Day 29: The Gun Of Love

I just had the best weekend ever!!!!! I LOVE KOREA!!!!!!!! :-)

I got up early on Saturday morning to pack up my overnight bag and make the great trek over to Brad's place. Brad lives in just about the furthest place in Seoul from me. I live in the SW corner, and he lives in the NW corner, but he lives at the very end of the one of the longest subway lines in the city and it took FOREVER to get to his place! All the subway lines lead into the central city so I actually had to travel *away* from him for a while before getting on the line that goes to his neighbourhood. Two hours, four trains, and 32 stops later, I arrived in Ilsandong - the 'new town' that Brad lives in.

It was really cool to see Brad after so many years. I actually saw him once, about two years ago, at Coyote's bar in Thunder Bay, but it was loud and dark and I didn't really get the chance to talk to him that night. So, in essence, this was really the first time I've seen him since high school. Brad is still good ol' Brad - laid-back, relaxed, easy-going, and probably the most amazing artist that I have ever met in my life. We hung out at his place and caught up on what we had each been doing since high school - wow has six and a half years just *flown* by....! A few of his friends came by later, and I got to meet Andrea, Amy, and Steve. All of them are Canadian English teachers from various cities across Canada and work at the same school. Even stranger, Brad, Andrea, and Steve all went to Lakehead University! It was SO WEIRD to sit and talk about Thunder Bay with people who had actually lived there at some point...rather surreal. It's a small, small world I tell ya!

The five of us decided to head back into the city to play tourist for a while. Brad, Andrea, Amy, and Steve are by far the nicest, coolest people that I've met so far in Korea. They've all been here quite a while and not only are a blast to hang out with, but really know their way around town as well! We decided to go and check out Soedaemun Prison, located in Seoul's Independence Park. Soedaemun was the prison where all the Korean freedom fighters were locked away, and often tortured and killed, during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Much of it was torn down after Korea regained independence, but a few key buildings still remain, and a few others have been restored. It was a fascinating, yet very somber, place to visit. We got to visit the massive buildings that contained row after row of prison cells, saw a few underground cells where the females were locked away in darkness, and a special house where all the prisoners with leprosy and other incurable diseases were locked away to rot. Many of the cells were specifically designed so that a person could only stand up perfectly straight and not move at all (like a vertical coffin...) and even the 'larger' cells were so tiny that the prisoners could not even stand up or lie down. They even had a building just for where they tortured prisoners, and this museum has re-created many of these methods with explicit models and displays. Very morbid, very dark and eerie, and very sobering. It was really interesting to see such a vivid piece of Korean history and we all learned a lot about that horrible period in Korea's history.

During most of our wandering around the prison grounds we were split in two groups. Amy and I ventured off together and came across some very friendly Koreans. The first time was right outside the Lepers' House (during which time I could not get Nana's "Leprosy Song" out of my head...thanks a lot Nana!!!) There were four of them and they were very excited when they saw us foreigners. They asked if they could have their photo taken with us and Amy and I had no qualms about it. Later on, in the main prison cell building, we ran into them again. They were even more excited to see us a second time, and asked again if they could have their picture taken with us. This time though, they asked us to do a specific pose, and this is when Amy and I were introduced to "the gun of love!"

One of the Korean girls asked us to stand in this particular pose, and they showed us exactly how to do it. The Gun Of Love is a very fun cheesy silly pose where you stand up, but sorta lean back, knees bent a little, and make your hands looks like two guns, pointing out away from you. "Oh, you mean like in Charlie's Angels?" we asked the Koreans. "No, it's the gun of love!" they exclaimed, thrilled to have introduced us to something new. So, Amy and I stood their, fingers pointing out, with the cheesiest facial expressions that we could contort our faces into, while the Koreans surrounded us imitating the pose. It was absolutely hilarious!

When Amy and I eventually ran into the rest of the gang we jumped out from a corner, pointed our fingers at Brad, Andrea, and Steve in our new favourite pose, and shouted out "The Gun of Love!!!" Naturally those three had no idea what we were doing and the looks on their faces were priceless! We explained to them the significance and the history of The Gun Of Love, and that was it - it's been a hit ever since. All weekend long, all across Seoul, the five of us have been doing The Gun Of Love at random moments in random places. You gotta love pure and utter silliness!!! :-)

After Independence Park we ventured over to Genjeongjeon - one of the great massive ancient palaces found right in the heart of Seoul. Unfortunately it had just closed by the time we arrived, so we wandered around the grounds on the outside of the palace. Still riding high from our Gun Of Love silliness escapades at the prison, we decided to take several more ultra-cheesy photos outside the palace. We found a row of five phone booths and these provided a perfect 'stage' for us to perform for the Koreans with our silliness. Andrea had brought her digital camera and we got some Korean passerby to take the photos for us. They're absolutely hilarious and Andrea has promised to email them to me sometime soon. As soon as I get them I'll be sure to let you know and pass them on. We took a break from our "Monkees-esque" photo shoot by having a picnic of baguette, cheese, oranges, and chocolate on the beautiful palace grounds. Quite possibly the most beautiful place that I've had a picnic in.

After our little picnic we wandered over to Kyobo Bookstore, which is one of the largest bookstores in Korea. They have a massive 'foreign' section of the bookstore and the five of us spent a good hour plus just wandering around the store, browsing through the great selection of English books. Four of us ended up buying books and I'm excited to read my purchases. I bought two books, both of which were highly reccommended to me by good friends back in Canada. I bought "The Little Prince" (my dear friend Jaki's absolute most favourite book in the whole wide world) and "Life of Pi" (several friends of mine, including Jin, have told me that this book is amazing.) I love reading and love buying books - I'll be back at this bookstore again sometime soon for sure.

It was then dark and starting to get cold, so we decided to head back to Ilsandong. We stopped off at this giant outdoor mall in the city they live in called La Festa and had a very lovely Thai dinner at one of the local restaurants. After that we went and hung out at their friend Jeremy's high-rise apartment, just chillin' out, enjoying the view of Ilsandong at night from high above the city, and just watching some TV. We then went back home and Brad and I stayed up late chatting and sharing our own philosophies regarding life, why we came to Korea, and what our future plans are. Brad's an awesome guy and even though he's only in Korea for another three months I think we'll become really good friends during that time. His friends are a blast and I look forward to getting to know them too. Finally - some new friends who are fun, well-rounded, and normal!!! hehe!

It was such a good day! :-)