Taking an urban walk

Admittedly wandering through Seoul isn't always the most pleasant of activities. People, traffic and high rises aren't exactly conducive to relaxing. Still, eager to try my new digicam I bought in Yongsan last weekend, I headed for City Hall for a wander around the less congested roads around the area. First stop: Seoul Museum of Art.

I wanted to see if they had a modern art exhibition still running that Lauren had recommended before she left, but alas I was a week too late. Still, this was a good opportunity to browse the works of Chun Kyung-Ja in the permanent collection. It is a small array of the pieces that this successful female Korean donated to the gallery, depicting her life of travel and quest for international acclaim in the art world.

I really enjoyed wandering around this artist's paintings. I was lucky to turn up at the time that a fellow English teacher was giving a tour of the collection, and having enjoyed the art myself it was nice to gain more of an insight into the artist's life and the depth behind the paintings. I'm no art critic, but I'd like to come back here sometime and enjoy the serenity of this gallery.

Continuing my walk I headed to Gyeonghuigung - a small palace yet to be fully restored. Again, I was revelling in the lack of people and cool breeze that the end of summer has brought with it. By chance I stumbled across a taekwondo demonstration, being held every Wednesday and Saturday until December as part of the 2008 Seoul Taekwondo Tour Program.

Even though taekwondo is a self-defense sport, the power and control behind the fighters manages to turn a potentially scary skill into a form not dissimilar to dance. There really is an element of beauty and elegance to this martial art. There was an opportunity for foreigners to try out some board-breaking themselves, but it was only strong looking men who partook^^

My photos aren't going to win any competitions, but for a point-and-shoot camera I'm pretty pleased with the lack of effort needed to get some nice colourful pictures. On the way to the bus stop I got a shot of this moving Statue of Hammering Man, presumably depicting the endless toil of Seoul city life...

Parents' Day

Tuesday was the bi-annual Parents' Day. It was originally scheduled for sometime last month, but was postponed due to lack of preparation. At the time I wondered how they could just change the date so flippantly, but as the new day approached I was glad they did. Having originally considered it as an excuse for a lazy day - just four half hour classes all day! - the prospect of having all the mummys scrutinising my classes and keeping count of how many times their darlings raised their hand suddenly became a little daunting, and it dawned on me that running through the day's events a couple of times beforehand might not be a bad idea.

One of my co-teachers suggested that I ran a post office themed class. With this in mind I got the kids to scrawl an "I love you mummy" note, complete with picture of mummy, which they could then 'send' at the 'post office' for Mary Teacher come Postman to deliver.

[On writing 'Mummy' on the board, I was ushered over by the boss who had chosen to sit in on one of my classes with her electronic dictionary out suggesting I'd spelt the word wrong. On explaining that we didn't use an 'o' in England, she then told me to write it both ways in case people got confused. I didn't.]

The day was generally a success. The mothers were embarassed as I asked them concurrently with their little ones how they were ("Oh!" they'd giggle. Making a big circle with my arms to help them understand I'd ask, "Tiger's Mummy, are you happy?" to which I might receive an embarassed nod, or if they were feeling especially brave a, "Yes, happy") and the children seemed to have miraculously learnt my simple post office roleplay dialogue overnight. Really, my fears were unfounded as my initial visions of an easy day came true.

Yesterday Lauren and I spent our morning at Children's Grand Park. Not a national holiday this time, but a whole school inspection by the board of education in Korea. When we arrived at school for our afternoon classes we came to realise that as we were enjoying the animals and gardens, the time off might not have been quite out of the kindness of their hearts but a ploy to hide us from sight. I know we're not technically employed by the kindergarten itself, but perhaps this English teaching is all a little more underhand than we'd realised.

Cherry blossoms, umbrellas, and the biggest church in the world

So it would seem that I will not be Korea's next weather girl. Despite grey cloudy skies, I thought - in the spirit of my earlier spring-time post - that I would venture out with no jacket nor umbrella. Mistake. The latter half of the afternoon decided to spit a few drops down, and, having tested the water (so to speak), decided it was time for a large downpour. It continues.

Nevertheless, wanting to take advantage of the day off work, I met Lauren and we headed to Yeouido - again. This time, there were certainly blossoms blooming with joy. There was also a large host of umbrellas. So that was why there was a queue at the bench in the subway station with a photograph backdrop and fake cherry trees. We did wonder why they didn't just go outside and picture themselves with real blossoms.

