Itaewon Halloween

I don’t think I need to explain what happened last Saturday in Itaewon. It’s a tragedy and it’s amazing that such a thing could happen in an open area with no obvious catalyst. In any case, let me just quickly go about with my musings.

First off, I appreciate all of the calls of concern I got from people. I live near the area and I could easily have gone to celebrate Halloween that night. Fortunately for me, I had a very busy week, and I wasn’t really in the mood to go out for Halloween night. Also, the tragedy happened on a Saturday. The big Halloween parties usually happen on Friday nights in Itaewon. I’m guessing the crowd was bigger on Friday night than it was on Saturday, so it’s a mystery as to why the tragedy occurred on Saturday while nothing happened on Friday.

And yeah, when the tragedy happened, I was out having a meal and drinking somewhere else close by. I was so tired, I was home by around nine, watching crime shows on Netflix. The gravity of the news didn’t really hit me until the next morning.

Itaewon has a really interesting history. It was first seen as the foreign underbelly of Seoul. While popular, people would rather hang out in other, more hip places. Itaewon was simply just a place for foreigners to hang out. Then the song “Itaewon Freedom” came out and made it a popular place among the locals. Halloween made it particularly popular, with people dressing up and everything. A sexy nurse here, a Harley Quinn there… it was prime fodder for social networking material.

Then covid hit, and many of the bars and restaurants were forced to closed down. Several places I used to frequent are no longer around. Many of the small restaurants and buildings have been demolished, and now a lot of spaces in Itaewon are under construction, bound to be giant buildings or office spaces in the next couple of years. Last year, people started to be more comfortable going out in Itaewon. Business was starting to pick up. People even celebrated Halloween, I remember. But this year, with this thing happening over Halloween, I’m afraid it’s going to once again scare some business away from the area. After all, who wants to party where over 150 people died in one night? It’s such a grim scenario.

There are videos online of people chanting “push, push, push” as the crowd tried to move, regardless of what was happening a few feet from people. People don’t directly see what’s happening a few feet from them, so they could be unwittingly crushing someone as they’re going with the crowd which is chanting “push, push, push.” A smaller version of this happens every day in trains. I experience it regularly. People would push their way in, not considering the people already inside, regardless of whether the train is already packed. These people would ignore the discomfort their causing and pretend everything is normal as they hug the doors of the train. Selfishly, these same people would not move out of the way or just step out of the train for a bit whenever people want to get out, probably in fear that they would not be able to push themselves in a second time around. When a simple “실례합니다 (Shil-leh-ham-nee-dah)/ Excuse me” wouldn’t do, I have to resort to “Get out of my damned way.”

Now imagine about a hundred of these train jerks in the Halloween crowd just starting to push themselves through in one direction. One pusher multiplies his/her force via domino effect. Now imagine a hundred more pushers going on the opposite direction, unwilling to compromise, pretending that each push is not inconveniencing or hurting other people, the same mentality of the person squeezing himself in at the crowded train door. Then add in a chant of “push, push, push.” Push, push, push. Then you can stop wondering why such an incident could happen.

On April 16, 2014, a ferry, the MV Sewol, full of high school students sank in Korea, killing 360 people. In memory of the tragedy, people wore yellow ribbons. People are already comparing the Halloween incident to the Sewol incident, and now I see black ribbons online for the tragedy. It is certainly something that has shocked the nation and made them aware of life’s fragility. I think this will be seen in the same light in the future, the same collective PTSD. Right now, the small alleyway and the are around it is still closed off to the public. Who knows what will happen to the area in the future once things have settled down. Will businesses be affected? Will people still go to Itaewon to have a good time?

Some people in the government are blaming the tragedy on the lack of police presence to prevent such tragedy. I’m not sure if more police would have prevented the tragedy. I don’t think young people and definitely inebriated foreigners wouldn’t pay much attention to Korean police. They have such a weak presence in the country and don’t really command that much authority.

The lack of police presence could be attributed to political rallies happening close by. The president moved his political headquarters close to Itaewon, and it made the area a hotbed of protests and counter protesters during the weekend. Who knows, maybe if the president was more popular, there wouldn’t be too many protests. And there would’ve been more police available for the Itaewon Halloween celebration. It’s an interesting “what if,” but as I mentioned, I’m not sure more police presence would’ve prevented the tragedy.

Will this prevent future Halloween celebrations in Itaewon? Probably not. There would probably be a memorial set at the alleyway where the tragedy happened, but as for young people partying, I don’t think there’s no stopping it. If not Itaewon, there’s always Hongdae and other places. You don’t have to look far really. Hebangcheon is just a few minutes walk from Itaewon, and it’s filled with bars and foreigners (though not clubs).

Sick, depressed, bloated

Back in Seoul… back to working. Though I’m no longer jet-lagged (I recover quite quickly), I am still terribly homesick. I told my best friend that I would probably be terribly depressed for a couple weeks or so after coming back, and that prediction rings through. A part of me is still trying to figure out how to finally move back to Canada… find a job, invest on a home, etc. But it all amounts to money right now. MONEY. I don’t mind working any job once I move back home. Any job will do just to be home. But I have to really save up before I decide to finally move. Just thinking about all the expenses right now, finding a place, living off my savings for a few months, etc. It’s all pretty intimidating. But I do miss Canada. I miss Winnipeg. And I’d gladly cut off several toes just to be back home.

Of course, that’s just me talking right now. A part of me worries that once I finally decide to move back home I’d feel stuck, etc. After all, I did decide to move out of the country before. Maybe I’ll feel stuck regardless of where I go.

It was great to be home, however. I wish I could’ve spent more time there, but we did make the best of it. It’s rare that my family and I get together, especially with us living in different places, so we celebrated Halloween and Christmas while I was there. My sister’s wedding was a highlight, and I’m so happy for her and her husband. Art-wise, I got to hang out with my artist best friend, Jordan Miller (http://www.jordanlmiller.com/), and we got to do some artsy things including attending a puppet show in her gallery. Comic Con was also held while we were there, so it was quite an eventful couple of weeks.

Again, I miss Canada… I miss Winnipeg. I miss “Friendly Manitoba.” It’s making me terribly ill not being home right now.

There’s several things I could write about right now, like my troubles with Travelocity, the experience at Comic Con, the art scene in Winnipeg, the beauty of having a wide selection of beer, etc. but maybe some other time. Right now I’ll just focus on being depressed and longing to be back home.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone (in Canada, that is)! Thank God for rainbows and general happy times.

And speaking of holidays. We seriously need to get over the mythology on Columbus (in the US, that is). He was a conqueror who got really lucky. And while we’re at it, we have to be a bit better with Native Americans and their culture. Halloween is coming up, and you know it’s coming… sexy Native American costumes (along with everything else).

 (ahem,WRONG!)

Now I’m no prude. I don’t mind sexy nurses, sexy cops, heck, even sexy school girl uniforms (despite the pedophilic argument), etc. But didn’t Christopher Columbus and his women rape these women back then? And despite the misappropriation of Native American culture for any purpose, be it football franchises, media portrayal, etc. becoming a norm, it’s a bit harder to take the sexualization of Native American culture lightly, especially after reading a book or two about the subject. There’s a reason why the word “squaw” remains highly offensive.