Stuff Waygooks Like #9 - No Daylight Savings Time

Day Lights Savings is a waste of time (literally).  South Korea does not observe it.  Waygooks from the Western world arrive here and enjoy not having to remember to reset their clocks twice a year.  Of course it is not a huge inconvenience, but is it really something everyone in the world has to do?  Every opinion poll ever taken anywhere in the world suggests DST is generally unpopular and even the benefits to doing it in terms of energy conservation are disputed by various think tanks.

According to this source, Ben Franklin is the man to thank for the idea of Daylight Savings Time and the Germans were the first nation to adopt it:

According to the book, Seize the Daylight, by David Perau, Franklin was living in Paris when he was awakened by sunlight coming in through the windows.

"An accidental sudden noise waked me about 6 in the morning when I was surprised to find my room filled with light," Franklin wrote in a letter to the Journal de Paris, according Perau. "I imagined at first that a number of lamps had been brought into the room; but rubbing my eyes I perceived the light came in at the windows."

What followed was a plan to save Paris money by optimizing sunlight over candles.
The real father of Daylight Saving Time was an Englishman, William Willett (1857-1915), a house builder who spent the last eight years of his life petitioning for the adoption of DST by the British Parliament, and did so at his own expense.

Willett produced a pamphlet, The Waste of Daylight. In it he proposed that the clocks should be advanced by 80 minutes in the summer. The evenings would then remain light longer, increasing daylight recreation time and also saving ₤2.5 million in lighting costs. He suggested that the clocks should be advanced by 20 minutes at a time at 2am on successive Sundays in April and be turned back by the same amount on Sundays in September.

Robert Pearce, a member of Parliament, introduced the measure in a select committee of the legislature. A very young Winston Churchill heartily endorsed the proposal. Several times, the bill came to a vote, and each time, it met with defeat. Willett died in 1915, of influenza, never living to see his longed-for idea come to fruition.

Ironically, events elsewhere in Europe prompted its eventual adoption. In the summer of 1914, World War I broke out in Europe. Germany and its allies were the first European nations to adopt Willet's proposal. The measure went into effect on April 30, 1916, stemming from the need to conserve coal during wartime. Great Britain, Russia and several neutral European countries came on board in 1917. The United States formally adopted the law in 1918, athough some states and territories have exempted themselves from following Daylight Savings Time.

South Korea used to observe Daylight Savings Time for most of the years after World War II through 1960.  It also observed DST from 1987 to 1988 when South Korea hosted the Asian Games and the Olympic Games.

Recently, business interests and government officials have been pushing to reinstate DST as part of a wider green initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  There was much talk of bringing it back in 2009, but it appears nothing every materialized from it.

Source (Feb 16th, 2009):

The government will form a task force to introduce daylight saving time (DST) as early as possible to save energy and improve the quality of life, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. 

It is also considering creating a fund to attract investment from the private sector in the development of energy-saving technologies under the ``Green New Deal'' project aimed at nurturing relative industries into a new economic growth engine. 

These measures were discussed at the first meeting of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth, presided over by President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae. The 47-member council of economic ministers and experts from the private sector, which opened Monday, will play a leading role in forming the government's green growth policies. 

``South Korea has become one of the most advanced countries in the world in terms of efforts to develop green technologies and fight climate change,'' President Lee said. ``I'm confident that green technologies will not only help us overcome the ongoing economic crisis, but enhance the country's long-term growth potential.'' 

As part of plans to promote green industries, the government will soon introduce DST, which has been adopted by 27 of the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Only South Korea, Japan and Iceland have yet to put DST in motion. 

The measure is expected to draw a fierce backlash from unions, which have argued employers might abuse it to force employees to work longer. Union activists claim that it is still premature to launch DST because South Koreans work the longest hours in the world even though the country enforces a 40-hour workweek. [...]

The target was to have DST return to South Korea by spring of 2010, and that obviously never happened.  Hazaa!

Stuff Waygooks Like #8 - The Korean Flag (태극기)

The Taegeukgi (태극기) is the national flag of South Korea.  The national flag of a country is sometimes its most recognizable and important symbol and South Korea has both a visually and spiritually attractive flag.

