APRIL AND MAY 2017

SEOUL

The months of April and May are glorious in South Korea. We were fortunate enough to be given a beautiful day in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Seoul has a population of 10 million in just the "city" and 25 million in the entire metropolitan area. The size and the number of people are mind boggling, even to someone from Los Angeles.

It is quite obvious that air pollution is a problem, and many people wear masks. Not only does South Korea have its own pollution, but Springtime brings pollen, trees, weeds, AND the dreaded yellow sand from the Gobi Desert in China. The weather reports in Seoul include percentages of particulates of the yellow sand. Here in Busan, we see fine, yellow dust on cars, in the gutters, even on leaves of trees and bushes. 

President Jeong Dong Hwan and his wife, Sister Kim

We spent the day Saturday with our new Mission President to be, President Jeong. Luckily, he speaks English very well. He and his wife will spend a few weeks at the MTC in Provo where she will have an immersion course in English. They will begin their three years as Mission President on July 1. Of course, they are incredibly loving, kind, unselfish, gracious people. They took the entire day and night off from their busy lives to "show us around". 

After attending the temple, we went to a Korean restaurant, followed by an incredible visit to the  

Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁)

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest of five palaces in Seoul, and was built in 1395. It was destroyed by fire during the Imjin War, but was later rebuilt. The pond above remained intact through the centuries.

The number of buildings on the grounds were infinitesimal, and I gave up counting, but here we are standing in front of the Korean Folk Museum, which is part of the Palace Grounds, along with a traditional "Hanok" village, and the Korean Palace Museum.

The architecture and detailed artwork are exquisitely beautiful!

Many young girls were wearing traditional "Hanbok" - colorful long dresses usually worn on holidays or for ancestor worship and other special occasions.

                     Lotus Blossom detail

Intricate tile and brick design, and beautiful roof tiles

                  

The surrounding gardens were in full bloom.

                         The animals on top of the roof drive away evil spirits.

We love the Jeongs. They will become our new best friends in July!

We were able to attend an outdoor concert consisting of traditional Korean instruments.

Rushing around the palace in traditional "Hanbok"







Gold dragons on the center of the ceiling. Dragons are a symbol of the King.


The next few pictures are a "slideshow" of other scenes around the palace. I particularly love the totem poles, and the strange sculptures. 




In an earlier blog, I mentioned that totem poles were commonplace at the entrance of small villages. Their mean faces say, "Keep out! Go away!"


  

The next stop was Insadong, an upscale shopping area. Here we are standing inside the letter with the sound of "H".

President Jeong then drove us to "East Gate", the old city gate, where there is massive underground "cheap" shopping area.

Friday we were on our own, so we visited the famous "King Sejong Street", the scene of last year's massive protests against President Park Geun Hye, who was eventually impeached and is now in prison. King Sejong invented the "Hangul" alphabet and language. It is perfectly phonetic, and is the only language that was invented before it was used. There is a holiday in October to celebrate Hangul.

This street was blocked off for weekends during 2016 and 2017 - because of the huge number of protesters who arrived from all over Korea (up to 1.7 million at one time). They held candles, wore Park Geun Hye masks, and held signs. The police presence was gargantuan. As we were leaving Seoul on one Saturday afternoon, we counted around 1,000 policemen just around the corner on our way to the train station. The protests were 99% peaceful.

News photo of protesters - signs say, "Park Geun Hye must go!".

The fountain surrounds a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Sin. He and King Sejong are Korea's most famous historical figures. Admiral Yi has been called one of the greatest naval commanders in history, and was known for the respect he garnered on and off the battlefield.

Bryan on King Sejong street, blocked off to cars on the weekends.

At the end of the street is the "Blue House", the Presidential residence. 

Next we followed the old city wall and climbed our way up to

Seoul Tower (in background).

It is a symbol of the modern city. 

We went to the top (elevator), and saw some amazing views of the city!

It was hazy, and the photos are taken through glass, but you can envision the number of people living in the apartments and houses in the city. The Han River goes right through the city. North of the Han is called "Gangbok" (north river), and south of the river is "Gangnam" (south river). The famous "Gangnam style" youtube video immortalized this expensive and exclusive part of Seoul.

Many bridges over the Han River

Some very interesting modern architecture in the city - This building is a huge shopping mall. Two silver "space ship" type structures are joined where there is a small opening.

Our next stop was Namsangol Hanok Village.

Houses that were originally built in the 1800's were relocated in 1998 to make a "village" in the heart of Seoul. We enjoyed going through many old houses of the Joseon Dynasty time period.

                This machine was used to spin fiber to be woven into cloth.

Jars for kimchi, soybean paste, and other foods were stored outside in clay jars and allowed to ferment.               

 Roof tiles and mortar make a beautiful design used on many traditional houses.

               Bryan and lanterns for upcoming Buddha's birthday!

          This machine twisted rice fibers to make rope.

                Shoes were handmade from rice stalks.

This harness was worn on a person's back and could carry up to 200 lbs.of crops or other food items.

This room was set up for an ancestor worship ceremony. The tables display the favorite foods of the deceased ancestor.

We had two great days in Seoul. I didn't know how much we would love it, but we did!

Buddha's Birthday

On Buddha's birthday, the Korean people display lanterns of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. All of the temples are especially adorned. This year, I went with some ladies from our English class to the "Lotus Light Festival".

Sometimes the lanterns are tigers or elephants, symbols of Korea, or Buddhist symbols. In this case, this man was a General in the Korean military in the late 1500's.

These lanterns are men playing traditional Korean musical instruments.

This is Belle. She always wears a Dodger or a Yankee baseball cap. She is in her 80's, but she goes on five day bicycle riding trips with her friends. Her parents escaped from North Korea in the 1940's, and they lived through the Korean war in dire poverty. In spite of her past, Belle is extremely positive, hilarious, and fun!

                                      Double Dragon lantern 

Rose Garden Lanterns

                    Princess and Belle 

(Both are English names we use for the class)

Of course, after the Lantern Festival, we had to go out for Korean food! L to R at the restaurant: Princess, Clara, and Kim Inyoung. What a fun night! 

Have you ever heard of an ice cream department store?

Here it is! The cashier has various candy and novelty items around her, but the rest of the store is

ice cream - various bars, cones, and sticks. There are also a few pint containers.

          Sister Cordero discovered this store, and had to share it with me. 

Hiking Geumjeong Mountain and getting lost (again)

Bryan and the nice man who helped us find our way

We thought that if we just stayed close to the fortress wall, we couldn't possibly get lost.

We ran into a Buddhist Hermitage - all ready for Buddha's birthday adorned with lotus lanterns.

                              Views of Busan from the top

Wild azaleas growing on the mountain

Back home again

Stats for the day:

                                                Getting lost on the Mountain: 3 times