As stated in How I Met Your Mother, people make New Year's out to be this grandiose event every year and that is what usually causes it's downfall. For the first time, I held no great expectation for the day and had a memorable experience. Who I truly feel bad for is my friend Amy. We set up this elaborate plan to go to Seoul to ring in the New Year and then go to Namsan Tower (The highest point in Seoul) to watch the first sunrise of the year. We left late to going to Seoul and got into the city by 9 o'clock. We headed for Itaewon (the foreigner district) to have dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I kept thinking to myself that I could not stand being in this area. I was so fed up with how disrespectful the foreigners were behaving. They were yelling out profanity, throwing litter all over the place and I felt ashamed because the Koreans probably thought that's how all foreigners behave. What is worst, being egocentric or disapproving of some of the habits of your own country? I am overjoyed by the fact that I live in a small city away from Seoul. I could not take this sight on a daily basis.
The realization has set in that when I do go back home I will be hit by a nasty case of reverse culture shock. I am going through a stage of rejecting almost everything western. I am not denouncing my culture or heritage but I wished that people could act in an appropriate and respectful manner. While strolling through the streets of Itaewon, I wanted to get the hell out of there and was becoming irritated by music that I once enjoyed. The association of negative attributes of one culture has manifested itself in almost every aspect now. The food was good and we ordered quite a bit but that is where our first mistake occurred. Due to that, we left the later than we intended to, jumped on the subway to get to one of the main areas where they would do a countdown. Over estimating the time we had, we casually walked to our destination until we got stampeded by a hoard of people. This was the first of many encounters with the shoving. As we tried to ascend the stairs to the countdown, people were pushing forward to get up from the subway and then others was pushing down to get back to the subways. Needless to say, we missed the ringing in of the New Year and almost got thrown down a long flight of stairs.
While trying to take pictures of the remaining festivities, people were running in front of our cameras and getting in the way of a good amount of the shots. In a city as large as Seoul, the police were out in drones, lining the streets and blocking off roads. While passing a street vendor, a drunken man lost footing and knocked a young kid into a counter making him hit his head. All of this happened no more than five feet in front of the police and they didn't do anything until the mother started to yell at the cops. While yelling she began to kick the man and the vendor woman also began to do the same. At this point we just walked away because it was becoming ridiculous.
In search of a 24 hour coffee shop or McDonald's to rest in for the few hours we had left before going to Namsan Tower, we found nothing. Finally we went to a PC room and stayed there for the three hours. Leaving at 5:30 to head to our destination we walked through a shady part of Seoul and up the millionth set of stairs for that night. Not a complaint but an observation.
A little background on the significance of this event. The first sunrise of the year is very important to the Koreans because it is the welcoming of the New Year and upon seeing the rising sun you make a wish. We went to the observatory of the tower and was crammed up against the window as more people were trying to get within view to see the sun. Eventually we were told that we had to sit down so that the people in the back could see this as well. I had a woman's butt in my face for a good 10 minutes. Even though almost everything I have said has been negative, all I can really remember was how kind the people around us were. Although they shoved and pushed their way in front of us when we wanted to take pictures they backed away from the window, cleaned the condensation off the window and did everything they could to make it easier for us. By this time, I had been up for almost 30 hours without sleep and Amy had it worst because she had to teach before we left. Yet the only thought I can think about was what a wonderful experience this was. The sunrise was a magnificent sight that made it all worth it. Then the little bit of sleep that I got when we got back felt like the best and most well earned hours ever. What I am trying to say is that these stipulations that we place on such trivial properties is what leads to our sense of failure and disappointment. So the release of such benign concepts will be a major goal of the next year. It is not the New Year's resolution but it is a relevant objective.
3 comments:
You have a lot of contradictory thoughts. Is that the East vs. West battling for dominance in your head?
What is the last picture? I think it is a bunch of people on the ground, but it also kind of looks like colorful poo.
I do have quite a few contradictory thoughts running through my head. In fact, the only things that really go through it now a days is the difference between both cultures and a debate on what is worth keeping and what to discard. I can see why Ex-Patriots become just that when they find a culture that they like more than their own or the faults of their culture is highlighted.
When I first got here it was all about hanging on to my sense of individuality but now I find myself out for the greater good of the group.
I believe most of the contradictions in my post lies in the fact that what would have seemed like an awful time was truly not that bad when you focus on the positive aspects of life instead of dwelling on the negatives. I needed to list off what I disliked about the night to truly convey the splendors of the few good experiences.
The picture you are talking about was taken from the observatory in Namsan Tower. Those are all the people walking around and it is the color of poop because it is winter and everything is dead.
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