The term "Taegeuk" literally means the "state of chaos that existed before the creation of the sky and the earth".  The red portion of the Taegeuk symbol signifies yang (the positive) and the blue portion signifies yin (the negative).  The yin and yang can be expressed as the moon and sun, or earth and heaven.  Taegeuk is meant to represent a full circle in which yin and yang encounter one another in an unlimited universe and bring balance.

The white background symbolizes the "cleanliness of the people".  In each corner of the flag there is a black trigram.  The four trigrams are Geon (건), Ri (리), Gam (감 ), and Gon (곤 ).  Each represents many different things including the four seasons, the four cardinal directions, the four members of the nuclear family, and more.

In 1876 King Gojong (reign 1864-1907) of the Joseon Dynasty personally designed the flag.  It was then first officially used to represent Korea in 1882 when a royal envoy visiting Japan hung it from the roof of the building where his delegation was staying.

Originally known as the "Joseon Gukgi" (flag of Joseon), the Korean flag was first referred to as the Taegeukgi in the March 1st, 1919 Declaration of Korean Independence signed by 33 national representatives during the Japanese colonial era.  The flag had been banned by the Japanese during the colonial era and the Taegeukgi was used as a symbol of resistance and independence.  Ownership of a flag was punishable by execution if found by the Japanese.

In 1949, the newly established Korean government set clear norms in terms of the size and form which the Taegeukgi must have, standards which continue to apply to this day.  If you like mathematical precision, you will appreciate the dimensions and proportions present in the flag.

The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup had the effect of forever altering Koreans' perception of the Taegeukgi.  For the first time the Taegeukgi began to be seen as more than a sacred object that should be saluted on national holidays and special occasions.  Adorned on people's faces, t-shirts, towels and sports wear, it effectively became an item people used to express their support for their nation in any and every way.  The Taegeukgi has thus taken on a more intimate role in the daily lives of Koreans since then.

Sources

Stuff Waygooks Like #7 - Floor Heat (온돌)

One of the best things about having an apartment or home in South Korea is having heated floors.  Especially in the winter time, you will find excuses to read, eat, chat, watch TV, or sleep on the floor because Korea can get so cold.

Ondol 온돌 (also referred to as Gudeul 구들) is nearly ubiquitous in all homes and public gathering spaces in South Korea.  Everyone knows that heat rises, so the most efficient way to disperse heat in a home is to release it through the floor and allow it to rise up through an entire room.  It is much more cost effective than a space heater or other Western style heating methods.  Koreans figured this out a while ago, too.  The earliest use of ondol has been found at an archaeological site in present-day North Korea (circa BCE 1000).  In an excavated dwelling (움집) that was discovered in Unggi, Hamgyeongbuk-do, there is a clear vestige of gudeul.  Koreans claim that they developed the world’s first central heating system.

The traditional type of ondol was created by cooking stoves and fireplaces beneath the floors.  The burning of fuels to create the heat was either sporadically or regularly done (2 to 5 times a day), dependent on frequency of cooking and seasonal weather conditions.  With the traditional type of ondol, floor spots closer to the furnace were usually warmer and often reserved for elders and honored guests.  Some historians even say that the traditional flowing hanbok attire was designed with hot floors in mind.  The women’s version of the hanbok in particular tends to form a “tent” around the individual, trapping the heat radiating up from the floor.

The conventional ondol had problems, such as overheating of specific floor spots, carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from burning coal briquette, irregular distribution of heat on the floor, and environmental pollution. For these reasons most modern Korean homes started to have modern versions of ondol floors heated by circulated hot water from water heaters, or an electrical heating system of dielectric heating or induction heating since 1960s.

Sources

Stuff Waygooks Like #6 - Buddhism (불교)

Buddhism is one of the world’s great religions. It is third in size behind Christianity and Islam with somewhere between 500 million and 1.6 billion people world-wide identifying themselves as Buddhist or loosely identifying by practicing some Buddhist beliefs or rituals. However, the religion is highly concentrated in only Asia. Most people from the English speaking Western world do not personally know anyone who is Buddhist. Upon arriving in South Korea, many waygooks enjoy exploring the rich and soul-searching depths of this ancient religion. 

