Hello again. Tarico here, bringing you the latest from Korea. I've survived my second week of teaching, and already it's feeling pretty good. Of course, just as I'm getting comfortable, the kids have decided that now is the time to get crazy and test my limits. Bring it on, kids. Bring. It. On.
This weekend has been quite an adventure! I'll do my best to tell you about it without making you too jealous.
On Saturday, I heaved myself out of bed and headed off to meet my excellent and wonderful friend Sarah at Gyeongbokgung Palace, which, if the the word palace doesn't clue you in to it, is the former palace of the Korean kings and queens. Unfortunately, due to the Japanese occupation and the chaos following that period, there is no longer any royal family, and a good portion of the palace buildings are reproductions of the originals. But before I get into that, let me tell you about Great King Sejong.
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| Look at his beneficence! |
Great King Sejong was indeed pretty great, and is therefore one of Korea's greatest historical figures. What did he do, you ask? Not that much...except that he invented the Korean alphabet and reigned over Korea in relative peace, despite the best efforts of the Japanese to make him mad. Hangul, the Korean alphabet, in case you were wondering, is one of the simplest, most straightforward alphabets in existence. This is quite achievement, especially when you consider the fact that before hangul, the Koreans were using Chinese characters to write.
Now let me tell you about Admiral Yi Sunshin.
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| Just try and invade Korea. I dare you. |
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Yi Sunshin is a national hero of Korea due to his defense of Korea's coast from the Japanese navy. Vastly outnumbered, he outmaneuvered and almost completely destroyed the Japanese navy. In the midst of the last battle of the campaign, Sunshin died of a bullet wound, but not before making sure the battle was a complete victory. In addition to using superior tactics and having a good understanding of the terrain, Sunshin used what are called "turtle boats", boats that basically look like turtles, but can move and fire quickly. To make a very obscure and nerdy reference, he was the Yang Wenli of Korea.
After learning about Korea's national heroes, Sarah and I headed over to the palace. Magnificent. Brilliant. Unfortunately, my camera died quickly after entering, so most of my pictures are on my phone and must therefore wait until a better time to be uploaded. Let me see if I can describe it. Inside of the gates is an enormous courtyard with a stream running through the middle. Once through the courtyard, you reach another building. This magnificent building is the throne room.
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| The throne room from the side. Note the mountains in the back. |
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Of course, the throne room isn't the only thing here. If you keep walking through various courtyards, you'll find the party pavilion, a giant structure in the middle of a lake, where the kings used to have parties (duh). One of the coolest aspects of the architecture at the palace, was the heating system. During the summer, the sides of the building can be slid back or even pulled up, so as to allow a breeze. But what about during those super cold Korean winters? Well, did you ever notice how the building are up on blocks above the ground? That isn't just for aesthetics. There are small chambers under the floor, where servants would light fires. The fires would heat the stone floors and keep the rooms warm. Brilliant.
Another cool thing I saw was an island in the middle of a lake with a narrow bridge running between the island and the shore. There was a small structure in the middle of the island, where the kings could go to pray in solitude. Here's a picture I took on my phone and doctored using instagram.
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| Beautiful, isn't it? |
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On our way out of the palace, we came across an orchestra that was performing using only traditional Korean instruments. It was...interesting. I think it was beautiful and with a little training I could probably learn to appreciate it. However, to me it sounded very strange. One instrument in particular stood out as sounding exactly how I imagine a Korean bagpipe would sound.
After the orchestra concert was over, we headed over to Hapjeong to meet up with one of Sarah's friends, a really awesome and talented Korean artist who hangs out at a hipster cafe called Flat Bean. This woman speaks perfect Japanese, which is fortunate, since I can finally practice my Japanese. We ended up drinking so truly excellent coffee and then getting invited to play billiards with some of her friends. Let the record show that although I have never played billiards before, I managed to learn it (and proper technique) from a man who speaks no English. Cultural learnings, ftw!
Unfortunately, I have to go to work now, so the rest of my weekend adventures will have to wait for a later date. Until then, ta ta!
Tarico
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