If anyone is interested, i will be the chatty guest on Arirang TV’s 30-min “Heart to Heart” interview show at 10:30 pm tonight (Thursday); it’ll be repeated a few days later. I was there to talk about my teaching, research, speechmaking and writing on Korea’s religious-tourism opportunities. We taped it last Monday — yes, i had to rewrite the question-script they came up with, deleting most of the “Why have you stayed in Korea so long?” questions in favor of topics i want to talk about… In the end, i think it turned out pretty well, but we’ll find out tonight.
A little background on this — it started with my listing of Korea’s top 40 pilgrimage destinations for the popular Sacred Sites website (previous list was short and mistaken; your comments on my selections are welcome) and my letter to Newsweek International protesting their ignoring of Korea (and dissing all of East Asia, really) in a special cover-story on global religious-pilgrimage tourism (a sharply-booming field these days). Then my two-year Baekdu-daegan research project hit its peak with the launch of the Expedition this past fall, which you all have read plenty about here. Then as a result of these i was invited to a United Nations World Tourism Organization religious-tourism conference in Spain to talk about Korea’s sites & programs, as they had few representatives speaking from NE Asia (China didn’t show up at all!).
And then i was asked by “Chosun SAN”, Korea’s leading mountain-hiking magazine, to write a series of articles explain about the most-sacred mountains and the mountain-spirit traditions; strange to have a foreigner do that instead of a Korean professor, but what the heck. And the first of those articles being published in the January issue led to my being invited to yap about all this on Arirang. Whew, it’s been a heavy half-year… I’m ready for a vacation — California tomorrow! :-) Anyway, watch if you will, comment at your will.
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Any news yet on when the SK government is going to take you to task for suggesting that Korea is a religious tourism destination destination?
OMG congratulations, Sanshinseon! Way to go there!
You da’ man Dave. Heart to Heart is actually a decent show as well, much thanks to the MC who is very good at asking good questions and has a broad knowledge of many different things.
But, why have you stayed in Korea so long?
And isn’t Kimchi too spicy for you?
It was nice to see that our Catholic brothers got one spot on the list.
Your Catholic brothers had to work hard to get on that list, too. Martyrdoms don’t grow on trees, you know.
Hey, your Catholic brothers got TWO spots on that list — #23 & #25. Could have been more i know, but was trying to figure out which ones really get the most visitors and/or are best-known; was trying to be balanced between the different religious traditions… There must be a good Christian site or two that would in the future belong on this list up in Pyeongyang, but i just don’t know about it.
> But, why have you stayed in Korea so long?
Because i SO much love being asked why i have.
> 1. Zonath
> Any news yet on when the SK government is going to take you
> to task for suggesting that Korea is a religious tourism destination?
Heh. Well, i expect the punishment for that to be light — they’ll take any Western tourists they can get, i suppose. But they put very little effort into attracting them for the religious-tourism sector, which is most of what Westerners would be interested in seeing and doing here, compared with the great potential for that. I’m trying to spur them just a bit…
I’m gonna watch it. It’s only a half-hour, which means I’ll still be able to catch West Wing on CNTV.
It was interesting to read those little blurbs in your top 40. Does seem to me, though, that they’d appeal mostly to domestic tourists. (Nothing wrong with that).
A lot of historical significance there, too. I was wondering if you’d include “Our Lady of Naju,” the statue of the Virgin Mary that weeps blood, and which gets visitors from all over the world. She has Type B blood, in case you were wondering.
You know the MC’s going to slip in your favorite question. Be prepared!
“Our Lady of Naju” is too unorthodox, and much too new — along with that wooden Bodhisattva statue that has “enlightenment flowers” (fungus, actually) blooming one of the site of its head at Cheonggye-san Cheonggye-sa. Martin Gray has criteria for what can be listed on his site, which gives it increased gravity and value — one of the criteria is that the site has to be more than a century old, with a pre-modern tradition of pilgrimage to it. So Cheonggye-sa and Naju are far too recent and probably transitory — even the two Christian sites i listed just barely make it.
