United by Division?

25 May 06

Seoul, Korea

Cheonggyecheon Stream

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United by Division?

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Doesn't sound logical does it? But I'll explain shortly...

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Sadly our time in Asia is rapidly winding down as we'll depart in a few days. It's a bit melancholic because we know we won't be back for a long time. :( Due to this, we've realized even though we've been here so long that there are still a million things here that we've missed. We want to get out and see as much as there is to see before we leave but because we're so overwhelmed by the array of options, selecting a few precious things to do before we leave is quite daunting. So, our solution to this quandary is to avoid the decisions. We'll just hit the streets and walk whereever it is that our legs may carry us.

Spices drying out along the streets of our neighborhood. Not quite sure what spice this was but it seemed to be a bark of some sort or possibly even a mushroom with a very sweet aroma--like all spice or a hint of cinnamon. Airing out the crop of the season on the streets and sidewalks is a common occurrence in Korea. Usually we see rice or red peppers drying out there but this time it was spice season.

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Today we headed back out in the direction of Cheonggyecheon Stream--which in my mental image of things isn't that far from our apartment. In reality (after I studied the tourist map) it's actually about 6km to reach the entrance to the stream park and at the end of the day it appears we walked some 16 kilometers in total. Odd enough urban life does have its perks doesn't it? We never log this sort of 'sidewalk' hiking in the US as it's virtually impossible where we currently reside. When we set out, I envisioned returning to the stream we discovered a few days ago. Because we'd explored the western terminus of the stream the other day, this time we'd go the other direction heading east as far as we could go--while aiming to visit Tongdaemun Market/Stadium. So, we meandered our way over toward the stream, taking nooks, crannies and alleys to get there. I always try to select a different route through the alley ways each time so we can explore new territory--hoping to stumble on that special 'hole-in-the-wall' spot that offers incredible deals on treasures. This time our route took us through the Myeongdong Cathedral Neighborhood--bordering on the Cinematic & Animation Industry Neighborhood & the Chinese Embassy where we'd explored back on our 'hike around Namsan' several weeks ago.

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We saw lots of different things on this route including something that I totally didn't expect:

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a slab of the now defunct Berlin Wall!!!

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Who knew??? Berlin is a city in which I resided for 4 years in the early 80s--when the Wall was still standing that tragically divided the country into two. It separated families, friends, and neighbors and resulted in hundreds of people losing their lives as they tried to 'escape' to freedom in the West (either through the Wall that surrounded 'free' Berlin or the Wall that lined the border into West Germany). We resided on this tiny island of 'freedom' then--an outpost of sorts surrounded by one of the most fortified and heavily armed borders that ever existed. Our link to the West was via 3 air corridors, 3 train corridors or 1 highway route that was protected my military escorts along the Autobahn. All of our food, supplies, fuel--whatever you needed for daily life had to travel via one of these means to reach the 'island' of Berlin. Truly a political tinderbox that often resulted in stand-offs or exchanges of fire between the opposing sides, political summits between all the parties involved and 'Hollywood style' exchanges of 'prisoners/spies/you name it' over the Gleinecke Bruecke (Bridge of Freedom). That experience impacted me in a way I never would have anticipated before we moved there from the SF Bay Area in '81! In retrospect, it helped determine my career path, cultivated my political viewpoints and enabled me to form incredible bonding friendships with people whom we met there and shared these 'unique life experiences on a daily basis' unlike any other experience in life (except perhaps my bizarre & unique college experience but that's an entirely different volume of books) .

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Hearing machine gun fire on the other side of the Wall as folks tried to escape from the East was a common occurrence which really impressed upon me how precious and important freedom is. Sonic booms produced by planes jetting overhead occurred almost daily. Our school desks rattled out of place & classes halted to a stop because the noise level was so high when the miles-long parade of tanks would rumble back and forth along the cobbled street in front of our school campus as they made their way from their Kassernes to their training area near the Wall just a few miles from our school. These were daily reminders that we lived in a 'militarized' zone. Subway lines that we were not allowed to take (the entire Strassenbahn network!!!) because they'd cross over to the East side and we wouldn't be able to come back to the West without creating international incidents. Streets that stopped dead in their tracks where the Wall was erected right in the middle of the road in the early 60s. Buildings split in two where the Wall's path crossed over the footprint of the building and rooms within were blocked off with thick internal brick walls. Photos splashed on the newpapers of people who tragically died trying to cross over the Wall to freedom in the West that day. I recall seeing these 2-3 times each month (and those are the instances that we know about in Berlin--I'm sure the border to West Germany had even more occurrences!). A vivid memory that I will carry with me forever is seeing the 'cross' on the west side of the Wall where Chris Guoffrey died trying to escape on 6 February 1989--a mere 7 months before the Wall eventually 'tumbled'--that image will forever haunt me. (Something I stumbled on when I revisited the city in May 1990 during a college assignment.) Television channels were 'jammed' for fear of 'western ideals' seeping from the media reaching residents in the East. Reports of Stasi presence in West Berlin as they 'collected intel' on citizens--you name it--it was a really bizarre situation! One that definitely taught me great lessons in life that have forever forged my views.

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Fast forward some 12 years to 97-98 and I found myself residing on yet another 'outpost' of freedom of sorts--this time on the 'free' side of another heavily fortified and armed border known ironically as the Demilitarized Zone as outlined in the 1953 Armistice Agreement between the Allies of the United Nations & North & South Koreas. At the time I always saw the parallels between the two 'divided countries' and often wondered if there was ever a formal recognition (or a brotherhood type relationship) between South Korea and Germany. It's something that I often thought about--especially when either region made the newswire when I'd be reminded of the situation. Between that time in 97-98, however, I never did hear about or see anything that suggested that there was an official bond forged between Germany and Korea. Odd because their situations were so similar.

