The land of the neon light

Greetings from the land of the neon lights. I had forgotten just how enamored the Koreans are with neon signs. Here in Wonju where we have been for the last week with Jeff and Anjin we are surrounded by brilliant reds, greens, yellows, and blues. Nothing like covering all the primary colors:-) It's a wondrously bright environment. Of course it helps that we're staying in the middle of the club area again. Bars, nightclubs, "entertainment" clubs abound in the area and it is always interesting to see the activities, both late night and early morning, because these people definitely know how to party. The hotel we're staying in is clean, cheap, and nicely appointed. It is also a hub of activity, for those who wish to partake and remain somewhat anonymous. There are curtains on the garage, so that you can't see the cars or license plates of those staying overnight, but cabs are the usual mode of transportation. The other morning we shared the elevator with a couple, he was mid to late 40's, she middle to early 30's. When the reached the street, they shook hands, he got into the first cab, and she waited for the next one. After all, men always are first here. Each floor of the hotel has a video tape collection for use in the rooms which have a tv/vcr. The tapes range from mild to strong, but each and all with strong sexual content. For those who do not wish to venture down the hall, the hotel has it's own "adult" channel, free of course for guests:-) The whole scene makes for interesting obsevation. When I go out for my coffee at around 6 in the morning, the cabs circle like vultures over a potential kill, waiting for the participants to emerge and take transportation to safer ground. We again are enjoying Anjin's family. The grandchild, Sae Hoon, is now four and full of himself and life. Anjin's brother has remarried and when I asked jeff what her name was, he didn't know. When I asked him the name of the Brother he didn't know that either. I looked at him strangly, and he said that nobody calls anybody by their name, only by their title. For example, Jeff is the oldest of the children and spouses, but since Anjin is the youngest, he has to call her Brother, "older brother." And although Anjin is older than her brother's wife, since the brother is older, she has to call her "Big Sister." When we were at dinner last night, we had a big plate of crab which was in front of me. While it is customary for everybody to eat from the same big dish, food is often passed around. So I passed the Crab legs. Except, leave it to Jim to screw it up, I offer the brother the first leg, his wife the next one,(they were the closest) and then the mother and last the father. Well, it should have been: father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law, last.Protocol is VERY important. Of course, being a foreigner, and also being the eldest of the group, they cut me a lot of slack. Yesterday was Buddha's birthday, 4576 I think, and we went to a big temple where there were thousands of people celebrating. The monks were selling tiles for the new roof at $10 apiece where you could write a request for a blessing from buddha. Naturally, I couldn't miss an opportunity for any help I could get, so we listed all our family names and Ang's child in waiting. So I think we're all covered. We proceeded on to the East Sea, for God's sake, don't ever call it the Sea of Japan, for dinner. A Korean proverb refers to Korea as the shrimp amongst the whales. Considering the history of invasion and occupation by their neighbor's that's fairly apt. Dinner was all kinds of raw fish. You go downstairs to one of dozens of fish stalls where the fish are all alive and swimming in tanks. You pick out your fish, they kill and cut it for you and you take it upstairs. I have no idea what it was we were eating. some of it rather good, some of it rather chewy, some it rather distasteful:-) Carol does better than I do. I'm not about to even attempt the sea urchins or the anemones. This is also the land of the cell phone. Everybody is plugged in. The phones are of a size to comfuse you as to whether it is a Zippo lighter or a business card carrier, and everybody talks all the time. Anjin was in our car yesterday and her mom was in the car ahead of us, but multiple conversations took place during the drive, about a variety of topics, some important, some just trivial. On my coffee walk in the morning, I see the same faces in the shops each day since most everybody works a six day week. They had a big strike here recently with the labor unions campaigning for a five day week. The girl in the convenience store where I get my morning jolt works seven days a week. Jeff said her family probably owns the shop and sure enough, that turned out to be the case. She works midnight to ten a.m. each day, seven days a week. But she said she is very strong. She looks like she could crumble easily, but she must be very tough, mentally. It is rice planting season and the country is covered by machine which are affectionately referred to as "One eyed water buffaloes." They have mechanized the planting process, which should save millions of backs and spines. The old, typical picture of the stoop-backed the elderly Korean is so true, since these people did the back-wrenching chore of planting each plant for decades, and it just ruined their back. We stopped to film one of the plantings on our drive here upon arrival, and the man insisted that we come in and have coffee. It was just a gesture of thanks that we took the time and interest to watch and film. He didn't want his picture taken, which was a shame since it was a wonderful face, full of history. It is the beginning of the rainy season now,late summer will be hot and humid, and that will continue till monsoon season comes, then it will be the long winter, bitterly cold. April and May are nice they tell me:-) Tonight we go to Mongolia and will be there for two weeks. We have no idea of what to expect, but it will be interesting and informative, I'm sure. We're told we'll have email access there, so hopefully, we'll be able to update you as to our progress. We've been here for just under a week, and I know that things will jump out at me that I didn't include here in this first missive, so there's more to come. Hope all is well with each of you. We do think of you often, well, sometimes at least:-) Take care, and we'll be home soon, till them, we are and still will be Carol and Jim