks became mildewed, and that's when they realized, "Hey, the blocks remained in perfect condition for a thousand years in the old place, maybe the monks who built it actually knew what they were doing!"  And so, the blocks remain at Haeinsa.  We weren't allowed to photograph the blocks but I did buy an ink print of one of them for a mere 5,000 won ($5 bucks).  

As we wandered around the complex we heard the chanting which grew louder and louder as more worshipers came to pray.  At 10:45 Dr. Peterson led us to where a giant drum was hanging (by giant I mean the size of my car).  Four monks were waiting until the proper time to begin the drum call to prayer.  Finally, one arose and began seriously beating out some rhythms on this drum.  Ringo Starr would have been green with envy at monk #1's skill. After he planed for a while he sidled over to the right and that was the signal for monk #2 to come and play side by side with him for a moment before #1 slipped back into his seat and #2 soloed.  This guy was even better than the first!  I was thinking that if they got progressively better monks #3 and #4 were going to be superhuman.  However, they were evidently beginners and didn't stack up to the first two.  After each of the monks had played they  had a grand finale and then rang the giant bell which hangs next to the drum.  It was a moving and awe-inspiring experience.  

Our visit to Hae-In ended with a meal provided by the monks.  Evidently the temple's monks provide free food to all who show up (though I understand that since our group was so large the Korea Society did make a donation to the monastery).  As we stood in line to go into the cafeteria-style eating area people were going down the rows of people saying "Eat everything on your plate and don't talk."  I guess it makes sense that the monks would be offended if we wasted any of the meal they gave us.  And silence, of course, fits in with the monastic life.  Now, at this point I had been in Korea for two weeks and had eaten a "traditional" Korean meal at least twice a day.  I wasn't planning of taking much food until I saw potatoes!  Mmmmm, potatoes.  To a girl who's had about 100 pounds of rice over the past fourteen days, potatoes looked substantial, tasty, and filling.  I loaded up on potatoes.  Then, foolishly, I took a fairly decent sized portion of greens, some bean sprouts, two starchy-looking squares of white stuff, and a bowl of soup.  But I really was excited about the potatoes.  Imagine my chagrin when I bit into the first potato and realized that they were picked turnips!   Ewwww.  They were disgusting. And I'd taken about six big chunks of them.  And, on top of that the soup wasn't so good and the starchy things were worse.  And I had to eat everything or risk offending the monks and pissing off Mrs. Chai.  Well, I could drag out this entry forever by describing all the mental manipulation I was practicing to try and force those turnips (and the other food) down, but suffice it to say that the power of mind over matter combined with some camouflage got me to the point where I felt I could bring my plate up to the monks in the kitchen - even though I ran out of there pretty fast before they noticed the turnips I'd hidden under the bowl.  

One of the monks standing in front of the building where the free lunches are served.... Make sure you eat everything on your plate!  And think twice before you take those potatoes!

One last interesting story about Haeinsa.... During the Korean War a pilot - I'm really not sure if he was for the North or South - was ordered to bomb the Haeinsa site because there were reports that their were guerillas hiding out there and  using its high vantage for reconnaissance.  So he flew over the site ready to drop his bombs.  But as he looked down, he remembered coming there as a little boy with his mother, who was a very devout Buddhist.  He remembered the sacredness of the site, he remembered the 80,000 wood blocks with the words of the Buddha carved into them, and he remembered his mother.... and he couldn't drop the bombs.  So he went out over the sea and harmlessly discharged the bombs, and flew back to his air base where he was promptly arrested for treason for failing to carry out his mission.  He was stripped of his rank and sentenced to jail.  After the war was over, however, the government starting thinking, "Hey, he's not a traitor.  He saved a national treasure, which makes him a patriot." Thus, he rank was restored and he was released from jail a hero.  Nice story, right?

"I MEAN IT - YOU WILL BE NAKED!!" - My trip to a Korean Bathhouse

It's called Dragon Spa but I'm referring to it as a bathhouse because that's what it is.  Though next to the train station and sporting a flashing neon sign, this bathhouse was definitely a local affair as I was the only westerner I saw there - and I was there for almost three hours.  Korean bathhouses are very similar to Japanese ones.  This one is huge - three storeys! - and was filled with Korean families.  Of course, I only saw the lobby and the ladies' floor.

