The zoo, shopping, language classes, and more shopping...

It's been a busy and exciting week. I feel like I have truly mastered the subway system here in Seoul and have had the opportunity to make transfers onto most of the major lines. What I've learned is that our line, Line 6, is the quietest one of them all and there is always room to sit where the other lines like 2, 4, and 5 are steadily busy - no matter what day or time. Many an older person has taken mercy on Michaela and offered her a seat next to them. It's so sweet to hear her say "thank you" in Korean - "gham ham sa mida" (roughly in English).

On Sunday we ventured to Seoul Grand Park which is a zoo, botanical garden, and amusement park complex all in one huge area. Since Korea is so hilly (small mountains in this part of the country), everything is built up a mountain. So, on this day we decided to take a chair lift ride up to the entrance to the zoo which was about half-way up the hill. The pictures I'm posting below are from our visit to the zoo starting at the entrance, up the chair lift, and then inside the zoo. This place is so big, we didn't even have the time or energy to visit the botanical garden or amusement park. These will have to wait for another day.

The website for the zoo says it is the 10th largest in the world and it did seem massive. There was an extensive monkey/ape exhibit where they had lemurs running about free in an area that we were able to walk through. That was interesting. We also saw the seal and dolphin show. It was cute, nowhere near the caliper of the water shows at Sea World, but the kids and adults alike had a fun time. Poor Michaela says as we're leaving, "Mom we got jipped again, the whole thing was spoken in Korean." I have to consistently remind her that we live in Korea and they speak their native tongue.

Speaking of Michaela. She is a hit in Korea. We can not take this child anywhere in the city where middle aged and older people don't come up to her and speak so sweetly to her, or rub her cheek, or pat her head, or simply smile at her. The older folks love to talk to her in Korean and I can't wait until I'm able to understand to translate for her and them. At least we know one of the members of the Manni family is welcome here.

We finally made it to one of the large markets called Dongdaemun the other day. (I went running and skipping the whole way and my family went dragging their heels and groaning. In the end though, we all left with purchases and smiles on our faces.) I have to say I have never seen or experienced anything like this in the US. It was shopping heaven, nirvana. I literally wanted to get down on bended knee and thank God for making this place possible. I didn't even care when the sales ladies all looked at me and held up "largee" clothes - because by Asian standards I am a giant. Really it's true. There is Asian large and American large. I can tell you with confidence that an Asian large is maybe an American small/medium.

So here is how a Korean traditional market is set-up - first, it's insane and madness. There was one whole building 5 floors high and about 500 vendors deep, which we accidentally stumbled in, where they sell nothing but clothing subsidiary goods - buttons, ribbon, zippers, sparkly jewels, etc.. (Let me say, that if you are a BeDazzler fan - you would have been having the big "O" here. I have never seen so many jewels to put on clothing in my life.) If you want to have your own bed set made, you can. If you want custom curtains, not a problem. If you want to design your own clothes, yep can do that too. And the best part, the prices are wholesale. Yep, wholesale about 80% off retail. In fact, many of the Russian and central Asian companies import their goods from this area so they buy wholesale here too. The wholesalers buy at night, after hours, and us retailers buy during the day. This place is only closed on Mondays the rest of the week it is open for 22 hours per day. What a glorious and crazy madness.

So the place where we retailers can buy clothes and housewares are located in individual stalls along the road or in large "mall like" complexes. They are basically, lots of individual vendors all under one huge roof (several stories tall)  selling all kinds of stuff. The word of the day kiddies is: haggle, haggle, haggle. So, when the calculator comes out, you have to start the negotiating process and be prepared to walk away. It is more then likely that another vendor a stall or two down will be selling the same item and be willing to deal with you. The vendors here expect you to haggle with them - it's part of the shopping process. Needless to say, I loved this place and see myself coming here again and again to buy clothes and accessories. You name it, it is here! Mike told me he expects me to come home with at least 40 pairs of shoes - DONE! I have a task and I must complete it! I am an overachiever after all. BTW: the clothing items located in this area are also about 50% - 80% off retail. We of course, were getting the foreigner prices, which weren't quite that good, but I figure over time as I learn Korean I will really be able to haggle with the vendors. Now you all are coming to a true understanding of why I'm so motivated to learn Korean.

Today I had my second Korean class and am really enjoying it. I've met two people who live in my neighborhood who are also in class. One of my classmates has a young son Michaela's age and they'll be in school at YISS together. It's really nice now that we are beginning to see some of the same faces on the street and recognize our neighbors and fellow expats. I'm feeling somewhat timid with my Korean classes, but was able to read a sign today in Korean (the word was Dim Sum). Our teacher is teaching us vowels and consonants in small doses and then having us read one and two syllable words. It is daunting, but a lot of fun. From what I learned, I can already write Michaela's name in Korean. That is pretty cool. I think I was more impressed with it then she was! I'm practicing with the subway signs and street signs too. Since most of Mike's emails from work come in Korean, I'm hopeful in a few months I'll be able to help him translate what's important and what's not. We'll see. Right now, I'm enjoying the journey of learning this language - just glad we're not in Japan - I may not have the same verve!

