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我的东亚之旅第一站 南韩

The first stop of my East Asian trip: Korea
来源: Bob Mok
在海外生活数十年后重游故乡会让人心潮澎湃,也会勾起游子浓浓的乡愁。Bob Mok最近就踏上了东亚之旅,期间包括回到他已阔别38年之久的故乡香港!但是,他此次旅程的第一站是时尚风潮席卷全球的时尚之国——南韩。
A trip to hometown after living aboard for decades is an exciting experience and can bring nostalgia memories. Bob Mok recently embarked on an East Asian tour that included Hong Kong, his hometown where he hasn’t returned to for 38 years! But the first stop of his trip was Korea, the country where the fashion wave is taking the world by storm.
 
 
在今年10月和11月,我旅游了四个亚洲国家和地区,分别是南韩、台湾、中国大陆和香港。我最近一次前往中国大陆是在2008年,最近一次前往香港则是在1978年(38年前!),南韩和台湾之前则从未去过。

During the months of October and November, I embarked on a tour to four Asian countries and regions. They were: Korea, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. I last visited China in 2008, Hong Kong in 1978 ( 38 years ago!) and I have never been to Korea and Taiwan. 
 
 
这是一段非常漫长而又繁忙的旅程,一路上不仅让人眼花缭乱,还有许多东西需要理解和吸收。在安排得满满登登的五周行程中因长时间乘坐大巴而导致腿部浮肿。但在旅途中有很多机会可以与他人进行交谈,这其中不仅有旅游团成员还有当地居民。在接下来的几篇文章中我想和读者共同分享这些经历。
 
This has been a very long and busy journey. There were plenty to see, much to absorb and digest. Above all, it has been a very hectic 5 weeks completed with swollen legs for sitting for long periods on coaches. There were many occasions to try and talk to the people, not just within the tour group but also local residents. I'd like to share these experiences with my readers over the next few articles.
 
 
每一个地方应该都可以通过一两个名词让人深刻铭记。我的第一站(南韩)可以一词蔽之为“时尚天堂”。

Each location should be focused and remembered in a word or two. My first stop (Korea) can be summarized as “Fashion Heaven”.
 
 
在抵达位于南韩首都首尔以西30英里处的仁川国际机场后,我们下榻在一个普通酒店。当时一加元可以兑换817 WON(韩元),因此我们一直在开动大脑进行韩元和加元的换算,以让自己确信那些标价高达“上千”的商品实际上并非真的贵得离谱。

Arriving at the Incheon International Airport located 30 miles west of the Capital City of Seoul, we settled down in a modest hotel.  At that time, the Canadian dollar is worth 817 won (Korean dollar). Our minds keep going through the conversion to Canadian Dollars to assure ourselves that thing price tags in “thousand” units are not really out of this world.
 
 
总的来说,韩国人的英语水平并不高,各处的海报也少有英语和/或中文翻译版。但是一些餐馆菜单和指示牌中所含的(简体)中文字符远远多于英语,亦清楚表明南韩正在努力迎合中国游客。而这也导致我们在点餐时无可避免地遇到困难!

In general, Koreans have poor command of the English language and the posters do not have adequate English and/or Chinese translations. It is clear that attempts are made to cater to Chinese tourists with Chinese (simplified) characters embedded in some restaurant menus and signs, more so than in English. We certainly had a tough time with the ordering of food!
 
 
在我们旅游期间当地的气温只有十几度,我们不知道这是因为寒流还是当地习俗,我们每天的午餐和晚餐都会吃不同类型的火锅(海鲜、人参、羊肉等),此外还配有很多小碟装的辣泡菜、小鱼干和腌制蔬菜。

The temperature was only in the teens for days during our visit. We were not sure if it was because of the cold weather or if it is served year-round, we went to different types of Hot-pot meals (seafood, ginseng, lamb, etc) everyday for lunch and dinner. Lots of small dishes of hot Kim chi served along with dried minnow fishes and preserved vegetables.
 