It is difficult to accurately calculate the number of Koreans who are Buddhist because self-identity varies from tradition to tradition. Many Korean Buddhists also take a relaxed attitude towards formal worship. Today, about seven million Koreans self-identify themselves as Buddhists with another ten million or so that probably share some Buddhist beliefs mixed in with Christian, Confucian, or Shamanistic beliefs. Many tour guide books will say it is about a quarter of South Korea’s population. There are about 25,000 clergy of both sexes and there are 7244 accredited temples scattered in picturesque locations throughout the entire country.

Buddhism is a missionary religion that spread from China into Korea some time during the 4th century, eventually becoming the state religion of all three of the ancient kingdoms of Korea – Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla. By the time it reached Korea, Buddhism had altered from its original form in India, absorbing elements of the local folk traditions of the countries into which it had spread. By the 7th century Buddhism was well established, as seen in the numbers of great temples which had been erected throughout the peninsula, the numbers of monks who went to China and India to study, and the important role which Korean monks played in the spread and development of Buddhism in Japan.

Buddhism continued to flourish during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), existing in a complementary state of harmony with Confucianism. By the end of the Silla period in the early 10th century, Buddhism had effectively taken on the form which we see in modern Korea. Monastic Buddhism is predominately of the meditative Seon school (better known by the Japanese term Zen), whereas popular Buddhism, the Buddhism practiced by the laity, belongs predominately to the Pure Land traditions. The all-encompassing doctrinal Dienai school (jeondae in Korean) remained important for a few more centuries, but the meditation and Pure Land schools came to form the core of Buddhist practice in Korea. The Seon school is based on the idea that suffering is caused by attachment to things of this world, and that release from suffering can only come through the abrupt realization of the illusionary nature of things. Methods of meditation and monastic life are meant to bring the monk or nun into a state of sudden enlightment.

It wasn’t all the familiar Buddhism of ascetic monks, however. Some monasteries became wealthy and owned large estates and thousands of slaves, and some monks dressed in silk robes, rode fine horses and indulged in wine, women and song. When the Joseon Dynasty began in 1392, the height of Korean Buddhism abruptly came to an end. In addition to fundamental spiritual conflicts, the Confucianists, who were high up in the Joseon government, resented how much of the nation’s money was being used by Buddhists to build elaborate statues and hold increasingly expensive rituals. They believed that Buddhism was a serious drain on the country’s economy, so in 1390 King Taejo removed Buddhist monks from his government, expelled them from the capital, and confiscated Buddhist property. The building of temples in the capital was forbidden and the number of monks and nuns who could live in monasteries, and how much land they could own, was tightly regulated. Buddhist practices were forced out of the cities, begging was made illegal, and Buddhist funerals were outlawed.

Far from being pacifists, Korean monks frequently came to the defense of their country. Many mountain fortresses throughout the Korean peninsula contained temples and were garrisoned by warrior monks. Toughened by their Spartan lifestyle and trained in martial arts, monk warriors played a major part in resisting the Japanese invasions in the 1590s even though Confucianism had become the state doctrine and the new rules treated them as lowborn and no better than beggars. With the demise of the Joseon Dynasty at the end of the 19th century, and the annexation of Korea by Japan, Buddhism’s fortunes changed dramatically. The redevelopment and modernization of Buddhism is due to the work of both traditionalist monks, and to the work of modernizers who looked to the laity as the core of the Buddhist community.

Conciously or unconsciously, the modernizers of Korean Buddhism in recent decades have looked to the rapidly growing Protestant Christian community in the country both for inspiration and as a competitor. Many features of contemporary Korean Buddhism reflect Protestant practice, such as the emphasis on lay groups, institutional outreach in the forms of schools, universities, print and broadcast media, as well as popular liturgical practices that use Buddhist words to the tunes of well-known Christian hymns. The modernization of Buddhism has allowed its return to an important place on the Korean religious scene.