Wanting to reach the long-awaited festival, we opted to follow the big crowd of umbrellas. They took us down the main street of trees, but save a few photographers and food sellers, I'm not sure I'd call it much of a festival. Perhaps blossoms and sunshine are necessary to bring the whatever-it-is-I'm-expecting out. They say that there will be fireworks on the last day. But not having official dates for this thing will make it difficult to attend without camping out there for the rest of the month.

Still, the multitudes led us right to Yeouido Full Gospel Church - the largest church in the world. It seemed distinctly closed, but we managed to find a way up via a long corridor and a back door lift. It was big. If I'd not known better, I'd have put it in the 5 biggest. But no, it has the largest congregation in the world. So that's quite a number of churches it's competing with there.

The foothills of Dobongsan

It's been five months, and somehow or other we'd totally bypassed that really huge mountain just behind our apartment. Dobong mountain is part of Bukhansan National Park - one of the most popular in Korea. The cold weather has been a perfect excuse not to get up there, but with spring now in full flow I'm not sure we'll be able to use that much longer.

This afternoon we just thought we'd take a bit of a wander, and ended up walking right through the foothills of the mountain. The fresh air and t-shirt temperatures coupled with blooming flowers and crispy fallen leaves made for a much needed stroll away from the groan of traffic from below.

When we reached flat land again, we weren't exactly sure where we were coming out. There was a stream running and a plot of land divided into allotments for people to plant seeds. There were many shabby old buildings with corrugated iron roofs, looking totally out of place next to the high rise apartments in the distance - and these are just down the road from where we live. It was like we'd stepped out of Seoul and into the countryside of Korea.

The flowers and leaves made for a perfectly aimless wander.

Families tend to their seedlings on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

This stream that runs just past our apartments was unrecognisable outside of its city-like surroundings.

Cherry blossoms and Yeouido Park

According to the Tour2Korea website, the Yeouido cherry blossom festival was supposed to start this week.

The weather today was pretty gorgeous - if a little hazy - but it hasn't been like this every day lately so I'll admit I was dubious whether the flowers would actually have blossomed just yet. It turned out some of them have done, but certainly not all, and there wasn't any sign of a festival going on. Someone told me that the festival will happen, but maybe not for another week or two. Shame these things are so weather dependent.

Still, there were tonnes of people about hiring bikes (or tandems for the couples, and there were certainly many of them about) or inline skates for their own cruise along the river. I do fear the summer somewhat - it was verging on muggy today and spring is only just beginning. Humidity is certainly not my (nor many people's) favoured weather condition. Anyway, must make the most of the blue skies and shirt-sleeve breezes while they're about...

This was the queue for bike rental:

I have no idea what these guys were up to, but they had funny wigs.

Seoul Land

With the rest of my immediate family over for a fleeting visit, I eventually managed to get a day off work last Friday to spend time with them.

Described in the guide book as "Seoul's biggest and best amusement park", we decided to hit Seoul Land. I'd been there before with my kids last month, but only got to max out on the kiddy rides. Being a weekday and clearly not the most popular theme park in Seoul, we practically had the park to ourselves so were able to ride all the scary rides twice over, if we wanted. And we did.


Not bad for a city park and the two big coasters were worth a ride (or two), but we all agreed the whole place is due a re-vamp and a lick of paint.

On Saturday we took the USO tour of the DMZ, but tiredness is prevailing so will save the post for another day. In the meantime I refer you to Lauren's blog which I understand gives a good account of our experiences ;-)

Visiting family

On Saturday mamma and I travelled south of the river to spend time with her two sisters, one of their daughters, and one of their daughters, making for a big girly family reunion.

My cousin’s daughter (if you work out all the family relationships) has been going to an English hagwon since she was essentially two years old (four in Korean age), so two years on she speaks pretty good broken English. She enjoyed showing me all her English books and showing off her knowledge by answering my stock “What colour is it?” and “How many are there?” questions. As entertaining as this was, if I were after some more sophisticated banter, I was unsurprisingly out of luck. Since my Korean is just a smidge less than fluent, trying to tune into a bunch of Korean women nattering about the latest beauty trick (or whatever I imagined they were talking about) got a tad dull.

Today my mum and I were meeting my uncle and his family (who fortunately for me speak good English even if they choose to speak in their native tongue) for lunch at the COEX Mall in downtown Seoul. While we were there we took the opportunity to stroll around the neighbouring Bongeunsa Temple.