 
我不想描述各个旅游景点。以每天清晨6点启程,经过一整天马不停蹄的旅程后于晚上8点入住不同的酒店而足以概括。但是,我要讲述一下旅途中发生的两件值得提起的事情:

I am not going to bore you with a description the various tourist attractions. Enough to say that it starts early everyday at 6 am and finished at 8 pm at different hotels after each day of extensive tours. I will, however, expound on two memorable events:
 
 
1)我们在地处汉江中部距离首尔63公里处的南怡岛等待渡轮时,遇到了另一个旅游团的中国导游。他因为我们用粤语和一个老年团友对话而对我们进行了一顿猛克,指责我们身为中国人却不说“普通话”。他可能以为所有海外华人都会说普通话,因此在任何时候都必须说中国官方语言。但其实他是大错特错!因为我们都是在几十年前就移民加拿大的香港人,粤语才是我们的母语。他的这种粗暴的态度和偏激的民族主义情绪引起我们的强烈不满,在我们用英语对他进行反驳后,他便象那缩头乌龟再也没有吭声。从很大程度上说,中国游客大量涌入将会对南韩的经济和社会带来长期影响。

1) While awaiting the Ferry to Naminara Republic located 63 Km from Seoul in the middle of the Han River, we were confronted by a Chinese guide from another tour group. He badgered us for speaking Cantonese to one of the elders in our group and chastised us for not speaking “Putonghau” as people of Chinese origin. It was his presumption that all overseas Chinese know and therefore must speak in the official Chinese language at all times. He was so wrong! All of us were people from Hong Kong who emigrated to Canada decades ago and Cantonese is our mother tongue. His rude intrusion and nationalistic expressions received a rebuttal from us in English and he retreated and stayed silent after that. To a large degree, the intrusion of large number of visitors from China will have a long term impact to the Korean economy and their society. 
 
 
2)在行程表上仅有的一点自由活动时间里,旅游团内的绝大多数女性都想去“扫货”!南韩的时装和饰品一直走在潮流前沿,它们不仅吸人眼球而且价格实惠。在我们抵达东大门(我是否应该称其为“时尚天堂”?)后,各种不同风格和材质的服装多得令人难以置信。其中大部分单品的开价都是10,000 WON或10美元。有许多小店出售的男女时装设计简洁且做工精良。这里出售的所有商品都是“南韩制造”,我真想不通为什么它们在加拿大没得卖!现在我们也都知道亚洲人为什么要组织“买到腿软”旅游团奔赴南韩了。千万不要让你的女友或妻子单独去那里购物,也不要把你的信用卡给她们!

2) With a bit of spare time on the schedule, a majority of the women in the group wanted to “shop”! Korean fashion and selections are out of this world. They are not only eye-catching but also economical. We ended up at Doota Mall (should I call it “Fashion Heaven?”). The variety of clothing and different styles and materials are beyond one's imagination and belief. Most items starting at W10,000 or 10 US dollars. There were hundreds of little shops with simplisticdesigns in both men and women fashions and wonderful workmanship. All of the  items were “Made in Korea”. I wonder why they are not sold in Canada! Now we know why Asians have organized “shop till they drop” tour group to visit Korea.Never let your girlfriend or wife go there for shopping without you and don't leave them your credit cards!
 
 
总的来说,我发现韩国人非常爱国(尤其是在涉及购买国货的问题时)。南韩的年轻女孩很早就开始使用化妆品,并且穿着很得体。他们在公共场所举止彬彬有礼并且遵纪守法。但是由于南韩的大部分人口都集中在其首都首尔市内,交通落后且现代建筑寥寥无几的乡村地区仍然处于欠发达状态。南韩旅游业未来的发展必需聚焦于半岛南部的自然公园和原始湖泊。

Overall, I find Koreans very patriotic (when it comes to buying Korean products). The young ladies start using make-up early and dress well. They are polite and law-abiding when it comes to public behaviour.  Since a large part of the population is concentrated within the Capital City of Seoul, the country side is still under developed with little transit and few modern buildings. The future for Korean tourism development will need to be focused on its natural parks and pristine lakes to the south of the peninsula.
 
 
下一站——台湾!

Next stop – Taiwan!
 

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