January 17-29, 1971: My First Trip to Japan
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This Saturday, I've been invited by my Civil Affairs exchange family, the Kims, to come down to their home in Seoul to spend the night. You may recall my telling you on one of last year's pages about how I responded to a memo from Yongsan about a program that paired up Korean families who wanted to engage with military personnel so as to get to know each other better. And, not unsurprisingly, use their time with these military folks to practice their English. I'd been paired with a mathematics professor and his family- the Kims. I have seen them a couple of times already, and have enjoyed meeting them. This will be my first (and, as it turned out, only) overnight at their home.

Getting to the Kim's House in Seoul

Yet again, I have to apologize for my inability to precisely locate places from my time in Korea. For Dr. Kim's house, I never had an actual address, and my sleuthing hasn't turned one up. So, again, the map on this page is only approximate.

Getting into Seoul is pretty easy, and I've done it a number of times. The trip begins at the bus station a few blocks along the road then runs up from Seoul, through Bongilcheon, and up towards the DMZ, so that's where I headed this afternoon.

The Korean buses run all over from town to town in all directions. I've gotten familiar with a couple of the routes into Seoul, so I know which bus to take depending on where in the city I am going. Unless there are other servicemen on a bus, I see only Koreans- who are all at least friendly if not engagingly inquisitive. It is less than a generation after the end of the Korean Conflict, so servicemen- both US and Korean, are a common sight.

Inside a Korean Taxi

Less than 20 years ago, South Korea was in the midst of a war, and before that, would probably have been considered a third-world country. Certainly in my time here, while I have been impressed with the friendliness of the Koreans with whom I've interacted, I can see that the country's infrastructure needs extensive modernization. Unlike Tokyo, Seoul has no rail-based mass transit; train service is really only available between a few of the major cities. Seoul, particularly, is very congested, as it is rapidly trying to bring itself into the postwar modern era. I suspect that the Koreans will write a story much like the Japanese, but that may still be decades off.

For now, Koreans get around mostly on the thousands of buses, each seeming spewing out more pollutants than the last, and via the even more numerous taxis (some licensed, many not) that US servicemen have come to call "kimchi cabs". While many of these taxis are completely serviceable and acceptable, many seem to have pressed into service quickly and with little oversight. The cab I took today was one of the former, although I have definitely been in the latter numerous times- particularly out in the countryside. But this one had all the normal accoutrements- including a mechanical fare meter (at a time when digital versions are becoming the standard elsewhere).

I could not have told the driver where to go in Korean, certainly, and I also doubt his English would have been good enough that I could do so in my own language. Fortunately, I had with me a little card with the Kim family's address on it, and fifteen minutes after I got off the bus at one of the main city terminals, the taxi was delivering me to Dr. Kim's address.

Meet the Kims

The first couple of times I met Dr. Kim, it was at a coffee shop near his house and his two sons (one quite young and one about 25) were with him. This was the first time I had been to his house.

Part of the Kim Family

If I recall correctly, Dr. Kim had two sons and a daughter. I am pretty sure that the young lady in this picture, though, is not that daughter, but rather his elder son's wife.

I was interested this evening in the fact that of all the males that had dinner with us or who came by during the evening, the good doctor was the only one not in a suit. I would not be surprised if this might not be some sort of tradition; perhaps young men wear suits on occasions like this but the elder male does not. I don't think that I thought of a polite way to inquire, so have no way of knowing for sure.

Anyway, when I first arrived and rang the bell, Dr. Kim and his elder son came out and the three of us walked a short distance away to a small, neighborhood bar or coffee place. On the way, we passed what appeared to be a school or church; as I am actually creating this page I have sent the sign to someone at the Korean Tourist Bureau to see if they might translate it for me. (This might also help me pinpoint where in Seoul Dr. Kim's home was.)

I have to admit that our trip to the little bar was a little disconcerting. We went in and sat at a small table, and almost immediately a youngish woman came and sat down at out table with us as Dr. Kim had coffees brought. The woman, Dr. Kim, and his son seemed to know each other well, and the three of them chatted after Dr. Kim introduced me. We spent a half hour there, and on the way back to Dr. Kim's house, he referred to the woman as his "second wife". I did not take him literally, although I now think that indeed she may be more than just a friend. In any event, we walked back to the house for dinner.

As we were walking to the cafe and back from it, I took two pictures of the street around the corner from Dr. Kim's house. Many of the small sidestreets in Seoul are not paved, or paved with cobblestones, and this was one of those streets. They are lined with little shops or other establishments.

Here is one of those typical little shops. You can usually find some food, bags of rice, and other things you might see in a convenience store today. On in the very center of Seoul, near major attractions or in the financial center, do you see wider streets that look more like American cities.

Here is the same spot but with some typical passersby. The women are wearing what I came to find out was a very common outdoor attire- particularly in winter. It was a long skirt and a quilted jacket. It wasn't a particularly nice day, but older Koreans tend to wear muted colors anyway.

I also asked Dr. Kim to have one of his family members take a couple of photos so I could be in them:

A new addition to the group for the evening is the gentleman at right, who Dr. Kim introduced as a colleague of his from the university.

It seems as if Korean men either wear suits or the sarong-like skirt that Dr. Kim has on. It was quite similar to the lower garments worn by women.

