Our travels started out auspiciously enough with a nice two hour delay taxing the runway due to the inclement weather in Shanghai. Fortunately to help pass the time I sat next to another English teacher from Missouri, Tyler Bates. After a nice chat and flight (once we took off from the ground) we arrived at Pudong International Airport. To start the trip off right I embarked on a rainy run along the Bund which was not more than ten minutes from our hostel. Cory did an excellent job of finding a hostel very close to our sightseeing destinations in Shanghai. After a pretty dismal day of weather; Cory and I set off to take some night pictures alongside the eerily foggy Bund and modern Pudong area which both run parallel to each other alongside the Huangpu River. Take about contrasting styles. On one side you are witnessing the 19th century colonial style of Europe in which China attempted to modernize during its short lived democracy of the early 20th century. Only a half a mile away stands a contemporary space needle and another half dozen buildings which resemble a scene from the last Star Trek movie, unbelievable.
Our next day started off well by meeting a group of Chinese students traveling to the Yu Gardens, the same destination Cory and I had hoped to visit on this day. What a bit of great luck to meet such wonderful people. I have found hostels to be an overall great experience besides sometimes having difficulty sleeping at night (I might be literally the lightest sleeper on Earth). The gardens were breath taking and an overall great experience. The close quartered Chinese designed encampment was so eerily removed from the outside world that I could scarcely hear the sounds of the city which were surrounding the garden’s perimeter on all sides. The gardens are surrounded by a modern rendition of the old styled “Hutongs” of traditional China. In hope of striking gold, Cory and spent some time looking for gifts to get for friends, family, and ourselves. Cory and I did not really make a great effort on this occasion to find our gifts. Rather, after a short stint of shopping for some unique Chinese ties we continued on our day’s adventure. Our next stop on our journey took us to the famous Nanjing shopping street. I seized this moment to purchase a pair of basketball shoes which I was in desperate need of. Later in the night Cory and I would find ourselves tested to the ninth degree.
That night Cory and I went looking to see if we could find some of Shanghai’s famous night action. Unfortunately, we would find ourselves in a provocative situation which is predictable for our youthful ignorance. Cory and I were a little lost trying to find the modern Xiantiandi area of Shanghai where we had staked out. A man approached us speaking broken English and explained that a “night” club was actually pretty near from where we were. As he took us nearer, I became convinced that this person had ulterior motives of some kind. First, he asked us what we were looking for. When we told him the French area and “bars” and “clubs”, he used these suggestions to only amount to the audible response of, “You want to drink beer, right?. Now, we obviously would drink a little bit of beer; however, this neutral response caught my attention. Next, he asked us where we were from. Not our names… Most Chinese do not offer their names right away; nonetheless the way he ran through questions made it feel that he was not very interested in getting to know us. When we responded, “America”, he responded with, “good”. He next asked us how old we were. At this point, I moved forward by telling him un-endearingly that our names were Cory and I was Erik. His response: “Lucky”. Well, now even his synonymous name drew my guard up. When Cory and I entered into the “bar”, we were taken upstairs and asked to sit down. The room was quickly entered by four or five beautiful Chinese women. When Cory retorted that we were not looking for this kind of bar; Lucky responded with, “well, you said you wanted to drink beer, right?” Refraining from making eye contact with anyone I told Cory that we needed to go, now. After a second attempt by Cory to tell them that we were not interested I told Cory, now. My first experience battling my youthful lack of experience and found me without a loss for words. The experience was something that I know I will grow from and hopefully never make again. Cory and I left both greatly disgusted by the kind of moral depravations going on there.
Our last day in Shanghai was spent seeing the very modern Pudong and Xiantiandi areas of Shanghai as well as the Yu Gardens once again. After experiencing the world’s tallest hotel (Jin Mao Tower) we visited Xiantiandi in hopes of striking shopping gold. Unfortunately, we stroke out. The Xiantiandi area is such an incredible contrast to any other area of China I have ever been in. It feels exactly like you are visiting a big American suburb with all of the most modern shops, cars, fashions, etc. In a last ditch effort to find some ever evasive gifts Cory and I visited the Yu Garden’s hutoang area once again. This time we were in luck because we found some great Shanghai gifts! Some of our purchases included: authentic Chinese ties, a Bruce Lee T-shirt, and a gift for Cory’s girlfriend, Mi-Yong. The last night in Shanghai Cory and I went to a very western bar in Xiantiandi. An overall successful first stop on our summer travelling adventures!
The next morning I went on a goodbye run alongside the Bund River. Running alongside the Bund everyday was one of my highlights of being in Shanghai. I was so fortunate to be able to have this experience which I had not planned on. Due to the lengthy driving process (an hour to get to the airport in Shanghai and an hour to enter Seoul from the airport in Korea) Cory and I missed a day here really. Fortunately, we were able to be greeted by Cory’s amiable girlfriend, Mi-Yong. Once we arrived at our final destination, and had meet our hospitable American missionary hosts (Rob and Esther, Mc-Cormick), Cory and I enjoyed what would be my first ever traditional Korean meal! What a treat to be eating with two native Koreans who could both explain all of the intricacies of the dishes we were enjoying.