Like many of Seoul’s ancient sites, Bongeunsa is just plonked in the middle of the high rise apartments of the area (well, I’m sure the temple probably came first), but surprisingly made for a peaceful retreat from the buzzing of the nearby traffic. Buddhist monks led mass praying while others went to bow on the large marble floor in front of the 23-meter high Buddha statue that over-towers the local high school. Red paper lanterns have been put up around the temple complex in preparation for Buddha’s birthday in May – May! The year is whizzing by – while posters commented on the changing beliefs of Buddhists in the 21^st century.

The lunch was good too.

Turn of the seasons

Last week it was snowing; this week it is bright and sunny. They said the seasons change fast, but this is practically tropical.

To celebrate this gorgeous weather, I'm inside procrastinating against planning my afternoon classes. School has been a tad stressful lately with the introduction of the new English program in the kindergarten where plans get changed hourly. "Not fixed yet," and, "This is first time" are common phrases heard around the staff room.

On the plus side, my mum is currently visiting in Korea, with the rest of the family to follow next week. It's great to have my own personal interpreter; sometimes I forget she can speak Korean ;) We spent last weekend meeting my grandma and getting our hair permed - "magic" straight perms are all the rage here, but are getting taken over in popularity by "setting" perms that give you long curly locks - and doing a touch of sight seeing.

Among other things we headed to Deoksugung where we enjoyed a peaceful stroll around the palace as well as taking touristy photographs with the palace "guards". Like Gyeongbokgung, Deoksugung hosts a re-enactment of the ancient changing of the guard ritual. This time I took video. I'll post it when I'm back on my own PC.

We went to mourn the late Namdaemun gate which has now been totally blocked save a small viewing window. Sheets for graffiti have been pasted up for people to express their regret. We also visited the gothic Myeongdong Cathdral. Scaffolding and false facades continue to be the bane of my travels.

Fun Fridays

Of course this should be entitled with a singular Friday, since I will only be referring to one - namely yesterday - of the many Fridays in existence. To compensate for the misfortune that we've had to work for the past two Saturdays, we were graced with the blessings of a long weekend. Thought I'd get a head start on the reports.

Taking advantage of the weekday, we finally made it to the Van Gogh exhibition. Despite getting in first thing in the morning, our viewing pleasure was still tested by the flow of keen Seoulites and groups of school trippers. Was glad not to have visited at peak time. The exhibition itself was well laid out in chronological order making it easy/interesting to see the various themes and styles the artist adopted throughout his life.


Over lunchtime we headed to Gyeongbokgung - the Palace of Shining Happiness. It was the main palace of the Joseon dynasty but was burned during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s. It was rebuilt to high glory during the remaining years of the dynasty in the late 19th century, but was largely demolished under Japanese rule in 1911. It continues to be restored today; in fact Gwanghwamun - the main gate of the palace - was dismantled last year for renovation and will not return until 2009. Another landmark of Seoul whose presence I will not be graced with this visit.

At midday we witnessed the hourly changing of the guard re-enactment. Since the palace no longer inhabits royalty, this is a commentated ritual carried out for the benefit of tourism. I did wonder whether being in possession of a shaped straight beard was in the guard job description, but on close inspection many were definitely stuck on. Apparently close up photography of peripheral facial hair is frowned upon, as is imitating guards for amusing photographic purposes.


The palace itself showed a glimpse of its former beauty and grandeur. Being aware of many of the features of palaces in general from our less than extensive tours of other such structures, the tour that we received was not as informative as we'd hoped. Still, the few rays of sunlight that struggled through the haze of fog lightened the palace to its reputation of Shining Happiness in the middle of the high-rise offices of Seoul.

Tea shops of Insadong

Despite warnings of a rush-hour-subway-like experience, Lauren and I went to the Van Gogh exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art. However, being a Sunday afternoon, the queue to get in was doubling back on itself leading to the decision that a battle against the crowds with a view to a leisurely wander round the paintings was an unrealistic objective.

Instead we found ourselves in Insadong: a cobbled street pedestrianised at the weekends, full of street vendors selling traditional handicrafts, and side alleys with quaint tea shops. Being another one of those icy cold days, despite alluring sunshine, we withdrew to one of said tea shops for some hot plum tea.

