Mud Fest: Boryeong, South Korea

I went down to Boryeong for Mud Fest this weekend. Koreans believe the mud to have a healing effect on the skin. Purifying it, cleansing it, smoothing it. After my day in the mud I might agree with them, but I also think a day in the mud has an uplifting effect on the mind. There is little that can compare to people roaming the streets in the same shade of grey, covered in mud. The ability to splash strangers with mud, and everyone loving it is one of a kind. Sliding around Boryeong, there are mud baths, a mud “jail” where workers whip mud at you, mud slides, mud wrestling, and a beach to de-mudify yourself. On the trip down I meet three Korean girls, about my age; Tracy, Heyju, and Minjumg. Both Tracey and MJ had lived in the states for a bit and speak perfect english. 

We did a mud soak, then turned green and blue with colored mud painting. We jumped into the mud wrestling, where American soldiers think they can beat anyone, and the Koreans always win with their taekwondo technique. The space is big enough to allow some serious mud sliding which was the most fun. By the end we were pulling down strangers, laughing so much we were eating mud, and blind from mud in the eyes. The trip organizer Mr. Kim also joined us in the mud pit, everyone is fair game in the mud pit!

After we had mud on every inch of our bodies, including eyes, ears, mouths, we showered and went for food and drinks. The city is equipped for a big crowd, restaurants with rows and rows of tables, the streets are lined with restaurants, drinking halls, shops, and hotels. There were bands performing all day, and vendors selling mud products. The crowd is 50% Koreans, 50% foreigners. I almost felt like I wasn't in Korea-

On the bus back, we settled into our seats and a flat screen TV in the front of the bus lights up. Silly American me, thinking a movie would come on! Oh, no- not in Korea. Next thing I know the guy sitting in front of me jumps up, mic in hand and starts belting out “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. Neon lights started circling the bus, echoed vocals, and tambourine completed the karaoke scene that took us back into Seoul.  

Prada Transformer

Transformer is a tetrahedron exhibit space designed by Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with the Prada Arts Council. Placed in Seoul to promote modern arts through film, fashion, and exhibition.  The structure is set on the front of the grounds to the Gyeonghui Palace. A nice contrast that reflects the city of Seoul, the old and sacred amongst the new and contemporary.

The structure is made from scraped airplane frames. It is wrapped with a white elastic membrane that is translucent with light.  The supporting parts are held in plush shipping containers; they will be used to move the exhibit to the next location.

I visited the Transformer with the creative minds of Justin and Caitlyn.  We eagerly explored the space, touching everything, and studying the materials and space. It was a refreshing day of artist inspiration.

The exhibit space holds a shape and propose for a months time, then cranes come in and rearrange the tetrahedron to the next shape and prepare it for the next event. Each event is based out of a new shape and space, literally rolling into the next form. The tetrahedron configurations are visualized here. 

For those creative minds wanting to see the complete thesis like document with images, concepts, descriptive language, and renderings click here. 

4/25 -5/24 – Fashion Show “Waist Down”

6/27-7/09 – Film Festival, “Flesh, Mind, and Spirit”

8/14 – Art Exhibit

10/1 – Special Event focusing on South Korea and the A&D World

On Sunday morning we watched the film Padre Padrone, [My Father, My Master]. It is an Italian film directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, 1977.  A young boy is forced out of education and into the field to be his father's shepard. The theme centered around family struggles, societies influence, and struggles for education and the good life.

After the film finished I went to our Italian friend, Fabio, that had joined us and confided in him that I think Italians are beautiful and their language is like music. Maybe I have been in Korea for too long. I'm craving to see some blue eyes or red hair.

Next month I will be going back to the Transformer to seek out the art exhibit... stay tuned!    

Korea Summer

Thursday marked the beginning of rainy season.  Or, monsoon season. My Korean colleagues claim that it will rain hard for the next 15 – 20 days.  If we are blessed with a rain free day it will be hot, very hot and humid. So, three days down, seventeen more to go.

In addition to the rain, the mosquitoes are out in full force. I thought it was just the kids they were after. The entire class brings in anti-itch lotion and it seems I spend most of my day rolling it over vicious bites. But karma came for me and it looks like I have the chickenpox on my legs. I think I total about 23 bites, swollen, red, and always itching! I have even equipped my limbs with a “mos zero” band. 

My Hand in Hangul

I wanted to express my gratitude to Mr. Hwang for taking me on such an amazing adventure to Mount Saurak. Hes English is pretty good, but it is still hard to get a proper understanding on what is being said. So I asked a favor of Minnie, my Korean co-teacher. She helped me translate my English thank you note to Korean. She guided me in producing Hangul letters and 2 hours later I had a thank you note to Mr. Hwang in hangul. I wrote it, cannot read it, but knows what it says.  