So here are our pictures. I hope you enjoy them and I'll do my best with descriptions of each. I'm having troubles getting videos to upload, but have been able to get them on FB. So any of you that have a FB account, you will be able to see the videos there and I'm hoping to get the video glitch worked out on the blog very soon.

Peace,
Stephanie

Walking up the hill to the apartment

Our local convenience store - FamilyMarts are popular in Korea

Heading down the hill and out of UN Village. This is just one of the apartment buildings at the end of our "street"

Another example of an apartment building in our neighborhood - kinda European flair here

This is the official UN Village guard post. I've so far gotten one of the guards to start smiling and saying "anyeong sayeo" "Good Morning" when we walk by.

This is the Mexican Embassy. I love it because it's the only embassy with a big old banner out front! Gotta leave it to Mexico to do it big, bold and proud!

 This is the view looking down our street after you leave the UN Village complex.

One more shot of our street. There are tons and tons of shops in such a small area. Everything we need is  in one city block on both sides of the street.

 I took this shot because it shows how neat and clean everything is here. And most shops have some sort of flowers out front.

This is across the street - more restaurants, picture place, dry cleaner, etc. I haven't counted all of the restaurants in our neighborhood, but I'm going to guess at least 15.

Here is our subway station - Hangangjin - pronounced (Han Gong Jin)

Clean and empty on a Sunday morning.

 A reminder you are in Korea....

Happy on the way to Seoul Grand Park...

Clowning around...

Giving a salute for the 4th of July!

The entrance to Seoul Grand Park

Lots of vendors all along the way into the park. They are all older ladies selling the same things, churros, snails, bugs, gimbap, and fruit

 That would be the snails...

Visors are big sellers here

A monk praying and asking for money

Gotta love it - KFC, Baskin Robbins, 7 Eleven, and Dunkin Doughnuts is everywhere

Fresh squid cooked to order

Michaela and her 1,000 won (about $1.00) fan. We needed it! It was stinking hot and humid!

This pavilion just was out in the water - pretty neat

The countryside around us - we were about 25 minutes outside of central Seoul. There is about another 30 minutes of subway line to the south for the metro area.

This sat in the middle of the botanical garden. It was really big and pretty. I'm not sure of it's function.

A traditional Korean picnic area. And everyone has their shoes off, too.

We see these characters all over town.

 Not sure of the significance of this tree, but it had little pieces of paper with writing on them pinned all over it.

The peanut and me with the flamingos.

Daddy and Michaela with the giraffes.

Two warriors?

Flowers and gardens are everywhere at the Park and really throughout Seoul.

I love the flower displays. They were all over the place here. So very pretty.

That's a big elephant!

It's a croc!

This is a Lion that was given to the Korean Gov't by the Chinese Gov't as a token of appreciation. The Seoul Grand Park is their temporary home until their permanent home in the central part of the city is fully constructed.

Here is the Lioness.

Just loved this picture...

Dongdaemun Gate - this place is awesome!!!

Just one snapshot of Dongdaemun section - I got too caught up in shopping to take lots of photos. When I go back, I'll take a bunch more. This is true Korea.

The kiddo wanted me to take a funny one of her dressed silly. She loves putting underwear on her head. Remind you of anyone?? hmm...

Just some more photos from the museum trip....

My two hams!

This is a 10 story pagoda!

This is a turtle dragon that guarded one of the Joseon empire gates into the City of Seoul. 13th Century.

A replica of one of the gates - we'll be seeing the real thing very soon!

Amazing!

Michaela with a replica of a Joseon Era (13th Century) crown on her head. You should see the real crown! All gold, jade and huge! The earrings royalty used to wear are amazing. Some were as long as a foot.

Mike looking very "kingly" in his crown

One more time - too cute!

Michaela listening to different instrument sounds for traditional Korean music.

Mike banging on a traditional drum!

Michaela banging on a traditional bell/gong.

Digging up the dirt like the ancient farmers

Ride 'em Korean Warrior Girl!

Our little warrior dressed for action!

One more time...

Traditional fair maiden dress - it was actually really hot and heavy

Out on the playground at the museum having some fun with Dad

Here's the playground! Really cute and fun for the kids

One more happy kid shot!

Happy Mom shot

This is a Korean "water fountain". Clean glasses under ultraviolet light in this unit and then go get your water from the dispenser (see next pic). When done, return your stainless steel glass to the dirty pile to be washed and put back in the unit. Great concept. These are all over the place  - at malls, restaurants, food courts. So you know you can always drink clean water for free with your meal.

