The man behind me is
not a photo bomber. He is my tour guide in a 10-cities itinerary that took me
from the north in Incheon where I landed; to a point south lower than Busan
where I had been 6 months before; and back again to the north of the Korean
peninsula to Seoul City, where I took my flight back to the Philippines. Incheon
City, Gongju City, Daejeon City, Jeonju City, Jinan
City, Boseong City, Suncheon City, Gwangju City,
Yongin City, Seoul City.
Wan Ho Jo is an
amiable guy, about 5’ 11” tall, and a bit lanky for his height. Wearing
eyeglasses all the time, he looks more like an academician. He says he is 30
years old going by the international calendar system, having been born on December 5.
But he is 32 years old if you go by the Korean calendar, because Koreans are considered
1 year old at birth; and then by year's end, 1 year is again added. So in his
case, from December 5 to 31, or after 25 days, another year is added, making
him 32 years old.
When he introduced
himself, he said his friends called him Wan-no, which I guess was some sort of
a nickname, and so I had called him that ever since. Wan-no learned English in
middle school. I understood Koreans to have a 12-year system of education prior
to university. But he said Korean kids now learn English in as early as elementary
school. He is proficient in his spoken English, but he pronounces some words
with effort. I learned later that Koreans have a phonetic system very similar
to the Philippine phonetic system, except that they have 10 vowels and 14
consonants. And the first 5 of these vowels, believe it or not, are: ah-
eh-ee-oh-ou. In any case, the rule-of-thumb he gave me is to write the spoken
words as I hear them – simple.
Tour
guides of today have a very potent tool in Google. Whenever Wan-no sees that I don’t
catch up easily with what he is talking about, he simply clicks and returns to
me a Google search data from his iPhone. By the way, considering that this is
Korea, the originator of the widely popular android Samsung, I noticed that a
lot of younger Koreans are using iPhones. I asked him why, and Wan-no’s answer
was a simple “I like Apple”, but that he thinks the older generation still preferred
Samsung.
The one thing that
struck me about Wan-no was his graciousness and warm courtesy. One night after
dinner, as we were walking back to our Kiwajib – the traditional clay roof
house where we were billeted – I had made the observation that South Korea’s
first tourists are the South Koreans themselves. I had observed that, on my last
visit to this place 6 months ago, many young Korean parents brought their kids
to the same tourist spots I visited. They love their culture and are the first
educators of this culture to their children. This is probably the reason Koreans
have such a rich 6000-year recorded history and tradition. In response, Wan-no
made a quiet bow and offered his ‘thank you’ profusely.
Wan-no is indeed proud
of Korean tradition and history. He will explain the site we are about to
visit, or the food we are about to eat. He chose our meals carefully, making
sure that we get a taste, not only of the standard Korean food, but also of the
local food that each of the 10 cities I went to had to offer. For example, I learned
that there are several kinds of Kimchi, which are fermented from cucumber,
raddish, and several types of cabbage. And although I had eaten Korean barbeque before,
I learned that Samgyeopsal, which is barbequed pork belly, literally means 3
layers. You will observe that the raw belly-part meat, before you put it in the
hot plate, will have 3 layers of meat separated by thin slivers of fat. This
differentiates it from either Moksal, which is meat from neck-part, or Galbi,
which is rib-part. Although Wan-no will barbeque meat to well-done, he thinks it
is best to do it medium-well. Wan-no checks out all your barbequed meat and
will scrape all black residue on the meat surface if your meat gets overly
roasted. He will do this extra effort because his father taught him his may
cause cancer.
We took all our meals in
Korean restaurants. Sometimes we used conventional chairs and tables, at other
times we sat on the floor using traditional Korean table. Since it was winter,
many of these places remained cold inside despite the huge heaters that they
have. The only exception would be the floor, which would invariably be warm.
Wan-no pointed out that Korea is basically a sitting culture – they would sit
on the floor for eating or talking with family. This is why they use efficient floor
heating systems. My Kiwajib, the traditional clay-roof house where I stayed, had
no beds, yet the floor had to be warmed purposely because it served as the bed.
Even modern buildings like Wan-no’s 6th floor apartment, have heated floors.
Wan-no is not overly
religious, but he had such respect for the way he explained religion. He said
that Koreans are 8% Catholics; 18% Christians; 14% Buddhists; and 50% no-religion.
He took the effort to wait patiently outside as we prayed inside the Jeondong
Catholic Church in Jeonju City; or as we sat on the floor of the Buddha inside Tapsa
Temple in Jinan City, in a visit to its mysterious
stone pagodas, at minus 9 degrees.
When I asked him about
the towns we passed as we took long drives in-between cities, Wan-no said there
were no exact translations for some English words such as localities smaller
than cities. So in Korea, addresses are denoted by the Si–Gu–Tong system. For
example, he resides in: Seoul Si, Mapo Gu, Songsan Tong. That’s the city of
Seoul, Mapo district, Songsan locality, roughly speaking.
Wan-no also said some
translations are bad. One extremely cold morning, I had an early breakfast at the
18th floor of Lotte Hotel, Daejeon City, which is one of the most prestigious
hotel and department store chains in Korea. It has an imposing 360-degree view of
Gap Cheon Stream, and the awesome bridges that crisscrossed it. I ate, believe
it or not, ‘lugaw’ called “Person Who Lives in Poverty Porridge” in the midst
of this majestic and grandest of views. This ‘lugaw’ is actually Maesaengi Juk
rice porridge. It is thick and greenish in color, and has a distinct crab meat taste.
The main ingredient is seaweed, for which Korea is popular.
On the last evening of
my itinerary, Wan-no intimated that it is his wedding anniversary, and his wife
is expecting to deliver their first child soon. I congratulated him and bade
him goodbye as we shook hands. Back on my hotel lobby, I reflected on what
makes this and my other travels fulfilling. It is not only the visual delight
of viewing spectacular sights, but the opportunity of learning how other
peoples live. There is so much to admire in one another’s culture and traditions.
But many of them are universal and as relevant today as they were a millennium ago:
respect; courtesy; graciousness; being considerate of others; respect for the
environment; honesty; happy disposition in one’s work; humor; and humility.
Wan Ho Jo, Thank you. Indeed, you make your country proud. Gamsahabnida.