This past weekend was a step away from the neon city lights and into the serene mountains of Sarauksan National Park. The adventure took place under the guidance and expertise of a 55 year old Korean comrade. He is a Buddhist and a bit of a mountaineer. He was keen to show Malcolm and I the Buddhist way and Korean climbing culture.

The car ride to the national park took 7 ½ hours in the Seoul traffic, we arrived to Baekdamsa Temple in time for dinner. A rare vegetarian weekend in Korea.

We picked up a fellow Buddhist on the drive into the temple. This 67 year old Korean woman became my umma, mother, for the weekend. She showed me the ropes and proper procedures. Our main way of communicating was hand gestures and pointing. When I needed to find the bathroom and wasn't willing to get into the charades of things we had to call in reinforcement. Another visitor at the temple spoke English. So I said to him “Toilet?” and his reply “You mean, Where is the toilet?” Ah, yes, thank you for correcting my english!

The evening was spent strolling the grounds and trying our hand at the Buddhist rock building. (my skills go back to time spent with Greg working on his project in NC). The balancing act of the stones of all different sizes covers the stream in front of the temple and are then continued to be seen the entire trail to the top of Mt Saurak.

Baekdamsa Temple has reached new fame because the ex-president of South Korea, Roh Moo-Hyun, who recently committed suicide, stayed at the temple for a years time. Malcolm and Mr. Hwang were invited to stay in the ex-presidents room.

Early to bed, early to rise. Umma and I laid out our blankets at 9:00 PM, at 3:30 AM we were gentled awaken by the beat of the wooden drums. It was time for the morning prayer and meditation.

Candle light and the vibrations of the Monks voice chanting was a new way to start the day. We had a morning walk along the water, and then returned for breakfast. It was 6 AM and rice and soup was being served. This is not America. Malcolm and Mr. Hwang's roommate joined us for breakfast. He was very concerned about the hike that lay ahead of us. He said it was very difficult, and had this worried look on his face and disbelief in his voice. I had finished my breakfast and was caught off guard when the roommate moved a piece of tofu from his plate to mine. “uuuh, kamsamnida...?” okay so not to be rude, I ate the tofu, then there was some potatoes. He didn't have faith in us, or our climbing abilities.

We headed off into the woods at 7 AM, not to return to the temple again until 6:00 PM. The first 4k's brought us to Yeongsiam Temple that is being renovated and a community water pump with bowls that everyone drinks from, rinses, and passes to the next person. Another 2k's and we stopped along the stream to cool down and have a snack. Umma chatted with a group of Korean woman who were very impressed with us foreigners. They shared their snacks of rice bread, plums, and seaweed soup.

We reached the Bongjeongam Temple by 11. The temple is built right into the mountain side, in the main valley of Sauraksan. From there we started climbing up and up and up to the highest points. The view into the valley was stunning. 1600M high, overlooking the world. On the way to the top is a very sacred pagoda that is believed to have a piece of Buddha inside.

Along the trek to the top Malcolm and I surprised a lot of Koreans when they saw our foreign faces. I was coming around one corner when a korean man exclaimed “Whoa!” when he saw me. There was a constant stream of “Hello, how are you?” Mr. Hwang kept saying that many Koreans were giving us praise for climbing the mountain. But then there was also a bit of joking from the 60 year old women who said “when I was 20, I ran up the mountain.”

At 2PM after soaking in the great views we started to head back down the mountain. Mr. Hwang never runs out of energy. He was still springing down the mountain. A man on a mission, I was always 20 paces behind him and I really was running at parts. At one point Mr. Hwang laid down and I was convinced we would be stopping for more that 10 minutes. But sure enough, 3 minutes was enough to restore his energy and he jumped up and was off.

We were about ½ mile to the temple Mr. Hwang ran into a friend who offered the guys cigarettes and they happily accepted. We crashed onto logs and chilled out while Mr. Hwang kept pulling treats from his bag. First some juice, and candy. Then bananas, a cucumber, and then some Soju. His friends face light up. So we sat in the rain, going bite for bite off a cucumber, swig for swig of soju for the men, with cigarette smoke filling the air. What a way to end a 24k hike. Thank goodness it involved sitting.

We bowed goodbye to the monk at the temple and piled back into the car to begin the long drive back to the busy streets of Seoul.

The weekend was the best weekend I have had in Korea. I feel like I really experienced Korean culture and was not living in a knock off America. The scenery was beautiful and the friendliness of the people on the mountain was refreshing. It was hard work getting to the top, but it was worth every painful step to the top, and for the three days after! Next stop, Jirisan National Park to climb the 2^nd highest peak in Korea!