Two Women Travelers in a Troubled Land

The book, Korea, Are You at Peace, has had a “soft launch,” appearing in time for October sales. However, there was little or no publicity except for what I tried to do on social media. Publicity—and hopefully marketing—for the book will finally be underway this coming week. The Kirkus Review for the book is now out, quoted below.

“Simson (The God that Says I Am, 2010) intertwines a well-documented travel memoir with geography, history and culture.

"When biologist Simson was offered a contract to teach on American military bases in South Korea via the University of Maryland University College Overseas Division, she was excited to explore a culture much different than that of her hometown of Charleston, S.C. The end result is this compelling narrative in which Simson compares her modern-day experiences in South Korea to those of Victorian travel writer Isabella Lucy Bird Bishop. Both women were 63 when they began their journeys—Bishop in 1894, Simson in 1999—and though Bishop traveled with the aid of missionaries and Simson’s two-year stint involved navigating confusing streets in used cars, both women went home with a deep admiration for many of the people they met along the way.

"While Simson presents a condensed history of Korea’s troubled past and a vivid account of her trip to the Demilitarized Zone, she also offers many glimpses of her day-to-day life in places like Songtan and Taegu, including descriptions of Korean food such as a delicious pajeon (onion pancake). Of course, some culture shock is to be expected, and Simson describes the difficulties she encountered with the Korean language and weather-related problems, like the time her car broke down in a monsoon. The author writes that though neither she nor Bishop was fond of large Korean cities, they both reveled in the magnificent beauty of the countryside and mountains. (Generations ago, Bishop was able to explore the Diamond Mountains, now part of North Korea.) As in any culture, there are paradoxes, and Simson portrays them with a nonjudgmental but honest voice; for instance, the same people who drove recklessly and always seemed to be in a hurry were also industrious and quick to help her. Likewise, the same culture in which she saw women mistreated also held a deep reverence for its elders. Various religious influences—nature worship, shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity—are also briefly discussed with notable objectivity.

"Serious travel readers will appreciate Simson’s gentle, evenhanded presentation of a colorful, multifaceted culture.”

Kirkus Indie, Kirkus Media LLC, 6411 Burleson Rd., Austin, TX 78744; indie@kirkusreviews.

The book is available through Amazon (image on sidebar) or through the publisher at  http://bookstore.abbottpress.com/Products/SKU-000650588/Korea-Are-You-at-Peace.aspx
 

Also, please visit (and "like") the author's page on FaceBook. https://www.facebook.com/javsimsonwritinglife?ref=hl

Pipedreams, Southern France, Day 11

On the eleventh and final day of our Pipedreams organ tour (Thursday, May 20), we again visited towns surrounding Toulouse. We also had the chance to visit the workshop of an organ builder, Jean Daldoso. Again, links to the organ recordings are thanks to Ian Cook, our companion from the southern hemisphere. For anyone who would like to review and listen to Ian's recordings, they can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Southfrancepipedream/videos



Eglise Saint-Roch & Saint-Blaise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVDwMKiYcGw

Our first stop was in the town of Seysses, where we visited the Eglise Saint-Roch & Saint-Blaise. The church, which had been quite small, was enlarged in the late 18^th century, and has an elaborate baroque interior. The organ was another Puget, built in the mid-19^th century, and restored in the early 21^st century by Daldosso, whose workshop we visited later that day. The acoustics of the church seem to genuinely enhance the organ’s sound; however, I didn’t get a good photograph of the organ.

 

 

Louis Schrady admiring a mural
Eglise Saint-Roch & Saint-Blaise

 

 

The next church, Eglise Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, was in the town of Gimont. This church is in the southern Gothic style, graced with beautiful stained glass windows. The organ has had several builders and repairers and was recently restored; its sound was nice, but not as spectacular as some we have heard on the trip. It may have been partly the interior acoustics.

Tower, Eglise Notre-Dame de l’Assomption

 

Exquisite stained glass window,
Eglise Notre-Dame de l’Assomption
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJiI9MxtYzA

 We then had the privilege of visiting the workshop of organ-builder Jean Daldoso in Gimont. They were in the process of restoring a small house organ.

