Were we...

I started this near the end of our two weeks in Seoul and didn’t get it sent out:

It has been so long since I’ve written; were we…Attacked by North Koreans? Lost in the Seoul subway? Carried off by Japanese? Beaten up by angry Chinese? Burnt by spicy hot Korean food?

NO BUT… We have been very busy learning about many issues here, been feed like royalty, treated as rock stars, written up in the newspaper, and received well by many.

Funny first

1. We were out one day and for the first time ordered Korean food on our own; we thought we knew what we were doing but ended up ordering the hottest food we have eaten yet!

2. After speaking about ‘being peacemakers/ reconcilers in the everyday’ at a girls’ high school, we were rushed like rock stars, hugged, photographed and asked many questions. If our hand wasn’t shaken by a girl then she walked by giggling shyly. Mark was told he was handsome and I was told I was beautiful.

3. Many folks, not just children, stare at Mark’s beard or call him Santa Clause. I think the older women eye him the most; should I be jealous?

Learning-

1. We have been learning the subway system in Seoul and getting around by ourselves but fortunately each line is numbered so the stops are also numbered for we can’t read the place names in Korean!
2. We went to a craft area and purchased clothing all by ourselves and got ½ off the price. I wonder what it really cost to make and if the producers were given a fair wage.

Relaxing-

1. One day after speaking at a church outside of Seoul, we had the morning with the host family. They took us on a touring trip and treated us to a spa and swim. Mark and I did some laps in an outdoor pool and I taught the mother a few things about swimming. Had we known what they meant by spa we would have been in that area the WHOLE TIME! There were several pools of varying things (herbs and salts, I think at least they were different colours and scents and labelled fruits or herbs), very hot, or very cold water, bubbling areas or jets for sore muscles and hot showers. We only had a few minutes there.

Challenging

1. At an evening university presentation, a Chinese woman in the audience was upset by our answer to a question on the Tibet/ Chinese problem. She challenged us to do as we suggest with conflicts between children, don’t take over the problem and try to fix it but keep it within the relationship where it started. She suggested that China needs folks teaching how to work peacefully to solve problems not outsiders fixing the problems for them. I talked to her afterwards and suggested that outside pressure sometimes helps conflicted parties choose to work at the problem. It is similar in some ways to when our children were in conflict, I would add my power to their need to resolve by limiting their play until they worked at resolving the issues.

Inspiring

1. We attended the 807^th continuous Wednesday noon demonstrations at the Japanese embassy by the feisty woman who had been stolen as early teenagers to service the Japanese military. Come rain, snow or sunshine these 80-90+ year old women sit on the footpath/ sidewalk across from the embassy asking for recognition of the harm done to them and an apology. They are continuing their struggle so that other women don’t have to share their fate as a consequence of war. I was in tears remembering stories of the fate of other women who lived through wars and the aftermath of war.
2. The park celebrating the first reading of the Korean declaration of independence from Japan, was inspiring. The declaration encouraged nonviolent means and had displays of many, both men and women, who worked nonviolently and still met their death in the struggle.

Concerning

1. At the March 1^st Independence Memorial were life size models of the torture techniques that the Japanese used on the Koreans. I was appalled that there were primary / elementary school children there on a field trip, seeing the evil ways we can treat each other. We asked our guide, who had been brought there as a school child, “How did your teachers interpret these images?” “This is unfinished business.” It seemed to perpetuate hatred and fear of the Japanese.
2. One of the guides for our time at the DMZ also spouted negative information about North Korea which seemed to be opposite what we heard in churches as they looked forward to reunification. How easy it is to make the ‘other’ seem inhuman so that they can be destroyed, hated, or feared. I know the Koreans don't have a monopoly on dehumanizing others.