I got to the bus station to wait for the bus taking me to the border with Syria. I met a Korean doctor-in-training there preparing to make the same trip. She was in the same boat - hoping to get her visa at the border. The next morning, we arrived at the border. The process was a breeze and it took us all of 15 minutes to get the visa. That said, the border people for some reason flipped through all 131 pages of my passport before settling on stamping the page with the Cuban stamp. Birds of a feather flock together perhaps.

We were victims of a quick bait and switch at the border. Admittedly, we were shocked at the cheap cost of our nice big air-conditioned bus which had a total of three people. Once across the border, we were told to get off and wait for a small van that would take us to Aleppo. While having breakfast at Aleppo, we ran into an American who became our travel companion for the next couple of days in Syria.

The three of us made our way to the Ummayid mosque in Aleppo. What I like about the mosques here is that they create a common space that has such different meaning to its different constituents. The mosques in this area have a huge space in the center. To the adults at the mosque, the inner sanctum is meant for their dutiful prayers. To the kids, the open space is a playground. They kept coming up to us to have their photos taken. And after prayers, the space becomes a place for worshipping pilgrims to capture photographic evidence of their semi-touristic journey.

I popped into Australia for a 2 day conference at Australia National University to present some work and to meet officials at the DFAT, Australia’s ministry responsible for trade and foreign affairs. I was looking to find out more about the impact of their previous training programs for North Koreans and to see if they are interested in restarting those programs. I managed to meet the person tasked with running those programs and he had an overwhelmingly positive view of how those programs were reshaping the dialogue on economic activity in Pyongyang. Interestingly, their program only took North Koreans under 35, and the North Korean government readily agreed to it. However, according to the professor, the programs were killed by the Bush administration, which push to cut off all UN funding for technical training in the DPRK.

The DFAT people I met involved in the North Korean desk were unfortunately far less impressive than I would have expected. I assumed that they would have good experts working on the issues but I guess it is too much of an expectation given how peripheral North Korea is to Australian interests. The people we talked to were downright condescending - preferring to lecture (about things I know already and issues I have struggled with myself) rather than listen. They did not know much about North Korea beyond the very limited amount about the country anyone can get from mass-media. It reminded me of what a friend of mine who used to cover North Korea for the International Crisis Group said: you can read 5 books on North Korea and know more than 90 percent of people working on the country full-time for the US State Department.

Because of mechanical issues, Qantas had to reschedule my flight, which left me with three hours of sleeping time before work on the next day. And to boot, they left my bag in Sydney as I made my way to Seoul.

I spent two days hopping from town to town in the Cappadocia region. It was nice to get out of the main touristy town as it is far too convenient. It even has a lone Family Mart to serve Japanese/Korean tourists. One stop was Yelmati Sehir. The city has a 7 story underground city that was first home to Hitties hiding for safety and later for Christians. This reminded me of how Christianity really had its roots in the Middle East, instead of the Western character we attribute to it today.

I made it to Uchisar next and climbed a Byzantine rock castle 1500m above the ground. My readers, who are definitely smarter than me, will realize that it was a stupid idea to do so in sandals. There is something beautiful in standing on top of an ancient castle overlooking the desert and hearing the call to prayer pouring forth from minarets and echoing across the plains.

I compounded my mistake by walking down a valley and back to the next town to catch the bus taking me to the border at Syria. I would learn there whether it was a stupid mistake trying to get my visa at the border there rather than at a Syrian embassy. On the bus to the border, there was an amusing advertisement for a Turkish brand using only Korean actors. The reach of Korean pop culture is amazing. I also met a 60 year old former hippie who in the 70s took a bus from Amsterdam to India. When I asked how it was, he said he was too high to remember much of it.

During my last semester in undergraduate, I was seized by the desire to explore more of the US. Using a free ticket I got off a company I had interviewed with, I made my way to Las Vegas to fulfill my long-held wish to see the Grand Canyon. It was a grand sight and I swore that one day, I would return to hike it. Unfortunately, as a poor NGO type, that wish is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

The thought stayed with me and so, I was glad when I stumbled upon Cappadocia in Turkey enroute to Syria. It had the moonscapes of the Grand Canyon, and a desert-like valley that I eagerly crawled all over. It also had the churches carved into rock walls very much like what I saw in Dunhuang in western China. The churches dated to the time of the Byzantine empire and many of the saints had their eyes gorged out by later generations of occupants. Like the Hagia Sophia, these hidden churches had domes in them.

