masks and modernity: an epic battle

This past weekend was the annual Kim and Joe's "take the foreigner's somewhere cool" trip, and I've gotta say, it was awesome! Let me set the scene... forty-three foreigners, one bus, and a lot of american beer.
Just to back it up a bit, "Kim and Joe" is a recruiting agency here in Busan. They work for English hagwons or academys here and look for foreigners to work for them. Becky and I chose to go through these recruiters because they... are just great. They are down to earth people who were just real with us. They are not like some others that often seem faceless to those searching to find a job. These guys even have facebook!
Anyways, the weekend excursion first took us on a boat trip that toured around this river, highlighting specific rock faces and special places. After that we headed out for a 'hike' to a place called Mt. Sokri. We were led up a paved pathway leading to an ancient park where monks used to live, work and pray. It was such a cool place, with artifacts that were hundreds of years old. Here are some pics:

This Buddha statue was massive. Covered in gold leaf.


At the entrance to the village

The architecture here was just incredible

Walking through this little area was breathtaking yet frustrating as well. It was fantastic to behold artifacts that are called 'national treasures', but beside all these treasures were good ol' human comforts: vending machines and little vendors. In my eyes, these places that are selling the cheap 'made in China' crap taint the authenticity of this place. That and the vending machines have a little covering over them done in the same style as the ancient buildings. It just made me disapointed in how we've preserved the precious things in our past. We are quick to sell out, thinking that it is better to make some cash and provide the comforts of home rather than upholding the integrity of the area.
Anyways, the next day we headed out to Hahoe village, a place that was a little less harmed by the modern culture. This place is famous for its Mask festival. For more info about that click here (just click 'English' in the top right corner). I loved this place. This was the minor stop on the trip home, but I liked it so much, I couldn't leave... Becky and I stayed the night in this little... traditional hotel, i guess, called 'minbok'. It was about 15,000 won (roughly $15) each for a night, and it was cool!
Just before the group from Kim and Joe's left, we all got to see the traditional mask play. It said in the brochure that everyone should see the mask play before they die or they will not get to enter heaven! whew! So, as Becky and I were watching this play, there was a part in it where the person who played 'the fool' called people up to dance with him. Here's Becky and I in front of a few hundred people, instantly becoming celebrities. Here we are dancing:

(photo by Kyle Carnes)

The village was incredible, and Becky and I got to see authentic Korean life before they became detached from their roots (maybe I'm too harsh by saying that they've sold out? I'm just disappointed). I'd go back in a heartbeat. In fact, I'm organizing my schedule so that I can return on a weekend or something. Such a good place. For an even more detailed version of this weekend, click here for Becky's blog. You can also find more pictures of this weekend on my Facebook account here.