I entered down a bamboo-covered stone stairway and luckily found someone at the desk who spoke English.  She said her husband's family emigrated to Georgia and she has visited them there; accordingly she speaks English with a southern accent!  You can enter the spa and hang out in the various baths that are set at different temperatures for only 10,000 won (a little less than nine U.S. dollars), but I decided to go for the "gold" treatment and signed up for a sauna, scrub, massage and shampoo. My new Korean friend with the southern accent was funny when I told her that's what I wanted.  She said "You'll have to take your clothes off."  Well, I anticipated that when I decided to go to a bath house so I said "That's OK."  Then she said, "Really, you will have to have nothing on."  Now I started to feel like I was odd for being OK with this concept, but I said, "I can do that."  Then she looked at me and said, "You will be NEKKED!"  Cracked me up.  Evidently she's had experiences where westerners have paid their money and then balked at going the full monty.  I told her that since I didn't know anyone there I was prepared to be "nekked". So she took my money, gave me a locker key and two towels and showed me the layout.  Since I didn't know what to do she introduced me to the sauna lady (from this point on nobody spoke any English at all) and assured me that the sauna lady would take me to the massage/scrub lady and I would be fine.

At this point I need to note that I saw more naked people on this day than I have in my entire life, with the possible exception of the day in 1984 when I went to the Turkish bath in Istanbul.  As I walked to  my locker what my new friend had told me was proven to be true... everyone WAS nekked and soon I would be, too.  The next two hours will be presented to you in a stream of consciousness narrative as follows:

"OK, I can do this.  I'm taking off all clothing and putting them in my locker. Can I take a towel with me?  Oh, there's some Korean ladies walking around with their (very small) towel kind of held up in front of them so I'll do that.  I was told to take a "quick shower" before the sauna so here I go.  Yoiks, it's a long walk to the showers and this towel is very, very small!  Well, nobody seems to be paying any attention to me.... OK, how quick should the "quick shower" be?  There's soap here... is it community soap?  Crap, there's no place to hang my towel and it's already wet.  Oh, well, it's more for modesty than for drying off at this point.

"Well, the quick shower is over and I still have 5 minutes before I'm supposed to show up to the sauna lady. I'll jump in the hip bath - it says 33 degrees Celsius and has jets.  Oooops, now people are looking at me... must be a faux pas.  OK, I'll just show up to the sauna early.  Sauna lady is nice, but what do I do!  Oh, she wants me to sit on that wooden stool that looks like a hospital toilet.  I'll sit on it just like a toilet with my hiney in the hole.  Yoiks, I'm being enveloped in a giant pink satin sack and she's drawing the drawstring around my neck!  And do I feel stupid, you're not supposed to sit on the hole - especially since there's a pot of boiling herbs underneath it which would surely cook my caboose if I stayed the way I was.  I'll do as she says and sit at the back of the stool with my feet on either side and leaning back against the wall. Hmmm, Korean soap operas are on.  That'll keep my mind off  how hot it's getting in this bag....

"OMG, that pink satin chair across from me just moved!!!  Oh, it's not a chair at all, it's a Korean lady emerging from her sauna-sack.  The drawstring had been tied over the top of her head.  Well, now that I know there's another customer in here I can watch to see what she does.  For example, now I know when I want to sip some of the green tea that's on a small table next to me I just slip my arm out of the drawstring and sip away... also that the sauna lady will replenish it when it's empty.  This is a good thing 'cause it's getting quite warm in the pink bag.  My lady keeps sticking her hand inside the sacque and checking the temperature... it must be good because she just drew the sacque over the top of my head and closed the drawstring.  Waiting....   waiting....   Gee, it's hot.  What would happen if I pass out?  If I spread my feet farther will it let a little fresh air in?  Ahhhh...a little better.  Waiting... Oy, it's really, really hot.  That's a lot of sweat running down my body.  Yep, it's hot..... Waiting..... Thank GOD!  She's come to bring my head out of the sack and brings me cold tea.  But I still have some time to cook because the pretty Korean customer across from me is still cooking....

