together again

In the summer of 2008 (summer for the northern hemisphere, that is) I spent 5 weeks studying spanish in the guatemalan town of quetzaltenango...no one calls it by that name though, it's almost always shortened to xela (shay-la)...xela is a great place to study spanish...it's the 2nd largest city in the country, but there are almost no tourist sights there, so there is nothing to distract you from studying...foreigners go there because there is very little english spoken locally...there are a number of spanish schools, all offering basically the same thing: 25 hours a week of 1 on 1 spanish tutoring, along with a homestay...it's a fantastic way to learn the language...and in guatemala, it's CHEAP...anywho the point of all this is that i met quite a few people during my 5 weeks there...and one of them just moved to korea!!! yippee!!! she moved to incheon, which is the 3rd largest city in korea, it's where the majour international airport of korea is located...to get from my subway stop to hers takes 78 minutes...her name is lindsey, she grew up in iowa, but has lived in denver for the past 6 years...

needless to say, i was more than excited when she told me she was moving to korea...the world of travelers is pretty small, but it never ceases to amaze me how often i get to see someone i met in one area of the world on the other side of the world...yahoo!! i suppose someone who is willing to go one place outside of their comfort zone is willing to go somewhere else as well:)
lindsey arrived in korea about two weeks ago, but spent her first week in an orientation/training session in the city of jeonju...she said there were about 400 people in her orientation...she doesn't yet have a hand phone (mobile phone, cell phone, handy, whateva you want to call it) so figuring out how/when to get together took place completely over facebook....and when she was a few minutes late i kept wondering if i had written the correct meeting details in my message...lol...it's amazing how much we depend on phones...we ended up having lunch right next to the subway station, and i introduced lindsey to one of my favourite korean foods...donkasu...fried pork cutlet...in germany they call it schnitzel...koreans say it's a traditional food here, and while that's probably true, it's a traditional food in a whole lot of countries:)...i had my absolute favourite korean food: sundubujiggae, which is spicy egg and tofu soup...

since lindsey has only been in korea a short time, and doesn't know much about korean culture or history, and i'm a big geek, i suggested we go to changdeokgung, one of the 5 palaces in seoul from the joseon dynasty...changdeokgung is the only one labeled a UNESCO world heritage sight, (the designation came in december 1997) i think it's the one that was least destroyed, or perhaps it's best to say best preserved...changdeokgung was originally constructed in 1405, as a secondary palace to gyeongbukgung...a year later, the back garden was created, it's now known as the secret garden, and you can see that too, with a separate ticket...lindsey and i opted to skip that part, since it isn't spring yet...heck, winter is about the only time the secret garden isn't really worth it...to see changdeokgung, you have to join a tour...there are a couple english tours throughout the day, japanese and chinese too i think...cory taught me a long time ago that it's easy to "lose" the tour group...and the tour guide doesn't tell you anything that isn't in the brochure or on the signs next to each building throughout the palace complex....

a korean palace from the joseon dynasty is nothing like a european palace...these palaces are composed of a bunch of different buildings, each with a specific purpose...you can tell which buildings are more important based on two things: their size, and their location...the closer to where the king "worked" and lived, the more important...the bigger, the better...you don't get to go in any of the buildings anymore, but even back in the day when the palace was lived in and used, there wasn't much in most of the rooms/buildings...as you can see from the photos i've posted, the buildings all look somewhat alike...the same colours used to paint, the same general style, etc...obviously, the wooden boardwalks are from modern times, when the palace was made more accessible for people with disabilities...i think red was a royal colour...surprisingly, the original paints came from china! if i understood our tour guide correctly, back in the day the painting was redone every one hundred years or so, but now it's redone every 20 or 30 years...i couldn't tell if that was because the quality of the paint back then was better, or whether it just doesn't take so long now...

the buildings are all fairly close to each other, and i have no idea how people remembered how to get from one place to another...there are gates and walls all over the place...the gates are pretty small, and most tourists have to remember to duck their heads, or you end up with a lovely bump on your noggin...surprisingly, i actually remembered to duck through every gate this time:)...
the palace (like pretty much everything else in the country) was burned down in 1592 when the japanese invaded...well, much of it was burned down...according to one site, it was burned down by angry korean citizens after palace inhabitants were evacuated (to what is now a northeastern suburb of seoul, uiju) just before the japanese got to seoul...apparently they didn't like the idea of their leaders running away...nearly the entire palace is made of wood, it probably burned pretty quickly...repairs and rebuilding were completed in 1610 or 1611...if i remember correctly, changdeokgung was the official #1 palace for a little while at this point, as gyeongbukgung was still being rebuilt...i just checked, and changdeokgung was the primary palace until gyeongbukgung was rebuilt in the 19th century...overall it served as the main palace longer than gyeongbukgung...

