Beopjusa & Liberation Day
This week has been a good one so far (not that I have really had any bad ones yet). This past three day weekend was great; I did lots of stuff during those days and got a substantial amount of much-needed sleep. There's nothing better than waking up and feeling well-rested for once...something I don't usually feel very often, being a borderline insomniac and all. Ah well...but yes, the weekend was good.
Let's see...I already reported on Friday and Saturday...
Sunday I was contemplating taking a trip somewhere out of town, just so I could get back to nature for a while and breathe fresh air within an abundance of green grass and trees. So come Sunday morning I hopped on a bus to the nearest inter-city terminal and boarded another bus that would take me to the province of Chungcheonbuk-do which is home to Songnisan Park, my ultimate destination (about 3 1/2 hours south of Seoul). I had wanted to hike around the entire park but only had time to go see the Buddhist temple located in the very center (Beopjusa). After I toured around the temple grounds I had dinner at a nearby restaurant, walked back to the bus terminal and headed home. The temple itself was magnificent; it is host to one of the largest Buddha statues in eastern Asia. As always, I took lots of pictures (of course).
Monday I just decided to hop on a bus and see where it would take me. I boarded a bus in the direction of downtown and got off when I spotted some traditional Korea buildings up on a hill along the road. It turns out that I had happened upon Namsangol Hanok Village which is a small park that features traditional Korean houses and crafts. I only walked around there for a little while since it was rather hot that day, after which I again started walking back downtown towards Jongno (the main downtown area). Once I started getting closer I realized that a lot of the streets were closed off and there was a ton of people gathering around City Hall. I had forgotten that that day was Korean National Liberation Day (kind of like our 4th of July), and they were holding lots of festivities downtown in honor of the day.
I walked past at least two make-shift stages where performers were either playing or getting ready to play, as well as people setting up fireworks for later that evening. By that time I was starving so I decided to try this little Japanese restaurant that I came across right near the Jogyesa BuddhistTemple that I visited a few weeks ago. Compared to the taste and prices of Japanese food back home, this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant was fantastic! The food was awesome and there was nothing on the menu that was over 8,000 won ($8)...gotta love Korea. After dinner and a bit of reading (I finished Harry Potter and am now reading 100 Years of Solitude) I once again walked back to Myeong-dong and hiked up the stairs to the top of Mt. Namsan (for about the billionth time). Not wanting to stick around for the crowds to disperse from the festivities I quickly high-tailed it back down the mountain and grabbed the next bus home.
And that was the end of my weekend... Next weekend I'm going to take a day trip to Olympic Park which is located in eastern Seoul. It's boasted to be one of the world's top five sculpture parks so it should be really cool. I also wanna visit Lotte World sometime soon, but I think I might save that for when Adam or Josh are here just cause it's more something you do with a group of people, not on your own.
Oh! Also, my friend Joe (military guy) should be arriving here in Seoul either today or tomorrow cause he's being stationed here for the next month or so...so I'm thinking another night of soju might be in order. I hope he doesn't just wanna hang out in Itaewon the whole time though. Boring... But anyway, he's supposed to call when he gets in town, or so Mags said. It'll be so weird seeing someone from St. Louis over here though, cause it seems like this place has become so detached from that of my life on St. Louis. I don't think it'll fit seeing someone from home here, but I guess I'll soon find out.
And as usual...
downtown Gangnam
the Korean countryside
in the heart of the Songnisan Mountains
ah...the green open spaces of Songnisan
the gate to Beopjusa Temple
almost looks like Montauk doesn't it?
piles of rocks near the temple (for good luck I think)
the inner gate to the temple
another one of those big guardian statues
a pagoda
the very tall statue of Buddha
the bell and drum
a monk performing some kind of ritual
one of the many statues of Buddha within the temple buildings
a carving of Buddha on a cliff wall
a strange thing to see for sale on the grounds of a Buddhist temple...
pretty...
the view of the mountains from the park
the Korean village I came across yesterday
a woman pounding rice for rice cakes
inside one of the houses
the exterior
a serene shot of the garden
the front of City Hall, plastered with Korean flags in honor of Liberation Day
one of the concerts downtown
the other concert in front of Namdaemun Gate
downtown this evening
Imagine that...the Venus de Milo here in Seoul, right next to a Family Mart convenience store.
posted by Jen at
11:47 PM
3 Comments:
I think you've got it backward, you're the lucky one. A new country and culture to explore. New friends and experiences just waiting to be had...
I'm still waiting for your mailing addy, I do believe there is a birthday coming up...:P
Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!
I have a dragon figure site/blog. It pretty much covers dragon figure related stuff.
Come and check it out if you get time :-)
Korea.net blue kimchi
Contrary to a cool reception at home in the wake of a recent ruckus of its tarnished image, kimchi is gaining popularity with Americans and other places abroad following a spate of news reports to the effect that the traditional Korean dish has an inherent preventative effect on bird flu, the fear of which is now gripping the world.
It was last March that kimchi's curative effect on avian influenza began to be known well outside of the country, when the British public broadcaster BBC aired the results of a research team led by Seoul National University professor Kang Sa-wook.
Quoting the team's test results, BBC said of the 13 chickens stricken with the influenza, 11 had shown telling curative effects after being administered kimchi extracts.
Back in 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) broke out in Asia, there was a ‘kimchi rage' in China and Southeast Asia on the strength of reports that the Korea-originated pickle was working in heading off the epidemic.
In recent weeks, the American media were into handling kimchi's efficacy in treating avian flu.
The ABC network, South Carolina's largest state newspaper, the Murtle Beach Sun News, Centre Daily Times of Pennsylvania, and some 100 media outlets across the United States reported kimchi's curative effects on the epidemic.
The ABC reported on Tuesday that with the interest in kimchi growing in America, sauerkraut, the U.S. version of kimchi, is also enjoying a boom. Sauerkraut, a pickle of German origin made from shredded cabbage fermented in brine, is normally inserted into hot dogs or sandwiches.
Journal Times, a publication from Racine, Wisconsin, reported scientists speculated that the bacteria which were detected in kimchi, help cure avian influenza, adding that the same strains were also discovered in sauerkraut.
Kim Jae-soo, the agricultural attaché to the Korean embassy in Washington, D.C., said that contrary to the perception of misgivings Koreans have at home, the American press has given an intense coverage of kimchi's curative effects on the poultry epidemic.
He noted that although the U.S. media had not paid significant attention to kimchi when it gained popularity as a curative to SARS in Southeast Asia, it is watching carefully this time around.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Korea Agro-Trade Corp. on Thursday (Nov. 10), despite the recent unsavory episode involving tainted kimchi, Korea's exports of the item amounted to 26,275 tons in the first 10 months of the year, up 81 tons from a year earlier.
In particular, shipments to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia have surged partly due to Hallyu, or the Korean cultural wave, prompted by Daejanggeum, a Korean TV drama aired in those countries. In the January-October period, exports to Taiwan totaled 561 tons, up 72 percent from a year before. Hong Kong and Malaysia saw their imports increase by 15 and 150 percent respectively.
Besides, prospects for suspended kimchi shipments to Japan to resume were bright as the Japanese authorities were about to end their investigation into the Korean products soon. About 93 percent of Korea's total exports of 34,827 tons last year went to Japan.
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