February 22, 2023
It was a beautiful spring day in 2022. After almost done with unpacking and decorating, we decided to wonder around nearby areas. A building just in front of our apartment complex entrance has a few shops including a small cozy coffee shop called “Fillip”. The coffee shop owner advised us to take a town bus tour and go see around the Geoje Township (or Geoje Myeon 거제면 in Korean) area.
Geoje-shi (or Geoje County) consists of nine townships (Myeons in Korean) and nine villages (Dongs in Korean). Geoje Myeon is where our house is located. For more details on Geoje, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoje
Taking the advice of the coffee shop owner, we took a town bus which only goes around the Geoje Township area. Paying a dollar in cash (Paying cash for bus, train even taxi ride is quite unusual these days. People usually pay with a credit card which has a transportation card function.) Anyway, we paid two dollars for both of us when we got on. As soon as we sat down, the bus driver who seems to be in his late 60s or early 70s began to ask a few questions about us (e.g., whether we were visiting or living in Geoje, why did we ride his bus, where did we want to go…so on). After his explanation on the bus schedules and stops, we decided to stay on the bus until the whole round was completed. It was a tough two-hour trip but it was worth it.
Feeling Sense of Community
Through conversation between people we met on the bus, I felt sense of community was there. Those people on the bus (a majority of them were ladies) were mostly local farmers from remote countryside villages of Geoje Myeon. They sell various agricultural products to a market that opens every five days in the busy Township Office area. I could tell that they knew and looked out for one another. Left is a photo of the local farmers on the bus, right are two photos showing a glimpse of the traditional 5-day market in Geoje Myeon.
Seeing Silence
As our bus passed by several remote countryside villages, I first saw their quiet natural beauty. Natural beauty of the villages is serene landscapes including rice paddies and dry fields, low rolling hills, peaceful harbors and blue oceans.I also became to see silence covering the whole areas. The villages where the driver dropped off the farmers were quiet. There were no one walking or playing outside. These photos show my feeling of “seeing silence” that time.
Like other local Counties and Townships in South Korea, Geoje Island has experienced its population decrease over the years – from 254,073 in 2017 to 236,662 in 2022, about 18,000 decrease over the five years. More seriously it has lost over 5,000 young people (20’s and 30’s) every year. In fact, the whole country’s population is decreasing since 2021. See https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/KOR/south-korea/population-growth-rate for South Korea Population Growth Rate 1950 – 2023 and future projection. I could not help linking silence that I saw in our Geoje Township to the seriousness of population decrease in other local communities and our whole country.
Maintaining a Sense of Balance and Humor
With the decrease of young population in rural farming areas, remaining farmers must be occupied with farm work and may have the financial struggles. Yet those farmers from the remote villages in Geoje Myeon seem to be still able to find ways to escape from their daily struggles and hardships of farm life, and engage in creative and leisure activities. I saw several lovely and funny murals painted on their old walls. Those murals established a light and happy atmosphere to the villages I passed by. I also noticed a treadmill placed near the village pavilion for casual use by any village people. Very wise! Those farmers I met on the bus certainly knew how to keep their composure. A few photos of their murals….
