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Temple in May 18 Memorial Park in Gwangju
This temple is at the top of a long flight of stairs. The trees surrounding the temple have grown so much since it was built that you can’t see past any of them anymore so the temple looks almost abandoned at this point. I bet the view from here was spectacular a little over a decade ago.
Sajik Baseball Stadium – Busan, South Korea
One of the problems with watching live baseball in Korea is the amount of netting they put up around the field. One time at a game, when I was sitting next to a Korean who could speak English, I asked him why all the netting and whistles with every foul ball. He told me that a video of a fan getting hit in the eye with a foul ball (and subsequently losing eyesight in that eye) in the USA made the rounds in Korea and it freaked people out. At the KIA Tigers games I purchase seats a little above the netting so that the net doesn’t obstruct my view. That wasn’t possible at Sajik Baseball Stadium as nearly every seat has a net-obstructed view. I couldn’t take it anymore after a few innings so I headed down to one of the first few rows far down the foul line which were the only seats without a net in front of them. There was an usher checking tickets to get into this section, but I just walked past him. He figured it was easier to let me go then try to have a conversation with me in English.
Boy reaching for the sky statue
May 18 Memorial Park (Gwangju, South Korea)
Korean National Treasure No. 103 (Jungheungsanseong Ssangsaja stone lantern) from the United Silla Period in Gwangju National Museum
After biking my way (mostly uphill) in extreme heat and humidity to the Gwangju National Museum (국립광주박물관), I was a bit horrified to see the front doors all standing wide open. This meant there would be no AC inside (like many places in Korea). I was already dripping in sweat so I figured I would just take a quick look around and then head back home for a cold shower. However, once I walked in, two “English-speaking” guides said they would escort me around. I hadn’t heard or spoken a word of English in days so I didn’t turn them down. They were super nice, but their English was nearly impossible to understand. They talked about this stone lantern (광양 중흥산성 쌍사자 석등) for a long time. Actually they talked about everything in the museum for a long time (while I was about to burst into flames from the heat), but they talked about this lantern for an extra long time so I figured it must be pretty important. Then, when I was in Busan, I saw a replica of this same stone lantern at the Busan Museum so it must be really important if replicas of it exist all over the country.
The story my tour guides conveyed to me is that a farmer found this lantern in his field and sold it to a Japanese man. When the Japanese man tried to take the stone lantern back to Japan he was not allowed. Korea then purchased the lantern from the Japanese man to regain ownership.
Korea is now up to a little over 300 designated national treasures. This was number 103 (국보 103호).
Korean exercise equipment (par course)
In the 1970s they built a parcourse (or is it par course?) at the San Leandro Marina. We went there quite often. In fact, I think my mom went there virtually every day for several years. Perhaps they built these all over the USA at the time. I haven’t seen many since, but maybe they are still being built. Basically, they are outdoor exercise equipment.
In South Korea, outdoor exercise equipment is ubiquitous. You can’t find a park or riverbank without them. I have even seen indoor gym equipment (bench press bench with barbell locked by a metal cable to the ground) outdoors in Korea. This time of year they don’t seem to be getting a lot of use (due to the heat and humidity), but I’m guessing they wouldn’t be there if they weren’t well used the rest of the year. Or maybe the manufacturer just has some special relations with someone in the government.
Gosapo Beach and Haseom Island – South Korea
During certain tides, the East China Sea (or maybe this is the Yellow Sea? I’m not sure where one ends and the other begins) will part between this beach and the island in the distance. During those brief periods you can walk out to the island. I think they call it something in Korean dealing with Moses. The rest of the time, you need to rent a tube to get out there or just swim.