Some of you know, and some of you don’t, that here in Asia there are actually two New Years! The first is the same as the rest of the world, because at some point the majority of countries decided to follow the Gregorian Calendar. The second is the Lunar Calendar! It’s a more “observable” calendar based on the cycles of the moon that much of human civilization followed for millennia in some way. I knew it was used in China – as that’s pretty popular world-wide and the reason everyone must look up the specific month to determine what Chinese Zodiac they are instead of just the year – but only after traveling did I know it had its own versions in many other Asian nations.
Here in South Korea, everyone typically gets a few days off. At my present job, everyone got four days – Monday through Thursday – off. Except for me! I used a vacation day to have a full week! I’m not entirely sure the reasoning behind leaving that ONE day at the end of the week as a workday… but more on those opinions in a later article. For now, continue reading to figure out what I did with my Korean Lunar New Year Break!
PART ONE: Still in Seoul
The first weekend was filled with a lot of time with friends. On Saturday, Thomas, Jamie, and I all hung out to play Magic, eat Hot Pot, marvel at how empty Hongdae seemed, and get the very last train home which only really got us about 85% of the way!
Sunday it turns out that Jamie got very ,very sick with… something. Not COVID. He’d just had it recently and tested. He, Thom, and I had plans to do MORE Magic, but in the end, it was just Thom and I. We also saw Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. For a children’s movie it was pretty spectacular, and I really recommend it. Especially for those with a Shrek craving.
Monday was long planned as a time to play Game of Thrones: The Board Game. Complicated rules, but allegedly very fun. We’d begun talking about it on World-New Years and set this date up. Whelp, Jamie got sick and it wasn’t as much of an option anyone. So, instead we chose to play Mario Party, which is very different from how I remember. Oh yeah, and Pierre has an amazing baker for a wife who graciously offered to make an American Style brunch for all of her hubby’s friends! WOWZA!
It was very delicious! This was the first time I’d had French Toast in a good long time. We also had juice wars between European-style apricot juice and American-style orange juice. Unsurprisingly, they were pretty good when mixed.
Tuesday, I went to watch Pierre and Thom do a draft! I enjoyed my time there, finally trying that Macanese restaurant nearby. But the best part was my last-minute decision to go traveling! I grabbed my traveling scarf from Borobudur, put on my Albanian flag hoodie from Kosovo, donned my painted teakwood bead bracelet from Bagan, and set off to:
PART TWO: Busan
Around 7pm I hopped on a train from Seoul to Busan! I got to see a cool snowfall about halfway through the trip! It doesn’t snow nearly enough where I live. I got in at around 10:30 that night and found my way to Guest House Dear Moon within an hour.
The hostel was pretty nice. Honestly, I haven’t set foot in a hostel since Izmir, and three years without this kind of lodging left me wondering what to expect. The beds and bunk were great, the breakfast good, the facilities nice. Everyone I met there were at the very least friendly, but there was a touch of “one-upmanship” among the travelers I don’t remember engaging with when originally on The Journey. This hostel was great and I would recommend it to basically everyone on the lookout for a place to stay in Busan! At 30 years old, however, something about the experience hit different for me than it did in my 20s.
But let me tell you a little about the history of Busan before continuing any further! It has long been inhabited, but until modern history it was really more of a footnote than anything else. Given its position, there is a long-standing tradition of trading across the strait with Japan. This was officially codified in the 1400’s and ultimately set the stage for a lot of historical events.
With the official recognition of trade relations came an allowance for Japanese individuals to settle in Busan in an effort to promote that trade. With the Imjin War, the city and many of those settlements were destroyed either through Japanese aggression or Korean retaliation. Around 1607, relations were normalized and those settlements rebuilt. In 1876, Korea was coerced into opening itself to international trade in a similar fashion to the Perry Expedition by, somewhat ironically, Japan and other European powers.
Under Japanese control, Busan was developed into a major trading hub. During the Korean War, as one of only three cities not invaded by North Korea, Busan became the center point for UN/American counter attacks to retake the country. It was instrumental as a port in providing necessary supplies to the refugees and remaining military of South Korea. As such, it continued to grow. Today, due in part to its close proximity with Japan, China, Taiwan, and Vladivostok near the terminus of trade in Asia before heading off to the Americas, Busan is the sixth largest port in the world by volume; a title 600 years in the making.
Upon arriving at my hostel, I met a nice Dutch girl named Karlijn. She almost immediately invited me out the next day to go and see two of the cultural villages there in Busan. Before going on this trip I, admittedly, knew nothing about Busan other than it was the goal in a somewhat popular movie that came out in 2016. Seeing as how I had no other ideas whatsoever, I agreed.