"All right, now the sack lady takes the sack off me and I'm "nekked" again.  Which is the best way to hold this towel in front of me... did I mention that the towel is very, very small?  Oh, here's the scrub lady.  I'll follow her but this floor is super slippery.  OK, here's 6 massage tables lined up in a tiled area next to some more baths.  She hoses the table down (the others are empty) and beckons me to lie down.  Gaahh, that scrub mitten she's wearing feels like steel wool.  It must be a loofah, but it's falling apart as she scrubs - hard - every nook and cranny I've got.  Ewwww, wait a minute, that's not pieces of loofah falling off the glove... that's giant pieces of my dead skin she's rolling off my body!!!!... how embarrassing.  Since Korean women come here all the time I'm assuming they don't have as much built-up dead skin to come off.  This loofah lady probably thinks I haven't bathed since Christmas.  I mean, we're talking GLOBS of skin.  And this hurts!  Ouch! [this process goes on for about 45 minutes and my skin keeps coming off in globs the entire time].

Obviously, I didn't take photos inside the spa... I snagged this off the internet

Forty-five minutes later... "Great, the scrubbing is over, now for the massage.  Hey, easy there!  This woman is strong.  It's not quite Thai massage but there's a lot of stretching involved. Ouch!  OK... my eyes have  been closed for over an hour, but I think this woman is walking on my butt... should I look?  Well, I can see her (and, unfortunately, me) reflected on the tile wall, and yes, she is walking on my butt.  And it hurts.  This really, really, hurts... I wonder if I can come back tomorrow..... OK, that's over.  Hey, people have joined me.  There's a 14 year old girl getting the same treatment I am on the table next to me and someone who's probably her mother next to her.  Mmmmmm, now she's putting crushed cucumber all over my face and washing my hair.  [10 minutes later]  It's over?  OK, I'll go and hang out in the 40 degrees Celsius pool for awhile.  Then I'll have to walk back through that big room to get to my locker and clothing."

Internet photo - the spa patrons I saw were grandmas, housewives, and  kids, not glamorous models

Despite feeling way awkward and not too sure I was following protocol, I'm really glad I visited the Korean bathhouse.  It was filled with housewives, babies, glamor girls - and a middle aged Caucasian lady from DeLand, Florida.

"IT'S NOT A RELIGION WHEN YOU'RE ALIVE, BUT WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, IT IS"

The subject of the above quote is, of course, Confucianism.  The quote comes from a Korean movie recommended by Dr. Peterson, which is a dark comedy about a funeral.  Korea was a Buddhist nation under the Goryeon dynasty but because of the corruption of that time the Josean dynasty turned to Confucianism and today Korea is the most Confucian society in the world.  Even Koreans who wouldn't classify themselves as "Confucian" - only about 3% of the country does - live under Confucian principles such as filial piety and honoring ancestors.  Since ancestor worship is carried on through male lineage there is still an ingrained propensity to want boy babies (I discussed the skewed gender birth statistics in another entry).  One of our professors gave us what was almost like a stand-up comedy routine about Korean guilt trips as far as caring for their parents is concerned.  Children are expected to have their parents live with them - but as Dr. Andrew ______ (oops can't remember his last name, I'll look it up later) said, not only do the kids not want the parents living with them, the parents don't want to live with their adult kids!  This causes a lot of emotional conflict.  Another evidence of Confucianism and male favoritism is the tradition that once a girl marries she is no longer considered a part of her birth family - she now belongs to her husband's family  This is why Jid Lee in her book To Kill A Tiger, refers to her mother's siblings as "outside uncle" or "outside aunt" - because they aren't officially part of her family.

Though not officially related to Confucianism, shamanism is also still alive and well in Korea (I assume mainly in the villages).  I didn't witness any actual use of shamanism on my trip, but Dr. Peterson referred to it frequently and I read Laurel Kendall's book Shamans, Housewives, and other Restless Spirits which is an ethnography of the practice.  I wanted to ask Dr. Peterson how prevalent shamanism is now in light of Koreans rapid modernization but didn't get the chance (Kendall's book was published in 1985 and I'm assuming much has changed since them).  Anyway, evidently a mansin (traditional healer) will still be called in to perform an exorcism if there is illness or bad luck in the household.

