Weeks 68–82 · Seoul, South Korea · May – August 2015
Korea —
Paul McCartney at 73 in an Olympic stadium where the crowd sang Hey Jude back to him unprompted, Jeju Island solo, basketball and horse racing near the DMZ, batshit crazy basketball guy, live octopus and a Korean funeral, 50,000 people in monsoon mud at Ansan with Dave Grohl on his throne, and class-3 Hantan River rapids with a garden hose for a rope.
Very amazing that Sir Paul is able to carry on at 73 with this show — similar to the show we saw in DC with some interesting aspects of it being in Korea. It was 95% Korean and a young crowd — and they knew the words to the songs. So it isn’t a hopeless future of K-Pop. Rain ponchos were issued to the arriving crowd and everyone put them on. Unlike baseball where food and beer can be brought in — none could be brought in and they had two concession stands for 80,000 people — very surprising.
A major diversion in the set list in the middle — songs from Sgt. Peppers I don’t recall and the crowd was singing Korean words…we were guessing from a kids’ show that used the melody. Paul’s Korean is much better than mine. People didn’t cheer for the encore…they spontaneously started singing Hey Jude again…when they came back on stage it threw Sir Paul off and instead of going to the next song, he went back to Hey Jude again. And just like DC, struggled to get on the Metro in time…but the taxi ride was much closer. And at least I could walk home.
Paul McCartney’s Out There Tour ran 2013–2015 and was one of the highest-grossing concert tours of that period. The Seoul show was held at the Olympic Main Stadium — built for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the venue where Ben Johnson temporarily won the 100m gold before testing positive for steroids. McCartney was 72 at the time of the Seoul stop (turning 73 during the tour). The spontaneous Hey Jude singalong moment described here is a recurring feature of McCartney concerts globally — audiences often begin singing the “na na na” refrain before the band finishes the set, effectively extending the performance.
I had planned to go to Jeju Island with some co-workers a couple of weeks ago, but all of us ended up with work conflicts and then I had an unexpected Monday/Tuesday off so I went by myself for a couple of days. Jeju is the “Hawaii of Korea” and it is not a bad comparison — volcanic island with dramatic landscapes. Last fun for awhile…schedule to work or travel 16 of the next 18 days.
Still on extended work schedule, but our Saturday was a volunteer event and I was able to get out Friday night to play basketball and Sunday to the horse races.
I joined a team through a meetup group — first 8 to sign up show up to play a game. Good format: first 15 minutes is pickup to get warmed up and figure out your teammates, then two 20-minute halves with a running clock, a ref, and scoreboard. No limit on fouls and they call very closely — enabled me to get a triple-double if you count turnovers too. We lost a close game but they had uniforms, so it wasn’t too bad. In the game following ours, one team brought cheerleaders.
Our Saturday work session was to help farmers in the civilian control zone — the most northern 1km of South Korea that borders the DMZ — who have a hard time finding help because of the restrictions getting into that zone. I was asked since I was from Oklahoma that I must be experienced in agricultural matters. I said it was limited to a week a summer at grandparents and I learned it was way too hard of work for me. Luckily we had a task where I could swing a sickle and hit something. At lunch, I sat next to several co-workers who were stationed near where we were working and they explained how the tank blockade worked.
Very nice track and a huge family event — the infield is filled with playgrounds, water fountains kids can play in, pony rides, and food stands (similar to the Preakness). All for $2. Went with mostly expats from the U.K. and there was probably 6 kids under 5 in our group. We figured how it was all funded — pretty much impossible to win at horse betting. We figured out a system and picked 3 winners in a row and won maybe $2–3 dollars for every $5 bet. And of course over the day we had more losers than winners.
Seoul Racecourse Park in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, is operated by the Korea Racing Authority and is one of the largest horse racing facilities in Asia. It hosts races on weekends and public holidays and is as much a family day-out destination as a betting venue — the infield includes parks, playgrounds, and food courts. Gambling is heavily regulated in South Korea, where most forms are illegal for Korean citizens. Horse racing is one of a small number of legal gambling activities, along with certain sports betting and the government lottery. The minimum bet is around 100 Korean Won.
Still on extended work schedule — so Saturday evenings and Sundays only free time, using meetup to find last minute things to do as most of my co-workers are on business trips. I already posted on my two exciting meetups of the Noryangin Fish Market and batshit crazy basketball guy.
To be clear, eating live octopus in Korea falls into two different categories. One: pick out an octopus at the fish market, put it in a plastic Giant bag (and get charged the recycling fee), take it to a local restaurant, they cut it up with scissors and put it on a plate, then you eat it while it is still moving but really dead (think chicken with its head cut off). This is eating “live” octopus. This is what we did. Not too bad. Two: pick out an octopus at the fish market and eat it whole while it tries to climb back out. This is eating “alive” octopus. This is beyond my capability — and people do die.
Noryangjin Fish Market is Seoul’s largest wholesale and retail seafood market, operating 24 hours a day. The new building opened in 2016 (replacing the old structure during the period of these posts). The market sells both fresh and live seafood, with buyers selecting live fish and shellfish from tanks before having them prepared by nearby restaurants on the upper floors. It is the primary wholesale distribution point for seafood across the Seoul metropolitan area and sees roughly 700 metric tonnes of seafood traded per day. The sannakji (live octopus) dish described here is a well-known Korean delicacy — the suction cups remain active even after cutting, which creates the movement sensation. Fatalities from sannakji are rare but documented, typically from choking.
