South Korea

First birthday party

I was in South Korea several times through the 80s. It was a really difficult place for a Western woman to work in. The start of many shocks came early in my first visit. We were all having drinks with an official. He had brought his wife along, but said, right in front of both of us, that they must all go out again and leave the women behind next time so that they could have a really good time. 

And they did! With the head honcho of the country's biggest car manufacturer. Honcho joked that he'd take me out separately another night. Thank God he didn't, or did I refuse the calls, I hope so. I can't remember. 

Not long after, a hotel security guard tried to throw me out as a suspected prostitute.  I found that funny. But there was a relentlessness to the insults that just kept on coming. Prostitution was all part of the corporate entertainment package back then.

Another time I was there, we had a well-known presenter with us. He was always going off to the hairdresser's for a 'rocket polish'. Let's just say that some South Korean hairdressers were a world apart from Trevor Sorbie. 

It was by no means all bad. What an incredible opportunity to visit a fascinating country I'd never have seen otherwise. When I returned later, I knew what to expect and was prepared and ready for the insults. 

One of the most interesting times was actually filming at a Kisaeng House. The Kisaeng are the Korean version of the Japanese geisha. It was a beautiful, unique evening, and amazing to experience it all first hand. Because I was the person with the purse, I was the most popular guest and I enjoyed teasing the crew about that. 

There were many highlights, The DMZ at Panmunjom and stepping over into North Korea on a special amnesty day; getting growled and hissed at by one of the soliders but then having my photo taken with a North Korean General. Buddha's birthday celebrations. A shaman funeral. An incredibly brutal bathhouse massage involving a chopped-up cucumber and a jug of milk...

Student demo

Teargassing

Getting teargassed in the middle of student riots. 

Brilliant crew sheltering from the teargas

South Korea DMZ from North Korea

South Korea from North Korea

North Korea from South Korea

Haeinsa Library

Beyond extraordinary was a vist to Haeinsa Temple. We were in the library there to film the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, engraved on 81,350 woodblocks in the 13th century. First built in 802, the Temple has housed the scriptures since 1398. This was all very wonderful. But what I've never forgotten is the moment I wandered off on my own in a filming break. It was all very peaceful, quiet and empty. Then I looked over a wall and saw this:

Was this time travel? 

I've often recalled that moment and was glad to find this image. It reminds me of coming across something totally unexpected, out of the blue, when I was a child. My friend Liz and I were riding over from our ponies' field in Coulsdon to her house in Kingswood. We had cut across Banstead woods and were in the hills above Kingswood, plodding along & looking down across rolling downs and fields. And there, in a field, all on its own, was a full-size fairground carousel. With people riding the horses, bobbing up and down, turning around and around. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. As we moved on, it suddenly made sense. There was a fete in the grounds of the Legal & General insurance company, they hadn't been able to fit the carousel in, so it was in a separate field all on its own. 

That scenario above was, of course, a feature film set. With a slightly bigger budget than our doc. We had no idea that they were there.