Ajumma Rugby on Ulleungdo Island
I finally escaped Ullong-do Island today after spending four extra days on the island waiting for a boat to show up due to poor weather. After a while I was becoming convinced this was some kind of conspiracy to keep me on the island to teach at the island’s one English hagwon or something.
Dodong is the largest city on Ulleung-do, and where the ferry docks at.
However, I did escape today but it was by no means uneventful. The day prior the clerk at the boat terminal told me to show up 30 minutes early for the boat to make sure I get on since I really wanted to get off the island. So I show up early and waited in line with a bunch of other people waiting to board the boat.
Boat that travels to and from Ulleungdo-do Island.
People began to board the boat at the designated time and the line was moving along nice and orderly. Then a mob of about 50 old ajummas who showed up at the last minute ran down to the pier and just bum rushed the nice orderly line we had going to board the boat. Mass chaos ensued because of this mass wave of line cutting ajummas. The line fell apart and everybody just started pushing and shoving to get on the boat like some kind of rugby match.
Waiting in line to board the boat off of Ulleung-do.
Needless to say I got pushed towards the back not because I can’t play rugby but because I will not bring myself to act the way these people were behaving. I slowly worked my way forward and I talked to one of the five policemen who were just standing there doing nothing. If you are wondering why the policemen aren’t doing anything about the chaos it could be because of the Confucian culture in Korea where they differ to somebody senior to them like 50 some odd line cutting ajummas. So I complained to him about the chaos and all he did was ask to see my passport and check my bags and treated me like I was the one causing trouble here, completely oblivious to the chaos around him. Needless to say more people just cut in front of me.
After my interrogation was complete and the policeman was convinced he allowed me to advance forward. By this time I’m told they overbooked the boat and there are no seats left even though the ticket I have has a seat number on it. I’m really pissed off now and complain to one of the boat workers. He leaves comes back and was able to get me on the boat. I thanked the guy who was really helpful.
So finally I am on my way. I’m thinking great I can sit back get some sleep and I’ll be back on the main land in no time. How wrong I was. The sea was really rough due to poor weather again so the boat bounced around alot. Within 15 minutes of leaving people were puking. So for over 3 hours I had to listen to people puke up all the soju they drank the night before. The smell was even worse. There was old ajushis drinking soju on the boat and then they would puke it up 30 minutes later. Plus with all the drunk people on the boat they would get into drunken arguements, scream and yell, and then some of them would begin to break out into impromptu karaoke performances. It was the most miserable ride I have ever taken here in Korea.
Leaving Ulleung-do island.
Finally the boat arrives at Mukho harbor and I just wait for everyone to get off the boat before I depart because I don’t want to participate in the mass pushing contest to exit the boat. I just don’t understand why the boat company doesn’t have an orderly system of having passengers exit the boat? It might because of the whole Confucian thing again. You have young people working on the boat and they don’t feel comfortable bossing around all the older ajushis and ajummas and the ajushis and ajummas know it, so mass chaos ensues.
I finally get off the boat and I’m thinking I’m home free, but I get grabbed by the customs agent and interrogated once again to make sure I’m not a terrorist. I guess they just weren’t buying my story that I am an American soldier who just read about Ulleong-do in my Lonely Planet travel guide and took some time off to go check it out because I thought it would be a pretty cool place to go and see. I suppose they thought such a story was pretty suspicious and I was obviously up to something sinister so they checked my back pack yet again. Still no bomb in it. The whole interogation thing wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact that I am the only one getting interogatted. How many American terrorists have struck Korea compared to North Korean terrorists? I’m know I don’t look like a North Korean but everyone else on the boat did yet none of them was interogatted. I’ll blame it all on that damn Confucious guy again.
Well I finally pass customs and I just want to go to the bathroom. I see the bathroom and head towards it but I’m beaten to it by the huge mob ajummas again. The mob was so huge it blocked the entrance to the male latrine. So I had to push my way through this pile of humanity because I really needed to piss. I eventually made it through and into the latrine where the ajushis were waiting in an orderly line. For whatever reason it seems ajushis seem to stay in line fairly well until all the ajummas come and then it is every man for themselves and mass chaos from there.
