We didn't sit on our seat because a lady sat down before us, so we just sat on the last row of the cart we were in. When we arrived at the station we found Nahrae, his friend, and we were off to a new palace.
Of course the best way to get around Seoul is through the subway. I can never stay standing throughout the short trips. The train moves in such a way as to demand your whole body to move the same direction. Your feet just want to stay in the same place, but of course sometimes rubber on the sole of my shoes just can't take the shear stress. If I am standing, I must hold on to something. Sometimes it's the bar by the entrance door, other times the hand holder that hangs. People enter and go. I was lucky a couple of times to quickly take a seat after people left at a stop I didn't need.
Nahrae informed us that the palace we were going to had a secret garden in the back. I never
remember the names of the palaces we visited. It's not that I did not place my memorals in a special place in my head. I mean, could you remember all the names when they all sound alike?
We went to Changdeokgung palace, built in 1405, the fifth year of the reign of Joseon King Taejong as aseparate palace adjacent to the main one, Gyeongbokgung. I have some quick information from my book:
"The last royal prince died here in 1970 and the last royal family member lived in the palace until her death in 1989. The palace grounds are divided into administrative quarters, residential qwuarters, and the rear garden. The existing administrative section includes Donghwamun (the front gate and the oldest existing palace structure), Injeongjeon (the throne hall), and Seonjeongjeon (the the administrative hall). The residential area includes Huijeondang (the king's bed chamber), the Daejojeon (the queen's bed chamber), the royal kitchen, the infirmary, and other annex buildings. .... Changdeokgung's rear garden has remained a resting area for the royals since the time of King Taejong.
"Sometimes called Huwon, Bukwon, and Geumwon, King Kojong named it Biwon (or "Secret Garden") and it has kept this name since. Some of the trees in the garden are now over 300 years old and represent the ehight of Korean garden design and landscaping techniques."
We walked around, taking pictures, talking to Nahrae about her culture, eating apricots that had just fallen off of the trees onto this green net below it, and simply enjoying the atmosphere. I rather enjoy the Korean traditions, well most. I sometimes don't like the taking off the shoes before entering a house, a room, or a restaurant. Sometimes people's feet smell.. terrible. I understand that it's for respect, and to keep things clean, but really? If it's going to stick the entire place, at least find a seat outside for now! Anyways, it usually doesn't bother me.
When it was time we entered the "secret garden." We had been warned about its beauty. The first stop was the area of the aristocrats. The entire thing was a replica of what it would have looked like. We kept walking and we were introduced to a door-like entrance on a wall that had "never old" written on the top of it. Our tour guide informed us that the King liked going under it because he would feel much younger. So, we tried it. I got a picture of Anthony and Nahrae going under and feeling a little bit younger.
We passed by some ponds, beautiful small buildings, and more. The King's library had three gates: two small ones on the sides and a big one in the middle. This was for the king. The two smaller ones were for his scribes. They had to bend down as then enter in order to show respect for the king. There was also a small pond in front with an island. The king had his scribes recite poems. If one could not recite a poem when he was asked, the King would order his guards to put him on the island as a punishment during the time being. Ha! I like the king. Yeah, shows how important being culturately literate in poetry is! :D
Oh I cannot forget the story of the special drinking rock! Ha, okay well if you see the picture below, this was where the King and his friends got together. There is a stream that passed by. The king would put a cup of liquor in the beginning of the stream. One of his friends had to recite a poem before the cup reached the cliff of the rock. If he didn't finish, then he had to drink it. And so on. Some of them got very drunk off of that, and it gave the King have a good laugh. The poems would sometimes be inscribed on the rocks by the King.
After the palace, we met up with Nahrae's boyfriend and walked to a well known noodle place close by. Anthony found out that his favorite dish in Korea contains Pork, which was devastating because he refuses to eat it. The food was delicious. The picture on the right shows the two men making.. umm what was it called? Well, if you look it up on Wiki .. and if you can see what they are holding.. please be my guest. Their noodles were mmm mmm terribly delicious. Yes, oxymoron's give the best description of things, don't you agree?After that we were off, walking by Insa-dong street, a famous street in Seoul full of traditional merchandise, towards the subway.
I won't bore you with much details of it. I will only say that each floor in the building had a specific category. One of my favorites was purely high heeled shoes. Great. Too bad the prices were way over my head. We had gone to Pyounghwa Fashion Town for the record. I found a cute tiara that reminded me of one of our REU students named Tiara, and also of the Korean girl band named Tiara. Ha, what a coincidence! All of them are "tiara" 's !
As I mentioned, we passed by Insadong. The famous street. It held all kinds of Korean artifacts. I have a picture of a
man showing a girl how to work some hanging display. It was pretty cool. All you do is push the plane down, let go, and it will bounce up and down. Ha! Okay, the interesting part was that the spinner would actually spin!
Oh and at Insadong I can't forget the singing boys. They sung to this rhythm in English. All I remember is "In Korean 'Wow!' In English ' O-M-G! Oh my Gawd!" It definitely was entertaining to watch.
We went shopping. Oh, how I longed for the activity since we arrived in Seoul. Yes my friends, I went shopping for a couple, no at least 4 hours. Nahrae and I became good friends because we both enjoy the sport.
We took the subway and went to eat dinner. Then, we were at the street, the famous street, the rich street, the busy street, the most interesting one of all: Myeongdong.
I found a funny little description of this street in my Korean book:
"With boutique shops and clothes galore, you can see the latest fashions geared toward the young. Unfortunately, the siezes are geared toward the petite Korean students and Japanese tourists that flock to the area. If you're lucky and on the slimmer side, there are plenty of inexpensive options. There are also loads of stores that specialize in accessories and shoes as well."
It was totally true! And, good thing I am on the slimmer side. I bought a sporty dress, with some pretty high heeled shoes to go with the dress I had boughten at the other mall. I enjoyed walking through so many vendors, with so many things! oh I want to go back now..
We took a rest at a small caffe place that had yogurts. I got a simple chocolate mousse cake with milk.
Nahrae dropped us off at the train station. Right before the train left, we took a picture. And that was it. Our Saturday. Of course when I got back to the Daejeon Station I ran to watch the T.V. When I noticed the score, my heart dropped to the ground: Argentina was loosing 1-0 to Germany. Oh the despair that I felt.. but maybe it was a mistake. Of course, Argentina could come back! It was only one goal! No, soon it became 2, then the 3rd followed within minutes. I was hoping it would be over. Koreans watched me drop my face on my hands as they smiled extensively --let's remember who beat Korean 4-0 again (Argentina). Then, before the final whistle.. again, one more.
Well, the taxi drive back to KAIST wasn't the most pleasant. I have my heart set on Uruguay since they are the last South American team left. Good luck my friends. May you play your best, give it all, and know that all of us are with you. There goes my hopes with the game.
-Allie R.
