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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Places revisited
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Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden
When we rented Hanbok for a morning we raced around some locations to grab a few good photos without really stopping to appreciate where we were. As a consequence we hadn't really visited a palace as such. This I remedied by a guided tour of Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung palaces, and the Secret Garden, so called because of its private access only to the royal family. Lovely architecture and gardens and informative guiding made this a very worthwhile morning, as early spring transitioned towards later spring. Terraces contrasted with a more modern greenhouse affair modelled on the Victorian Crystal Palace, whilst the ubiquitous rooves, elegant trees, blooming flowers and a distant view of Namsan Tower completed the vista.
Itaewon memorial
Manu and I managed a fleeting visit to Itaewon but I'd wanted to visit the site of the Halloween tragedy of 2022, and that part of Itaewon that is one of the more lively cosmopolitan areas than we'd experienced. I did need to verify I'd arrived at the right place because it was so unremarkable. Indeed it felt, at least in the middle of the day, almost abandoned. Whether because of the events or because it is more devoted to nightlife I didn't discover. However, given the number of deaths of young people, the lack of anything beyond 'work in progress' plaques did seem a rather low key response.
It reminded me of a documentary on a Korean ferry disaster in 2014 that also reflected cultural aspects that don't appear necessarily to sit comfortably with a western view on the value of life. Accepting blame and accountability and learning lessons are perhaps also work in progress.
Insadong, paper and brushes; stamp and calligraphy
Sophie had kindly offered me a cultural experience for Christmas, to take whilst out in Korea, and I'd chosen to carve a stone seal. Korean's have three such seals, one given to them when named, one from middle school when they graduate, and one when they reach 19. The latter becomes a legal device for official documentation. I much enjoyed the experience, even if the result was a bit imprecise, so booked to also do a calligraphy experience at the same place a couple of days later. Both of these were in the arts and crafts area of Insadong, which was also one of the first areas I'd explored. My final trip, on a later day, to Insadong was for souvenirs, calling in to art galleries, calligraphy and hand made paper shops.
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 n umbers were modest, but since i...
Namsan Tower by night Still very much awake after overconsuming sugar (sticking with the sweet shop idiom from the previous post), I decided I should set off to Namsan park and tower via the major bright lights of this part of Seoul, to get a night picture or two. This was a brisk walk and climb, followed by a late supper of spicy beef soup, at a sitting on the floor place, accompanied by an EK colleague who agreed to meet up as she was on her way back from the southern side of Seoul. EK Tour in Jeongja-dong This tour provided an opportunity to 'Immerse in the bustling, everyday rhythm of Jeongja-dong and the vibrant Jeongja 'Cafe Street', where the essence of middle-class Korean life unfolds.' We explored and considered such things as: the difference between pure high rise residential blocks, mixed commercial (office and retail) and residential, and office blocks with single studio accommodation for office workers; the meaning of the many boardings on the outsides of ...
Accommodation My Solo 10 days were based in Gangnam. I used my 1 bed studio apartment on the 5th floor of a high rise, about 3 minutes walk from Gangnam Subway Station (당남역), as a base to explore parts of Seoul not yet explored and also revisit some of those with which I was beginning to feel a little bit more familiar. Doorstep Shopping Rather than post in a chronological order, from hereon I'm going to post on more functional aspects, beginning with the Gangnam area itself. The subway station has a transfer between 2 lines, a north south and an east west. I suppose I'd walked between the lines and the exit nearest my apartment (Exit No 6), about a dozen times before appreciating, whilst following the signs to the exit or the platforms, that I'd never actually covered the same ground twice. By chance I came across a map that explained the reason. The montage below shows two views of Naver Map (like Google Maps but Korean, with some very clever bells and whistles). You can...
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