I made my way through a valley that hid these churches and slowly winded my way around the valley as it sloped upwards until I reached a ridge overlooking the landscape. It was breathtaking. I stopped to take out my Ipod and danced to wonderful beats and the beautiful scenery.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

After hearing a friend who works at Samsung describe the life there, I am struck by some similarities it shares with a certain genre of countries. I write this post in half-jest of course. But perhaps we should not be too ready to dismiss how some tools are commonly used to build imagined bonds of solidarity. Compare the Mass Games with the Samsung Summer Camp which is used to initiate new employees to the firm. Samsung employees perform at this mini mass games during an annual event meant for building bonds within the organization. During the parade, pictures of executives are flashed on a telescreen. The executives marched out, introducing the proud commanders of the company.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(Istanbul, Turkey)

In addition to such a spectacle, the firms tries to build an aura of omnipotence and worship among the founder family who still runs the firm. This is not unlike many entrepreneurial start-ups. Friends from Google tell me about how there is an obsession with what Larry and Sergey says or thinks. Portraits of Samsung’s founder decorate some offices and at certain times during the day, speakers in rooms throughout Samsung broadcast corporate messages - these cannot be turned off. Employees often tell others how lucky they are to be working at such a glorious firm.

It is tempting to call such activities a Korean cultural traits. However, I have yet to exactly pin down what would make these uniquely Korean as I have seen similar methods applied across a wide-range of organizations across a wide range of country to build cohesiveness.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

On a two day trip back to Singapore, I paid a courtesy call to the DPRK Embassy in Singapore to explain what Choson Exchange does, provide some materials and to get some advice on how we can proceed with several programs. It was not without incident. Scheduling a meeting ahead of time seems to bring with it a host of bureaucratic problems, so our team advisor suggested dropping by on the day itself. We did so, only to find out that the embassy had just moved three streets away.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(Istanbul, Turkey)

We arrived at the embassy and were received by an embassy staff - a friendly looking guy who did not say much. He left the talking to us. My friend had brought some small gifts and after some small talk, I introduced myself and my purpose for being there. We learnt quite a few things that we did not know, and our host gave us some advice on things that we should look into. The overall message was that they were generally supportive of training in any field and that South Korean involvement might be problematic for them. But they would defer judgment to our partners in Pyongyang.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

I walked away unsure of what my counterpart thought of our work. I admit to be being really bad at reading the body language of older Koreans - they tend to be reserved in their expressions. Sometime back, I met a Korean professor who seemed rather aloft during our meeting. However, right after the meeting, he sent an email gushing over how happy he was to have met me. Our Choson Exchange advisor, who knew the embassy staff much better than I did, seemed to think that the meeting went really well and he pointed out that our kind host gave us an hour of his time, when he could have easily cut the meeting short.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

I took an overnight bus to Nevserif in Cappadocia, an area in Southern Turkey known for its moonscapes and Byzantine-era temples carved into rock walls. One heuristic I use in travelling that has always served me well is to distrust the first person who approaches you as you get off an overnight bus. In this case, it was two guys claiming to work for the bus company

.
(Istanbul, Turkey)

They were petty tour operators (not cheats) and I spent some time in their office as they tried to sell me a tour. Since I was dragged there, I might as well figure out where are places I should be visiting. I explained that I do not normally do tours and eventually wrangled a free ride to the next town out of them. As I exited their office, I noticed a “thank you” note written in Korean. It said that the guide was a “pervert” as he “had a sex change operation.”