Was playing basketball with the old guys, generally a laid-back group of Korean-Americans, some locals and some expats. But we got a very intense guy — where people called fouls for touching them, he was very rough (and a big guy). So the other team was walking off the court in protest and after a discussion he left the game and went to the locker room. We continued, but we missed him as he was a great rebounder and we were winning every game. After the game, we went to the locker room and he was already gone — but before leaving he threw everyone’s clothes (wallets, phones, keys) out the 4th-floor window. So quite a panic and we named him “batshit crazy guy.” Found out later on a posting on the meetup page one comment was that the guys were able to get on the roof the next day and retrieve their items. Of course batshit crazy guy is on the same group page and nothing else was said. We will find out this Friday at the next game if he shows up. But great rebounder and helped us to the win.
The other meetup was railbiking…interesting concept. This allowed me to explore regular bike trails and figured out about 2,000 miles of riverside trails are in Korea and the only portion on the road is the 5 blocks from my house.
Finally — first Korean funeral of a work colleague’s parent. Very efficient. As part of the hospital complex, a separate building (about 15 floors) has 10 funeral private sections on each floor, some Buddhist and some Christian. Each section has the greeting room with the casket, flowers, and other personal effects and another large catered eating area. The family greets visitors for a couple of days — a couple of bows and pay your respects then to the eating area for a Soju toast. Overall very well done.
“Before leaving he threw everyone’s clothes (wallets, phones, keys) out the 4th-floor window. But great rebounder and helped us to the win.”
Had two great weeks at home then quick diversion to Florida before heading back to Seoul. I had bought tickets awhile back for a three-day rock festival but the timing ended up being pretty tight as I arrived back the night before. I recognised only a few bands, but pretty much went to see High Flying Birds (Oasis without Liam).
Co-workers helped get the last-minute logistics and we had a good plan — I would arrive Thursday night (after 23-hr trip), work most of the day Friday, meet up at a subway stop and all of us take a shuttle bus to the site — total 2-hour planned trip and there way in advance of the show and home by 2am via shuttle bus and taxi. Of course, the plan immediately started to fall apart as I had to work all day, we found out only I could pick up tickets, shuttle bus was cancelled, and the monsoon arrived. But I gave the other guy my ID and credit card and he trekked out early and the “all white people look alike” worked in our favour (even though he is bald) and somehow we all met up in the mud with time to spare. One guy drove and took about 3.5 hours and that worked out well when we could ride home with him.
Multiple stages and about 50,000 people — first “band” I saw was DeadMau5 (not a misspelling). I don’t get it — guess I am old — electronic dance music (EDM). Flying Birds were great as lead act for the first night — like the other events I have been to in Korea — very civilised (much more than the U.S. would be for the same size crowd). No restrictions on alcohol — and security appeared to be limited to teenagers checking wristbands to get in the venue. No issues I saw with fights or any disruptions. No drugs — the smell was spicy fried chicken from food tents. We skipped Saturday and came back for Motorhead (friend wanted to see them) and Foo Fighters. Lots of mud!
The Valley Rock Festival — held annually in Ansan, about 45km southwest of Seoul — is one of South Korea’s largest outdoor music festivals. The 2015 edition featured a notable headliner situation: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl had broken his leg falling off a stage in Gothenburg, Sweden, a month earlier but refused to cancel shows. He performed the remainder of the tour — including this Seoul show — seated on a custom throne with his leg in a cast. The Ansan festival was widely praised as one of the most fan-friendly large-scale events in Asia, with extremely low rates of crowd incidents despite the relaxed approach to alcohol at the venue.
Originally I had a busy weekend planned — Friday night lecture with a North Korean defector, Saturday at a tomato festival, and Sunday a scenic raft trip. But had a business trip to Tokyo (at this point, similar to a trip to Chicago or Houston — just another conference room) and long days, so by Friday I was pretty worn out and bailed on the lecture and tomato festival.
The raft trip was typical Korean and understated — advertised as relaxing. But probably class 3 rapids after the monsoon rains with a 1-minute safety briefing and off we went. Lots of boats capsized and people just floated the entire trip through the rapids. But the canyon had sheer walls and no rocks sticking out, so we just bounced down the river and we never went over. Another difference is that there are straps on the floor of the raft you lock your feet into so you don’t fly out. The scenery was spectacular — much better than expected with about 10 waterfalls into the canyon.
The Hantan River in Gangwon Province is known for its dramatic basalt canyon carved by volcanic activity over hundreds of thousands of years. The canyon walls — formed from ancient lava flows — can reach 30–50 metres in height. The river runs close to the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone, making it one of the most geologically remarkable but also restricted landscapes in South Korea. The rafting season runs through summer monsoon season, which is when water levels are highest and the rapids most dramatic. The river is also a UNESCO Global Geopark candidate due to its rare combination of columnar jointed basalt cliffs and river ecosystem.
The follow-up “all you could eat BBQ” was a little disappointing and then we did an extra hike and rock climb. Heading back to U.S. to drop Annelise off at college next week.