We've heard many a tale about flying birds in such shops, but having visited several in our four months here, and searched high and low for particularly recommended ones, we are yet to find one with actual flying birds. We've seen a few with caged birds, but it's just not the same. Having not found any kind of report of a "Law Against Free Flying Wildlife In Traditional Tea Shops", I am still of the belief that we are missing out. Any direction would be appreciated.

Sinyetchatjip Tea Shop and its caged parrot

Graduation

Teachers and parents alike dabbed their eyes with pride as their little ones stepped up to the stage to receive their nostalgia album, sang the graduation song they'd been paining us with several times a day for the last month, and bowed to the crowd letting their mini mortar boards slip down in front of their faces. An opportunity for photographs and flower giving as the final year kindergarten students gained their position as alumni, joining that exclusive club many of their parents and siblings are long held members.

In other news, wandering the streets of Itaewon we came across this guy: an old Korean man selling hand made wall hangings. Impressed by his quick hand, eye for neon paint combinations and oriental facial hair, we indulged his trade and bought our names in flouncy decoration.

The remains

In a somewhat sadistic fashion, Lauren and I snapped several photographs of the charred Namdaemun gate.

As Lauren informed me from her copy of the Korea Times, restoration will cost around 20 billion won and will take three years to complete. After the burning of Naksan Temple in 2005, precautions were taken to prevent further catastophes of other wooden structures in Korea. Unfortunately Namdaemun was yet to receive this treatment.

According to oriental topographers, Namdaemun served as a block from the negative energies of Mount Gwanak to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the three of which lie in a straight line. It has been suggested that if Namdaemun were not to exist, the fire would have blast straight through to the palace. As a result of the fire, the city may see increased crime as the "hot temper" of the energies from Mount Gwanak are free to flow.

Oh, and arson is also a suspected cause.

Donation for Gate Restoration Proposed
Poor Security Blamed for Gate Burnout
Mysterious Energy Linked to Blaze

NEWSFLASH!

Namdaemun Gate has been burned to a pulp. That's Korea's National Treasure No. 1: gone. Forever.

And I never saw it.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/113_18673.html

Seoul Land

In celebration of the approaching end-of-school year, my seven year old kindy classes were taken - with their new favourite Mary Teacher - to Seoul Land.

This is another of Korea's amusement parks, though being accompanied by the under-100metered, the more thrilling rides were only to be enjoyed by mock awe and gasps. Instead we all struggled up the fake snow slopes hauling little red sleds behind us, anticipating the crowds of half sized people eagerly pushing their way for an opportunity to slide the twenty seconds to the bottom. Of course when I say we, I mean the children. I merely followed behind and waited for a chummy child to invite me on the back of their sled.

This excitement was followed by - in between toilet breaks - a "magic show". As witnessed at Lotte World, this was largely conducted by Western looking (and by that I mean an amalgamation of blonde haired and blue eyed) performers dancing in a changing series of coloured lights and stage effects. The magic itself was pretty lame, for even my inspired eyes could sense that secret compartment holding that multi-coloured scarf. Nonetheless, a bonus of not being of the intended age group audience, as a teacher I was given a free magic trick to wow the students and whoever else is willing to humour me. (Note the present tense there; free webcam demonstrations are available to those on my contacts list ;) )

Amusement parks such as this one do seem to be prime spots for attracting not only hoards of school children, but also courting young couples. You can tell these, if you are unsure of their relationship status, by their matching outfits. These venues tend to encourage matching ears as a fashion accessory, however many other items can be viewed in double across the capital. Such items might include matching phone charms (your mobile is naked without one), hats, jackets, bags, or - wait for it - underwear. With Valentine's Day approaching I considered indulging this culture, albeit as a joke, however for some reason couldn't bring myself to part with my hard earned cash over anything sufficiently unsexy that I'd allow either one of us to attire. E-card it will have to be, then :P

(Right: a couple sporting matching cat ears; one of many underwear shops getting ready for "Valentain Day")


Returning from this digression, I rode a couple of children's rides with half-real enthusiasm while one of my new (7-year-old) admirers asked permission to take a video with my camera from the top of the spinning aeroplane ride. Facebook holds the evidence.

It was a long day of jumping up and down, being pulled in multiple directions as several small people bided for my attention, and holding a fixed smile on my face. I was lucky to get the front seat of the bus home thereby relieving me from entertaining duties, however my attention was stolen, somewhat in alarm, by the number of spray-painted car outlines adorning the highway. These are apparently corners of cars marked out to indicate the location of recent crashes. Literally seeing outlines of car after car pointing in all directions, my mind was not eased as the bus driver weaved in and out of traffic at high speed coming inches within other cars and the lives of a whole bus load of children...