Anyway, you have no idea how happy I was to get to the bus station and get a bus back to Seoul. I really like Ullong-do because it is an incredible place but I never ever want to go through the hell I went through first all getting there and then even worse getting back.
What is it with the line cutting in Korea? I have had people cut in front me at Burger King and E-Mart before but that didn’t bother me as much as today when about 50 of them cut into the line causing the mass chaos at the pier. What if 50 American soldiers bum rushed the line and started pushing people around? It would be on the front of the paper. When Koreans travel abroad in their tour groups do they act like this? I haven’t even mentioned the other rude things that happened to me earlier in my trip to Ulleong-do. If they do act like this I’m sure it creates a very negative image of Koreans abroad.
Anyway I will post more about my adventure to Ullong-do in the coming days. Overall it really was a great trip in spite of all the crazy weather and even crazier ajummas.
Dodong village on Ulleung-do Island from above the city.
It always makes me chuckle to myself when I read about the "ugly American" and the "arrogant" Americans. American public behavior is nothing compared to what I have seen in other countries.
Aside from the behavior of drivers on the road which you have already discussed long ago on this blog, I also immediately think of the behavior by skiers in lift lines. I can still remember in Austria how European nationals coming off the slope with residual speed would unhesitatingly cut right in front of those already in line waiting for the lift, to include unhesitatingly scraping right over your skis without even a backwards glance.
I saw similar things in Saudi Arabia, for example at an airport terminal desk when checking in for a flight to get a boarding pass. No such thing as a line or a cordon of movable rope barriers; I suppose the airlines must have given up on the idea long ago. Saudis (males only naturally) would just converge from all directions and go right up to the agents.
I learned to get to the terminal early. One time I decided to just stand back for a while and watch to see how long it took me. Finally one of the ticket agents noticed me, inferred what I was doing, and waved me over. Even as he did so, he literally had to hold out his hand and wave off others who kept barging right up to him while I approached.
I suppose it has to do with learned behavior in the public space from an early age. I guess people in most foreign countries learn to compartmentalize, to "zone out" others as just so many inanimate objects.
A fascinating insight into sociology. Especially with the Saudis, because when they do engage on a personal level they go to the opposite extreme — traditional Bedouin courtesy extended to visiting strangers makes it mandatory that time be taken for personal conversation and that coffee and tea be served to visitors.
Americans are the best in the world in their public behavior from what I have seen and read, an ironic thing indeed given our reputation. At a personal level we can be brusque — if someone stopped us in the street for directions most would try to give a quick and helpful answer, but would never dream of stopping what they are doing to take time for a coffee break.
I suppose all are products of their respective national cultures. I suppose ours is a product of our own national traditions of both "self-reliance" and "fair play", which I definitely prefer over the type of public rudeness you so eloquently describe in this example. I suppose a lot of other people do too, and that helps to account for the net trend of immigration/emigration (ie a lot more people trying to get into the USA rather than out!).
I was particularly interested in your personal treatment by the various cops. I suspect it has to do with "face"; presumably no ROK policeman would dare to risk being perceived as taking the side of a clearly American caucasian soldier, in front of a crowd of his fellow citizens? It's anecdotes like this that confirm me in my belief that it's long past time for us to bring the troops home.
Sure they do, even in Tacoma Wa. How many times have I been waiting in line at some Korean joint, and sure as shit some Korean woman will cut in front of me. I use to be nice, now I say what the hell are you doing, the line is back there! And if she says no speaky english, they always do, I physically move them out of the way. When they say no speaky english, especially here, I cuss them in english and guess what, they get the message hmmm, maybe they do speak english?? My wife is Korean and she cant belive the stuff they pull on me. Or how about going to a Korean resturant, and because I'm American, and she's Korean, we don't get service. How many times has that happend I couldnt tell you, but way to many. Or go to a Korean Church, and watch the people avoid us like the plague. Racism is alive and well in minorities too. Well enough on the soap box, nice trip you had, not.
If you meet a bunch of rude Koreans just tell them "I'm shocked, I thought those nice polite Japanese in Tokyo were joking when they told me how rude Koreans could be".
Then be prepared to run fast.