Because Buddhism was forced out of the cities during the Joseon Dynasty, temples that survived tended to be in more remote, mountainous areas. Today, these are often prime tourist destinations, and so in recent years, some temples have been taking in visitors for short stays, to experience, however briefly, the life of contemplation and ceremony practiced by the monks. Foreign visitors in Korea do not have to learn or follow any special protocol when visiting Buddhist temples. They should simply be polite to any priests they may encounter, stay out of areas that are not open to the public, avoid being loud and rowdy, and in general behave in a respectful manner. Ordinary visitors to Buddhists temples do not go “inside” the inner sanctums of the temples. Instead, they walk around outside, admiring the architecture of the buildings and the images of deities that are enshrined in the temples and visible from the public areas.

Sources

Stuff Waygooks Like #5 - Halloween (할로윈)

Waygooks love Halloween!  We love it so much and truth be told, most of us are unable to explain to a Korean what the holiday is for or why we have it.  Today, it is most widely celebrated in North America and parts other English speaking countries.  I was recently put on the spot by a Korean what the holiday was for, so I decided to look it up.

Halloween traditions began over two thousand years ago in Northern Europe amongst the ancient Pagan and Celt religions.  They celebrated their New Years on November 1st.  This is when the weather started getting colder and the days grew shorter.  They associated this time of year with death.  They believed that the night before, on October 31st, the dead rose from the grave and would walk amongst the living once more.  This day became the pagan festival of Samhain and people would dress up like ghosts and ghouls to not be recognized as human beings by any evil spirits that rose that night.

In the 800s, the Christian church moved their holiday of "All Saint's Day" from May to November 1st to help incorporate church doctrine into already existing pagan holidays (same as with Easter and Christmas).  October 31st thus became All Hallows' Eve ("hallow" meaning "saint").

The church also made November 2nd "All Souls Day", a day set apart for the commemoration of all the dead.  In the 15th century, during the All Souls Day festival in England, poor people would beg for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants.  Families would give these away for a promise to pray for the family's relatives.  The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was taken up by children who would visit the houses of their neighborhood and they would be given ale, food, and money.

After the potato famine of 1848, millions of Irish emigrants poured into America and brought with them their adapted traditions of Halloween.  They called Halloween "Oidche Shamhna" ("Night of Samhain"), as their ancestors had, and they kept traditional observances.  Halloween has been a widely popular holiday in North America since then.

So, that's Halloween.  People carve pumpkins.  They dress up like anything they want.  They go to parties.  They watch scary movies.  They hand out candy to children.  They have fun.  Koreans that get a taste of what Halloween is usually enjoy it and it is only a matter of time before this holiday becomes more widely accepted and popularized in Korea.

Waygooks who dress up for Halloween while living in Korea also incorporate some of their costume ideas with distinctly Korean cultural aspects.  Here are some I found.

This waygook decided to dress up like an Ajumma... which is an old Korean woman.

I saw several people dressed up as "fan death."  A clever play on a hilarious Korean superstition.

This waygook dressed up as a nora bong machine.  There is a microphone in the guys hand.

Koreans love their phones and they love their phone charms.  This guy is his phone's charm.

If anyone remembers the insanity of the swine flu scare last year in Korea, this guy was dressed as swine flu.

Koreans get into it as well.  Here is a Harry Potter.

Cheers!

Stuff Waygooks Like #4 - Korean Baseball (한국 프로 야구)

Koreans love baseball.  Did you know that?  I had no clue before arriving in South Korea that baseball was so big here, but they really love their baseball.

Waygooks like Korean baseball, too.  Going to the games is tons of fun and every waygook who lives in Korea for any amount of time needs to experience a game.

Tickets are cheap.  It varies from team to team and stadium to stadium, but generally the price of admission is between 7,000 won and 20,000 won ($6 ~ $16 US) for an adult.  Games normally never sell out, except for the playoffs, and you can always buy tickets at the gate right before the game starts.  Games always start at 6:30pm Tuesday through Friday (no games on Monday) and at 5:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

The food and drink options are every waygook-sport-fan's dream.  There is absolutely no price gouging tolerated in Korean baseball.  A can of beer at the stadium will cost you between 1,000 and 2,000 won (about $1).  Snacks and typical stadium food prices are also comparable to any local convenience store just outside the stadium.  Independent vendors from local businesses also show up at the game and sell everything from fried chicken to dried squid to anyone on their way into the ballpark.  AND!  If you still do not like the prices or your options, you can just bring into the stadium whatever you want!  Korean baseball games allow people to bring in their own food and beverages.  It is the greatest thing EVER!

