Rainy days in Gwangju

So a few weeks ago for my summer vacation I went to the revolutionary capitol of Korea which is a city known as Gwangju (광주). Gwangju has a long history of social uprisings in the name of justice. Most recent was the Gwangju Democratization Movement which took place on May 18th 1980. Why this movement started is complicated in nature so I recommend that if you want the details take the link earlier to the wikipeida article, but in the end over 100,000 protesters took to the streets and the Military was called in to suppress them. What gives this movement such infamy is that the military opened fired on the crowd with automatic weapons, publicly beat protesters (sometimes to death), and public bayoneting (this includes a horrendous account of soldiers mutilating the protesters such as carving an X into their backs or mutilating a women’s breast).

So for a 4 day weekend I had I traveled to Gwangju in probably the most horrible weather conditions. There were Typhoons out in the Pacific causing it to rain insanely for most of my stay in Gwangju (luckily I came prepared for this). Even despite the weather patterns I actually loved Gwangju. There just seems to be a feel to the people there that gives off a totally different vibe. For example, while walking from the bus station to the downtown district (a walk I absolutely don’t recommend) I was openly propositioned by a gay man…this was the first openly gay man I have met in Korea (most tend to keep it a secret). Despite my annoyance of his repeated attempts while I was waiting for the cross walk to give me the “go ahead and cross with a slightly less fear of death” sign (drivers in Korea are horrifying…I think they intend to kill me), I was joyed to see this! It made me happy that this guy was so out there and open where as in most of the country supposedly homosexuality doesn’t exist and is some kind of Western Phenomenon. From that moment I knew that this place had something special to it.

After walking through rains that could have recreated Noah’s flood and getting relentlessly hit on (the guy seriously was incorrigible), I found my luxurious love motel accommodations at Sharp Motel (aka # Motel). So I proceeded to shower myself up and go and hit the city. Gwangju is a women’s boutique shoppers paradise with tons of one off boutiques that offer something outside of the normal Korean women cookie cutter patterns (fashion trends in Korean women are usually obvious because you will see streets filled with women wearing the same styles). In addition to that, if cafe culture is your love then Gwangju has got you covered with a plethora of plush, handsomely decorated coffee shops. I particularly enjoyed Cafe Serendipity which is located somewhat off on a side street but has decent Pasta, good coffee, awesome decor, and the owners kitten provided me with much entertainment while I was researching in my guide book. I almost forgot to mention but Gwangju also has a very alive Art scene with graffiti art on the walls to an art street full of art academies and galleries.

While I was at Cafe Serendipity I met an American guy named Chris and his Korean girlfriend who’s name escapes me (I wish I wasn’t so bad with names) that were really great. First we went to a local foreigner bar which has a German Brew House theme to it and threw back some brews (this was their first time out to some of the foreigner bars in Gwangju). After which I guess I made a good impression on them for yhey decided to take me to a club that was opening that evening in Gwangju called Club Volume, with no cover and free drinks. So obviously this resulted in some level of ridiculousness on my part, including Chris and I getting sucked up on stage dancing in the green laser lights. So after a night of crazy dancing I went back to my all inclusive Love Motel and passed out.

The next morning I woke up and went to beautiful Boseong (보성) which has Korea’s largest Tea plantation. It was absolutely beautiful there with lushly green mountain sides covered in tea plants. I learned that tea needs to be grown in a highly variable climate ranging from high heat to cold with high humidity. So apparently this place was selected because it was climatically perfect, with high humidity, high and low elevations, etc… there was a lot of complexity to it, even the trees were hand selected to create a buffering effect on the weather patterns there (I think they were California Redwoods or something domestic to home). While I was there I met another awesome couple that decided to help me figure out the whole experience then again I must have made a good impression because after they invited me to join them for dinner at their favorite duck restaurant which was absolutely amazing! After that I went out with Chris and his girlfriend again to the other big foreigner bar called Speakeasy for some darts and then back out for some more dancing.

I always maintain that my favorite thing about living in Korea is absolutely the people and Gwangju did not fail to disappoint. I love how when undertaking a solo adventure in this country you can meet so many interesting and friendly people that can take a good experience and make it an unforgettable one with many stories and lots of fond memories.