Revisiting the past

Was both frustrating and amusing to watch the Korean teachers from the kindergarten ransacking our old school for all the books/resources they could gather together, while we watched in the background shaking our heads in full knowledge we would not be using half of the things they were grabbing.

From a personal point of view it was very strange to be visiting the school again. Even though we were only there for a month, this was where we first got settled in Korea and to go back there was almost like going back home. Or maybe putting on a smelly - yet familiar - old sock. Either way, it was surreal seeing my handwriting still on the white board in my old classroom, seeing Greg's Batman mask he made for Halloween, seeing Alun's name written on an old post-it. And yet the place was turned upside down; all the TV screens had (naturally) been taken away, the teacher's room was a bundle of papers and scraps from the free-for-all at the end of term, and there was mould growing on some of the food that had just been left to lie out in the dining room. It's like we all got up and left without a second thought. Actually on second thoughts, that's what did happen. (Left: post-bombed ex-teacher's room)

I had a brief word with the kindergarten headteacher about our working hours, though it seems that she's not keen to let us off mid-afternoon as we'd originally "agreed". Although many advertised jobs tend to finish late, it's definitely the principle of the agreement that frustrates me rather than the hours themselves. Having said this, we are currently working a 45 hour week, which to me is pretty unacceptable for a gap year job. Still, she knows how I feel about it and is supposedly working around letting us off early some days of the week once the new school year starts, but for now it's 9-6 all the way.

On a different note, Lauren and I headed into Itaewon to the 3 Alleys Pub for the Thursday night pub quiz. Having the first round as identifying "famous" aeroplanes, we didn't hold high hopes for our score, however we got approached by several old men (definitely a bit of an old man's bar this one) with their "witty" yet nonetheless amusing banter. Was great to have a proper English (or American) meal and not to feel obliged to buy food with our drinks; felt like I was right back at home, though not necessarily in a good way ;) (Right: the bar of the 3 Alleys Pub)

Dead Sea scrolls

Having been to the Dead Sea this summer, it was disappointing to find that that the scrolls were then on exhibition elsewhere in the world.

Now in Korea, various billboards informed us that they are currently on display somewhere in Seoul, but they took us by pleasant surprise as we went for a unassuming stroll around the War Museum to find that this was the location of their exhibition.

The display was impressive, filled with video explanations, dramatic lighting and thunderstorm sound effects depicting the excavation of the scrolls, information about various Biblical sites, relics from the ancient Middle East and stories of the life of Jesus.

Disappointingly, this was all in Korean, so regardless of the thoughtful layout, we were not to benefit from it.

We came across a fair number of Western looking people around the museum, so the museum is clearly a spot on the tourist route. One would therefore assume that there might be some kind of English explanation, especially since the display has most probably seen a good number of English speaking countries, not to mention the entrance charge for the viewing.

Still, good to have seen them, even if my knowledge of the content/context is a little hazy. One mustn't complain *too* much; after all, we are in Korea...

Seodaemun Prison

This morning Lauren and I braved the icy winds in attempt to get to the Seodaemun Prison. 

Not knowing much about even why it was there – vague thoughts of the Korean war came to mind – the tour that we were taken on shocked me far more than I believed myself possible of getting. Having had images and films of the holocaust thrust upon me and the rest of the world since an early age, going to say, Auschwitz, was less than a surprise, and although horrifying in any kind of moral sense, the shock value was subdued by prior knowledge of events.

Admittedly the Japanese invasion of Korea is so far removed from Western culture that it is unlikely to be high on any history syllabus, and so I am less surprised to learn that I knew very little about it, save a few hazy recollections of stories I might have heard at home with my grandmother having lived through it. But hearing how Japan refused to take any responsibility for the invasion, let alone the torturing of the political prisoners (of which there were graphic representations) – “comfort women” still rally outside the Japanese embassy every Wednesday to this day to pressurise an apology – made me wonder whether there would even be such a museum in Japan to relay their version of events.

The prison has been moved out of Seoul for practical use, and what remains is a preservation of part of the original buildings used during the invasion. It is a well laid out museum, with several mannequins acting out torture scenes as they would have been done in the torture rooms, representations of cells, torture instruments and “wall coffins” – self explanatory upright boxes, in which Lauren had the (dis)pleasure of being locked in for a minute. There was a video of the testimony of the only two remaining survivors of the prison after Korea was liberated, fully pulling at heartstrings as the final words were, “Japan, apologise”.

