New Tactics for living

Thrasher Magazine, Feb, 2003 by Scott Pommier

JOO AND KOREAN MIKE

Joo and Korean Mike were our guides. Joo organized everything from when we landed to when we flew home. He bought all the meals, shot photos and filmed (often simultaneously). He took us shopping and he even bought me a Korean DVD because I "looked upset" for having lost the keys to the van (just imagine for an instant that same scenario only with a bunch of skaters in the mid-west, ain't nobody buyin' nobody no damn DVD). Joo cam ready for business: he had a generator with lights and a heater for the chilly nighttime sessions. In short, Joo was a goddamn champion. Korean Mike was Joo's little buddy. Robert explained to us that there is a distinct age hierarchy in Korean culture. The older you are the more you boss around the youngin's. Joo wasn't cruel to Korean Mike who was several years his junior. But Mike did have to do some errand running--all of which without complaint. The flip side of this is that you take care of your younger friend like a little brother.

Korea wasn't exactly what I'd expected. It appeared more prosperous than I had anticipated. i was going on the assumption that with so much cheap merchandise being manufactured there, the minimum wage must be really low, and the working conditions must be really bad. And maybe that is the case, but it certainly wasn't evident in the cities we visited. I've never been to Japan, but Seoul and Bussan (the two cities we visited) were a lot like how I imagined Tokyo to be. It was very Bladerunner-like, total visual chaos-- busy, advertising everywhere.

Seoul was absolutely massive. It was hard to determine where downtown began since everywhere we went was built up. No matter where you went there were either sprawling markets or strips of stores. Seoul was also freezing cold. After the demo, which was attended by about 70 kids and three or four US Military types who skated, we headed south to Bussan (which is also spelled Pussan about half the time). The roads were packed with cars. Tailgating was very much the norm and there was sort of a Darwinian approach to merging. I'm sure glad that I didn't have to drive, It was stressful enough just trying to cross the street.

The hotel where we stayed in Seoul was dodgy Some of the rooms didn't even have beds, just blankets piled up. On the plus side, the floors were heated and there were complimentary slippers waiting for us.

In Seoul there were a few Americans around, but in Bussan we were the only non-Asians. Little kids would come up to us and say the one or two things they knew in English, usually "hi" and "bye," then they would run off laughing. High school girls did much the same thing. Mostly to Coop. They'd wave, giggle, then slink away while covering their mouths. I don't know why Korean girls cover their mouths when they laugh, but they do.

Most of the Koreans we came across spoke very little English. We would have been sunk without Robert, Korean Mike, or Joo. Robert told us that everyone learns English in school but with no opportunity to practice they quickly forget everything. Cooper and I watched a program on TV that was created to help people with their conversational English. It coached you step-by-step through a fictional exchange that was most humorous. I've never heard any one in North America tell a friend that he required new tactics for living.