It is customary to give gifts on Chuseok and we received a gift from the school of different types of teas and soup. We have yet to try them but they look like they might be good on a cool day. The temperature has started to drop here, but it is still really warm compared to home. Our highs are still around 20 to 25 degrees Celsius (68-77 degrees Fahrenheit). We did notice some of the trees look like they might start to turn soon though.
On Friday, our day off we relaxed and enjoyed the break during the day. In the evening we met with some of our coworkers for a little Chuseok dinner party. We did this potluck style and everyone brought something delicious! Maggy, the teacher from China made dumplings; Jenny, the Korean teacher that we did our training with brought some traditional Chuseok dishes; Tonia and her sister Christine brought a nice salad and some fruit; Brian made a chicken dish with hot peppers, onion and rice noodles; and Don and I said that we would bring the western dish so I made chicken Parmesan and fettuccine Alfredo. We enjoyed it all and had some great conversation to accompany the feast. We didn't take any pictures unfortunately so we will have to try to remember to do that the next time we have a get together.
After dinner, a few of us decided to stay and play some Wii, so we taught Jenny and Maggy how to play Mario Kart, which was a lot of fun, then when they had to leave we played Boom Blox, which it turns out is a lot easier if you have been drinking juice all night and not other beverage choices, so yours truly won, sorry Don and Brian.
On Saturday we decided to go down to the Han River for a bike ride or a walk. We took the subway there and made our way along the river. There were a lot of people out enjoying the holiday and the nice day with family. There was a bit of a breeze so a lot of kids were flying kites which was nice to see. We looked around for a bike rental place but didn't find one, we aren't sure if they were closed for the holiday or if we just missed them, so we just went for a nice walk. This was probably for the best since it was our first time there together and we would have probably missed a lot on a bike. Next time we will have to get bikes for sure or one with two seats (we saw quite a few of these on our walk), at the end of our walk when we were on our way to the subway we came across a rental place that was closed for the weekend so now we know where to find one. There is a really nice path along the river for bike riding, walking or rollerbladding.
On Sunday we decided to go explore one of the palaces. We chose to visit the biggest one in Korea which is Gyeongbokgung Palace. This palace is fairly close to our neighbourhood, only 6 subway stops away. At the entrance to the palace there are a bunch of guards on duty (more photo opportunities than anything) wearing really colourful getup. I took a picture of Don with one of these guys. We bought our tickets (3000 won each, about $3) and headed in. The place is huge, the grounds seem to go one forever. The palace buildings are very colourful and intricate. It was easy to imagine the place bustling with people hundreds of years ago.
Kings Throne
The palace was originally built in 1395 but was burnt down during the Japanese invasion from 1592-1598. "However, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Heungseondaewongun in the years of King Gojong (1852~1919)." If you would like tourist information about this palace you can find it on this website: http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264337#
We took tons of photos and really enjoyed walking around the many narrow paths, it almost felt like a maze at times.
Ceiling in one of the rooms
Some of the grounds are open and grassy. There are a couple big ponds with fish that the kids really enjoy feeding. You can also see the mountains behind the palace which is really nice. This was a fun time to visit because there were quite a few people dressed up in their hanbok (traditional Korean dress) for Chuseok. There were quit a few adults, but mostly the children were dressed up.
After exploring the palace itself we made our way to the National Palace Museum of Korea. We were getting tired so we didn't look at all of the exhibits but it was free admittance so we figured that we would at least check it out while we were were in the area. Two girls that were also at the museum were more fascinated by Don and I than by the exhibits. They approached me a couple times to talk, probably to practice their English. I think that they were afraid of Don because they never talked to him. They asked me where I was from and my name, then they gave me a candy and told me I was beautiful before running away giggling.
Once again, very interesting and informative! I can't wait to see all this stuff first hand......and by the way....you are beautiful! (giggle ,giggle, giggle!)
ReplyDeleteLove ya,
Susan