Journal

This Korea journal is limited to my time mostly in Seoul and only five days at that.  My thoughts are also in contrast
to the first half of my trip to Japan.  Korea is definitely a country on the rise with a generation still alive that lived
through the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945.  Their growth in economics and rise in technology has spiked
in the decade leading up to the 21st century. 

As you travel in Korea and witness the state-of-the-art subway, rail and transportation, you can only be
amazed and appreciate the sweat and vision that has been invested.  Both inside and outside Korea we see their
technology rival and in many areas eclipse Japan.  Samsung and LG brands and their products rival and in some
areas dominate that of Sony and Panasonic from flat screens to laptop computers. 

Clearly some of the current era of products have evolved from emulating to leading.  In autos to see everything
from buses to all types of cars from Hyundai, Kia and GM-Daewo fill the roadways is impressive.  The
Toyotas and Nissans are almost absent, yet their luxury and elite cousins, Lexus, Infinity, BMW and Mercedes
are present as foreign status symbols and in some cases aspirations for what has yet to come.  The newest
mid-range Hyundai looks like a Lexus yet rides like a Camry.  So the veneer has been achieved almost ahead of
the refinement of the broad platform.  But time will vet these shortfalls and it is not only intriguing but even
exciting to see what has come and anticipate what has yet to come, which will surely lead versus follow what
the world has seen.

In Japan it was novel to see women from all generations go about the city in their various kimonos.  Some of
them for a formal event others for a business purpose and still others because it was their tradition and
part of their daily routine.  For my six days in Korea this was absent.  We saw traditional dress in stores, on
display in fabric or boutiques but worn by headless mannequins.  For some reason it was not novel or used by
the Koreans in their daily routines.  However you could not escape some culinary traditions no matter how
hard you tried.  The red chili in the ubiquitous kim-chee, soon tobu or jjigae was a constant color palette. 
Pickled and par boiled vegetables along with everything else boiled and kept simmering was also a constant
pillar of the daily food fabric.  In contrast cold noodles and soups were on the table as contrasts and finishes
to meals or courses usually served with a pickled or par boiled condiment.

Lastly it was hard to miss the monochromatic male dominated work scene.  The Korean men in their dark suits
traveled in packs similar to their Japanese neighbors but far less women darted between them.  Make no
mistake there were working women most of them wearing "trainee" name tags almost a way station until
marriage.  At the markets women dominated the food businesses and clientele.  In the department stores
besides the women staff their seemed to be regiments of young mothers mostly traveling in pairs escaping
their condominimum fortresses for prepared meals and social company.  Looking into their young faces I
could only imagine this was a new transition from trainee to mother.  They had the husband with a good job
that provided for the new family but their short role in the workforce was now replaced with a far more
challenging career.  Also at the department store I saw other women pairs besides the new mothers.  These
were women pairs that were past child bearing and wore the experience of kids in school or college.  They
seemed to be labored with what has happened raising the children and the difficult question if there was
anything left ahead for them.  Lastly there were elderly women pairs who seemed less anxious about what
just happened and what was next but almost missing their younger days and romanticizing what could
have been.  The men were busy smoking mostly alone waiting for the women to be done so they could
transport them home.

The future for Korea is surely bright.  They will excel beyond their Asia neighbors and move from parity to
innovating.  Will that happen without the creativity of the women that today give them sons and daughters?
Or hopefully the women will join and participate in the growth and innovation that clearly can be enriched and
accelerated by the diversity of a female perspective and drive.  And hopefully the cultural unity that has
been tested in the past by outside imperialistic efforts can be kept alive and even more integrated into
the daily routine of life in Korea so that it can be a frequent novel sight for all generations.