Workshop of Jean Daldoso, Gimont

The last stop of the day, and the last church/organ for the trip, was in Auch, the Cathedrale Sainte-Marie. It is a huge, impressive church, both externally and internally, in high, flamboyant Gothic style, with renaissance and even baroque décor. This may have been the largest, most elaborate church we visited during the entire tour. The high alter and choir areas were separated by a rood screen from the main nave. We had to pay to enter that area, with its beautifully carved oak choir stalls, half a millennium old, and haut-relief figures along the walls. The church had a great organ and a choir organ. The great organ was initially built by Jean de Joyeuse in the late 17^th century, and modified and repaired several times since then, most recently by Cavaille-Coll in the 19^th century. It was restored and reconstructed with electrified stops in 1994, three centuries after its initial installation. The great organ was a fine, powerful instrument, and served as an interesting contrast to the choir organ. The latter was built in 1858, and had a beautiful, clear tone; it was also capable of power and brilliance.

Cathedrale Sainte-Marie at Auch, nave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyD465wLaeY

Interior of Cathedrale Sainte-Marie at Auch,
elaborate haut-relief figures and statuary in
marble and alabaster - a baroque feast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organ pipes above the rood screen
Cathedrale Sainte-Marie at Auch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrXxA2ogSI
 

Me (Jo Anne) next to the tiny choir organ console.

 

Pipedreams, Southern France, Day 10

Wednesday, May 19 – the next-to-last day of the tour. We traveled by bus to several towns around Toulouse.

Cathedral Saint-Alain: simple, bold exterior

 

The first stop was Lavaur, where we visited the Cathedral Saint-Alain, an impressive, southern gothic structure (13th – 16^th centuries) set in a broad green lawn with formal gardens. The interior was probably the most elaborately decorated of those I have seen: painted walls, elaborate ceiling decorations, pulpit highlighted with gold leaf, and marble panels.

Gilded organ loft, Saint-Alain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrrYnp7iH1E

 

 

 

 

The great organ was a Cavaille-Coll, restored in the late 20^th century. It has a good, powerful sound. The choir organ has not been renovated and doesn’t work.



Eglise Saint-Francois, shops abut the exterior

Also in the town of Lavaur was the Eglise Saint-Francois, again constructed between the 13^th and 16^th centuries. Dwellings and shops crowded its walls from all sides.

 

 

Eglise Saint-Francois with
elaborate internal painted arches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp907VqGmaU

 

 

Internally, it seemed (to me) too elaborate for a Franciscan church, St. Francis being the model (next to Jesus) of unpretentious simplicity.

The organ, built by Puget in the late 19^th century, was restored early this century. The organ had a nice, light tone that was marred, particularly in softer sections, by the sound of nearby construction.

Eglise Saint-Martin, beautifully painted interior

After lunch, we visited Castelnau d’Estretefonds and the Eglise Saint-Martin. The church dates from the 16^th century, but the beautifully preserved, painted interior was accomplished during the late 19^th century.  The organ is a Cavaille-Coll finished in the late 19^th century and recently restored. The organ had a nice sound, with unusual bell tones.

Eglise Saint Michael, simple exterior

Our final stop of the day was Verdun-sur-Garonne, where we visited the Eglise Saint-Michel.

 

 

Eglise Saint-Michael, beautifully painted interior
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkqnN_ECNBA

 

The painted interior is a stunning blue with religious images in the spandrels of ceiling arches. An almost life-sized statue of St. Michael was killing a dragon (I thought it was St. George who killed the dragon).The organ was a 18^th baroque century baroque jewel by J.-F. Lepine, restored in the 20^th century, is nearly in the same condition as when it was built.

 

Pipedreams, Southern France, Day 9

Package ready to mail, Pont Neuf across the Garonne River, Toulose

 

The next three days and nights we spent in the vicinity of Toulouse, the major city of Midi-Pyrenees. In the city of Toulouse itself, we were scheduled to visit seven churches. The third one on the schedule was cancelled, and I decided to opt out of the last three because I was tired. Instead, I chose to wander around the city a bit by myself, to buy a couple of souvenirs, and to mail a package of books and souvenirs back to the U.S. Again, YouTube video-recordings by Ian Cook are linked.

Eglise Notre-Dame la Dalbade, exterior with tympanum

The first church we visited in Toulouse (Tuesday, May 18) was the Eglise Notre-Dame la Dalbade. The church was built in the late 15^th century, but sustained some damage in 1926 when the bell tower collapsed. The tympanum over the door is a Renaissnace ceramic rendition of the crowning of the Virgin by Fra Angelico. The organ, reconstructed by Puget in the late 19^th century, was given its initiation in concert by the well-known composer, Charles-Marie Widor, in 1888. It has just recently been carefully restored. The organ has a wide dramatic range, almost heroic tones in the base. The organist (M. Demiguel) also demonstrated its versatility with some “modern” music of traffic sounds, battle sounds, and screams of despair. It has a huge base sound that reverberates through the floor and into the feet and legs. One of the group members played the famous Widor piece, which plays well on this organ.