We first visited Gamcheon Cultural Village. Korea loves their cultural villages. This one was originally built sort of as a slum? Far enough from the port for “poor Koreans” so as to not interfere with trade, but still close enough to provide cheap labor. It sits on the sides of large hills and in the valley between. Seeing as how this was Wednesday and many people still had the day off for Lunar New Year, many things were closed. Did I mention it was cold? My toes nearly froze off in the -11 degree C (12F) noon temperatures as I had very few places to go in and sit down.
Have you ever heard of The Little Prince? Before my job at Twin.kle, I never had. Allegedly, it is extremely popular worldwide, and the second most translated book of all time. They love The Little Prince here. I can’t fully understand exactly why, though. Parts of the village have references to the book, and one part even claims Gamcheon was the first place the prince visited when coming to Earth, but I’ve read the book and that’s not what happens. Still a very cute aesthetic they have carved out here.
Later on, we had a meal! Korean Soup! It’s very common here and I don’t remember the exact name. Sundae – Korea blood sausage – was also had, something I always enjoy.
After that we headed to Huinnyeoul Culture Village. There were more things open here. I can’t find much history on this village other than claims that it was intended to be Busan’s downtown and housed many of the refugees during the Korean War. It hugs the sea against a somewhat steep mountain, and the shining sea next to the colorful buildings make for a nice view. At the north end of the village you can see bustling Busan, and at the south end you can actually see Tsushima, Japan on a clear day.
Very nice coffee was had in this village overlooking the sea. Many souvenir shops eek out an existence as well. Cats are revered as they should be (here and in Gamcheon). For an hour or so, it was a nice stop.
Later than night, I went to meet two of my coworkers for a drink at a cool jazz bar. Before having gotten there, I’d assumed I was staying at a hostel in a pretty central location of the city. Getting to where they were, however, I was greeted with far taller buildings and a much more active night life. People moved to-and-fro on their quest for fun and excitement with friends at the end of their vacation. But not me! I still had Thursday and Friday off.
Thursday, I headed over to a famous Buddhist Monastery. When I was living in China, I always loved to visit Buddhist places of worship. I even used to pray to the Buddha during some of my visits, though I have since forgotten how. Spiritually, I often find myself agreeing primarily with their philosophies over any others, though I can’t fully make the claim that I am a Buddhist; after all, I pray to Jesus just as often.
Haedong Yonggungsa has a history going back to the 1300’s. At the time, Buddhism in Korea was very corrupt. That might seem contradictory based on many Western understandings of the religion, but anything as organized as a church can be tainted by secular greed. The monk Naong Hyegeun, during meditation, received a vision from the one and only Guanyin (Bodhisattva of compassion, otherwise known as Avalokitesvara) telling him to build a temple between a mountain and the sea. Which he did!
It was destroyed at least once, rebuilt, and then refurbished in the 1970’s. For the abbot Jeong-am in 1974, Guanyin once again appeared from the sea riding a dragon! That’d be pretty mind blowing to see… In response, Jeong-am gave the temple its current name; Haedong Yonggungsa means Korean Dragon Palace Temple.
I’ll give you my full opinion: The temple is pretty cool, and the colors are great. It was awesome seeing Guanyin again after having seen her long, long ago in 2017 on the island of Putuoshan (while writing this article, I realized it was most likely exactly six lunar new years ago I was there). The seaside element of the temple is wonderful, and their lore is pretty killer as well. Ultimately, though, I’ve seen so many temples at this point that this doesn’t even scratch the top ten. It took me 90 minutes to get here, 90 minutes to get back, and I spent maybe 90 minutes there total.
I did walk along the sea north after that. I saw the National Fisheries Science Museum without a single soul other than myself. I’d have gone inside as I happen to love ocean-themed museums for some reason, but I totally misjudged the time and thought they’d close 20 minutes after I arrived there. I saw a black kitty hanging out on the rocks being cute. And I enjoyed a coffee at a nice little coffee shop.
I took my time getting back from the area to my hostel. Walked along the beach, met a very nice owner of a 13 year old M:tG gaming shop, and eventually made my way to Busan Tower hoping to go inside and get a night view… only to find out they stopped selling tickets 9 minutes before I arrived. Overall, I had a great time that day, and finishing the day off with dak-galbi really hit the spot after almost 30k steps made.
PART THREE: Gyeongju, the Capital of Silla
The next day was Friday. I wasn’t fully sure what I wanted to do. Should I head back to Seoul? Should I clown around Busan more? Or should I make one more stop off at an ancient capital? There’s a museum there, you say? It’s only an hour away? It cuts my train ticket price in half?
Gyeongju it is.
Let me back up by about 2000 years. Korea, as we think of it today, is fractured among many dozens of tribal confederations; this makes sense if you realize how hilly and mountainous the country is. Culturally, the north is where what we would think of as Koreans are coming from. An ancient state named Beyeo exists in Manchuria but is consistently threatened by a nomadic confederation similar to the Mongols called the Xiongnu. Those fleeing from this besieged kingdom settle in what would become Korea and eventually begin setting up successor states, the rulers claiming to be descendants of Buyeo kings.