It was hard to figure out what to list, by which Korea-specific criteria — i’m actually working on a research paper about establishing that sort of criteria for what is truly “sacred” and what is less-so for this particular historical tradition.
There are supposedly-authentic relics of Sakyamuni Buddha enshrined at Saja-san Beobheung-sa and Seorak-san Bongjeong-am which are pretty famous pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, and i didn’t list them because they are so remote that i don’t know if many believers ever actually get there, and am especially skeptical that there were many visitors there before 1900 or so…
Sounds like an interesting program. Unfortunately they took Arirang off my cable here…TCN Cable in Taegu/Daegu. I think they replaced it with another shopping channel.
The ‘Heart to Heart’ MC is quite flirtatious, especially when she goes out drinking. Party!
The ‘Heart to Heart’ MC is quite flirtatious, especially when she goes out drinking. Party!
Invites!
But to people still ask you when you’re going back to your own country, or does that stop after a certain number of years?
Yeah, that was always a pretty pointed reminder that i ought not to get too comfortable, must have a plan for going “back home” when i’m finished benefiting this nation, keeping in mind that Korea could never be my “home”. I’ve always known the truth of my status here, and have not been bothered by such comments for a long time — just bemused. I did used to get that a lot, but can’t remember being asked that anytime recently — perhaps the Koreans have given up on trying to get me to leave…
Speaking of leaving, today is my last day in Korea. Will be headed back to the Philippines tomorrow for good, but!…a part of my heart will always be reserved for this nation. May sound too poetic, but I’ll only have good memories to bring back with me.
Besides, I’m planning to make a quick visit again sometime middle of this year, if but to meet new people and create new opportunities!
Farewell, littlebrown. Thanks for sharing your inexhaustible supply of good cheer.
Linkd, it’s people like you and the rest of the posters/bloggers here that made my stay here more at home. Next time you see me hanging around here, it’ll be a new flag beside my lowly name! (does your widget do that automatically, Robert? :))
Interesting program. I hadn’t really been paying attention to the Baekdudaegan hike, sorry to say, and the updates on this site and yours, but it sounds like something a lot of people’d be interested in.
Interesting program. I hadn’t really been paying attention to the Baekdudaegan hike, sorry to say, and the updates on this site and yours, but it sounds like something a lot of people’d be interested in.
I just watched the interview on TV. I love how she finished with the last line of hoping that Korea can “capitalize” on the Baekdu Daegan after he finished talking about how it is a spiritual destination and journey. Sanshinseon, what was that metal medallion thing on your shirt? By the way, nice work on the interview and running interference on the original questions.
Thanks. It seemed to come off pretty good — nobody’s ever gonna call me pretty, but i do hope y’all noticed the brand-new blue/black cashmere blazer — yup, an Itaewon tailor-shop classic, and quite the bargin. Anyway, i do yap a fair game, eh? That nice gyopo lady was lucky to get a next-question in…
That medallion i’ve worn around my neck every day instead of a silk-noose for about a decade now is a bronze from the Ming Dynasty, 1500s. It’s a Daoist good-fortune medallion featuring the 8 Trigrams of the I Ching [Juyeok-gyeong] on one side and the 12 Auspicious Animals on the reverse… I acquired it at a Daoist Temple on a mountain down in Yunnan in 1990 and just like it, it means something special to me.
#19,
I’m out of here in a little under three weeks and wish I was leaving with the sense of fondness for the place that you have managed to keep. I’ll reserve that good cheer for my new home, which is about 2 degrees north of the equator.
Thanks, Sanshinseon. It sounds really neat. Most Koreans (IMO) don’t even realize how much of their symbolism and thought is from Daoism. They just mash whatever they believe in together and call it “Korean Way”. The “Korean Way” is then very different from person to person (IMO).
Sanshinseon, I realized one important fact during your talk about the 백두대간 is that LMB’s canal plan will cut through it (the gi flow that runs through Korea!!) That is like putting iron spikes in someones grave or on mountains like the Japanese did to cut the gi energy of Korea.
