Museums

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In keeping with the idea this was a cultural visit rather than a holiday, wet days offered an opportunity to go and see some museums whilst also exploring other neighbourhoods. This post briefly covers museums visited. I don't try and provided huge detail because that's all available on line for those interested. Rather I touch on some small or other notable points that caught my attention for whatever reason. Palaces Museum Having ventured out in spite of what turned out to be 3 days of pretty constant rain, The Palaces Museum, adjacent to Gyeongbokgung, was my first museum stop.  Sadly an entire floor of permanent exhibits was closed. However, amongst other things, I came across an excellent digital immersive rendition of a very famous exploratory narrative from the 16th Century, captured in a folding screen landscape painting of the 19th Century.  Follow the link to look at the picture more closely. Of interest, although I may be making a connection that doesn't exist, ...
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One week to go - My Essential Korean

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After two weeks sailing instructing I've rather taken my eye off my trip in order to earn some money to help fund the trip! And with one week to go I'm aware I've not posted anything here for a while. When in Korea I hope to make more regular posts based on actual experiences and activities. In the meantime, here are a few extracts from my activities on Essential Korean from the last few months, where the range of interests and learning resources could keep me engaged pretty much full time.

K Drama Club online meeting

Having the fun task of leading / curating the EK K-Drama Club, the series Welcome to Samdalri was the subject of our inaugural K Drama Club meeting. A series selection process considered a range of options, followed, in the lead up, by some further notification and publicising of the event. Something of a new experience for me, I spent time scripting discussion points to ensure we could maintain momentum. In the end numbers were modest, but since it was 0600 in Korea and late in Europe, I was pleased with the way things went. After the meeting I posted We say Goodbye to Samdalri, The post also sets the scene for choosing what we'll watch for our next collective club meeting.






K Drama Quiz Night (morning in Korea)

This was a fun event to prepare for and I feel it also worked pretty well. As well as developing a range of questions on subjects ranging from actors, characters, soundtracks, soundtrack artists, Korean v English titles and fan clubs, amongst others, I spent a lot of time researching online quiz tools. In the end I rejected all of those in favour of using PowerPoint, to retain a bit of control without an expensive subscription. Working out how to share clips and music whilst retaining contact with everyone and keep the whole thing going tested my technological limits. Here I posted a summary of the event.






A typical K drama club post

Okay, I'm not sure there is a typical post; they are really quite varied. But this one reflects the language learning aspects (efforts) of being part of EK better than most, even if I feel I remain firmly in the foothills. It also stars my favourite, probably, actress, Park Eun-Bin.










Something on K-Food

The food club is an area where people can share any K Food experience they wish to. I learned pretty early on that Kimchi is practically the national dish of Korea, so felt I ought to try it before going. I bought some which smelled so bad that no air tight container could keep the aroma in. In Korea, people own separate Kimchi fridges. Quite quickly that example was buried in the garden! Not to be beaten, I decided to make my own, to accompany a Korean sweet and sour pork.

Something on K-Pop

We have a monthly Playlist which members contribute to, as well as free posts on various songs from across the K Pop spectrum. I feel my taste remains more drama soundtrack based than K Pop as such, along with some traditional genres which I've posted about before. That said, There are certainly some songs from recent times to well known Korean artists of the 80s and 90s whose music I now enjoy listening to. This post's musical insert is a YouTube of Park Eun-Bin, who only started singing as part of her recent drama, Castaway Diva, singing a track from a recently released album. It's pure pop - and plays to the idea of 'cute' that is very present across the Korean culture.

Something on K-Literature

This part of EK acts like a cross between a book club and a book review service. The lead for the club is a voracious reader as well as being an author in his own right. One book he reviewed, which I subsequently read and which Manu's book club adopted for their most recent read is entitled The Whale, by Cheon Myeong-Kwan.

Something on wider 'K' perspectives

This part of EK has ranged across topics from Korean having the lowest fertility rate in the world (0.79), to exploring the legal system which requires accused people to hold a press conference in response to being investigated. From the history of norigae, decorative knot tying, to the challenge faced by translators to capture the many nuances embedded in the Korean language. Hallyu making its way from the V&A in London, to Boston, was one item I recently shared.

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