this main throne hall looks big and relatively empty to me, but this is where a lot of official palace business was conducted...the king sat on the throne for hours on end, and it doesn't look at all comfortable to me...it's like a bench chair, with a very straight back...(not that he would've been able to lean back even if he had been so inclined)...according to our guide, the gold screen behind the throne is unique to korea, and can't be found in japan or china...(koreans are constantly pointing out differences between themselves and china/japan)...
the palace was constructed in keeping with the principles of geomancy, if that's the right word...a bridge was built over the stream/creek that runs in front of the main gate...to the back of the palace is a mountain...
not only was changdeokgun the primary palace longer than gyeongbukgung, it was also where the joseon dynasty ended...the last meeting of emperor sunjong (why he was an emperor and not a king, i don't know) and his ministers was held in changdeokgung, just before japanese annexation in 1910...afterward, even though he was no longer in charge, he and his wife (the empress,) the crown prince and the crown princess lived there until they died...

when you enter the main gate of the palace, they give you a brochure...there are bits and pieces of random information, as well as a map of the palace...some of the information is about changdeokgung, but there is also plenty of information about the other palaces, and the royal shrine...i don't currently have the brochures from those sights, but i'm guessing they're all similar...seoul has gotten pretty good about having literature available at all it's tourist sights, for geeks like me who like that stuff...temples are about the only place that don't seem to have those brochures...(which i think is good, since temples shouldn't have to produce literature...they're not there to teach you anything)...by the time i leave korea this time, i'll be leaving behind a ridiculous collection of brochures, as i collect them from every place that hands them out...

the palace can be reached by walking straight out of a particular exit of a nearby subway station...out of another exit of that same subway station, you can get to the area of seoul called insadong...it's quite touristy, and full of kitchy souvenirs, but there are TONS of great little galleries to check out, as well as a few good restaurants...since lindsey is new to korea, i thought she might enjoy walking through the area...it's a pedestrian zone, which is lovely...of course, there are hoards of people, so you're always stepping out of someone's way, or making them go around you...most of the hoards are foreigners, i'm sure there are other places in seoul that koreans go to get all this stuff...come to think of it, they probably don't go get all these souvenirs, they already have them, and aren't likely to give them as gifts...i'm talking pencil boxes, decorative bags, ceramic everything, etc...in addition to all the kitchy souvenirs, there are lots of unique individual stands...it's like a year round local fest...

in addition to all the stands of unique and not so unique stuff, there are tons of nifty little buildings...some are shops full of more kitchy stuff, and some are galleries with awesome stuff...i've spent many an hour wandering through tiny little galleries...there are more than 100 galleries in the area...sometimes it seems as though the buildings themselves (like this three story mall on the left...i love the umbrellas, they go all around the 3rd floor) are art exhibits themselves, and sometimes not so much...there are tons of little alleyways, it would be really easy to get lost in this area...well, almost...everything tends to circle back to any of the main streets in the area...

at one end of the most main street of insadong these traditional games are set up...you pick the "arrows" out of the containers, take a few steps back, and try to throw them back in...believe me, it's a lot harder than it looks...a LOT...at school, during traditional holiday times, i've spent some time trying to figure out the secret to this game...i have yet to figure it out...it's funny watching the kids try to figure it out, just because some of them have advanced motor skills, and some of them, well...don't...(is that mean to say?)...
after you've worn yourself out playing games, you can step into one of several tea houses...(i sound WAY too much like a guidebook)...i'm all for tea, it's really grown on me in the last year, but it's hard when all the containers have chinese characters on them!! its nice to smell the different teas, though this isn't the cheapest area of town in which to buy...it is howeva, the area with the widest variety...it's also a great area to get gift sets of tea...of course, you can also get the accessories for tea...the decorative/ceramic cups with the tea strainer in them, tea bells, etc...as we walked by one tea shop, there was a line out the door...apparently people really wanted to taste one type of tea in particular...we didn't feel like waiting in line, so who knows what we missed? hee hee...

