Anywho...Last Sunday was Sharing House and it was an experience. I don't want to call it depressing but it certainly wasn't a barrel of laughs. It's a museum/house about 2 hours outside of Seoul where 9 women who were sex slaves of the Japanese army duing WWII live. When we got there, we saw a video basically explaining the situation. I'll do my best synopsis here.
Around the time after the Nanking invasion, the Japanese army realized it couldn't go around raping and pillaging if it wanted to build a lasting empire so they decided to systematize it (the Japanese are nothing if not efficient). They specifically targeted Korean women because Korea was a colony of Japan and wouldn't fall under international treaties Japan had signed against sex slavery. They got the girls through a variety of methods, including abduction, false promises of schooling, and fake factory job offers. Once the girls were there, they'd basically have to spend their entire day "comforting" the Japanese soldiers. The conditions were awful and the soldiers weren't exactly gentle.
Now, Korea was (and still is) very Confucian and a woman's highest asset was her virtue. After the war, the general Korean population did not want anything to do with the women who survived. They offered very little compensation and wanted to sweep them under the rug (and still do). The Japanese government makes various claims, such as the army had nothing to do with this or that the women were willing prostitutes. They take NO responsibility and no compensation from the government.
The Sharing House exists to make sure the women and their ordeal is not forgotten. It's pretty amazing what they've been able to do with little to no support from the government and general population. Korea is changing and as it does, so does the attitude towards the women and progress has been made. Sadly, not with the Japanese government, which leans right.
My friend Steve has been volunteering there for about a year and so I went with him on this trip. I'm so glad I did, it was amazing to learn about all this. The best part was the art I got to see. The women were taught to paint so they could express some of their feelings through their work. These were some of the most emotionally powerful pieces of art I've ever seen. Usually, one of the women will come out to speak about her experience but they were all sick or visiting family the day I went. As their getting into their late 80s/early 90s, that'll happen more and more.
Of course, it was not been all seriousness here in Seoul. The night before the Sharing House, I went out to Platinum for my friend Sunah's birthday. Platinum is an all-you-can-drink microbrewery with the best beer in Seoul. I drank my fair share (and then some...) and in general had too much fun.
Steve, the aforementioned friend, has an oven in his apartment! This may not seem like big news but believe me, it is. So far I've only used it to make a couple batches of cookies but I've got big plans. Strange fact of life that Koreans just don't use ovens.
I just ended a class and the students are going to take me out for dongdongju, my favorite Korean alchohol, on Wednesday. It'll be lots of fun showing up all drunk to pub quiz. I'm sure my contribution will be invaluable.
Making more plans for my triumphant return to the States. I'll be in San Francisco from Dec. 22nd to Jan. 3rd. I'll be in Seattle from Jan. 3rd until Jan. 8th (the 6th/7th will be in Portland). Mark your calendars and plan accordingly!