Our first real day in Korea started off well enough with a nature hike with Mr. Mc-Cormick. We bonded instantly as he started discussing life, Korea, and other topics. After reaching the top we witnessed a stunning view of the Korean capital. I was very interested in being in a place where such high level security forces are perpetually stationed in and around the hiking paths. The location of the military was in proximity with the 1974 North Korean plot to assassinate the President of South Korea through the mountain pass. Nearly succeeding in there diabolical plot, all but one member was killed in the action. The one remaining member is now a monk in South Korea. Truly, I have never seen such a great number of police and military personnel in a city at once in response to this failed plot. There is an almost constant need for war time readiness which created a strange sense of anticipation for me. The more seasoned Rob and Esther more or less talked ambivalently about the different “cycles” of tension between Pyongyang and Seoul.
After the hiking, Cory and I were escorted around by Rob and Esther in an active military base. This was my first experience being able to see how American families, soldiers, and support staff live abroad. It was an interesting experience and something that I will remember. After our tour, Cory and I walked through and around the Gyeongbogung palace and Presidential “Blue house”. I greatly enjoyed being able to examine with Cory the minor differences between Chinese and Korean artwork, tradition, and culture. I guess it really helps to have a Korean expert and prior traveler around when you are visiting Korea! That night we ate some delicious dumplings with traditional Kim chi which Esther made for us. What a treat! By this time, Rob and Esther’s adopted son Douglas was really enjoying having guests with him. I was very impressed with his spoken English and Korean while visiting. It is such an important and unique gift to be able to learn languages at an early age.
Our third day in Korea marked an awesome sightseeing day. Cory and his girlfriend, Mi- Yong, graciously showed me around some of Seoul’s great sights. We visited an awesome traditional and modern Korean art museum, Korean War Memorial, and aquarium. I was struck by the incredible amount of details regarding the Korean War that I had very sketchy understanding of prior to visiting it. I have therefore been spending some time researching on the computer the details of the conflict. I now feel much greater understanding for the great sacrifice of American lives in this brutal conflict. I am also quite saddened for the fact that such a conflict is rarely remembered by average Americans today. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice traditional beef dinner. The meal along with the time spent with these three friends was very memorable for me during this trip. I am ever thankful for Mi-Yong’s knowledge of traditional Korean artwork. I really gained a unique perspective from her on traditional and modern artwork and gained a lot by it.
Our next day in Korea was spent basically helping me to supply “up” for my next year in China. I needed to get some things and Cory was an amazingly patient shopper with me. Naturally, Cory will be able to get all of the things which he will need this summer back in America. Thus, it was a great sacrifice of his to allow me to do some shopping while in Korea. This evening I went on a night run which allowed me to see the beautiful buildings and sights illuminated in neon! It was an awesome running experience for me to see and compare with that of Shanghai’s incredible lighting. That evening I went to bed early in anticipation of our 5:30 am ride down to Rob and Esther’s small farm an hour and a half outside of Seoul.
The next morning, Cory and I were chipper and ready for some farm repairing! Luckily the drive was without traffic. We spent the next five or six hours helping Rob and Esther with their farm’s repairs. I greatly enjoyed being able to see this different perspective of Korea. The small town drew some similar comparisons to Rongchang, China. However, in Korea there were a greater number of cars, less motorcycles, and a lot less noise. Rural Chinese drivers find it completely applicable to “honk” there horn quite liberally while driving. This trivial difference is kind of an interesting expression of machismo, helpfulness, and habit for local drivers by now. However, driving was very much more westernized with driving styles in Shanghai. I am interested to see when these changes will come to Chongqing and than Rongchang. It will be a very interesting transition in deed; if it happens at all. After our ride back to Seoul Cory and I went out for a few drinks with each other at bar called, “Miller Time”. This marketing and merchandising is just one more another example of globalization in the world today.
The next day was sadly our last in Korea. We had hoped to be able to visit the DMZ; however, due to not being signed up in time we missed out on this experience. Instead, Cory did another awesome job of showing me around the cities UNCESCO World Heritage sites. Our walk and his “guided” tour around the Choengdekung palace were both exceptionally interesting to me. The spaciously designed palace allowed for great movement of court officials, visitors, royalty, etc to walk around. This is much different than Chinese palaces which are very closely designed negating free spaces for walking. Following Choengdekung, I meet Cory’s fellow Cretin Derham Hall ulumni, Emily. Suddenly, our conversation together was turned to interest as a gathering sound of people become more audible from the outside. Unbenownced to me a student’s rally was being held outside of our smoothie shop. It was my first experience with a live protest and with the powers of democracy in a foreign country. It gave me a unique perspective and something that I will not forget in the future. Following this wonderful visit Cory and walked around the sites a little more before I stopped to eat at a California Pizza Kitchen… See, the world is really flat! Afterwards, Cory, Mi-Yong and I enjoyed a nice evening of hitting the night life in Seoul. It was a drastically (thankfully) different experience than in Shanghai and something that I will scarcely forget in the future!
