My Korea: Fireworks
There is an interesting mindset toward explosives on Donghae Beach. If you are willing to spend about 3,000 won, you can arm yourself with a gun-like firework that shoots sparks out at an alarming velocity – hopefully up and away. You can even arm your child, which I witnessed with much fear in my heart. Convenience mart owners do not discriminate; they will even lend you their lighter. These fireworks can be set off pretty much anywhere on the beach. No distance requirements.
During mid-July 2013, as part of the Fulbright Orientation program, I traveled with my fellow ETAs to Donghae, South Korea in Gangwon Province (Northeast). After a day of bus rides, temple visits and workshops, we were treated to a fantastic evening full of fire, light and color. This experience was truly one of the highlights in my stay so far in South Korea.
On that evening, there was no festival or major event at Donghae, just locals wanting to have a good time on a Friday evening. At first I was slightly concerned by the explosives going off just a few hundred feet above my head. But then I learned to just sit back and enjoy the show. There were the Whistlers, fireworks that spiraled in random directions accompanied by high-pitched shrieks; the Triad, fireworks that shot out in threes; and my personal favorite, the Fourth of July’s, the classic firework everybody knows and loves back in the States. Only, this time I could feel the heat from their explosions and, if I were so inclined, I could catch the falling sparks in my hands. A pretty successful evening, all things considered, even if I spent most of it at the mercy of a five-year-old and her trigger finger.
Being of Chinese descent, I have often witnessed the importance of fireworks in the culture. Even the smallest events in China would often be accompanied by a pyrotechnic display of light, whereas the only times I see fireworks in the States are during major holidays. (Or not at all, if I happen to spend Fourth of July with my relatives in Massachusetts, because shooting off fireworks is illegal). Seeing the casual and enthusiastic treatment of fireworks in South Korea, I wonder if the fireworks culture and history of China has spread to its close neighbor. Lucky for me, if so.