Korea Day #2

My second day in Seoul was my most eventful. I woke up that morning completely rested and ready to start exploring the city. My volunteer translator/guide wasn't available until late afternoon, but I looked forward to touring around a little on my own.


First stop was Insa-dong, a street full of antique shops, art galleries, and traditional Korean souvenirs.




Above is a picture of Buddhist monks buying something to eat.


This guy is pounding a mixture of rice and other things with a large hammer to turn it into a treat.



After looking around for a couple of hours, I walked over to Changdeokgung, one of the five palaces where kings of the Joseon Dynasty lived. This particular palace was built from 1405-1412.



The palace grounds had a one and a half hour English speaking tour that I went on.






The building structures were all very interesting, but the grounds as a whole felt very deserted, with vast spaces of sand and stone landscape along with mostly empty buildings.






Near the back of the palace was the Secret Garden, where the grounds became a little more lush.



After my tour, I met up with my guide Eun Joo to go to Deoksugong, a much smaller but well-landscaped palace.




After that, we headed to Sinchon, a college area where Butch Jamie would be shown.




Eun Joo and I went out for Korean BBQ, which is thinly sliced meat that you cook in front of you. Along with our meal we drank Soju, liquor made from rice that tastes similar to vodka but with less of a bite.


After dinner, we went to the theater for the Friday night screening of Butch Jamie, which was sold out. There I met a translator who would assist with the Q&A after the screening. The film seemed to be very well-received - I got a lot of compliments and thought-provoking questions, took many photos with fans, and signed several autographs. I sensed that this film meant something more to Koreans than it did in America where gay and lesbian issues have become more mainstream.

After the screening, a young lesbian come up to me and told me (in English, as many people speak at least a little English) that I am a butch role model for Koreans - a very flattering statement, however one with a lot of responsibility. I thought more about this afterward. I often wonder if I'm butch enough to really be *that*, whatever *that* is. However, I got an interesting Q&A question at my second screening a couple of days later where I was able to discuss my thoughts on the issue. Someone asked me - "What do you think butch is?" I told her that I will start to answer her question by saying what I think butch isn't - it isn't any one thing or set of things. I told her that while I identify as butch, part of accepting that label for me also means accepting the fact that I don't have to be *that*. I can be myself, whoever that is, without changing or modifying myself to fit into the category. So in essence, butch is what you make it.


After the screening we headed over to a club for Queer Night, which was organized by the festival. There I met several women who had seen the movie and we continued various conversations about sexuality and identity with one of the festival programmers translating most of it for us.



Things I learned today about Korea:

- It's considered rude to pour your own drink. Beer often comes in large bottles that you share with your friends and the idea is that you pour their glass when it becomes empty and you wait for them to do the same for you.

- You can drink alcohol outside on the street as well as in a cab - so liberating! My Korean friend told me that you can drink anywhere except in a stranger's house. "You mean you can't drink there because you broke in?" I asked. "Yeah," she laughed.

- While there is a gay and lesbian subculture in Seoul (bars, clubs, etc.), people aren't out to their families, co-workers, or many of their friends. Same-sex couples who live together do so under the pretense of being good friends. Queer sexuality is generally not discussed in public and one of the festival programmers wasn't sure how people would feel at my Q&A about asking questions for fear that they may out themselves (people ended up asking me a lot of great questions, which worked out well).

One guy asked me in the Q&A if I was a lesbian (I answered yes and was given some applause) and later a Korean butch lesbian told me that she was angry that he had done that. While the vast majority of the Korean audience already knows that I'm a lesbian, she thought it was an inappropriate question to ask me in public. I told her that it wasn't a big deal and that everyone knows in my country - my family, employers, all my friends, etc. She was a little surprised, but perhaps also a little envious. The U.S. seems to be a few decades ahead with gay and lesbian issues, although I do think Korea will eventually catch up.

It was late when I got back to my hotel and I had to wake up fairly early in the morning for an interview. I went right to sleep, amazed at how much ground I had covered that day.