That's right, I'm saying it. There's a difference between these countries we group together in Asia. I'm not calling for any gerrymandering here, but since I'm traveling through rural korea, I can't help but draw on the last time I traveled through small Asian towns then when I went through Thailand and Cambodia.
One of the major draws of the SE asia curcuit is that the countries themselves have a breathtaking amount of natural beauty, and Korea has it's share too. I will associate 99% of my thoughts about Korea to those of Seoul, but now that it's summertime and the skys are blue and the trees are green, I've come to realize that the rest of Korea is quite nice, and I didn't give it much of a chance to explore. But since I have traveled through these other countries in Asia (i'm not claiming to be an expert, it's just something i did once), I can't help thinking that there is something lacking here that makes it so low on the list of everyone's "places I want to go this summer."
As I was thinking about this today, I kept coming back to the phrase, "loss of innocence." The amount of charm an experience has quickly decreases when Korean tourists come around. I experienced this in Cambodia, too. The korea tourist fits a strict definition.
Korean tourists are mad. Everything is a photo op, everything is an opportunity to use new high-tech hiking gear, and everything is a place that should be viewed in a single file line. As I was walking through a park yesterday, willing to sell my seoul for a swimming hole, I thought how perposterous my idea was because if there was a good river for swimming somewhere, there would be at least 4 million people there. Thats just the way it works here, at least July-August. A friend told me that no one travels here until the first day of summer and throughout. So the day before summer, an invitation to the beach would probably be replied with something like "are you crazy? it's practically winter."
But this relationship that has appeared freaks me out a bit. Cambodia/Thailand > no domestic tourists > good. Korea > swarms of domestic tourists > bad. Does a place become less appealing when its citizens obtain the economic power to become tourists? That's probably not entirely true, but there's something right about it, too.
As westerners, we love the 'other.' And it's nice to see someone living in a hut because we don't have to do it. The more that people strive to work for conglomorates like Korea's Samsung, or Hayundai, the less I really want to have anything to do with them. Call it selfish if you like, because that isn't all that wrong. I'm being entirely selfish when I say that as a traveler/tourist/backpacker/ connesieur of UNESCO World Heritage sights, the more people try to be like Americans, the less I really want to have anything to do with it.
If i wanted to spend my time around corporate tools, I could have gone to Beaverton.
Ten more days and you're back home! Pls email me your flight information, so I know when you are getting into Portland.
I'm glad you had a chance to see some country before you come home. See you soon. Love, MOM
Posted by: Mom | August 02, 2006 at 01:34 AM
Blake, Skinner and Ha to the Bucks for Magloire. I think this move undoubtedly makes us better, because now we have a solid front line and can hand the keys over to Jack. Sad to see the Ha Seung Jin era come to an end, but at least we got to meet him after seeing him eating an enormous thing of popcorn.
Posted by: Total Package Lex Luger | August 02, 2006 at 11:06 PM
You sold out!
you and ted debiase.
I haven't liked you since you got that steel plate screwed into your forearm. In fact, i think that was the decline of wrestling right there.
Posted by: Tatanka | August 05, 2006 at 05:13 PM
An American friend and I went to Mallipo beach for my birthday. On Sept 24th. Everyone thought we were nuts. "It's so cold!" It was in the 80s!
Posted by: Amanda | October 04, 2006 at 06:42 PM