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Korea's Next Most Pensive Bodhisattva

each more pensive than the last

B R

B R

— 4 min read

8 May, 2023 | Seoul, South Korea

After some wandering, I had a lovely breakfast with Kyle at an American themed restaurant - something I like to do, it’s cool to see your culture in a funhouse mirror - and he insisted on.

He had an actual camera and one can not help but notice how much nicer this came out than the photos I have thrown around here.

Kyle had been here just for a brief business trip and only had one more (half) day to explore. He was interested in the Changdeokgung Palace, which I had already had my fill of last week, so we parted amicably after exchanging information for the next time I found myself in east Asia, or he found himself on the west coast of the United States.

I told him about the renting the traditional garb, specifically how it allows for free admission to all of the palaces nearby, but he was pressed for time. I think the more sites should do this; dress as a filthy Victorian urchin for discounts in the City of London, Bolshevik revolutionary gets you to the front of the line for the Winter Palace etc.

Nursing a small hangover, I went looking for a pharmacy from which I could obtain an antacid. Unfortunately, once I found one, it became clear nothing was translated. While I considered relying on the iconography on the boxes, too much ambiguity existed for the likely suspects:

lmao butts

Having largely run out of things to do, I decided to tour a few of the more well regarded parks in the city. I started with a rails-to-trails conversion in the university district a few subway stops from Itaewon, Gyeongui Line Forest Park:

This kind of conversion is moderately common around the world, as older rail lines are made unnecessary with deindustrialization and the removal of mass trolley systems by hook or crook.

Ultimately, the parks were a bust. The only interesting stuff I was exposed to was more during the journey than destination.

I’m fairly convinced there is a direct relationship between the cuteness of the mascots in Japan/Korea and the awfulness of the social ills they are representing.

But I wasn’t done! No, there was still the National Museum I had previously abandoned trying to see. It’s a massive facility - from prehistory to current day - so I was in power-walk mode for most of it.

Dicks out for Bangudae I guess?

The exhibit that had the most attention paid to it in the museum pamphlets and advertising were the collection of Pensive Bodhisattvas.

BBB, Big Beautiful Bodhisattvas

If “go ahead yeah, try occupying us and join the rest of the graveyard” was the general theme of the War Memorial, quiet contemplation was the theme of this place.

On a placard nearby: “Hello! It is a pleasure to meet you. Each of us has been contemplating for a long time, As a result of the ‘Room of Quiet Contemplation’ opening at the National Museum of Korea…I would like to invite you to come closer and spend some time contemplating together”
The Ten-story Stone Pagoda dates back to the Goryeo Dynasty (1348). On the base is a relief of the famous Journey to the West that I mentioned a couple of posts ago as being the origin of some anime no one has heard of (Dragon Ball Z).

I made it back to the rental to write and pack up for the long flight home tomorrow. It was then I finally got a chance to talk to my host about more than logistics - this was kinda reason I went with this place rather than sticking with a hotel. His English was workable, but there was a struggle at times to be understood - my attempts at producing a subtle answer to his “I noticed you didn’t come back here last night” probably did not translate.

One thing that stuck out with our conversation was - like so many of the conversations I had outside Japan - the topic of housing costs came up. His family owned and rented out the modest building (a fourplex I think) we were in, and he was adamant that - had it not already been in their family - they it would be difficult to afford to stay in Itaewon. At least, the price he quoted would put even stuff in Seattle to shame.

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