Korea Day #4

I started my day off by going to Namsangol Hanok Village, a Korean Folk Village with traditional-style houses. The houses were transported from other parts of the country and reconstructed here as a free tourist attraction.





In the old days, kimchi (spicy, fermented cabbage that is still a common side dish) was placed in pots and dug into the ground to keep it refrigerated. The pots were then protected by a small hut like this one.



In the background below you can see N Seoul Tower.




After the folk village, my guide and I went to Namdaeman Market, an open air flea market that is popular with the locals.




This is a boiling pot of beondegi (silk worm pupae), which is a popular street vendor food.



The way the pot was boiling, it looked like they were still alive and moving around. I didn't try any, but the smell gave me enough of an idea.

After the market, we took a subway over to the theater for my interview with Cine 21, another popular film magazine in Korea. Outside the theater, we found a group of volunteers cheering about the festival to publicize the event.


During the interview, I was given a translater. Here she is explaining my responses in Korean.


For this magazine we also did a photo shoot with a silk flower, although the poses were more low key than my previous photo shoot.



Although the magazine article wasn't printed by the time I left Seoul, the festival had it printed in a festival news pamphlet the next day.



That night I met up with some people to go out for karaoke. As you may know, karaoke in Asia isn't like in the U.S. where you sing in front of the whole bar. Instead, you and your friends rent a small room where you sing to each other.







This is me and lesbian filmmaker Lisa Gornick, singing the duet Summer Lovin' from Grease.



Things I learned today about Korea -

- Koreans often say "kimchi" when taking a photo, similar to how in the U.S. we say "cheese."

- It is appropriate for people to address people older than themselves as Mr. or Ms. so-and-so. Today my guide (who is college-aged) called me Miss Ehlen, a formality that surprised me especially since we've been hanging out for a few days and have otherwise had informal interactions.

- While Asian culture as a whole seems to be more "polite" than western culture, one thing I noticed is that it is not inappropriate (as it is in the U.S.) to make a reference to someone about them being overweight. While thinness seems to be emphasized even more than in the U.S., my friend told me that references to one's weight are more of a matter of fact than anything. For example, one night when we were out, someone told me that I may be her friend's type because she likes chubby girls. Not the kind of pickup line that I usually hear, although I suppose its originality tops "Come here often?" and "Did you come here alone?"

We were all a bit tired from staying out late the night before, so we returned to the hotel around midnight. I was glad to get to bed at a decent time as the next day was my last day in Seoul and I wanted to make good use out of it.

Korea Day #3

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and went to my interview with Screen, a popular film magazine in Korea.


After our interview, we had a photo shoot.


They wanted me to do a series of fun and playful poses with a silk flower, which was a symbol that represented the film festival. Since Butch Jamie is a funny film, they wanted to capture some of that same energy with the photos. It was the first photo shoot I've done for a magazine, so diving in and coming up with poses was a bit new for me.


Since I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, I went back to the hotel and took a nap after the interview. I woke up a little later than planned, but I still had time to go to N Seoul Tower to view the city before heading out for the night.



This is the tower; you can pay a fee to go up to the top, although I only had time to check out the view from the base. It was high up on a mountain, so you could still get a good view of the city.


The observation deck had a gate that was decorated with hundreds of padlocks put there by couples proclaiming their love. Several of them were two locks linked together.



The tower area also had a couple of hanging figures made out of thin wire.





After my visit to the tower, I took a cab across town to meet up with some other filmmakers at a pub for Director's Night.



This is cloudy rice wine that you drink out of a metal bowl; it was poured from a gold tea pot. The taste of the wine is interesting, but I liked it. The bowl keeps it cold longer, too.


Things I learned today about Korea:

- A person's age in Korea is their U.S. age plus one year. The reason is that they count the year you are in mom's womb as the first year of life (although your birthday is the actual day you are born).

- In the old days, around our grandparents generation, women walked behind men and carried all of the heavy things. Things are different today, although a woman told me that feminism in Korea is a man holding the door open for a woman, as it shows her more respect.

- As a woman reaches her late 20s, it becomes more difficult for her to find a job. Employers often ask on the job application if a woman is married. Many woman are fired when they become pregnant, although technically the law doesn't support this. Nevertheless, raising a family while holding a job is not an option for most women.

We stayed out late Saturday night and chatted until nearly 3AM. A few of us made plans to meet up for karaoke the next night.

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.