OUR TRIP TO KOREA: Mummies, buses, bugs, kimchi...and more

Now that our China trip is over and the kids' brief summer vacation is over, we've settled back into our regular routine here. Jin and Lili are back at "yuchiwan" (kindergarten) and Deb and I have returned to language school. We only go 3 days a week, so our off-days we put in a good run at the riverside park, catch up on groceries, laundry and other chores. As well, we have been working in earnest to arrange a weekend get-a-way or two out of the city, preferably to one or both east and west coasts. But it has been a little tough. August is the height of summer vacation season here, so rooms are expensive and scarce, and of course, our lack of language skills (and some confidence) makes it difficult to make inquiries and bookings.

We are close to lining up a couple of short trips and are focussing on doing some serious touring in September. We've just booked a day-trip to a limestone cave in a national park in central Korea this coming weekend. We've also booked a 6-day guided tour to southern Korea for early September. This tour will cover a lot of different things: scenery, mountains, seaside, countyside, ruins, temples, history, food. Will tell you more about it closer to our travel date.

So last weekend was another low-key stay-in-the-city kind of weekend. Saturday's forecast was looking rainy so an indoor activity was in order. A friend had given us tickets for a special Egyptian exhibit at the National Museum, so that seemed to fit the bill. The only trouble was, lots of other families in Seoul seemed to have the same idea. Did I mention it was the height of school vacation? So there were line-ups...line-ups.....and more line-ups. The girls did get to see a real "live" mummy, so the trip was a success, although a bit more stressful than we had originally envisaged. Here are a couple photos of the line-ups and J and L with some Egyptian characters. They didn't allow taking photos inside, so sorry I have no photos to show you of the mummy or any of the other interesting artifacts we saw.

Here is the gang on the bus. And here is about 1/10th of the line-up waiting to get into the exhibit.

Another shot of the crowds on their way in and our girls with their new Egyptian friends.

We also had some fun getting to the museum and then back home. We thought we'd try out the highly praised bus system. It is more complicated than the subway system however, so we have only taken a few short bus rides so far. We planned our route using an interactive website (which is also in English!). You just type in your location and destination and it shows you what route to take and where to transfer if necessary. So after researching our route, we caught the little local bus just down the street from our place and rode it to the next neighbourhood. The problem came when we arrived at the transfer point indicated on the website. There was a sign there in Korean saying something about the bus we were waiting for. Luckily someone noticed our confusion and told us that the bus route had changed. The one we were waiting for no long goes by the museum. He directed us down the street to another bus stop and wait for a different bus. Just a small glitch. Better get that website updated! Thank goodness for Good Samaritans.

On our way home we decided to take the subway - a little more walking to and from the stations, but at least you can count on the subway.....or at least we thought so. We just missed a train heading our way and while we waited for the next one were informed that there was an electrical problem on the line and the next train wasn't coming for a while (actually it was announced in Korean and someone translated it for us). This was our first delay on the subway in over 5 months of almost daily subway riding. Good record, but we were having a bad transportation day. So it was back to the bus for us. We took one as far as the transfer point and walked home from there. Picked up some ice cream and stopped by the playground so the girls could have some fun. Whew, what a day.

Sunday was nice, so we decided to go for a leisurely hike in Namsan Park. This time we walked from Namsangol (the small park with traditional buildings) in the northeast part of the park around the east end of the mountain, to the southern part, near the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Our ending spot is where we started our last hike here, just up the hill from our neighbourhood. By walking around the park we avoided a strenuous hike up the mountain, but got some exercise in this very pleasant forested city park. We also packed some homemade gimbap and drinks for a picnic lunch. Mmmmm good! It was sunny and hot, but the path was shaded for the most part. We had some fun "dressing up" on the way into Namsangol. I got to try out a traditional Korean backpack. Good for hauling wood, but I think I'll stick with my Roots pack for city touring.

The cicadas were out in full buzzing force. One even landed (with Daddy's help) on Jin's hat! We also found a bird "sand-bath" along the path. The trails are amazing in this part of Namsan Park. Soft rubberized(?) pavement with lanes for bicyles and walking. There is even a visually impaired section with braille signs. Very nice.

After the park, we walked home down through the very upscale neighbourhood of "upper Itaewon". There are some very large houses and walled compounds in this area. Apparently though there are even tonier neighbourhoods north of downtown on the flanks of Bukhansan. We'll have to check that out another time.

One afternoon this week, after class, Deb and I explored the newly renovated Gwanghwamun Square. The square is a section of the boulevard that runs southward from Gwanghwamun Gate (that is being renovated) at Gyeongbokgung Palace, into the heart of modern Seoul. Major government buildings are located along this square, as well as the beautiful Sejong Centre for the Performing Arts, the sixties-vintage-ugly American Embassy and other notable buildings and sites.

The focal point in the square is an imposing statue of Admiral Yi Sun Sin, a naval hero from Korea's 16th century battles with Japan. The square had been under construction since before we arrived this spring and was finally unveiled last week. They are still working on a statue of King Sejong the Great which will be installed at the northern end of the square. One of the most amazing things about the square that caught our eye, was the amount of stone used. The entire area is covered in white granite. Natural stone, especially white granite, is used extensively in Korea (well at least in Seoul) for curbs, subway stairs and siding on lots of buildings. Another super feature at the square, especially good for this time of year, is the large in-ground fountain. There are a number of these around Seoul. The kids love it! Check out the photos...

Even big kids like the fountain. And here a man studies the historical events carved into the black stone in the shallow waterway that flows along side the square.

Sejong Center for Performing Arts and the US Embassy.

View out new subway exit and view north towards Gwanghwamun Gate and Bukhansan.

Although the summer has been generally sunny and hot here, there has been the odd rain storm. There was a big one when we were away in China which dumped 25 cm (that's right cm!) in the Seoul area. This week it rained solidly for 2 days. Don't know what the total amount was, but it didn't seem too heavy. Unlike the typhoon in Taiwan and southern China. So the rainy season hasn't really materialized here, at least not as it usually does, but summer is not over yet. Hope the rains don't come during our planned trips.

That's all for now. Talk to you next after our cave trip.

Derek, Deb, Jin and Lili

p.s. Hot news item! Our girls are now officially kimchi-lovers! And here is a photo to prove it. And yes they are using chopsticks too! Since we returned from China they've been eating kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage) rinsed in water so it's not too spicy. Although Jin has been eating it straight up, with a milk chaser. Lili says "Daddy I love kimchi!". I guess our work here is almost done...;)