A TRIP TO BRIGADOON - Yang Dong Folk Village

As we walked up the hillside to Yang Dong Village I felt like I was in Brigadoon.  It is a traditional village run on Confucian values, mostly inhabited by two clans, the Son and the Lee families.  Each family has a patriarch and we were able to go to the 500 year-old home of the Lee family and meet with its patriarch (who is only in his thirties as his father died at an unexpectedly young age).  There is a name for the patriarch which I think is "chosun" though I'm sure I'm not spelling it correctly.  We sat in his clan's meeting hall, an open air structure with Chinese scripture hanging on the walls and a list (also in Chinese) of the family members and their duties for the season.  After we sat crosslegged in a circle (shoes off, socks on as we  had been instructed) the "chosun" came out in traditional clothes to meet with us. Dr. Peterson translated as we asked questions about his lifestyle, his duties as clan leader, and the heritage of his village.  He tried to explain the Confucian view of male/female relationships and duties, saying that men and women are equal in Confucianism, but the man has his responsibilities and the woman hers, and from these responsibilities they do not stray.  Basically, "women know their place."  The Korean girls with us on the trip - teaching assistants from the university - were giggling as he was talking on this subject and I later found out that it's because he prefaced his answer to the question about gender roles by saying "I knew you'd ask that - every American who comes here asks that question."

He also discussed the changes that have come to the village since it became a UNESCO site.  The streets of the village were thronged with tourists - mostly Korean.  Evidently the village council made the decision to become a UNESCO site with full knowledge that this would happen, and they've taken care to keep the village character - for example, there are no gift shops or restaurants in the village - except the one traditional restaurant that's been there all along.  He also pointed out that, similar to the organic farm movement in the United States, the population of Yang Dong is actually growing as young Koreans yearn for more traditional lifestyles and a "back to the earth" type movement is afoot. 

Anyway, after about an hour and a half of Q&A our legs were rebelling.  Mrs. Chai had admonished us to avoid pointing our feet toward our host, but as I shifted off of one butt cheek to another it was getting tough not to stretch my legs out.  Finally, we concluded our visit with sliced watermelon offered by our host, along with homemade cherry juice.  Then we were free to explore the village, including the vacant home of the other chosun and the traditional Confucian school (no longer used as the village children now have a modern school at the bottom of the hill). 

The patriarch ("Chosun") of the Lee family graciously answering our questions about Korean traditional live and Confucianist lifestyle

Though the hanok houses are centuries old and some even have thatched roofs, Yang Dong is inhabited by wealthy farmers and scholars.  The "chosun" is completing his Ph.D. in Education, and the wealthy "chosun" of the Son family lives in a nearby metropolis during the week and uses his ancestral home as a weekend getaway  The quaint houses have satellite dishes and there are nice cars parked by them.  After eating at the traditional "restaurant" - which is actually somebody's home - we stepped out of Brigadoon and onto our bus, headed for our hotel in Daegu. BTW, speaking of the thatched roof houses, Dr. Peterson explained that thatched roofs had actually been outlawed during President Park's industrialization period because they were considered backward. But the residents at Yang Dong prefer them because of their insulation properties and convenience. 

Doesn't even look real, does it?

A school group on a field trip - looked like they were collecting botany samples from the creek

SEOKGURAM GROTTO

The Korean landscape looks just like the prototypical Asian painting… meandering streams worshiping at the feet of sharply peaked mountains veiled in mist.  Climbing up the slippery stone steps to Seokguram Grotto was like stepping into one of those paintings. This site is unique because Buddha is found in a man-made cave or grotto, which was constructed to protect the sculpture and the statues of disciples which surround him.  The Japanese evidently tried to moisture-proof the grotto, which really only screwed it up, but now it’s a UNESCO site and is protected.  Located at the peak of the mountain facing east, I can only imagine what it would be like to stand in front of the grotto at sunrise with no tourists, no Korean Foundation employee telling you to hurry up, no lecture coming over the earphones.  Just the Buddha behind me, the sunrise in front of me, and the mountains and the mist.   Ommmmm….

At the bottom of the peak is a temple and a huge bell used to call Buddhists to prayer. Nowadays you can ring the bell for a mere 1,000 won (about 86 cents), so of course I did it.  After you swing the huge log back three times and then propel it into the huge bronze bell you put your forehead against the bell to feel its vibrations travel down your body.  Some of our group opted to walk down the entire mountain to the Bul-Guk temple, but the slippery steps inhibited me and some others.  We met our colleagues for a tour of the temple – happily noting that the rain finally seemed to gone for good. 