Happy New Year!

After a week in the UK suffering some intense jetlag, I arrived back in Korea in time to see the new year in. Since I’d not properly got over the time difference at the other end (indeed my attempts to do so were futile) alongside the fact that my flight this end got in at midday opposed to late at night as it had in England, I was able to get a good proper first nights sleep and eradicate any grumpiness that might potentially have followed.

So for those of you that are following Lauren’s blog in conjunction with this one, (if in fact you are following this blog, and haven’t chanced upon this entry as a one-off), you will be familiar with the notion of MegaTV. Not yet set up in my own apartment, I’ve been taking the opportunity of rekindling my *long lost friendship with Lauren via the means of copious numbers of films – old and new – that are on demand at the press of a button. It is most exciting. Since “live” Korean TV isn’t at the forefront of our list of needs in Korea, having menus upon menus of TV series and films (English and Korean alike) is far more convenient than having to decipher online TV guides and hoping you’ll stumble across something vaguely worth watching every time you switch on the box. *week

Now I was warned before I left to go to England for Christmas that I might not want to come back again. At the time I thought, “Nah…I’m just going home for a holiday; this is my home now,” but in reality with the intermingling feelings of extreme tiredness, festivities (or lack thereof) and the prospect of leaving the boyfriend at home for months on end, I did start to ponder some of those existential concerns that one occasionally admits oneself to.

However, after several days pottering (sub in moping) and taking mid-afternoon naps, on seriously considering getting a “real job” I realised that applications and interviews are not things that I am sprinting to get ahead with – and thus the purpose of the “gap year” became more evident again – and that Ian, my boyfriend, is still studying and thus even if I were to be living in the same country, it would be unlikely we’d see a whole lot of each other anyway.

It is so that I essentially wasted my intended holiday in the UK by partaking in the aforementioned activities, namely moping and napping, contemplating the nature of my future and getting stressed that I barely had any time to enjoy myself. Totally counter-productive, I am aware. Nevertheless, the positive side of these thoughts has meant that I have come out on top; I am now revitalised in mind and body and content with my current position in life, and of course it was lovely to see my friends and family at home. Excellent.

It is at this point that I realise I am somewhat rambling, and brings me on my next consideration: is this blog an excuse for a personal diary, where I recall my thoughts and, god forbid, feelings of my year abroad and potentially beyond – in which case perhaps I should spare the eyes of those that might read for the intended purpose of this place: to merely relay events and observations so that I might save myself from repeating the same story over and over to those genuinely interested, and those with a pretence interest. Regardless, I am indulging the former and it is this realisation that I bring myself to turn to the latter.

Last night Lauren and I had a most enjoyable evening negotiating the crowds of half the city to get to the Bosingak Bell. It was nice to be wrapped up warm in the -5ºC heat, taking in the lights that engulfed the manmade stream in a palatial manner, revelling in the multitudes of Korean couples, friends and families dressed up in matching coloured capes (with ears on the hoods, of course), avoiding the sparks of hundreds of people setting off their own fireworks openly sold on the streets New Year Celebrations Marred by Accidents, and striking up conversation with the excited policemen that had clearly been recruited just for the occasion to appease the raucous crowds.

The atmosphere was magical *gag* as the streets were littered with smiling, rosy cheeks and sounds of “Happy New Year!” that rang as clear as the Bosingak Bell itself. Or maybe that was just to us, since the majority of the crowd was probably speaking in Korean. Oblivious, we lit our heart shaped sparklers sending policemen coughing and forbidding the next round, but won over the hearts of a couple of high school girls, sparkly eyed at the beauty of our gunpowdered delights. Or maybe that was just the reflection in their eyes from the dazzling bright light.

Either way, they were pleased when we gave them our spare ones, which then brought on the cheek of some chavvy Korean girl asking if she could have one too. We didn’t have any left, and er, we weren’t free sparkler venders, *rolls eyes*. Still, she had her fun as some guys came round taking polaroids with regular, un-heart shaped sparklers, glosticks and animal hats to anyone who would give them money. On an initial 400 won asking price we too indulged their trade, but didn’t have the energy to argue when they’d accidently knocked off a nought on the end of his price. We got one of the cameramen at the televised event to take our picture, which became slightly more than a bit weird when we practically got our own photoshoot out of the asking. Still, maybe some nice pictures to follow if he ever emails me back…

And there we have it. A nice evening of dancing and fireworks as the clocks struck midnight, followed by chaos as we were shoved this way and that toward the exit of the mass of people. Luckily someone had decided it was a good idea to run the subway late that night and we got home safely and easily.

