The Marmot’s Hole

Today while I was in Ulchiro I saw a sight that I never thought I would see - I saw Elvis.  I was walking through Namdaemun Market, oblivious to the shopping madness around me as I savored my Starbuck’s caffeine fix, when suddenly I heard the unmistakable voice of Elvis belting out the haunting lyrics of “Love Me Tender.”  I found myself slowly searching for the source of this loud music (alright - I was convinced that it was one of those opening shows where they have the scantily clad women dancing while trying to entice you into patronizing their shop) and began to wander closer and closer to the subway station.

A stage with images of Las Vegas and Elvis Presley had been erected near the entrance and was surrounded by a fairly large crowd of people.  An Elvis impersonator, dressed in white bell bottom pants with embroidered flowers, was strutting up and down the stage, stopping every so often to do a flurry of pelvic thrusts, much to the delight of the Japanese tourist.  I was convinced that he was lip-syncing the music, but then I noticed that he was actually singing, and what more, he wasn’t Korean, but an American.  He actually looked like a young Elvis Presley, and there is no doubt in my mind that he could sing with the best of the Elvis impersonators anywhere in the world.

Steve - a.k.a. - Elvis - did his best to get the mainly Korean crowd to sing along with him, but unlike the Koreans I see coming out of the Norae Bang at 12 at night - the audience seemed self-conscious and shied away.  Thank God for an elderly Korean gentleman who relished the opportunity to belt out a few stanzas in an off-key and shaky voice ( from where I was standing it looked like Steve had to wrestle the mike away from him - thank God he didn’t try to do any pelvic thrusts).  When Steve started singing “Jailhouse Rock,” he worked his way into the crowd and tried to coax women, young and old, to join him in a dance, but they quickly shied away from the hip-gyrating Steve even as the Japanese tourist excitedly snapped his picture.  Steve was successful in getting a young Korean couple (probably university students) to get up and do a form of the Jitter-bug, but the girl suddenly realized that they were the only ones dancing - except Steve who never stopped moving his hips - and grabbed her boyfriend’s hand and fled humiliated back into the crowd.

It seems that Steve, who got his start singing on a farm with small animals, was brought to Korea by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce or some other similar organization to celebrate and bring attention to the fact that one of the major airlines had just established a direct flight from Seoul to the City of Sin - Las Vegas.  Truly a commendable feat that does need to be celebrated and recognized, but one must wonder about the timing.  It seems almost ironic that there was a banner nearby - stretched between two trees by the police or city government (isn’t that illegal?) - urging people to report on-line gambling facilities and offering large rewards.  Interesting to note too, the large Lotto signs and the promise that you too can be rich.  On one hand the latest movement by the Government to control gambling, and on the other - a promotion to travel overseas to gamble, amongst other things such as watching Elvis impersonators, get dates with very expensive but beautiful women, to take walks on the “wild side,” or maybe to give birth so your baby can have an American passport.