Berlin Bear in Seoul!

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Fast forward yet another 8 years and we're casually walking about the streets of Seoul and we stumble on this little patch of a park that is dedicated to the common bond that Germany & Korea share. Amazing! This is why spontaneously exploring different paths around your neighborhood is such a rewarding experience!!!

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A plaque in the area presented to Korea by the German Ambassador states (I'm translating this myself so I may not have it totally correct): "This Berliner Platz (a small park probably named after the famous Berliner Platz in Berlin) with an original section of the Berlin Wall was built by the City of Berlin for the residents of Seoul. These pieces of the Wall symbolize a peaceful resolution between the divided Germany with the hope that Korea will be able to peacefully reunify its divided peninsula . Berlin, October 2005, Klaus Wowereit, Current Mayor of Berlin"

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NOW HOW COOL IS THAT???

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Not even 5 meters away from this park is another entry point to the Cheonggyecheon Stream zone--the crazy thing is that it's an entrance point that we used only two days earlier and we somehow missed the 14' tall x 1' thick by 12' long chunk of Wall. It just goes to show you can see something new every single time you pass through a neighborhood--even if it is a place you visit often.

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From memory lane, we continued down to the stream--heading east.

Neat fountain that alternated its water show with different heights of the water jets to differnet cycles and I'm sure a spectacular lighting show at night. On the right side of it is a little platform where people are encouraged to stand and interact with the water feature.

Another interesting mosaic tile wall we discovered. We just finished reading The Odyssey and several Greek Myths in school so the labrynth instantly caught our attention. This one was entitled "Visual Labrynth"--I tried to follow the maze but gave up a few minutes into the process. By the way, we couldn't find Daedalus or Icarus anywhere in the labrynth. ;)

My favorite area was the quilt mosaic. This was several dozen meters long and featured many of the traditional Korean quilt patterns in all their vibrant colors.

Loved the different patterns and colors!!!

Here's another section of wall art near the labrynth. These were tile flowers (?) that jutted out about 2' from the wall's surface. Their colors corresponded really nicely with the pattern of colors on the tiles below--although those colors don't show that well in this picture as there was an underlying layer of metallic colors that highlighted the various shades of blues, greys, and whites.

A unique little pond on an upperlevel of the pathway adjacent the stream. This one featured a large stone island, with lights and neat little frog water intakes (submerged in the photo) that created these interesting sounds when they 'inhaled' the water.

Another one of the quilt panels. Seems to be a take on the traditional Amish Log Cabin quilt block. Hmmm--which came first, the chicken or the...?

rnrB enjoying some play on the rocks and posts inset into the stream. Many of these little islands protected fiber optic light displays that are incorporated into the water. Not too far from here we noticed some fish in the stream--mostly little fingerlings of fish about 5" long but at one point we did see a lonely fish that was about 2-1/2 feet long and the 'locals' said he weighed about 20kg! I wonder if these fish have been reintroduced to the area or if they have just 'found' it on their own? The passersby take a keen interest in the fish (which I hope will continue as folks around here are known for 'harvesting' anything that appears edible that they find in the public domain--ranging from dandelions in city parks, to fruit on trees to other 'edible' objects--I'm hoping these fish are allowed to prosper before they show up on somebody's dinner table soon). ;)

A tile photograph of one of the bridges over the stream before it had been filled in to create the highway. This bridge is the one where I posted a photo of one of its original support stone blocks the other day. Throughout the stream you can still seem some stone foundations of where these original bridges were located. The restoration project team took great strides in sparing/reviving as much of the original architecture as they possibly could.

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The other day we failed to explore the stream at night so this time we did just that. As the natural light dimmed the light show around the city and within the stream zone started to radiate. It created an incredibly romantic ambience and it was very evident in the hundreds of passersby enjoying the area.

The lighting system of one of the bridge underpasses. My current camera doesn't take very good night shots--these lights had the most beautiful blue glow about them--which illuminated the entire bridge underpass and the surrounding water.

Another light display in the stream. Gorgeous although this photo doesn't do a very good job of conveying that either.

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We concluded the evening at, of all places, Outback Steakhouse. I was dying for a steak. Odd-since I eat red meat about 3 times a year! Usually that statistic increases a bit if we find ourselves in In'N'Out Burger territory--which isn't all that often anymore. Again-sticker shock! The Outback Special was $22 for 9oz and $25 for 11oz--the Victoria Filet was $32! Bloomin' Onion about $8! Ouch! I guess it's been a long time since I've eaten out at an 'upscale' chain restaurant. My standards for 'upscale' are pretty low, aren't they? ;) These prices don't include the mandatory 15% value added tax here in the city--so it really hurt! But it was worth it--a great meal!

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All in all another great discovery in the city of Seoul today. Seoul is really emerging from under its mantle of being known as the 'dirty city in Asia with little cultural appeal' and becoming a travel destination in its own right. Our experience here has been wonderful. The sites are beautiful, the people extremely kind and warm and the food and entertainment delightful. Every return visit to the area reveals another whole new world of discovery and it's only improving in time! Can't wait to see it in another few years as they add more and more parks and green belts such as the Cheonggyecheon Stream.