My Weekend on the Mainland

I left Jeju Island last Friday to fly to Pusan, Korea's second largest city, and travel the following day to a Fulbright Workshop in Gyeongju, which is a historical Korean town. Gyeongju is famous because it was the location of the 7th Century Silla Dynasty, that existed between 650 AD and 900 AD. We spent the weekend touring ruins and talking with each other about teaching. The weekend was very productive for the most part, and it was great to see the rest of the Fulbright ETAs; I hadn't seen anyone other than the 10 who live on the island with me since we left each other in August. I feel very lucky to have a successful homestay and school, as some of them are not very happy or have encountered some obstacles in their placements. It was really neat to see how well everyone gets along and works together to be supportive and help people with whatever difficulties they're having. If feels like I have sixty brothers and sisters in this country. After we left the workshop I traveled back to Pusan to spend one more night there before coming back to Jeju. I stayed with two of my good friends Kate and Janaki. We shopped a little, ate a wonderful meal and today we spent a few hours at a contemporary art exhibit at the Modern Museum of Art, which was really great! This morning when Janaki and I were on the subway saw a man in a suit board our subway car, pick up a black plastic bag that was sitting on the shelf above some passengers, and then get back off at the same stop. Immediately I was struck with curiosity and even slight accusation about his motives; however, on second thought, I realized how bizarre my reaction was. I mean, his motives were pretty obvious: Someone else had placed the bag on the subway and told the man in the suit which car it was in so he could pick it up. It is only because we live in a post 9/11 world that it looked so bizarre to me. I almost resented my own reaction, because other Koreans didn't seem to find it odd. It occurred to me that I could've embarrassed myself if I had been the one to see the first man leave the bag and de-board. I couldn't help but picture how the Koreans in my subway car would've perceived me, had I jumped from my seat, grabbed the bag, and hurdled it out the door before the subway moved on, all the while yelling to everyone that it was a bomb. I couldn't help but smile when I pictured the bag hitting the ground and doughnuts or books flying out of it. This sort of thing really reminds me of the state of national security in America. Of course, the reasons for such open paranoia in our country are obvious; however, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous about the fact that I don't get to use the convenience of the subway or a public bus to send things to my friends, rather I'm limited to either accompanying the item to its destination or using the traditional postal service; it's just not fair!