Organ loft, Eglise Notre-Dame la Dalbade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODSd32tzjiM

 

The next church was a protestant church, the Temple du Salin, an unimposing structure on the corner of a city block. It was very light inside, and easy to photograph. The organ was designed by our organist, Jean-Claude Guidarini, and built by Jean Daldosso early this century. It has clear, bell-like tones in the higher registers and sturdy tones in the lower. The organ and its casings were quite beautifully and simply presented.

 

Temple du Salin: simple exterior

 



Beautiful organ, Temple du Salin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLod23NGYP4

 

 

 

 

The Basilique Notre-Dame la Daurade was a fairly new church (19^th century) in a neoclassical style, built on the site of a former Roman temple of Apollo which had been replaced by a temple to the virgin, which collapsed in the 18^th century. I couldn’t get a good photo of the great organ, but had more luck with the choir organ. Jean Claude and Michael played a duet (Vierne mass?) on the great and choir organs respectively. The choir organ seemed to have a sweeter sound.

 

Choir organ, Basilique Notre-Dame la Daurade

Notre-Dame la Daurade: neoclassical façade

 

Pipedreams Organ Tour, Day 8

JAVS and Janet Tollund enjoying the sky and clouds, Collegiale Saint-Vincent

On May 17^th (the eighth day of the tour) we left Carcassonne on the bus, taking a route to Toulouse that meandered through several small towns nestled in the Pyrenees, and that led from the province of Langedoc to Midi-Pyrenees. Again, some links to Ian Cook's wonderful YouTube video recordings are included.

Collegiale Saint-Vincent, southern French gothic exterior

 

Our first stop was Montreal de L’Aude, where we visited the Collegiale Saint-Vincent. The organ there is the product of three centuries of construction and reconstruction by several famous organ builders. It was a magnificent-looking organ. Jean-Claude did an improvisation that showed the very flexible sound of the instrument that performed well with both classical and contemporary music. Unfortunately, again, some strong smell inside the church (furniture polish?) drove me outside before I could hear the full range of its possibilities. I sat on a ledge near the entrance, watching clouds pass overhead behind the gargoyles.

Organ, Collegiale Saint-Vincent,

 

 

The next church was the Collegiale Saint-Michel in the town of Castelnaudary. The organ was originally built in the late 18^th century by Cavaille (baroque style) and was rebuilt in the 19^th century by his grandson, Cavaille-Coll (romantic style), and restored in the late 20^th century. It has very nice tones; slow pieces showed off its sweet sounds in slow pieces, and the good, unobtrusive reverberations of the space. The church was light and white inside, clean, with beautiful stained glass windows, almost clear glass along the walls of the nave and beautifully painted, arched ceilings along the side aisles.

Collegiale Saint-Michel, Castelnaudary

The third church we stopped at was the Cathedrale Saint-Maurice in Mirepoix. The town of Mirepoix was charming, with medieval, half-timbered houses surrounding the church and marketplace. This was the only organ of German origin (brothers Link) that we heard on the tour, I believe. It was built in the late 19^th century. It is apparently unreconstructed and does not have electric bellows. It is not as large as some others we’ve seen, but it produces a good sound for the space. One can, however hear the tapping and clacking of pedals and keys if the music is soft.

Organ, Collegiale Saint-Michel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V9cx5Spkig

Next, we went to the town of Foix, to listen to the organ in the Eglise Saint-Volusien. The church is a very old one, begun in 1111 by Roger II upon returning from the Crusades. It was damaged during the wars of religion in the 14^th century and restored in the 17^th century. The church is light inside, but the organ loft is dark. The organ has a pretty sound, different from most of those we’ve heard so far, with clear tones and a deep base (a 32’ soubise?).

Organ, Cathedrale Saint-Maurice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm6SzoDKjFk

Organ, Eglise Saint-Volusien
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68EWynW053U

 

Organ, Eglise de la Nativite de la Vierge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final church of the day was the Eglise de la nativite de la Vierge in the town of Cintegabelle. The organ has a long and checkered history. The case displays a great many pipes, but I made no notes about the sound of the instrument. The church has an ancient lead baptismal font from the 13^th century.