i can't help it, i love these fans...hand painted, or so i'm led to believe...i wouldn't be entirely surprised if that's not really the case...there are quite a few fans at this display, and many that look just the same down the street...who knows...either way, they're pretty...insadong is supposed to be a place in seoul where you can get traditional hand made paper products, so maybe so...
in addition to the stalls of unique jewelry/items, there are stalls of traditional food...i'd write all the names, but i don't remember many off the top of my head, and believe me, you're not going to remember any of them unless you've spent time in korea...it would be easy to do a tour de food just in this area alone, and totally overeat...(not that i'd mind doing such a thing:)...of course, you can find all the food in other areas of seoul as well, at cheaper prices...western/foreign tourists = higher prices...if i remember correctly, the rule in insadong is that the names on the buildings have to be written in hangeul, the korean alphabet...it's the only place i've ever seen where starbucks isn't written in english...when you read it out loud in hangeul, its something like "su-ta-buk-su"...

after insadong, we were hungry...walking past all the food wasn't easy...lindsey decided she wanted street food, a craving of which i was fully supportive...on the way to a nearby subway station (we walked to another station entirely, having come out of another side of insadong) we stopped quickly in tapgol park...like so many other korean parks, there is very little green...but it is a nice area, a little more calm...a couple pavilions, a few statues, a very tall pagoda, etc...
according to a web site, this park was built on the former sight of weongaksa (weongak temple)...apparently the temple was known as heungboksa during the goryeo dynasty, but was renamed when it was enlarged during the joseon dynasty...why this is important, i have no idea...after all, the temple isn't there anymore!! the park was built after the temple was destroyed, a couple of the joseon kings didn't think much of buddhism...the park was built at the suggestion of an englishman, but they don't know when or why he made the suggestion...

there are a couple monuments/memorials in the park...the proclamation of independence was read here, though i don't know whether that's the proclamation of korean independence from japan, or korean independence as a full nation...(korea celebrates two independence days each year)...the web site also says this park was the site of the start of the 1 March 1919 independence protest...(clearly, the protest wasn't a success, since japan remained in charge of korea until the end of the second world war)...
it always kills me to see the pagoda in the glass case...but it also makes total sense, given that it would be completely destroyed, (and rather quickly at that) if left exposed to the elements...(the air quality in seoul is sorely lacking)...you can see it quite well when you get close to the glass, (and there are plenty of handprints) the detail of each carving is impressive...i think the official count is 10 levels...

a quick subway ride, and we arrived at yongsan station...across the street from the station (once you figure out the right exit, as there are tons of exits from the building) are a bunch of street food stalls...the menu at each is pretty much the same, so of course i love them all...fried food always smells good, and almost always tastes good...even though it's not healthy...i chose deokbokki, with hard boiled eggs that had been mixed in...a spicy mix of yumminess...lindsey went for something that i would call pakoras, and mandu (dumplings, like the polish call peirogis)...heaven!!
the reason i wanted to get the street food near yongsan station is because there is also a fabulous sauna nearby...called the dragon hill sauna...the biggest sauna in seoul, and well worth the 12,000won entry fee...it's 7 floors, though no one gets to go on all the floors...(two are for women only, 2 are for men only)...you walk in and pay your entry fee, they give you a key with a number on it, a t-shirt, two hand towels, and a pair of shorts...the number matches up to a particular locker, in which you put your shoes...from there you walk to the men's or women's elevator, and go to your appropriate floor...in the locker room you find the locker with the same number, and leave your stuff inside...lindsey and i wanted the naked floor, so we left the shorts and t-shirts in the lockers too...go down the stairs, and the entire 2nd floor is full of whirlpools, showers, a dry heat room, a steam room, etc...each whirlpool is a slightly different temperature, and the temperatures are posted on the wall...it's amazing how easy it is to feel the difference between 41°C and 46°C...41 is warm, but comfortable, 46 is hot, and not at all comfortable...even the difference between 41 and 43 is noticeable...43 is lovely...there is a cold pool too, at 17°C...it's a shock, to say the least...but after a minute or two in there, nothing else seems too hot, at least not straightaway...we spent two hours soaking, steaming, etc...i managed to lose my towel, so i ended up using my t-shirt to dry off...hee hee...
after the dragon hill, a quick run through emart (the korean version of walmart, and this particular one is like a super walmart) then home...a great day catching up with a good friend...