Week 9 Korea: Sept 25 - Oct 3 (Chuseok)
This week was Chuseok in South Korea. The holiday actually fell on Friday, Sept 29, but we were out of school from the 28th of September to October 3, a 6-day weekend. The photo above was taken on Sept 30 at the biggest palace in Seoul, the Northern Palace or Gyeongbokgung. It was built in 1395 and was the seat of the Joseon dynasty kings. There are five grand palaces in Seoul! I still have three more to visit.
Nimmi and I went to Gyeongbokgung with another colleague, Matt (from Wisconsin), who was also around for the Chuseok holiday. Many people left Seoul since the 6-day weekend was long enough to actually visit somewhere else, but some of us were happy to have time in Seoul.
The Gyeongbokgung palace is lit up at night during September and October, and it is really beautiful to wander the grounds and enjoy the displays, but advance tickets are in high demand and very difficult to get if you are a foreigner. To amend this difficulty, there are 200 tickets per day that are set aside for foreigners that show up with passports at the gate, first come, first served. So Nimmi and Matt and I got in the queue at about 6:20pm. This was the line at that time:
We were lined up in front of this gate that separates downtown Seoul from the palace complex. In the photo of the line you can see lights at the ticket office a long long ways away. I was really worried that we would not make it into the group of 200 that was admitted that night. But the line was dynamic. People were moved into other lines or gave up and left altogether. So eventually, after about an hour of waiting in the line, we got in!
We had about 2 hours to explore the grounds and take photos. Inside two layers of courtyard we stood and marveled at this beautiful throne room for awhile. This is certainly the central feature.
But there were other buildings as well, including
A lot of people were wearing traditional hanbok clothing. The clothing was daily wear until about 100 years ago and it dates back at least 2000 years. People still wear hanbok for festivities (like weddings). The outfits are a jacket on top (for everyone, and the jacket is called jeogori), and then either baji (pants) or chima (skirt).
If you wear hanbok to a palace you can get in for free! This is true whether you are Korean or a foreigner, and there are places all around the area where you can rent the clothes for something like $5 for the evening. Naturally, there were many people dressed in hanbok at the palace. It was fun to see the many styles and colors.
I was also able to find postcards at this palace. This is not an easy task, and in fact, I might have missed them entirely at the palace gift shop (where the hottest item was coffee drinks and ice cream treats). Postcards are not photographs here. They are drawings. At least, the things I have seen so far are all lovely drawings of places of interest. Finding postage for the postcards was accomplished at the National Museum. But that has been a quest as well (regular post offices don't carry postage stamps!).
I could not resist taking many photos of the dancheong decoration on the buildings. I have yet to find a good resource explaining the meaning of the art on all of the important temples and buildings, but I will keep investigating. The selfie is so that you can see what it looks like when I am living my dream!
Nimmi took us to tea at Shin Tea House in Insadong before we got into that line for the nighttime palace. She had been on a trip to a night market with some colleagues earlier in the year and wanted to share her experience at the tea house with us. I had the best cup of tea I have had in my lifetime! It was cinnamon ginger tea and all I can say is that it made me feel like I was going to live forever. Very fulfilling. My cup is top left in the photo. Nimmi had a citron ginger tea (lower left) and Matt had a pear tea that was a recipe enjoyed by Joseon kings (lower right). The traditional snacks were a tasty pairing.
Yesterday (Monday, Oct 2) I spent the entire day at the National Museum of Korea. I had been wanting to go there since we arrived in August, but I am glad I waited for cooler weather. It was a fantastic treat and I enjoyed every minute of my time there.
I learned a lot about Korean history. They have many National Treasures on display in the permanent exhibit hall. I am including a few photos but the video for this week has more. Much of the really interesting stuff comes from the Silla period or later. Silla (pronounced Shilla) was an important southern kingdom between 57 BCE and 935 CE (so for roughly a thousand years). The crown below was worn by royalty in that era.
Celadon was made in Korea between 918-1392 CE during the Goryeo dynasty (the one right before the Joseon dynasty). There was a Mongol invasion that brought an end to the production of celadon, but once the kilns were rebuilt (about 100 years later), everyone who knew how to make the fine pottery was long gone. The knowledge was essentially lost. Modern Koreans have started making celadon again, though. You can buy really good reproductions of the things I admired in the museum at the museum gift shop (its really expensive! But it is remarkably accurate in color and style). The incense burner on the lower right is just exquisite. I was deeply impressed by the genius and skill of the craftspeople who made these treasures.
I enjoyed my break immensely. Lots of resting, catching up with people, seeing lovely sights, cooking (I made applesauce! And I cooked pinto beans! I am prepared to make migas, Tex-Mex style).
Next week I get to do a presentation during our Professional Development day. I will probably post something really short (if anything at all) next weekend.
Here is the link to this week's video: https://youtu.be/db7CtwlzU4w
I hope the October calendar is full of delicious treats and good adventures for you! Nimmi and I are planning a fall colors adventure to Namsan. I hope that will happen before the end of October. The mountain still looks pretty green right now though. 😉 I hear that Los Angeles is quite unseasonably green as well. Maybe there will be fall colors in the San Gabriels? Send photos!
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