Seoul Connections

Well, here we are at the begining of the end.  I have especially missed South Korea lately. I've cooked jjimdak, and I'm looking to make some kimchi for kimchibokumbap (kimchi fried rice) and chopchae soon. I've even watched an entire Korean Drama, my first. (*gasp*)  I wasn't planning to like any Korean Drama, as a lot of them seem like soap operas to me. But I loved it. AND it helped me get back some of my Korean--I have Korean sounds stuck in my head, and I'm getting better at recognizing words and morphemes. So I'll probably watch another, plus movies, of course.

Anyway, I really should finish posting pictures before I forget to much longer.

On the next day (Thursday?) out in Seoul we went to Changdeokgung Palace.

I'm not really sure what's happening with this tree... or is it trees?

Along with cool palaces, trees, and pathways, there was also a pond. It used to be surrounded in Cherry Blossom Trees, but our tour guide told us most of them were gone now because it had been from the Japanese invasion.

Our sweet tour guide ^^ poor lady must've been roasting in that costume in the humidity!

a forgotten boat

some really big fish

After the Palace, we thought it would be fun to meet up with some of our other friends in Seoul. Where should you go with friends? One of the top 100 tourist attractions a Korean must visit, of course! Honestly, I think couples are probably at least 80% of those tourist.

Remember when I explained a bit about Couple Culture and Love Locks? Well this is the most famous place for those things. Since I already posted about it, I won't say too much else here, but just in case you missed it:

Namsan Tower

Meeting up with friends. So cute! ^^

After that, we went back to KyeongShin's apartment to chill and watch movies for our last night before we all split up. In the morning, we enjoyed one more dish of popbingsu, Cassandra got on a bus back to Pohang, and KyeongShin helped me find my way to meet up with some other friends for a few days. 

KyeongShin took me for a few subway stops but then had to go; so with some simple directions, I hopped on a subway and looked to find my way to where Gabby and Ally were staying. After a bit of a nervous subway ride and a confusing taxi ride (the place was really hard to find), I finally made it. After that, we headed out for the day. 

Gyeongbukgang 

The girls wanted to go to a palace, and I was up for it-- hoping it wasn't the same one I'd been to the day before! It turned out that we went to Gyeongbokgung palace, the largest palace in Seoul, and one I had really wanted to see (it had been closed on the day I could go with KyeongShin and Cassandra). 

This is the view of the palace at night, across from the statue of King SeJeong.

When we arrived, there was a performance going on. 

I love the bright colors used for a lot of traditional (and modern) things in Korea.

We walked around a bit to see them in their costumes posted around the entrance when they finished, then went on to more picture taking.

It's a beautiful backdrop, but I cut the bottom out because all of the tourists sort of ruined the picture. Speaking of tourists, we had a couple Koreans ask to have their picture taken with them (because we were foreigners). At multiple places. I really wish I had asked for a picture with them in return!

It was interesting visiting another palace, because a lot of the things the tour guide had told us at Changdokgung were true for Gyeongbokgung. 

Gyeongbukgung

Changdokgung

But of course, on a grander scale.

The main thing I remember in the explanation are the sun and moon you see in the picture. It is said to represent balance of positive and negative, which is pretty common in Eastern philosophy.

Buddhist monks. More monks on your roof = more holy.

Some kid jumped in my picture of the cool archway. 

Color!

There were interesting bits of history about the living quarters, too. You know, stuff about heirs, and maids, and the queen...

Apricots??

Ok, so we got a little tired of walking... but look how cute Ally and Gabby are even when they're tired.

I was glad that we made it to the garden in the back, though. So beautiful!

And then there was this as we exited. It's a statue of some sort of traditional Korean game. At least, that's what I was told. With a straight face. And I can't remember how the game went, but there ya go, a statue that obviously need a plaque to explain it so the foreigners don't get the wrong idea and take a picture while wondering what is going on.

Of course, after the palaces it was time to try on traditional hanbok (again).

Classic Asian sel-ka

Uh oh. I don't think Gabby knows where she's supposed to stand.

And what would Seoul be without a visit to a trick museum?

I apologize to my friend Cassandra, who loves Van Gogh.

Somebody knows their NSYNC #nostringsattached

I just thought this one was clever.

And that about wraps up Thursday in Seoul. We headed out to the street market and ate some chopchae and saw a picture of Johnny Depp that we're pretty sure Mr. Depp didn't know was being used for an optical company. hashtag Korean copyright law...

Of course, now that we're heading to the end of the trip, it's time for some lessons learned: 

Something you'll realize when you visit an ancient civilization like Korea: the US is young. SO young. This culture and civilization has been around for quite a bit longer than our mother country, England (which to the US is fairly old). And something like that deserves respect. Their culture has come through centuries, and while it seems very modern, there are still a lot of traditional things besides buildings. There's so much more sense of history. There's a real national identity throughout the place. Americans are still finding their way, we're experimenting, and it's good, but there's also a lot to be said for something so tested by time. And it makes me wonder--if the US makes it to be that old, what might we look like then? What elements will remain the same? What might we learn from our mistakes an do differently?