Watering hole part deux...

Some hamming it up going on again!

Love this photo of my two darlings!

Traditional drums - way cool

Here comes the dragon - even neater!

Love these flowers - too pretty!

One more as we left for the day!

Peace,

Stephanie

A Day at the Korea National Museum

Today was a fun and educational day. It was raining when we awoke, the norm this time of year, so we decided to go touring where we could be mostly inside for the day. So, we picked the National Korea Museum. What a great pick! First of all this entire museum is FREE! And the museum is huge! And it is one 20 minute bus ride from our apartment! And they have a Children's Museum as part of the large museum! And they have awesome walking trails leading to Yongsan Family Park. This museum will be a staple for us, especially in the cold winter months when we are just itching to be out of the apartment. The photos I will post in this blog were all taken outside the museum - it is just beautiful. Green, lush, quiet, clean and so tranquil. We were lucky at this museum because there are english "subtitles" on the signs. We have not been quite so lucky in other places, but today we got english descriptions of the sites we were enjoying - which was great!

On top of offering a world class museum, there are also free outdoor concerts on Saturday afternoons. I have video of the one we saw today that I will post in another blog. Every week there is a different musical theme. Today it was traditional Korean drums, dance, and music. What a treat!

Here is an interesting difference between Korean and American schooling. Korean kids go to school on Saturday. Many Korean children are enrolled in cultural school that is taught on Saturdays. Today at the museum there were probably about 150 kids age 7 - 10 that were broken up into groups of 5-6 with one teacher who was talking to them in great detail about the specific archeological eras detailed in each display case. After the lecture, the students all had workbooks with questions that they were answering while having very lively discussions with each other and their teacher. All the kids were having fun, with big happy smiles on their faces while they were engaged with their instructor and each other. Education is paramount in Korea. Koreans feel that if you are uneducated you are a "beast walking around with clothes on." (Their words, not mine.) I am seeing this all over the place as we have been running into many school groups during our various museum and park travels this past week. Michaela has been engaged in conversation by many young Korean children who are around her same age and are already fluent in english. Joowon tells me that in Korea, school children get 6 weeks off for summer and then 6 weeks off over Christmas - that is it. There are other shorter holidays during the year, but the major breaks are only 6 weeks in duration. All Korean public school children wear uniforms. Each uniform is slightly different based on which school they attend. In observing the total emphasis on education, it is apparent why this country has taken itself from fledgling to the 10th largest economy in the world in just around 30 years.

Another theme that we are noticing in our travels, is the emphasis on military duty, warriors, and warring. There are displays in the various children's museums talking about ancient civilization warfare methods. This mantra of duty and national pride is part of every Korean's life and young children begin hearing this lesson at very young ages. Because of Korea's history, it is apparent why this is so pervasive in their culture. I am really coming to appreciate and admire Koreans pride in their country and their work (no matter how important or menial the work may be). It is woven throughout every aspect of their society. I will write more about this in future blogs.

I hope you all enjoy the photos!

Peace,

Stephanie

This is a covered bridge leading from one of the pavilions at the front of the museum to the walking trail.

These are slippers in front of the pavilion that guests should put on before entering. This is a true asian custom and I love it!

Here are Mike and Michaela wearing their slippers! Cute, huh!

This is the very ornate roof of the pavilion - just beautiful

This is the entrance to the museum looking over the reflecting pool (this place is HUGE)

Here is a snapshot of apartments across the street. Lots of high-rises in Seoul. These are some of the nicer ones. Notice the misty air. That is very normal for this time of year. Overcast, misty, and humid.

This is the first pagoda in the Pagoda Garden.  This one is 7 stories tall!

Michaela drinking from a water fountain. Below the water fountain is a foot bath. This is very common here in Seoul.

Mike and Michaela heading along the path to Dragon Fall

This is Dragon Fall. Very pretty, serene and tranquil.

These are fresh raspberries! Growing wild along the walk!

This is a sitting lion lantern that used to guard one of the gates coming into the city of Seoul. I believe it was created in the 1400's. Artifacts here are so old.

Michaela and me at Dragon Fall.

Wild pheasant were just roaming around the Pagoda Garden. It was so neat. I had to really tiptoe to get close to this one!

Michaela at the Reflecting Pool in front of the museum. It was like glass - not one ripple

Here is a shot of the first pavilion in front of the museum from across the reflecting pool. You can see all of those tall high rise apartments just behind it.

Photos! Finally!

Here is a shot of Mike and Michaela hiking up our long hill on the way home after a fun and busy day at the Korea National Museum! Our building is the one on the right with all of the windows. We live on the 5th floor, which is the very top! We have an excellent view of Itaewon and Hannam-dong sections of Seoul. When it quits raining, it's the monsoon season now, I'll take some daytime and night time photos and video for you all to enjoy!

Peace,
Stephanie