Why hasn’t anyone realized this yet?
“Why hasn’t anyone realized this yet?”
Half a century or so from now, Korea’s lost gi (from the canal cutting across the 백두대간) will be blamed on Japan, which is where 2MB was born.
Watched it, liked it. As a tourism major I thought you did well. Since you have experience working with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism I wonder if any of my students from the KNTO would know you? Also, what do you think of the ‘transition teams idea to do away with the word ‘Tourism’ in the ‘Ministry of Culture and Tourism’ title when the Central Bank just reported in the Herald more of the same…
‘Leisure travel blamed for service trade deficit’
“Korean nationals traveling abroad for leisure has been blamed for the country`s service trade deficit, which touched $20 billion last year, according to the central bank.”
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/N.....010042.asp
Well, duh. Korea could never conceivably have a positive service trade balance. What possible services does Korea have to export? Hotel rooms, rental cars, air tix on Korean airlines are considered service ‘exports’, but that’s pretty small change.
All in all, Korea has a pretty healthy trade balance, because the country’s manufacturing more than makes up for the services deficit.
I’m also sure that leisure on balance is good for Korea, although I don’t have numbers. Giving all the relatively wealthier city folk 5 day workweeks has, I’m sure, been good for ski hills, resorts, yogwans/minbaks, rafting tours and many small towns that now have increased weekend visitors.
Prof.David Mason has an immense amount of knowledge to offer persons interested in Korea. None of his motivation should even be questioned by those that choose to do so. He knows beyond what you could ever anticipate…losers! A lot of what he has to offer critics of this post are noting but escapists without motivation and should do what they do best and be without sight. Pansies!!!!
Baekdudaegan Expedition Leader: R Shepherd.
Eh?
Well, looks like I’ve been to 14 of the 34. Or is it 15? Don’t know if I’ve been to Dubongsan but I’ve been near there at least. Would those be good for a plenary indulgence? (Oops, wrong religion - well, what then…?)
Whaddabout Haemi. The place was swarming with devout ajummas when I was there…Or the Catholic place on the hillside in Jeonju.
And then there’s the places the oegukin go to in Seoul. At least, I assume they are pilgrimage sites, ’cause they are down there every weekend.
Greetings from ol’ San Francisco, where we safely are, jet-lagged but happy.
Hey, that #30 by “bawisansaram” as NOT written by “Baekdudaegan Expedition Leader Roger Shepherd” — that’s not even close to his writing-style! That’s just sarcastic bullshit by an annoymous scamster fake — Robert, please delete that and ban that guy…
More Later, after sleep.
R.Elgin #26: Yeah, i did think of that right away too, was going to post it in one of the Canal=Stupid topics for the past month and never did. It’s just one of the angles from which objection can be raised, and a below-surface powerful one, IMHO.
Lawd yes, if the Japanese had tried to sever Korea’s 백두대간 Spine with a canal in the 1930s, it’d be listed as Old Crime #1 by the Korean nationalists today…
Thanks man. I watched the tape, thought it went OK — tho i could’ve used twice as much time to blab, there were entire topics we didn’t get to…
Actually all my 5 years was located primarily in that KNTO Building (mostly on the 8th floor) and some work i did was directly for KNTO, so at one time i was pretty well-known among that gang. I still have a few friends there, we comiserate over lunch or sumthin once in awhile.
If that comes true, i think it would be a huge mistake, even a crime (unless the Tourism part becomes an independant Ministry as before, but i doubt that’s their intention). Tourism-attracting efforts here need deep reform, but downgrading the govmt offices is the opposite of what they should do!
They always frame that as if ’sinful’ outbound Koreans are to blame for that deficit, always have, and that’s opposite from the truth. That deficit should be narrowed by attracting more Westerners to visit here as pure tourists, and that could be achieved if they’d study and implement recommendations from ME
:-) 
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[...] per a recent thread regarding tourism in Korea and the 백두대간 (Paek Du Dae Gan) mountain hiking trai… that runs through the most important mountains in Korea, it seems that LMB’s canal — [...]