Before coming to Korea I had one event in mind that I wanted
to attend, that was the Korean Grand Prix. I’m not a huge Formula 1 fan but I
have been to motorsport events in the past and I’ve had a blooming good time. I
kept on thinking ‘how many opportunities will I get to attend the Korean Grand
Prix?’ I know that particular race is towards of the end of the racing calendar
but I was curious as to the exact date so I looked it up. A quick Google search
returned nothing; it turns out that the FiA have withdrawn the Korean Grand
Prix from the 2014 schedule. Bollocks! Are you serious?! The one year that I’m
in Korea and the one thing I wanted to do has been cancelled.
So I’ve had to find other touristy things to do during my
stay. The first excursion I took was to Namsan Tower. It’s a viewing tower,
nothing major, but it’s iconic and visible across the city as you look at the
Seoul skyline. I went with Josh and we met at Myeongdong station and decided to
walk up the hillside to Namsan Tower, opting not to take the cable car. Worst
decision ever. It didn’t look too high from the bottom but I’m pretty sure it’s
the second highest mountain in the world, just smaller than Everest. Sensible
people powered past us in their suitable hiking shoes while we struggled up the
incline wearing Vans and Nike trainers. We stopped half way to catch our breath
and then went for the summit.
On the way up we saw this building. This is a public toilet.
It’s the greatest public toilet I have ever seen, it’s a far cry from the literal
shit holes I have used at Reading Festival.
We made it to Namsan Tower and it was quite interesting. The
Tower’s mascot is a brown bear. The odd thing was that the brown bear was being
escorted around the base of the tower by a policeman, a genuine policeman. The
bear would pose for pictures, scare children, and then the policeman would move
him on. Maybe the policeman was there for the bear’s security, I like to think
the man inside the bear suit was a habitual line-stepper. Using his adorableness
to take advantage of people and the guys in the office had had enough of it and
employed a policeman to stop him from doing so. I won’t write what I really
think of the bloke inside the suit.
The view from the top was pretty good. We got there just as
the sun was setting, we watched the sunset together. It was very romantic.
Speaking of romance there was a game at the top of the tower, you would buy a
plastic coin and you had to throw the coin into a well from a distance. It was
supposed to be for couples, and if you get the coin in the well then your love
is true. Another con, but never mind. This is a translated quote from their
website “If you meet the love of your pond, make love! Love to put a coin in
the pond gazebo heart is made to love you”. So Josh and I tried our luck at
putting a coin in the pond gazebo heart. We both succeed, so I guess our love
is true. We got some weird looks and laughs.
At the base of the tower they had another example of these
love padlocks that I’ve talked about in a previous blog. The Koreans have
fallen for it too.
A few weeks later I visited the Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple. I
had wanted to see a Buddhist temple when I was in Thailand but I didn’t get the
opportunity so I was glad to visit one in Korea. I tried my hardest not to
appear as a tourist, but no matter how much I try I will never quite fit in in
Korea mainly because I’m not Asian. I think only Michael McIntyre and Jack
Cassidy are the only white people that can pass for being Asian by sight alone.
I wandered around the temple grounds and entered a prayer
room. I grabbed a cushion and sat quietly. People came in and prayed and I
observed. Buddhists seem to have a different praying ritual than I have ever
seen before, it starts; stand, crouch, kneel, place your head on the floor,
stand, repeat. That’s too much effort for me. It looked more like an exercise
video than a prayer. After they pray they then donate money at the front of the
alter, because we all know with religion your prayers don’t come true unless
you pay for it.
I continued my walk around the grounds and found an enormous
Buddha. It was impressive, I know it’s not a competition but Christ the
Redeemer is bigger.
A weird fact that I have discovered since being in Korea is
that Buddhism shares it’s logo with Nazism. I never knew that. I kept on seeing
the logo on the buildings and it just seemed unnatural to me. Although Buddhism
probably had the logo first I think more people would recognise it as the
symbol evil rather than good. I can’t believe that the top Buddhists around the
world haven’t got together to create a new marketing campaign. “We don’t
encourage hate, we only meditate”. They can have that one for free.
The temple was originally founded in 794 which blew my mind.
I enjoyed walking around, there were some impressive buildings and as you
looked into the distance you could see the tall skyscrapers of Seoul, a clash
of traditional and modern Korea. There was one enormous building near the car
park that no one really focused on, other tourists just passed by like it wasn’t
impressive, I went to investigate and it turned out to be the staff room and
cafeteria. Just shows how little I know.
I hope I haven’t offended anyone with what I’ve written in
this article. I haven’t targeted Buddhism, it’s just what I noticed. I grew up
in a Catholic household and there isn’t enough time to write about the
imperfections of Catholicism. But anyway, I’m off snowboarding this weekend so
I’m praying to all of the gods that I don’t break a leg.
