The Most Kick-Ass Free Day of All Time

So when our Korean teacher informed the class last week of a tour for foreigners, we assumed that a)it was for foreigners, b)it was expensive, and c)every other Korean class knew about it. About five of us signed up, sacrificing the kimchi making seminar and opting for a tour focusing on ancient Korean life. All doubts were soon lain to rest; never have I had such an awesome day and spent only $8.

Though we were initially five, Amina and Zach missed the bus in the morning and had to meet us at stop two. For the first destination we were only three, Alexis, MiSun, and myself. MiSun is a half Korean, half German exchange student who's only staying until the end of the semester. We set out together on the tour bus, bound for the Folk village. On the tour bus we quickly learned that there were no other International students in Korean class like us. Though it was technically a bus of mostly foreigners, those foreigners were about 15 Chinese students. Including the 6 or so real Koreans, the common language on the bus was Korean. In short, we were taken by surprise when asked in Korean to introduce ourselves to the rest of the bus...in Korean. The bus itself was equipped with a microphone, making it more embarrassing (more on the microphone later...).




We swallowed our surprise and fear and braced for a 14 hour day in nothing but Korean. Our first stop on the bus was the folk village, a Renaissance Festival of sorts. Except not imaginary. Or hokey. The village was set up in sections, some from JoSeon and some from Shilla dynasty with a small section dedicated to the large Jeju island off the southern coast of Korea. All employees dressed as though they were from the respective time periods, and there were houses representative of each class and occupation, shows in the traditional manner of old Korea, food available only at the time, and seminars about basket weaving and the like. The complex was huge, intricate, and well thought out. The village provided pamphlets and many signs in English, so we weren't entirely in the dark. The only performance we were able to catch was the tightrope walker, but that was so cool. We tasted many traditional cookies, including one made of honey that was hardened, stretched to the thinness of hair, coated in flour, wrapped in bundles around diced nuts, and chilled. Like ancient cotton candy plus nuts. Delicious.

Oh, by the way: the facial hair has returned temporarily for several reasons. x=My razor is officially worthless, a=I haven't found the energy to buy a new razor, b=I don't want to spend the money, m=male. So, f{H}=x*[(a+b)/m]. The 'H' means hairy.

Our next stop was a bathroom break outside the gates to the president's house. Though I would have really liked to tour the Blue House (named for it's distinctive roof), I had a repeat of the National Assembly tour disappointment. We got a drive by look at the building through some trees.




The real stop was the nearby GyeongBok Palace, the seat of the JoSeon dynasty. This place was so massive that it was impossible not to get lost. The complex consists of 330 buildings, making it the largest of the Five Grand Palaces constructed during the JoSeon era. It was originally built in the late 1300's only to be tore down by Japanese invasion in 1592. After years of neglect, a later JoSeon king returned the palace to it's former glory. Of course, Korea had to watch it be destroyed again in 1910 during the beginning of Japanese colonization. Since the Japanese took no pictures of the palace before they tore it down, scholars have struggled to recreate the all but ten buildings that were left standing in the 50's. The palace may never be restored perfectly, but there are many things about it that were interesting all the same. One of the most impressive things was the royal throne room, the ceiling of which had to have been at least four stories above the ground. On the roof of every building are dragon head statues for protection~every building, that is, except the sleeping chambers of the king and queen, since the king was considered the dragon incarnate. Another interesting building + legend was the Foreign Emissary Entertainment Complex. Lifted up on 16 pillars and in the middle of a lotus flower lake, the building was designated expressly for partying with diplomats. Legend has it that one year, when the lake was drained for cleaning, a statue was discovered at the bottom. After having removed the statue, the kingdom suffered disasters and hardships. After replacing the original with a replica, the disasters subsided.

In the back of the Palace complex, the city has placed the Korean Folk Museum, more of a series of replicas and recreations than an actual museum but still very educational. My personal favorite was the Plow Distribution Chart, which showed different styles of plow and the region of Korea in which it was employed. The museum also had several miniatures of Korean cities, pottery techniques, traditional festivals, and palaces. There were also several small artifacts and paintings, but nothing as impressive as the National Central Museum two days before.




After leaving the palace behind, we went for a traditional meal in InSaDong, the historical district of the city. Naturally, like the lunch that I forgot to mention and the tickets to these locations and the whole bus ride, the meal was free. We left InSaDong and headed for our final destination; the Traditional Art Performance. Sadly there was no photography of any kind allowed in the theatre, but we were able to take pictures of ourselves in ancient Korean garb while waiting for the show. I am a king, Alexis is a queen, and MiSun has on a wedding HanBok. The show started off with a performance by the folk musicians, a sound unlike anything I'd ever heard before. It was more akin to 12 tone Schoenberg modern music than to the sound in Europe during the same time. After that, a woman came out and sang a story (difficult if you don't speak fluent Korean), but the next act made up for everything. Seven women, each with three drums, were positioned on stage. One drum was behind them and the other two were on their left and right, all three tambourine sized and chest level. These women proceeded to bust out this incredible choreographed dance/drum concert for the next ten minutes. How they remembered every complex pattern and move over that long song is beyond me, but not one mistake was made and all seven of them smiled the entire time. These chicks were so awesome. Watch this substitute video I found on youtube:




After them, five guys came out and one-upped the whole thing. Each guy had a percussion instrument and a long ribbon on his hat. These men ribbon danced with their head, played complicated rhythms, and did spinning acrobatic dances all at the same time.




And as for the mysterious microphone on the bus, it just so happened that we were on a karaoke bus. Where there should have been a rear-view mirror there was a flat screen TV, the lights would turn off and rainbow lights would come on, and the microphone would go from normal to echo mode. We sang karaoke on the way back to the school! For free!! How cool was this day!!! I saw and learned so much, and all I paid for was a souvenir piece of calligraphy and the chance to wear the outfit before the folk performance. How did we get so lucky?? I'm still trying to figure it out, but it was hands down the coolest day I've ever spent paying for absolutely nothing!