Thirteenth century baptismal font

Korea, Are You at Peace? Tales of Two Women Travelers in a Troubled Land

I’m interrupting the series on the organ tour of southern France to post a blurb on a book just submitted to the publisher last week. The intense final efforts to finish this baby (while also doing taxes) were largely responsible for my being MIA in the blogosphere for nearly two months.

You might not think a modern woman scientist and a Victorian travel writer would have much in common. Yet in this travel memoir, I find myself channeling Isabella Bird Bishop, a nineteenth century adventuress, who visited some of the same Korean countryside I did a century later. The Korea I visited was no longer her mysterious Hermit Kingdom of Asia but rather a divided and dangerous world. During the century between our visits, Korea was abandoned by China, deceived by Russia (and by the U.K. and U.S.), annexed by Japan, and finally 'liberated' by the USSR and the U.N. Subsequently, the peninsula was subjected to a devastating three year war and further fractured by Cold War ideology. The Korean War, in fact, never officially ended.

This peninsula has recently emerged onto the world stage as both an economic success story (South Korea) and an ideological, political nightmare (North Korea). Korea, Are You at Peace? is the personal story of a Western woman living in the East, observing and trying to understand twenty-first century Korea and its culture, as viewed against a historical backdrop provided by a late-nineteenth century woman travel writer. Insights of others who chronicled the devastating twentieth century in Korea are included in the narrative.

Korea, Are You at Peace recounts my experiences as a teacher and U.S. military contractor, living, working, and traveling for two years in South Korea.  I came to admire the courage and endurance of the Korean people, but it was impossible not to sense their pain and anger, nor to marvel at their extraordinary energy and resilience. Several intentions underlie my desire to make these experiences public.

• To provide a brief, readable, historical overview of Korea, with the hope that Americans may better understand the country—its past and its people.
• To compare Korea, the reclusive Hermit Kingdom of Asia at the turn of the 20^th century, with a radically altered Korea at the turn of the 21^st century—a divided peninsula and a political tinderbox.
• To describe what it is like to be an American military contractor in a foreign land and to offer insight into the cultural discord engendered by an American military presence on a local foreign population.
• To narrate the often humorous challenges of a Western woman traveling alone in East Asia.

For a concise, accurate, and sympathetic history of the Korean peninsula, read the Appendix of this book. For an engaging narrative of Korea and its past century, read the whole book.

 

Pipedreams Organ Tour - Day 8

On May 17^th (the eighth day of the tour) we left Carcassonne on the bus, taking a route to Toulouse that meandered through several small towns nestled in the Pyrenees, and that led from the province of Langedoc to Midi-Pyrenees.

Collegiale Saint-Vincent

Our first stop was Montreal de L’Aude, where we visited the Collegiale Saint-Vincent with its well-preserved typical southern French Gothic exterior. The organ there is the product of three centuries of construction and reconstruction by several famous organ builders. It was a magnificent-looking organ with a huge organ case. Jean-Claude did an improvisation that showed the very flexible sound of the instrument. It performed well with both classical and contemporary music. Unfortunately, again, some strong smell inside the church (furniture polish?) drove me outside before I could hear the full range of its possibilities. I sat on a ledge near the entrance, watching clouds pass overhead behind the gargoyles.

Organ case, C. St-Vincent

The next church was the Collegiale Saint-Michel in the town of Castelnaudary. The organ was originally built in the late 18^th century by Cavaille (baroque style) and was rebuilt in the 19^th century by his grandson, Cavaille-Coll (romantic style), and restored in the late 20^th century. It has very nice tones; slow pieces showed off the sweetness of the sound and the good, unobtrusive reverberations of the space. The church was light and white inside, clean, with beautiful stained glass windows, almost clear glass along the walls of the nave and beautifully painted, arched ceilings along the side aisles.

Collegial Saint Michel

I couldn't find a YouTube recording of the organ at Collegial Saint-Vincent, but Ian Cook did a fine recording of the organ at Collegiale Saint-Michel in Castelnaudary as well as the other organs on this day. I've tried to link the music to the word "organ"in the text; the photo captions with links were too long. We'll see if this works. You should probably try to open it in a new tab, which you can do if you right-click on the link.

Cathedral Saint Maurice

The third church we stopped at was the Cathedrale Saint-Maurice in Mirepoix. The town of Mirepoix was charming, with medieval, half-timbered houses surrounding the church and marketplace. I believe this was the only organ of German origin (brothers Link) that we heard on the tour. It was built in the late 19^th century and is apparently unreconstructed and does not have electric bellows. It is not as large as some others we’ve seen, but it produces a good sound for the space. One can, however, hear the tapping and clacking of keys and pedals if the music is soft.

