Seoul Trip

So it's been a while since I've done one of these, and a lot has happened since then.

On Thursday we went to Seoul! It's an amazing city, beyond words really. All I could think was 'Look at all the humanity.' I don't think that I would ever be able to live in a place like Seoul. I got some really good pictures, which I'll share. I wish I had taken more, but silly me forgot to check and see if my camera was charged. So I only had one bar of battery to make last. I don't think it was a bad thing though because it made me think and be choosy as to what to take pictures of. So below are the best pictures. More can be found on facebook (eventually).

First we went to Korea House. We saw 5 different Korean traditional performances. The first was a drum performance. The five women each had five drums arranged around them. They were in perfect sync the entire time.

This man played a traditional Korean flute. It was my favorite act of the group. Because the flute is made of bamboo, wood, and cloth the sounds it produces is really haunting. You can't get the same sounds from a western flute. 

The next act was an ensemble of fan dancers. They were all very beautiful. The woman in the red skirt was the main character. They moved like birds, floating across the stage, fluttering the fans like feathers and wings.

 These guys were hilarious. They wore traditional hats with long ribbons or feathers attached. It's hard to see, but the entire time they were playing their drums and symbols they were also twirling the ribbons on their heads. It was quite amusing.

After Korea House we went around the corner to a traditional Korean village. The architecture style is called Hanok.

From teh village you could see Nam San Tower.

 These are traditional Kimchi jars. Instead of letting your kimchi ferment in a fridge, you kept it in these jars in the sun until it was edible, then buried the jar to keep it cool.

 They also had these little bows and arrows to play with. The target was about 20 feet away. I managed to hit it, but the Canadian friends I was hanging out with weren't so skilled.

 We had bibimbop for lunch at Korea House and it was really tasty!

A statue of Great King Sejong who invented the Korean alphabet.

We also visited the biggest royal palace in Seoul. It was originally built about 500 years ago but has been rebuilt several times. The architecture was really majestic, especially with the three mountains that surround it.

The house with the blue roof behind the palace is the Blue House. It is equivalent to our White House; it's where the Korean president lives and houses foreign ambassadors.

So tomorrow I leave for Jeju. Word is is that the kids are still on break so it may be another week before I'm actually teaching. I'll be teaching at Hancheon and Jungang elenentary schools in Jeju City. I'll keep you all updated.

Annyeong!!