Gyeongbokgung

Ahhh, another Saturday! What a wonderful day Saturday is! I left for Seoul this morning around 9AM and headed off to Gyeongbokgung, a palace just north of Seoul. It was constructed in 1394...but like most other historic sites in Korea, it has been destroyed by the Japanese 2 or 3 times. The pavilion that is surrounded by water on the west side of the palace (called the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion) appears on the back of the Korean 10,000 Won note. One of the most amazing things at Gyeongbokgung is the changing of the guard ceremony which occurs several times a day. Cheong Wa Dae...the Korean President's "Blue House," sits to the rear of Gyeongbokgung and on the original grounds of the ancient palace. It was established as the Korean president's residence in 1948. Gyeongbokgung also houses the National Folk Museum. When the Japanese occupied Korea, they constructed their governor-general's house in the middle of Gyeongbokgung to show their superiority over the Korean people. After the Japanese left, the Koreans used this building as their national museum, but it was finally torn down in 1993 to restore the palace to its original glory. I can't remember which pictures I posted from when I went to Independence Hall, but pieces of the governor-general building were sent to Independence Hall (after it was destroyed) and I did get some pictures, I will post one with my pictures from today. One thing I thought was cute was that there were a bunch of groups of Korean kids who were with their hogwans (learning institutes like where I work, they have them for math, science, music, etc. Koreans are hard core with education) for a day trip I assume. Well...I guess their teachers assigned them projects to talk to English speaking people because I was approached three times today by kids...it was cute, they were all really nervous and said they just wanted to ask me a few questions if I didn't mind. They asked very basic stuff like "Where are you from?" "What is your favorite food in Korea?" etc. I am amazed by the talent from some of these kids...I have tried to learn just a LITTLE Korean and it is hard to learn another language, much less when you are like 9 or 10.

Seoul is an amazing city and I always enjoy being there...it is fascinating. After leaving Gyeonbokgung I went to Insadong...it is a cool place but there are so many Miguks (Americans) and for some reason when I am here, I feel weird and almost uncomfortable seeing other white native speakers, regardless of where they are from. Anyway...Insadong is a cool place, tons of people and just some shops and basically you can buy about anything in that area you might want. I just walked around for a good while sweating...I never really buy anything...just look. I don't think anyone can have buyers remorse more than me, and if they do, I truly feel sorry for them! HA HA! I swear...at this rate I won't have anything from Korea when I come home...and I'll wish I had bought more stuff...I have no idea why I am like that so bad...but anyway, that's a whole other post! :)

This week in general was OK I guess...I picked up a summer class of beginners and so that was interesting. I had a chance to go with the missionaries on Friday night, it was a lot of fun.