That was one thing that I did ask Mr. Kim about, and between he and his elder son, I learned quite a bit. Kim's attire, which is usually worn by upper-class Koreans only at home, but more lower-class at work oftentimes, is called a "hanbok". The three-letter sequence "h-a-n" in any word or phrase denotes "Korea" or "Korean". The jacket is called a jeogori and the baggy pants (I could not tell that they were not a skirt but more like culottes) are called baji. Those two basic garments can be supplemented with a "po" (an outer coat, or robe), a "jokki" which is a type of vest, and perhaps a "magoja"- an outer jacket worn for warmth and style.

In the fading light, I took two pictures looking up at the upper stories of the Kim's residence:

This part of Korea is very hilly- almost mountainous, and you can see some of these hills in the background in the above pictures which, as near as I can tell, look north. There are even high hills in central Seoul; one of them, Namsan Mountain, is one of the most popular locations in the city- right in the middle of a park.

The Kim's house had two floors; the sleeping areas were on the upper floor, while the kitchen, living area, and facilities were on the first floor. Everything was very simple, although the Kim's were quite upper middle class. Their house had running water to provide water in the kitchen and the facilities. As you will see in the pictures taken during dinner, the Kim's had a TV and fridge, and I saw a record player, and radio. Much of this equipment had Japanese company names, although I was given to understand that South Korea was trying to move as quickly as possible to produce its own electronics, automobiles, and other consumer goods. I think Korea wants to be the next Japan.

But when you walk the streets outside the central commercial district you will find, even in the nicer neighborhoods, that paved streets are the exception rather than the rule, and that not everyone has access to running water. Electricity seems to be ubiquitous, however, even in small shops and homes. Further up the mountainsides, it is a different story, as one sees shanties built from corrugated metal and wood, and women carrying water from central provision points up to these very, very modest dwellings.

Korea is a country in transition. The Korean War, and the arrival of American troops and American money, has opened up the country, and our continued support, and that of many other Western nations, is enabling Korea to change rapidly. I found much of Seoul to be quite modern, with all the newest buildings being indistinguishable from new buildings anywhere else in the world. When you are inside the new Chosun Hotel, or the Onkyo Department Store, you could be almost anywhere. But it is when you walk the side streets away from the city center that you can feel the "foreignness" of the country, and get a sense for how far the country will need to develop to catch up with what I have read that Japan is like.

Dinner at the Kims

In a moment, you'll see a slideshow of the pictures that were taken during dinner. I took a couple of them, and various other folks took the rest. You will see that dinner was an elaborate affair. Seated around the low table was everyone you've seen so far and the addition of Dr. Kim's mother.

There were two other people in the house during dinner- Dr. Kim's wife and a househelper that works for them intermittently. It is not Korean custom for the wife to sit at the table when there is an elder woman already there, so Mrs. Kim was helping in the kitchen and serving. I did have the opportunity to talk a bit with her before and after the meal. She was quite nice, spoke very decent English, and did not seem at all put out by the custom that kept her from the dinner table with everyone else.

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I spent some time with Mrs. Kim and her helper, and could see that Koreans are more like Europeans than Americans. They tend to buy food and other items daily, and the fridge only contains jars and bottle of sauces, condiments, and other such items. (Unlike many Koreans, the Kim's don't make their own kimchi, but buy it from street vendors who bring it from the countryside.)

I've put the pictures taken during dinner in the slideshow at left. You can click on the image to begin the show. To go from one picture to another, click on the little arrows in the lower corners of each image. You'll know when you get back to the beginning by referring to the index numbers in the upper left corner of each image.

The food itself was excellent, rivalling the best Oriental food that I have had in stateside restaurants. Mrs. Kim took a great deal of care in preparing the dishes, which covered a wide range. There was a rice bowl at each place, of course, and Koreans, like Japanese, use the rice bowl more like a plate, using a serving spoon to take a small amount of one of the common dishes and put on the rice, and then use individual sets of chopsticks (forks were also available) to eat what has been selected.

The dishes themselves were mostly vegetables, cold and hot, and all deliciously-seasoned. There were a couple of dishes with meat in them- chicken and pork. Many of them looked and tasted like dishes you might find in a typical Chinese restaurant. There was a lot of carrot and cabbage, and, of course, kimchi- a fermented cabbage and vegetable concoction reminiscent of a spicy, garlicky, vinegary, chunky slaw. I remember one dish Mrs. Kim made where she took large pickles, hollowed them out, and then inserted thin strips of carrot, cucumber, and cabbage in a thick sauce that held them together. Then the pickle was sliced- as if someone had taken a multi-wire telephone cable and sliced it. The family seemed to be familiar with this dish as they gobbled them up pretty quickly.

Everything was good, including the conversation, much of which I was urged to provide. Mr. Kim and his colleague had been to California before, but none of the younger Kims had. But that was what I was there for- to answer questions about America and the life of its common citizens. Korea gets all our political news, and the news of the world, but it is the knowledge of day-to-day life that Koreans seem starved for. Everyone was engaging and inquisitive- particularly the elder Mrs. Kim. Her son translated as she asked and I answered questions about my family- how big it was, where we all lived, what my own Mom and Dad did, what our house was like, and so on. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I didn't get to sleep on my futon in the younger Kim's room until quite late.

Breakfast on Sunday was a simple affair- coffee, tea, pastries, and a dish or two from the previous night. I left about noon to make my way down to Yongsan (the US Military HQ in downtown Seoul where I could catch a military bus that would take be back to Howze.

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	January 17-29, 1971: My First Trip to Japan
	Return to Index for 1971