Yopki Tokki

Yopki Tokki

november 2001
i noticed how small the world is when i saw a chinese circus group preform a hoola hoop dance to the tune of the arabic song of colombian superstar shakira. at the seoul international drum festival i had to witness a japanese all female band play salsa. the best act was a korean group performing traditional rythms with kitchen knives; cabbage and carrots flying through the air. i had my first korean drum classes, playing the two- sided dog skin drum with my fellow students from the language institute. i might need some ear plugs, but a good way to learn appreciate the grace of the professional performers. i always thought that the big fuzz koreans make about autumn was a bit exaggerated- we have autumn in belgium too. but i must admit that the trees here look really beautiful these days, bright yellow, red and green, we simply do not have this kind of trees back home. i while ago i went to the war memorial, in fact a whole museum mainly about the korean war. i read the names of the 106 belgians who were killed, listed alphabetically on their first names, as koreans write their family name first. somehow this made the list more personal, less like a telephone book. i was thinking how maybe one day the afghan people will start building a war memorial like this in kabul. at the same time, children were running around making lots of noise, but their grandparents old enough to remember the war did not seem to mind. i was surprised by this lack of serenity. another weekend i revisited the place where the seoul- pyongyang railroad enters the DMZ. a year ago i had come to the same spot by bus, but following the promissing inter-korean talks last year, south korea has re-opened its part of the railway and built a station right before the symbolic bridge. while last year i just found a small tourist office where i joined a bus tour into the DMZ, this year the place was packed with south korean tourists, they had even built an amusement park including a giant viking boat swing. no trace of a division trauma. in front of my university there is an 8 lane avenue. at the zebra crossing dozens of students accumulate as it takes several minutes for the light to turn green, or blue as they say here. while i was crossing the street, a police escorted convoy of black limousines approached, but the students did not bother to let them through, so the convoy was split, with the limos coming to a halt in the middle of the intersection. this was kind of cool, i had a good laugh. usually koreans are very particular about where to cross the street, and wait patiently for the light to turn blue, but maybe this time their rebellious student spirit took over. amazing how every little organised protest mobilises a battalion of riot policemen, sitting quietly on their helmets. most of the time they seem to not to take any action. the american embassy, right in the city center, is heavily guarded by korean soldiers. they get some rest and watch tv in armoured buses. i saw a photo exhibit on the street, to protest against the presence of the american army base in seoul. they asked what the us citizens would think if korean soldiers took over central park in manhattan. i have started a collection of religious propaganda leaflets, which are easily obtained from the church groups who sing and preach in the shopping areas. also see mormons frequently. in the afternoon i make my homework in school, as there is no chair or desk in my room. it is fascinating to see this language exchange work. chinese and japanese students help korean students study their language, and in return they practice korean together. haven't found anybody yet who wants to learn dutch with a flemish accent. let me tell you about yopki tokki, the 'bizarre rabbit', aka mashi marow, guess what english word it is derived from.. yopki tokki is a cartoon rabbit, very popular here, keyhangers, toys, notebooks. first i thought it was just a korean version of, say, miffy or hello kitty, that cute stuff is also popular here. until my friends told me to check out yopki tokki's website, i found out that this rabbit is nasty, and as a matter of fact pretty funny. go to episode, number 3 'moon' is a favourite, you need to know the old korean story goes that in the moon you can see a rabbit making rice cakes.. quite different from yopki tokki's explanation..
during the break time in school i walk around, and i have renamed the 3rd floor fashion avenue, that is where all the japanese students have classes. these guys go to the restroom just to check their hair. i just had a haircut, not too short; don't want to be mistaken for a soldier, and winter has started.
i wonder if my fellow belgians realise that novermber 15 is king's day, i got invited to a reception at the belgian ambassador's house. i expected to see mainly belgians and koreans, but how strange, the street was congested with embassy cars delivering ambassadors from all over the world, while i could count the korean guests on one hand. felt a bit uneasy not wearing a suit, and thinking how these diplomats were happily eating and drinking my fellow belgians' tax money made me feel kind of weird, something was wrong. maybe it was an indication that the international diplomacy is moving away from bilateralism (belgium-korea), towards multilateralism: if you guys invite me to your parties, you can all come to mine. wondering what else our embassy in seoul contributes to the belgian-korean relations.