No photos allowed in the grotto... but my Korean guide buddy and I posed outside

Lanterns left from Buddha's birthday

CHEONJU

We’re staying in the beautiful town of Cheonju, which was the capital of the Silla dynasty.  The whole town is on the Korean National Register of historic places, and it is very picturesque.  The Silla dynasty united Korea, and Cheonju is the burial place of the first Silla king, Park Hyuk Geose. It was pouring down rain, but that didn’t keep us from visiting the sites next to a well where the king was born from an egg laid by a horse (yes, this is the creation myth of the Silla) and his queen was hatched from an egg, complete with beak, but turned into a girl.  After hatching, they founded the dynasty.  We visited the five mounds of his tomb.  Why five mounds, you ask?  Well, as the king fell down dead his body was divided into five parts.  His followers tried to put the body back together, but a serpent kept them from doing it so they buried him in five parts. (see photo of a cartoon version of this story below)

We were actually allowed to enter the “Ceon-Ma-Chong tomb" because they haven’t been able to figure out who was buried there.  Since they don’t know who it was, evidently they’re not offending anyone by letting people enter.  It’s called the “heavenly horse tomb” because of a painting found within.  We were happy we were able to enter because the rain was still coming down in torrents.  But eventually we had to leave our ghoulish shelter and face the weather again. 

By the time we reached Gyeong Ju National Museum we were on information overload.  A very knowledgeable expert took us through three buildings at the museum, but unfortunately most of what she told us was not absorbed as it was all becoming a bit overwhelming.  Ooops, one very important thing that actually made quite an impression on me and all of our group:  Many artifacts in the museum are evidence that Korea was the last stop on the Silk Road.  Of particular note was the Roman glass found in the area and now housed in the museum.  For example, a necklace of glass beads, one of which has four faces and other images crafted into the glass.  The faces on this bead are not Korean faces – they look western.  Some glass water vessels and other items are further evidence.  Also of note is the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, which is the largest in Asia.  It weighs 25 tons and, though the bell is never rung anymore, it is said that the resonance of its sound reaches ears 3 kilometers away. 

On another note, as we venture out of Seoul in more rural areas to the south we find that sitting on the floor is more and more common at restaurants.  Various aches and pains felt by members of the group have been exacerbated by our extended floor sitting.  I can do it, but if I can’t move my legs they go to sleep pretty quickly – and it is almost impossible to move your legs when they’re under the low Korean tables.   We ate at one interesting restaurant where you sit on the floor and two servers brought our tables – fully set out with dishes.  Korean style dining consists of little saucer-like dishes filled with small “side dishes” that everyone shares.  No one seems to mind the fact that we’re using our chopsticks both as serving utensils and eating utensils (shared saliva – ew).  Anyway, there’s always a few different kinds of kimchi – pickled cabbage, pickled radishes, etc.  Eggplant is a frequent offering – but if you are sitting at a table for four there will only be four pieces of eggplant (or whatever is in the side dish) served.  But there will probably be about 10 different side dishes on each table.  Trouble with this “side dish” style of eating that often it’s hard to tell if there is a main dish!  It all tastes good and there’s always plenty of rice but it gets a bit redundant.

Traditional Korean restaurant - waiting for the tables to arrive

Because Cheonju is such an historic place it is a major tourist destination, so there are plenty of amenities there.  We are staying at a beautiful Hilton Hotel on a lake, and there is a pretty impressive amusement park right across the lake from my balcony.  Speaking of my balcony, that’s a misnomer, because it’s actually a beautifully landscaped terrace.  I don’t know how I rated the “garden floor” but my room is gigantic and the terrace is just lovely – though we’re so busy I haven’t had time to just sit out on it and relax.  From my terrace I can also see the Cheonju tower, which is made with a pagoda shape cut out from the center of the building.  It’s quite spectacular. 

Kimchi pots - yummy! Lots of fermented cabbages inside!

The Legend!

Game (but soggy)  history teachers in front of the tomb 

We didn't visit this amusement park but I took this photo from my Hilton Hotel balcony!

View from my balcony!

And this is my private balcony!