The seating at Korean baseball games is also interesting.  In that, there is no assigned seating.  There are a few "reserved seating" sections for people who pay higher prices, but somewhere around 95% of the stadium is a free-for-all game of find your own seat.  Whoever shows up at the stadium first and sits down gets that seat for the game.  When games are not crowded, usually Koreans of the home team sit behind first base to form a cheering section and Koreans of the traveling team sit behind third base to form a cheering section.

Koreans are also amazing and devoted fans.  They are actually the best part because they are so monolithic and involved during the games.  There is nothing comparable in North American baseball.  For each team, and for every player, there is a song that the fans of that team sings for when that person is at bat.  They cheer loud and love to jeer the opposing teams as well.

Eat Your Kimchi has a video to give you a feel for their zeal:

The Korea Professional Baseball league was formed in 1982 and currently has eight teams.  The teams are generally named after the companies or business conglomerates which own them.

The teams are:

Seoul - Doosan Bears (Official Site)
Seoul - LG Twins (Official Site)
Seoul - Nexen Heroes (Official Site)
Busan - Lotte Giants (Official Site)
Daegu - Samsung Lions (Official Site)
Incheon - SK Wyverns (Official Site)
Daejeon - Hanwha Eagles (Official Site)
Gwangju - Kia Tigers (Official Site)

The league has a sleek structure.  Each team plays 133 games in the regular season.  Each team plays every other team 19 times.  At the end of the regular season the four teams with the best records advance to the playoffs.  The season culminates in its championship series, known as the Korean Series.  The team with the best record gains a direct entry into the Korean Series, while the other three teams compete for the remaining place in a step-ladder playoff system:

- Semi-playoff: 3rd vs 4th; best 3 out of 5 games
- Playoff: 2nd vs. winner of Semi-playoff; best 3 out of 5 games
- Korean Series: 1st vs winner of Playoff; best 4 out of 7 games

The 2009 Korea was particularly exciting.  The Series ended in a walk-off home run in game seven and the KIA Tigers won it.  Check out this clip to feel the excitement.

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Stuff Waygooks Like #3 - Kim Yu-na (김연아)

An easy pick.  Who doesn't like Kim Yu-na?  Well... except maybe Japanese figure skating fans...

Kim Yu-na is the 2010 Olympic Champion in ladies singles and she was the 2009 World Champion.  She is the first Korean figure skater to win a medal at the Olympic games.  This has easily made her the most recognizable Korean athlete in the world.

Why do waygooks like her so much?  Same reason everyone else does.  She is gorgeous.  She is strong and dedicated.  She has amazing talent and grace and with her record setting performance in the Olympic games she has arguably made the greatest physical achievement by any Korean athlete ever.  Sorry Korean short track speed skating fans...

She was born in 1990 and is from Gyeonggi-do Province.  She began skating at the age of seven.  In 2002, at the age of twelve, she won the senior title at the South Korean Figure Skating Championships, becoming the youngest skater ever to win that title.  As her potential was realized by the international skating community, she moved to Canada in 2006 and began training with former figure skater Brian Orser.  His coaching took her to a new level.

Between 2008 and 2010, Yu-na did not become known for winning so much as the way she won events.  She crushed her opposition sometimes winning by over twenty points in a sport that usually considers a spread of five points to be dominant.  Nobody could compete with her level of performance in the world events leading up to the 2010 Olympic games.

On February 26th of 2010, Kim Yu-na made history with her long program piling up a score of 150.06 which was enough to easily secure the gold medal and break her own previously held world record.  NBC is pretty fascist about letting people see footage of their coverage, but I found a video of her Olympic Free Skate performance.  It is blurry, but if you want to see it here it is.

