Noring - Or Something Like That

It's supposed to mean beautiful day in Korean - not sure if I got the spelling right but I've been finding that the only way I can remember words is to write them down phonetically - trying to memorize them as people tell me is hopeless - beyond the words I learned at a young age, the language is just too foreign. So, I carry around my Moleskine everywhere and take my Korean vocabulary donations as they come to me...which so far is working out pretty well.

Today was my second meeting with the Hos. Dr. Kim was to come along as well, I assumed in order to help translate for me, as he helped to do last weekend. I felt a little bad, since I didn't really want him to feel obliged to be my personal translator and I know he has way more important things to do with his time...something wasn't quite right though - he seemed a bit over-dressed for a simple translating job - I thought perhaps I had missed something and we were going to another extravagant lunch somewhere. In any case we caught a cab to Seocho-dong and walked into the cafe where we were meeting the Hos - there they were, sitting at the back, with a well-dressed woman who I didn't recognize. I wasn't quite sure who she was or why she was there - another daughter I had forgotten about perhaps? - until Mr. Ho and Dr. Kim got up to order; Mrs. Ho then smiled this huge, giddy smile and pointed to the woman, making one of those internationally-recognized motions with her hands that instantly made the situation clear - Mrs. Ho had set them up! The woman didn't seem quite as excited, and things seemed a little awkward between her and Dr. Kim for the next few minutes at the table, but Mrs. Ho, charming as ever, never let silence creep in. When we got up to leave, we left them alone to fend for themselves - I don't know how things worked out between them, but Mrs. Ho sure did her part to break the ice.

We went on to see several sights in Seoul, starting off with Chandgok Palace and the National Art Museum. They had this great exhibit on paintings of children in Korea. I've always loved Asian art, especially Korean painting, but hadn't really been exposed to much in the way of modern Korean art. This exhibit was a nice mix of the traditional (a simple, natural, graceful and intricate style depicting landscapes, rural scenes, wildlife, etc.) and the more expressionist post WWII style, which, though connected more to the west, still has a uniquely Korean element to it. Later, we went on to the Korean Folk Museum at Gyeonbok palace that had some beautiful screen paintings - I could look at the simple designs of birds, fish, flowers, and the like all day. No really, I could.

After a hearty lunch it was on to the Namsam tower - every city worth its salt needs some sort of tall, pointy structure that can drive hordes of people to pay good money to wait sometimes hours in line to get that Google Earth view. But Google Earth and pictures on a screen just don't seem to match actually being there, which is why we happily spend hours getting up these towers. Which of course, I was happy to do - Seoul is truly a magnificent work to behold from 1000 feet up. The city is gigantic, and transformation continues unabated - new hi-rises are still going up everywhere, accomodating the still-growing population from other areas of the country as Seoul's gravitational pull steadily increases. Land prices are through the roof, and just getting an apartment in Seocho, where the Hos live, requires a deposit of around $1M - monthly rent is on top of that. Someone I spoke to here at KRIHS told me that Mr. Ho probably sold his house for 100 times the original purchase price. I don't know how people can possibly afford to live here, but somehow they do, 10 million strong in the city limits alone. It's making me wonder about how to approach the issue of affordable housing in my research, and if anything can possibly be done about it. Argh...headache...time to reflect on some simpler themes from the day...

I can't get over how much I enjoy being with the Hos again, for so many reasons. First, I feel like I've been re-united with some long-lost family members - though I last knew them as a five-year old child, and I'm picking up where I left off now as a 27 year-old. I knew them in an entirely different context, but it doesn't feel that strange to me. It's like they were somehow always there. Second, it's amazing to see them in such good mental and physical health at 75 - going up the steps (and there were many of them, big ones) to the tower today, they didn't seem fazed whatsoever, never even once stopping to rest. They say they both exercise every day - Mrs. Ho swimming, Mr. Ho walking, lifting weights, and even playing soccer now and then. And I'd be willing to bet most 75 y.o.'s can't command a cell phone like Mr. Ho - it seems every 10 minutes he's whipping it out, rapid-fire dialing away. Third...and this is by far the most important...the two of them have a relationship that just amazes me. The chemistry they have is totally fascinating. One of them will be telling the other some story (all in Korean, so regretfully I never really get to hear what they're actually talking about), getting more and more animated until both of them just burst out laughing, Mrs. Ho slapping Mr. on the leg, laughing away, falling back in their chairs, wiping their eyes...it's so fun to watch. Of course I can't help laughing too, just being happy for them, and whatever is making them laugh. Another thing that just completely cracked me up was at dinner, which we had with Wan Ok (one of their daughters) as well - the three of them were having a very animated conversation about something, and finally, Mr. and Mrs. Ho, laughing, put their pinky fingers together and then touched their thumbs at the same time. I nearly died - it was a pinky promise between the two of them to quit eating so much, to not drink, to generally be healthier. I can't imagine how these two could be doing much better, but it any case it had to be the moment of the evening.

The only other thing that could possibly compete as a memorable moment was earlier in front of Namsum tower, just me and Mr. Ho, eating popcorn and of course, a can of OB each to wash it down. Truly a beautiful day.