Surprisingly, the most southern reaches of South Korea are culturally distinct. I need to do a lot more research, but there is a lot to suggest that Kyushu and the western parts of Honshu share a cultural and linguistic identity with the people living around Busan, Daegu, and Pohang. Evidence includes tomb similarities, artifact similarities, a few historical records on cultural legends, and the timing of rice cultivation in Japan. But while western Japan and southern South Korea have cultural ties, the Koreans coming from the north were the ones who knew a thing or two about civics and state formation.
Some of you may know that I am an admitted Sinophile. This part of my personality was heavily influenced by the video game series Dynasty Warriors. The story line in all of these games is centered around The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a historical epic focused on the fall of the Han Dynasty of China in the 3rd century and based heavily on the Records of the Three Kingdoms. It’s Chinese history, and the games are from Japan where the epic is also very popular. For a long time I was unsure why the epic wasn’t as revered here in South Korea. It’s certainly known, but whereas in China my students could name 50 major characters from the 14th century epic, here they barely know who Cao Cao is (and he invaded them).
Turns out, Korea has its own Three Kingdoms period. Between 57BC and 668AD there were the kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. They mostly ignore Gaya for the “three” kingdoms narrative, but it existed until like 532AD.
Anyway, one of those three kingdoms was Silla. The capital of Silla was Gyeongju. Gyeongju is nowadays sort of small and out of the way but hosts a National Museum on Silla’s history. This is the exact reason I decided to visit! It’s also where I learned a lot of the history I have thus far discussed beyond Busan.
The museum was pretty great. There was a lot of English which I appreciated. There was a main exhibit hall, there was an art museum on site, a cool giant bell, and an artifacts storage building that actually explained a lot about museum conservation. The grounds were phenomenal as well. Walking about, I felt like I was in the records department of some ancient capital.
Nearby, there was a beautifully decorated bridge that had some artifacts and documentaries playing in the “guard rooms” and the top of each side of the bridge. Beneath it, people walked out on to the ice to simulate ice skating on a break from the also nearby tourist village made to look like ancient Korea. The was all situated at the base of what are historically significant burial mounds housing the deceased royalty from Silla. As I understand it, at least based on the museum, these graves give unparalleled insight into the cultural traditions of Silla.
A little way off was the ancient palace grounds. This was pretty cool, but for the most part it was a flat field showing where the buildings would have been next to the lake on-site. There’s some bizarre theory that the lake was constructed to show Asia as a sort of map – the biggest section in China, next to it is Korea with an island representing Jaju, and after that is Japan – that I really don’t see. It was also cold here. And windy. And the first place I actually paid to get inside for about $2.50. It wasn’t much but it was nice, and evoked my old sense of historical conservationism ingrained from my time working at Fort Ontario.
So whatever happened to Silla and the Korean Three Kingdoms? This was actually the part I hadn’t known despite teaching a bit of history here in Korea. As previously stated, Han Dynasty China slowly collapsed beginning in 190AD, with the Chinese Three Kingdoms (Wei, Wu, and Shu) bickering until the Jin sort of unified China for a short time. China, ultimately, descended into about 250 years of constant warfare where no unified political entity could incorporate the others.
Why am I talking about the China when I asked about Korea? Well, when China finally did unify – first as the short-lived Sui, then as the powerful Tang – they wanted to announce to all who could hear that China was back in a big way! (Seriously, Tang China is considered by many to be the peak of Chinese history and power for reasons I may one day discuss on this blog.) And, ho ho ho, lookie here! We got three bickering kingdoms on that peninsula nearby. We unified all of China, why not all of Korea?
Silla, seeing an opportunity at expansion, decided to ally with Tang China. Together they all but destroyed Goguryeo, splitting it between them. Baekjae was next. Finally, it was revealed that Tang China wanted the entire pie and former allies became enemies as it went to war with Silla. In the end, Silla was able to gain control of something like all of South Korea and half of North Korea, leading to what is known as Unified Silla. For almost 300 years Silla ruled these territories, diffusing Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla culture to form the foundations of modern Korean culture. But, as happens with all things, Silla would not last forever.
PART FOUR: Back to Seoul
From the Palace grounds I made my way to the KTX station and bought a train ticket. 4 hours later – timed perfectly due to my getting the very last train to my area in Seoul after arriving back in the city – I walked into my apartment, threw my Osprey travel backpack on the ground, and laid down to sleep.
Certainly not as grand as the beginnings of The Journey with the 18 countries visited in that time, but it continues just the same. I was happy to finally spread my travel wings once again for leisure and look forward to doing the same in the future. Big things are planned, Korea is coming to an end, but The Journey continues.
It shows no signs of stopping anytime soon