Perhaps her most memorable routine for waygooks was to a James Bond melody.  She performed it at the 2009 Skate America.  Dang... she's awesome.

Her success on the ice has also made here a multi-millionaire in endorsements.  She has endorsement deals with Hyundai Motor Company, Kookim Bank, Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Korean Air, Anycall Mobile Phones, Hauzen Air Conditioning, Lac Vert Cosmetics, Maeil Dairies Company, Saffron Fabric Softener, Tous Les Jours Bakery, J. Estina Jewelry, Qua Apparel & Samsung Electronics.  If you live in Korea, it is probably impossible to leave your home without walking past a poster or billboard of Kim Yu-na trying to sell you something.  Koreans love her though, so she is probably worth every penny.

Here is a clip of her advertising shoot for Tous Les Jours Bakery.  She looks so cute and seems really nice.  She definitely looks like she has a fun personality.

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Stuff Waygooks Like #2 - The Chuseok Holiday (추석)

Chuseok (aka 추석 aka Hangawi aka 한가위) is the major harvest festival and always a three day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar.  Like most harvest festivals, it is held around the time of the Autumn Equinox.  Because it is a celebration of the harvest, Koreans usually leave the cities in mass and return to their ancestral hometowns and family farms to share a feast of traditional Korean food.  One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the holiday is songpyeon (송편), a cresent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles.  Other foods commonly prepared are japchae (잡채), bulgogi (불고기), and fruits.

Although many waygooks are invited to join Korean families for the holiday and participate in the festivities, this is not the reason why waygooks like it so much.  They like it because it is a guaranteed three day holiday!  If Chuseok falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, most schools and businesses shutdown for a five day weekend.

Now, if Chuseok lands on a Wednesday, like it did in 2010, the holiday is officially Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  But most schools and businesses want to be able to stretch it to the weekend, so the holiday is extended an additional work day and most of the time either the Monday or the Friday is also given off work.  This gives waygooks (and Koreans) a six day holiday from working!  There are even some lucky SOBs who received both the Monday and the Friday off, leading to a nine day holiday!  Many waygooks capitalize on this abundant vacation time and take fun trips either within Korea or abroad to exciting destinations in Japan, China, or SE Asia.

Thank you Korea!

The cities being empty of foreigners is also a lot of fun.  The folks at Eat Your Kimchi took advantage of the holiday to dress up like dragons and dance around Seoul.  A solid idea while in a relatively empty city.

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Stuff Waygooks Like #1 - Kimbap (김밥)

Kimbap a.k.a. Gimbap a.k.a. 김밥 might be the most popular Korean food amongst waygooks living in Korea.  I do not mean popular as in "Hey, guys!  Tonight we gotta go out for some kimbap and then hit up the clubs!" but I mean most frequently eaten.  Kimbap is the closest native Korean equivalent of Western fast food and it is everywhere.

Popular franchise chains that specialize in kimbap are Gimbap Heaven (김밥천국), Gimbap Land (김밥나라), Gimgane (김家네), Gimbap and Spaghetti (김밥과 스파게티).  The stores usually look something like this.

Kimbap is steamed rice with various other ingredients rolled in a dried layer of seaweed.  Kimbap is commonly eaten by Koreans as a light lunch or reserved for picnics and outdoor events.  Once rolled, it is wrapped in tinfoil and can stay fresh and good to eat for about a day.  It can be reheated, or eaten at room temperature.

Waygooks love it because it is cheap and portable.  A standard ten inch roll of kimbap can cost less one US dollar and depending on what additional special ingredients you want added, will cost no more than three US dollars for a roll.

The types of kimbap vary greatly and common ingredients in different kinds can include tuna, fish cakes, crab meat, eggs, beef, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, pickled radish, brown rice, sweet rice, black rice, cheese, cooked squid, kimchi, and more.

For waygooks who are picky eaters, kimbap is one of the first things they discover they like to eat in Korea.  This leads them to try and remember a way to find these places usually before they can even read the Korean script.  ROKetship captured perfectly the humor of this commonplace situation:

If you want to see a cute Korea girl explain what kimbap is some more, aeriskitchen made a video to explain how to make some kimbap.

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