Our last day was spent in transit due to the fact that we both had international flights and pending connections before arriving at our final destinations. Saying goodbye to Cory was very interesting for me. I have never spent so much time with one person before in my life. Naturally, the growing process together has been quite interesting for us both. Over time we have really started to understand some of our similarities and differences. After saying our goodbyes I spent a nice day in the airport before arriving back to Chongqing at midnight. Travelling on my own, it was all together a very successful, fun, and worthwhile vacation to Shanghai and Seoul. I looked forward to spending my time this summer back in Rongchang and am excited to be able to continue practicing my Chinese. Another goal of mine is to start writing a narrative highlighting my time, journals, ideas, etc about living abroad. I am starting to write this in earnest and have not set a timetable for its completion. My first few days in Rongchang have been great and I look forward to many more before I head off to Beijing in the middle of August to join my parents on a two week vacation in China together. Lastly, I have included some more of my thoughts these last two weeks regarding the changes that have taken place in my life for those interested readers!
The last two weeks have been as always it seems with me an incredible period of personal growth, realization, and increased faith. I am closing in on a greater understanding which I seem to have stumbled upon. This is a very strange development for a man who has always been keen on driving his own car at the expense of everything in life, advice of others, and inner voice. Knowing that you are a driven, unique, passionate, and intelligent person is one thing; acting upon these gifts can be a much scarier prospect. Social, economic, friends, and family expectations weigh down on people around the world. The past few weeks I have read quite a few inspiration Christian works which have changed my life in many ways. From discovering my own personal struggles, depression, birth gifts, and meanings in life I slowly have been set free from the chains that bound me. These chains can be credited to my own ephemeral desires, machinations, weakness, passions, etc. However, these chains have another more external stimulus as well. Due to human interactions, societies, and the existential vacuum swallowing up many driven Americans searching for meaning in life, I feel that I lost my faith in Lord as I grew older. The meaningless part of my life coincided with my depression, college football failures, physical injuries, and my search for meaning, truth, and personal voice without God.
All of these tragedies coming together at once almost destroyed Erik Kottom. I was literally at the precipice of my fall. I looked over the mountain’s ledge at the nothingness that would befall me at my downfall. How could I go on trying to overcome life’s continuous sorrows when I knew that everything actually had no meaning at all? The college academic environment which I had always been driven to succeed at was turning out to be a nihilistic disaster for my first two years. I guess the only thing I can think positively about those two years was that they showed me how low things could really get in life. I am not blaming the curriculum, division 1A football, or my situation. Some people strive in these times in life facing the same challenges. These challenges just lost meaning for me. Once things lose their meaning in life it is as good as over. Viktor Frankl wrote about how each one of his fellow concentration camp prisoners all could see that once a person gave up hope (lost meaning in suffering) they were as good as dead.
My saving grace would come in the form of my next two years at Saint John’s which ironically through tragedy started a religious revival which has lead me to life I am truly happy with right now. A path that will allow me to speak with passion, feed my desires for vocational voice, meet my birth gifts, change the world, and have a lot of meaning in. A change in the meaning of these words was also needed for me to grow as an individual. No longer do I think of “changing” the world as getting my face in the history books. That was something that for as long as I can remember I wished more than anything. To be remembered. I am slowly growing up and realizing that these sort of selfish things are so pointless in this life. Living each day towards reaching an honorable goal is a much more self-fulfilling, worthwhile, and inspiring way to live life.
This path towards enlightenment has been such a strange, humanizing, wonderful, and very meaningful experience for me. In discovering this path I have found myself bouncing around some of the world’s most popular ideals, thoughts, fears, and found triumph in myself for the first time in my life. Not the shallow triumph of victory in the sports arena, in the classroom, in debate, or with friends and family. A greater sense of self which comes only from greater life experiences.
Life is too short to need to be perfect. Instead, trying to be happy with who you are will give you the most satisfaction in life. This realization takes a little time for some, and for others like me might take an entire lifetime. Fortunately, I have a personal ally in this fight whose forgiveness will never leave me as long as I remember to honor The eternal laws. Timing is everything in life and these revelations are sure to play a large part in my decision making down the road. For now I am still trying to sort out my past, discover who I am, find my birth gifts, and create a career path which has meaning for me. All of these things I know will bring me fulfillment in life which is something that I thank God for everyday for not leaping from that mountain precipice.
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