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(Istanbul, Turkey)

The historic section of Istanbul is a labyrinth of winding alleyways and sloping streets. It is a hive of commercial activity and I spent one morning tumbling up and down these little hills watching the markets slowly come to live. People were sitting on the sidewalks sipping their tea (chai). Some people were on bamboo scaffoldings touching up a building and not too far away, I dodged someone hunched over with a pile of suits on his back, making his way to deliver them. I was lost and I loved it.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

I eventually forced myself to stop my meandering and started making my way to the Agia Sophia. Inside, huge wooden shields adorn the four walls of this ancient temple. They carried Arabic calligraphic and reminded visitors that they stand now in a house of Islam. After visiting Agia Sophia, I walked around looking for a cheap restaurant and came across Istanbul University. Outside, I tried taking a picture of a man with the bushiest beard. He was not pleased and signaled for me to stop. I walked over and he pinched my beardless chin.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

I eventually remembered that I had to make my way south towards the Syrian border, and promptly crossed into the Asian continent. On the way home to pick up my bag, the streets echoed with the cry to prayer. It was a haunting sound. Its sing-song melody was a beautiful accompaniment to the red and violet sky and quiet empty streets.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

(Istanbul, Turkey)

To North Korean watchers like me, North Korean issues often appear more important and influential than it really is. The recent local elections in Seoul proves my point. The sinking of the Cheonan ship was predicted to have a galvanizing effect on older conservative voters. This was to lead to a landslide victory by the conservative GNP. Instead, the GNP was routed in local elections. While some argue that the way the GNP handled the issue or the way it used it for its politicking backfired, I suspect the main reason is that North Korea is seldom a strong driver of voting behavior among South Koreans. Most South Koreans simply do not care much about North Korean issues.

Still, South Korean can expect conservatives to dominate for many years. I met a friend from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade yesterday who believes that South Korea will be staunchly conservative for the next presidential elections. The reason is not so much North Korea but rather impending laws giving the right to dual citizenship to some overseas Koreans. He estimates 1 million new citizens will be added among the 7 million eligible overseas Koreans. As Koreans overseas tend to be from very privileged backgrounds (which favor the GNP), my friend argues that this group will overwhelmingly vote conservative.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

On a side note, I am concerned that the scope of discretion under this law is rather wide - the citizenship will be given to people deemed “meritorious.” Given how rich businessmen in Korea who break the law are often let off for their economic contribution, I am worried about how the word “merit” will be applied.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

I find Istanbul fascinating for its mixture of Muslim and Christian influences on its places of worship. The scale is amazing too. I grew up next to a mosque in Singapore and until this trip, that mosque formed the image of mosques in my mind. It was a small humble concrete structure in green and yellow, very much unlike the opulent giants of Turkey. The famous mosques of Turkey (perhaps because they copied the Agya Sophia which was itself initially a Church) are also unlike their cousins in Syria. While the most important ones in Syria were built with a large courtyard in the center, which allows the community to interact, the mosques here lacked the courtyard. There were stained classes inside and as I entered the Agia Sophia, the scale of the structure seemed to weigh down on me. Arab calligraphy hung on each corner of the mosque.

(Istanbul, Turkey)

Outside the Agia Sophia near a Serpentine column dating from early Roman history, a middle school girl asked me if I could fill out a survey for her. It took some effort for me to restrain myself - I was tempted to critique her research design and survey design after spending the past year at graduate school having this instinctive critiques drilled into me.

In touring the Topakal palace, what I found interesting was the role and history of the Janissaries. These elite soldiers of the Ottoman empire married palace concubines and negotiated wages through an elaborate ritual conducted over a meal. I wonder if this was done in order to co-opt the military into the ruling hierarchy so as to ensure its loyalty. The system worked for a while as the Ottoman empire came to threaten all of Europe, but from the little I have read, the Janissaries eventually came to prevent the system from taking military reforms needed to keep up with the Europeans.

While the food and sights in Istanbul were amazing, I enjoyed watching and interacting with people most. It was interesting watching how Turkish people wink as a sign of agreement - which I found slightly disconcerting initially. At one of the bazaars, one of the shop-owner played a trick one me. He pointed to my shoes as if there was something stuck to it. After dancing on the spot for a bit trying to figure out what was wrong, I realized he was just pulling my leg. Its nice to be in a place where people don’t cheat you for your money… only for fun. Traveling in other places have lowered my expectations quite a bit.