Up and Down the River

When I was home for Brendan's high school graduation I was asked by a former teacher of mine to write an article for the Big Rapids Pioneer on my experience in Korea. Check it out:

I arrived in Seoul, South Korea on July 1, 2008 to the sound of honking taxis, the smell of tempura fried street food, and the sight of a mother holding a plastic water bottle up to her young son so he could pee. I was shocked, but looking back on it now I realize this was only the tip of the iceberg of surprises that the Land of the Morning Calm had in store for me.

I moved to South Korea to be an actor, and before you say, “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, I’ve got to call my wife,” (which, incidentally is what the police officer at the Reed City State Police office said when I went there to get fingerprinted for my visa) let me explain. I work for Gyeonggi English Village, an English speaking theme park opened by the South Korean government in 2006 as an alternative way to teach the English language to its people. English Village, or EV, runs three different programs: a one day program for daily park guests, a one week program focused on school aged kids and adults, and the edutainers. Both the one day and one week programs teach English through fun, conversational classes: cooking, visiting a mock bank, police station, and health clinic, t-shirt making etc… The edutainers are the park’s entertainment department, and it is here that I act, sing, and dance my way through ESL (English second language) based children’s musicals 10 times a week.

It’s not Broadway, but it is an incredible environment where a performer can stretch their skills to all areas of performance and production. All of our shows are completely original. All the scripts are written in our office, all the music is composed and produced in our studio, all of the choreography is created on our stage, and all of the directors come from our department. Working here has allowed me to act, direct, write, and choreograph for shows that run a full 3 month season in our 600 seat concert hall. Creatively, it’s a dream come true. I don’t know of any other environment where such freedom and responsibility are given to a young professional.

Life as a foreigner or “waygook” in South Korea is kind of like being an animal at the zoo: a rare, exciting, endangered animal. People stop me on the streets to take pictures, and kids swarm me in the park asking for autographs. I was once approached on a subway by an elderly Korean gentlemen who sang me the United States’ National Anthem, gave me a piece of fruit, and then kindly asked me to consider marrying his son. It’s a little surreal, but that’s what makes South Korea so great.

English Village is so westernized that if you never stepped out of the park gates you’d never know you were in South Korea, and so I have made it a point to break away from village life and spend some time in the outside world. Seoul is a city of over 10 million people, one of the largest in the world, and thanks to a fantastic metro and bus system it is incredibly easy and cheap to get around in. Shopping is inexpensive, plentiful, and often times very entertaining. South Korea gained its independence in 1948 and in the 61 years since it has grown from a third world nation to one of the leading technological countries on the planet. With so much growth happening so quickly the country lacks its own identity and has taken bits and pieces from many different western cultures as its own. This hodgepodge of anything and everything western is clearly reflected in the style of the South Korean people. T-shirts with English words are a huge seller. It doesn’t matter what they say, it doesn’t matter if they make sense, and it definitely doesn’t matter if they’re appropriate as long as they’re in English. Kids flock to the EV in brightly colored t-shirts displaying all sorts of four letter words. Equally popular is anything and everything Mickey Mouse, oversized visors, and rhinestone jewelry. And I thought the fashions at the Mecosta County Fair were exciting.

Seoul offers much more than shopping. You can see a movie in English at any of a dozen IMAX screens throughout the city. Just be prepared for Korean subtitles and the smell of dried squid, the South Korean movie snack of choice. On every street there are countless food options from Korean bbq (be prepared to sit on the floor) to street food (be prepared to not know what you’re eating) to western restaurants. McDonalds is there with all the regular items plus a shrimp burger value meal, and all the pizzas at Pizza Hut come with corn on them and a side of sweet pickles.

South Korea is a mountainous country, one afternoon I climbed a peak in the middle of Seoul hoping to get some exercise and find a great view. What I found was a community of elderly South Korean shamans living in tents at the top of the mountain. It was almost as if I had been transported back in time, almost. Women were chanting, drums were beating, incense was burning, and off to the side was a wrinkled Korean man dressed in robes and talking animatedly on his cell phone. I couldn’t help but smile at the site as I huffed and puffed to the top of the peak, and I couldn’t help but wonder how these 80 year olds were living up there, or more importantly how they climbed up in the first place. Maybe they’re staying because they can’t get down.

In my year of adventuring around the country I have done many things I never thought I’d do, and seen sights I never knew existed. Some highlights include: The Boryeong Mud Festival, a week long beach party where the city dredges up spa mud from the ocean bottom and party goers slather themselves in it from head to toe before going down a mud slide, wrestling in a mud ring, and climbing a mud wall. If you’re ever in South Korea in the summer I highly recommend going and afterwards hitting the local jimjilbong, or public spa, to clean up. Just be ready to get naked with 100 of your closest new Korean friends. Don’t worry jimjilbongs are same sex only, and once you get used to letting it all hang out it’s incredibly freeing to do so.

From the eastern side of the country rise the jagged peaks of Seoraksan National Park. The views are breathtaking, the beaches are beautiful, and only a 2 hours bus ride away is Haeshingdang Park, known to the locals as Penis Park. Yes, this small coastal park is dedicated entirely to the male genitalia. Legend has it that the small fishing village where the park is located was having trouble reeling in a catch, until a man revealed himself to the ocean and caused the fish to return. Since that day the locals erected (pun intended) statues, totem poles, and even a giant gold cannon all shaped like the penis. South Korean families visit in droves, all eager to sit on the penis benches and pose with the penis warriors. I feel I can safely say, only in South Korea.

I never thought I’d come to South Korea, the country was little more than a blip in a high school history book for me and seemed to be a world away. But after living here for nearly a year, and recently signing on for 7 more months, I can honestly say that it isn’t so far away after all. The terrain is beautiful, the cities are modern, and the people are incredibly kind. I may be on the other side of the world, but it’s starting to feel more and more like home.

Jessica Doyle is the daughter of FSU professors Terry and Julie Doyle. She grew up in Big Rapids and graduated from BRHS in 2002. She earned her BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Central Michigan University in 2006 and did her graduate work at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in Theatre for Youth. Jessica has performed and directed in theatres across the country. She currently resides in Paju, South Koea. Check out her blog “Feeling Seoul-ful” at: http://feelingseoul-ful.blogspot.com/