A Culture Buff In Andong's Hahoe Village.

I'm such a sucker for historical and cultural heritage sites, so when I read about Andong's Hahoe Village from a blog, I made a mental note to visit it someday. That fateful day came during Buddha's Birthday, May 21st. It was the start of the 3-day holiday here, so there's a mass exodus of Koreans moving out of the city. Roads were jammed and it looked more like a never-ending parking lot. Patience was never my virtue, so you could just imagine how incredibly annoyed I was, sitting in the car for long hours, while listening to metal music. The weather was hot that day, the hottest this year, and very humid too. I really didn't feel like walking, but when I first saw the thatched roof houses, I was motivated a little bit. But that was temporary as the thatched roof houses were actually restaurants, and the journey to get to the village was far from over.




We had to climb a hill to get there. From where I stood, you could see Nakdong River partly hidden by pine trees.

We passed by a forest too, and along the way you could see wooden statues like this.

They have rest areas like this too.

Finally, we arrived in the village. This is the first tile-roofed house I saw.

Houses here have their own addresses cause believe it or not, people actually live here. It's nice to know that while city people are going nuts over 3D TVs and fancy cellphones, some still chose to conserve their heritage and traditional living cultures.

This village is the birthplace of Ryu Seong Ryung - a very significant person in Korean history. He was the Prime Minister during the Japanese Invasion (1592-1598), and was the one who promoted Lee Sun Shin from a small county magistrate to Naval Commander. We all know how well that turned out. Lee Sun Shin is probably the best Naval Commander of all time, and if not for Ryu Seong Ryung, there wouldn't be a hero as venerated and idealized as Lee Sun Shin among Koreans today. This is is house..

Here are some of the ancient houses we saw, most of it are important folk sites.

At one of the houses there, we met a calligraphist who is willing to write any person's name in Hanja for free. He also writes old proverbs which you could frame and hang in your walls.

The name Hahoe means "river turning around". Nakdong river flows around the village, hence the name of the village. See the top of the cliff? That was our next destination.

We took a boat to cross the river and climbed to get to the edge of the cliff. At the top you'll see the whole village, bordered by Hwa-san (Mount Hwa) in full view.

It took a few hours to see the whole village. And even though it was so hot I even got a sunburn, it was well worth it. I learned a lot about Korean History and tradition that day, it helps that I have a great guide who is willing to carry my girly handbag all through out the journey... : )

*More of my adventures later...

Of drinking parties and one obnoxious boss.

What is with Koreans? Why do they have drinking parties for just about anything? Resignation, promotion, engagement, weddings, pregnancy, someone got hired/fired, someone moved their house, someone recovered from an illness.. and the list goes on and on. The next thing you know, they're gonna be holding parties for someone's new pet!

This week alone, there were 3 separate occassions where Chris and his team had to drown their guts in alcohol. First was Monday. A certain Toshiba president came and they held a party for him, but since the Japanese are not as inconsiderate as Koreans when it comes to drinking, the party ended early and nobody got drunk (much to the dismay of the Koreans there).

Then came Wednesday. There's this girl who got pregnant, she'll be resigning in a couple of months when her belly gets big and all. Ok, I understand the part where she's gonna resign so they had to have a party and all (an excuse to drink), but that aint gonna happen soon! The pregnancy, that I couldn't really fathom. I'm absolutely positive that there is no pregnant girl in the world, who enjoys drinking alcohol while trapped inside a room full of chain-smoking, barbecue-smelling, half-balding, neck-tie wearing bosses and colleagues. I understand that pregnancy calls for a celebration, but a drinking party for that matter is totally inappropriate.

Friday was good, till their Chinese counterparts came during the afternoon, and they had to have some sort of an 'emergency-party' for them. We actually made plans to go on a date, but Chris (of all people there) was chosen to be the host of their little program, and he has to give some lousy 'thank-you-for-coming' speech. He called just as I was picking a dress to wear that night. He told me about the party but he promised to come come home around 10, but 10:30 came and he's still somewhere else. I received another call from him saying he's stuck in a bar with them, asking me to pick him up as he was too drunk to go home by himself. What's weird is the fact that he asked me to wear something nice, but the rebel in me thought otherwise. So instead of wearing that pretty little dress I planned to wear, I donned my mickey mouse shirt, denim shorts, baseball cap, and my good old sneakers. I called Chris just before I entered the bar, asking him to bid goodbye to his friends so we could go home, but his boss specially requested to meet me and I couldn't say no.

So he 'schemed' me alright, and I was angry as hell, but I managed to fake a smile when I saw them. The pregnant girl Eun Mi was there too, wearing a bondage-themed heels which disturbed me for some reason. Why is she even there? Isn't she supposed to be at home taking care of her belly? His boss was also there, and another guy I met once before. After the standard niceties and greetings, the boss asked me if I want something to drink. When I ordered a martini, he just popped the 'are-you-old-enough-to-be-drinking-that' question (I swear he must have seen my neon pink and baby blue painted nails) which annoyed me even more. Last time I checked it was a bar and aren't people supposed to be drinking when they're at a bar? He's annoying alright, but I love how he says the word 'other' (he has this mild British accent), it sends tingles to my spine. Thank goodness Eun Mi was there. I heard she was schooled somewhere in Illinois, so she speaks English fluently, and I got to talk to her about so many things. But then she received a call and shortly after that, she went home. After she left, the boss's attention drifted to me. He started asking about Philippines and stuff. He said he visited 53 countries already, but he never thought about visiting Philippines. But now that he had a chance to meet a Filipino, he's planning to visit there really soon. This guy is only 34 years old, but 53 countries?! Damn, I need a few more rounds of booze to believe that. Who does he think he is, Ban Ki Moon?

Well anyway, the night dragged. I find talking to him so energy-consuming. He laughs unnecessarily, and his breath reeks of soju, a couple different cocktails, and Corona beer. I could get drunk just by listening to him! It was past 2 am when we finished. Just before we separated, he took something out of the backseat of his car, it was a huge paperbag filled with a couple different things. I was a little surprised when he handed the bag to me and said "this is for you, thank you for coming to meet us tonight". It turns out, he's not as obnoxious as I thought he was. And then we said goodbye.

When we arrived home, I hurried to open the bag and saw this...



Those are just 2 bottles of liquor and 2 different kinds of tea. I don't drink anything that's over 13% alcohol so Chris is just gonna give those to his father. But I tried the tea and it was pretty good!