Alchemy of Seoul

  Flight of the Baikal Teal along Geumgang river on Feb 10, 2024 Because we had a 4-day weekend for Lunar New Year (Blue Dragon!) I planned a trip to Taeanhaean National Park with a colleague who is a birder. Dale Feiss is a biology teacher at SIS who arrived with me this year from the San Francisco Bay area. He has a fantastic camera and a lot of bird knowledge, but I am the one with the Korean driver's license, so we combined our assets and set out in a rental car on the morning of Feb 9th for the west coast of Korea.  Dale was not sure where exactly we would encounter the Baikal Teal, but that is the duck he was interested in seeing. This duck lives in Siberia (on Lake Baikal) but it winters in Korea, and it is kind of late in the migration season already so we were not sure we were going to find this bird. But we figured that people in Taeanhaean National Park would know where to look. We drove from Seongnam (in Seoul, circled top left) to Seosan (near my middle finger in ...

  Dancheong painted on the royal residence at Changdeokgung Palace Feb 3, 2024 Changdeokgung Palace Throne Room The gold brocade curtains and lamp coverings light up the throne room    The palace is a little smaller than Gyeongbokgung (the largest one) so it is easier to see the dancheong close up.  The Secret Garden at Changdeokgung is beautiful in any season. It is a UNESCO world heritage site so can only be seen by tour. This is much easier to accomplish in the winter.  I have been wanting to do a scrapbook layout on dancheong (one of my favorite cultural treasures in Korea). There is a faculty art display going up at the end of February so I thought I would contribute a 2-page layout about dancheong. I have some good photos but I had heard that the best place to see dancheong up close was at Changdeokgung palace, which is the most beautiful of the 5 palaces in Seoul. Since the weekend of Feb 3 was a bit warmer than it had been in the past few weeks I rounded...

  Gabjinnyeon or The Year of the Blue Dragon as celebrated in Lanterns in the main plaza in front of the central palace (Gyeongbokgung Palace). The lantern festival ran from January 6-21. I went to see it with Nimmi, and Ally and her kids, on the 13th of January.  This Lunar New Year will be the beginning of the Year of the Blue Dragon (in Korea). In Korean lore and art, the Blue Dragon is the guardian of the East. There is also a Black Tortoise and Serpent that guard the North, a Red Phoenix that guards the South, and a White Tiger that guards the West. These deities also represent seasons (the Blue Dragon is also Spring). While the symbolism came from China in the 5th century AD, it has been used in many burial sites in Korea, and the lore has taken on its own Korean flavor. A dragon year is expected to bring lots of change and prosperity anywhere in Asia. I hope the Blue Dragon really can protect the East this year.  This vase is very well-known in Korea. It is a treas...