Trip to Korea vol.3

The first day in Andong, I met my guide in the afternoon at the bus stop.

Afterwards he took me to the church.

I quickly could see that he was kind. He introduced me to some Korean people who were the members of the Church.

It was the first time for me to performe at a Church and had been to have contact with many Koreans.

I couldn’t speak Korean, but a woman who was learning Japanese for several months kindly talked to me.

She sutdied singing at University and she could play the piano.

She likes Japan, so she is learning Japanese.

I was ashamed not to have learnt any Korean before I went to Korea, even though I had a lot of time!

She and I taught each other our culture and languages. It was a lot of fun!

After dinner we came back to the Church. Afterwards she and I prepared the shamisen.

I was really nurvous because I heard once from my guide over 200 people would come to the Church.

I heard from him that my perform would start after the priest spoke.

The priest talked for about 1 hour. At last it was my turn!

I stood up and walked forward. My guide introduced me.

I greeted all of the people in front of me and talked to them about myself, Japan and the shamisen.

My guide translated.

Afterwards I performed 3 songs with singing.

The first and second songs were traditional songs of Tokushima(my hometown) and the third song was”SAKURA SAKURA”.

I thought “SAKURA SAKURA” was a very famous song but they didn’t know it…

I had a precious experience.

oh! I forgot to say!

I should worn my kimono! The picture was not good and some people expected me to wear a kimono.

I gave up to bring my kimono because my baggage was heavy..

but I should have brought my  kimono dispite my heavy baggage.

To be continued!

Trip to Korea vol.2

On the third day, I went to Andong.

Andong is a traditional city, and it is the city with largest area in Korea.

I was really looking forward to going there.

Sightseeing in Andong was the main event for me.

The reason I went there was because I exchanged e-mails with a professional guide in Andong.

He can write Japanese very well and we exchanged emails in Japanese.

How did I know him?

One day I searched about traditional Korean culture on the Internet.

I wanted to stay at a traditional Korean house with a Korean family.

I accidentally found his web site in Japanese.

So I sent him an email and he repleid to me quickly.

Andong is a beautiful city and there is a famous village named “Andong Hahoe village“.

My guide was excellent and kind.

We talked about many topics on the way to sightseeing spots.

I thought he was like my father because his age was almost the same as my father.

And one of his children was the same age as me!

So I talked with him about my worries.

He advices me about many things. I was greatly touched by his kindness.

I had a lot of fun sightseeing.

But actualy sightseeing was not the main event for this trip.

I played the shamisen in a church.

To be continued.

Trip to Korea vol.1

I went to Korea for 6 days from May 5th-10th.

I enjoyed the trip very much and had many precious experiences.

I’m working with a Korean man, who is a web director. He is very kind so I became interested in Korea.

I only payed 10 thousand yen for my flight because I could use mileage.

Korea is very near from Japan, only 2 hours by plane.

I didn’t have enough time to read the Korean guide book so I read it in the plane.

At first I went to Seoul and I stayed there for 2 days.

On the third day,I went to Andong which is a famous traditional city 3 hours by high-speed bus from Seoul.

On the fifth day,I returned to Seoul and stayed there one more night.

Seoul is not so big and I could walk around for sightseeing.

And in Seoul,subway tickets are very cheep,so I only payed 1000 won-1400won per trip on the train.

But I usually walked because I wanted to feel Korea’s authentic culture.

In Korea some shopkeepers can speak Japanese(only shopping vocabulary) but many people can’t speak Japanese or English.

I first spoke to Koreans in Japanese, then I spoke in English. And when they couldn’t understand either language,I used body language.

However it was very a interesting experience in that we could communicate by body language.

I like Korean food and ate many differend foods.

I bought some food from street vendors.

It’s very interesting that both young people and old people buy and eat food on the street.

In Japan, we generally think eating on street is not polite.

These food were very delicious!

I went to some traditional royal palaces.

There were many Korean, some Japanese and Chinese tourists there for sightseeing.

I noticed that many young Koreans had good cameras and they took pictures everywhere.

I heard from my Korean coworker when I came back to Japan that, in Korea many young people have their own blog and they can use graphic software.

There was one more thing I noticed.

In Korea people are very close.Young women walked arm in arm.Young men often touched each other.

In Japan,we distance ourselves from other people.

I didn’t book a package tour when I went to Korea.

I think we can only understand another country’s culture when we adapt ourselves to their everyday lifestyle.

In Dongdaemun Market,I walked around.

I didn’t want to go to famous spots or building, so I looked for local spots.

And I found delicious shops.

In Dongdaemun Market,there are many sections.(for example plants,clothes,used books,cooking appliances)

In one street,there were some shops which grilled fish in front of the shop.

I felt hungry and went to one of those small shops.

The shop’s staff couldn’t speak either Japanese or English,but I used body language and I could order lunch.

To be continued.