Eglise Saint-Volusien

Next, we went to the town of Foix, to listen to the organ in the Eglise Saint-Volusien. The church is a very old one, begun in 1111 by Roger II upon returning from the Crusades. It was damaged during the wars of religion in the 14^th century and restored in the 17^th century. The church is light inside, but the organ loft is dark. The organ has a pretty sound, different from most of those we’ve heard so far, with clear tones and a deep base (a 32’ soubise?).

Eglise de la Nativite de la Vierge

The final church of the day was the Eglise de la Nativite de la Vierge in the town of Cintegabelle. The organ has a long and checkered history. The case displays a great many pipes, but I made no notes about the sound of the instrument. The church boasts an ancient lead baptismal font from the 13^th century.

13th century baptismal font

 

 

 

Pipedreams Organ Tour - Day 7



Cathedrale Saint-Pons de Cimiez, exterior

 

After leaving Beziers on Sunday, May 16 (Day 7 of the tour), we drove into the mountains to the town of Saint-Pons-de-Thomieres, to visit the Cathedrale Saint-Pons de Cimiez on our way to Carcassonne, perhaps the most extraordinary town in all of France (possibly next to Paris).

Magnificent gilded baroque organ and inlaid marble walls,
interior of Cathedrale Saint-Pons de Cimiez

The organ in the Cathedrale Saint-Pons de Cimiez is a baroque instrument, built in 1771 by Micot and Son; it was restored in the 1980s, but all the original features (pipes, casing, stops) have been retained. It is a magnificent looking organ and one of the oldest we have seen and heard. Although the exterior of the church has a simple Romanesque style, the interior is clearly baroque, with gilding and abundant inlaid marble on walls and fixtures.

Michael Barone at the console, Saint-Pons

From Saint-Pons, we drove on to the fairy-tale city of Carcassonne, which is one of my two favorite cities/towns in France, along with Strasbourg. The sky was overcast as we approached the city, so I couldn’t get a good, well-lit photo of the iconic walled medieval city. We visited three churches in the city.

The medieval walled city of Carcasonne

The first church was the Cathedrale Saint-Michel, which boasts two organs--a great organ and a choir organ--both built by Cavaille-Coll in the mid-19^th century. The organist played some very dramatic pieces; intense sound filling the church, then some lighter pieces, perhaps improvisations, that included clear, enchanting tones of bells and cymbals. The church was very dark and musty, and they may have been doing some remodeling; I had to leave before the presentation was over because of a paroxysm of coughing in reaction to the dust, mold and incense that pervaded the interior space

Organ, Cathedrale Saint-Michel

The next church we visited was the Eglise Saint-Vincent, where I waited by the side for the others to come. I had left the other church before group members had played because the smell in the church was causing me to cough, sneeze, and wheeze. The rain had pretty much let up, and the sun came out briefly, but dark, ominous clouds covered it once again. This is another fortress-like church, but in the middle of the city. Again, the church had a great organ and a choir organ, originally built in the early 18^th century, modified by Cavaille and Cavaille-Coll in the late 18^th century, and then completely rebuilt by Puget in the 19^th century. Several in the group played a Widor piece on this organ. The high notes had a very pure tone; the sound was mellow in the middle range, and the lower chords almost seemed to overwhelm the space. According to AB Culver, the reverberation was greater in this church than in any of the others we’d visited. So the combination of the organ and the space gave the music a very special sound and feel.

Beautiful stained glass windows in the
Eglise Saint-Vincent

Finally, we went into the walled city of Carcassonne itself. There the church was the Basilique Saint-Nazaire, whose original organ was built in 1637. It has been overhauled and restored several times since then by notable organ builders. The sound of the organ was good, but not as dramatic or melodic or versatile as some of the other instruments we’ve heard so far. The church was very dark inside, so I didn’t get a decent picture of the organ, but I did manage to get good potos of stained glass windows in this church and the previous one. Walking up and down the city's narrow passageways with a few others in the group, I took as many photos of the city as I could before dark set in. It touched my deepest sense of self and personal continuity as I relived--in memory and imagination--my other trip to Carcassonne in 1957, more than a half century ago.

Striking stained-glass windows,
Basilique Saint-Nazaire, Carcasonne

I couldn't find any links to organ recordings done in the churches and cathedrals we visited this Sunday, May 16. Sorry, Folks!  Ian, your YouTube Pipedreams Southern France recordings 24 - 28 seem to be missing!

The magic city of Carcasonne, twilight