So maybe in the spirit of it being the first of the year an’ all, I should come up with some of those resolution-y things that people like to make. Hm.

1. Be good so Father Christmas might visit next year. Oh wait…

Yep, on second thoughts, that’s getting a little too personal, even for me. Maybe resolution number one should be “Deal with feelings of emotion and refrain from turning to sarcasm to bail you out”. So on that note I bid you goodnight, and a very Happy New Year!

Changdeok Palace

Never forgetting my British roots, it would be against my nature not to pass comment on the weather. Thus I feel it is integral to mention the beautiful blue skies and fluffy white clouds that adorn the view from my apartment, but mock me as I step outside to the icy air, yet again forcing me to succumb to the knowledge that mother nature has deceived me once again...

If it weren't for my extremities, I would certainly relish in the clear days. Today was in fact the perfect day for a stroll round 창덕궁, or Changdeok Palace. As wiki has just informed me, the literal meaning of this name is "Palace of Prospering Virtue". That's nice, isn't it?

Anyway, as I was saying, it was a perfect day for a stroll round the palace. Apparently we weren't the only ones who thought so, as we witnessed the filming of a Korean drama. Coming back an hour later after the full tour of the grounds, they were still filming the same scene involving grown ups standing around in hanbok while children ran around them, making those chirpy bird-like noises well-behaved children in films always do.

We suspected it was our tour guide's first tour, since she was very apologetic of her English, slipped up with a comment of "Oops, I meant to say...first," and was surprised when the circle of the grounds overran by half an hour. Still, she tried her best to engage her audience, with jokes of pretending to be royalty and explaining how there is no Father Christmas in Korea due to the traditional underground heating systems - he can go down the chimney but at the other end he is still outside! Although she got some feeble laughs, our hearts went out to her as she asked for the tenth time, "What do you think...was used for?" and still failed to get answers.

Nevertheless, I am 100% more informed about the Joseon dynasty than I was when I woke up this morning, I have passed through the gate of longevity, I have kicked my way through autumn leaves and I have marvelled at 750 year old juniper tree that has made its way as a "Natural Monument". It doesn't get much more productive than that. Left: the brown trunk-like sticks are merely support for the alleged 6 metre girth of the Changdeokgung Chinese Juniper.

On top of this, I cannot fail to mention that I have frozen my fingers off through attempted photography, but happily defrosted them in a traditional tea room on the heated floor while drinking Hundred Herb Tea. It was surprisingly pleasant^^

Aquarium

Continuing with the tourist theme, we headed to the COEX mall - a huge underground shopping mall and allegedly the largest shopping centre in Seoul.

On the subway journey there, an elderly man struck up conversation with the interrogative "Where you from?" Amused, I participated in the exchange. After going through the usual, "How long you in Korea?" and, "What you do in Korea?" he took me by surprise by asking, "You marry?" I replied negative. This in turn provoked, "Every month you send money family?" I replied confusedly, "Er...no...?" to which he then said with an air of realisation, "Ah, because when you marry you need the money." Uh huh, that's my reason for keeping my earnings to myself...^^

Anyway, we arrived at the COEX in time for lunch. The plan was to go to the Aquarium, though naturally we had to stop off at the various stationery shops along the way^^

We came across the clothes shop Bongzi&Bongzi, with the fantabulous claim, Made by Jesus. In an increasingly Christian country, I'm not entirely sure how they feel they can justify such an assertion...



Finally at the aquarium (having felt like we'd been taken on the long way round by the signs to the back of the store) we came across plenty of interesting and exciting sea-life.

We were:

• dismayed at some of the tiny enclosures, especially for the larger creatures like the crocodile (but were relieved at the small, locked cabinet for the tarantula);
• simultaneously appalled and intrigued by some of the genetically modified goldfish (see above picture);
• confused by the twin-headed tortoise;
• amused by the inventive displays including fish in the toilet, fish in the washing machine, fish in the vending machines;
• excited by the walkthrough shark tank.

All in all, an afternoon filled with wonder and excitement as we fulfilled our inner children, meandering around the huge display of underwater creatures.

More fishy pics