Gyeongbokgung Palace

To celebrate national Hangul day (Korean Alphabet/Language Day), I headed north of Seoul to Insa-dong and visited Gyeongbokgung Palace with some friends.  This was the main royal palace of the the Joseon dynasty and it was build in 1395.  It was almost entirely burned down and destroyed during the Japanese invasion of the 1590's.  There is still some major bad blood between the countries. The massive palace, that sits between two mountains, has since been restored.
Ruling families always prided themselves in education and it was here the the king sought to create a language that everyone in his country could learn.  At the time the national language was Chinese which was/is extremely difficult to master.  The result was Hangul and the further result was another long weekend!

Enter through the forbidden gate, one of four gates.

Pay about $3.50 and enter through the next one!

We luckily walked right into the beginning of a free english tour that lasted about an hour... I wish I remembered everything this woman said.  She was funny, charming and amazing.

 

My friends :) ! Kiara (kiki), Gabrielle, Mike and Rebecca!

Insadong is a really cool place!  Famous for art, shopping and dumplings (MON-DOO) !  - Kiki took us to a hole in the wall place were we devoured our weight in doughy goodness.  

Success.

Update!

Everyone I talk to I exclaim how I can't believe how fast time is flying.  We've been living and working in Bundang just shy of SEVEN months now.  I'm still finding this insane.  The weeks are flying by in the blink of an eye. Our year contract will be up before we know it.

I think time passing so quickly has a lot to do with just how awesome our lives are.  I contribute this largely to our jobs.  Never have I had a job that I really loved (or ultimately didn't dread going to some days).  I feel fortunate to wake up evey(week)day and earn money doing something I actually like.  I feel even more fortunate to finally have every single beautiful weekend off!
Plus the kids are pretty hilarious.

Halloween was... different.  Definitely deserved my wine after that day.  The kids were allowed to bring a friend to class.  Add candy to the situation and it was insane!  Very fun, very exhausting.  Halloween isn't celebrated here, its totally a western thing.  So as for buying decorations/costumes it was very difficult.  Students got creative.  Particularly one of Ben's students who wrote the creepy letter pictured below to hang on their classroom door. Also the wizard in the ski mask.

Lina's Wedding! 

We worked with Lina for about 3 months when we first got here.  She was very shy but very sweet.  She got engaged and quit HR to move back to her hometown to prepare for the wedding, as is customary...I think?  Everyone in the office go invited to the wedding and we were super excited to go.  Everyone kept telling us to calm down that Korean weddings are not anything like western weddings and that they aren't necessarily fun.  Well Lina looked AMAZING! A very beautiful bride.  Upon arrival we paid our dues. Handed over an envelope of cash to the Brides side (which they counted and recorded in front of us).  The amount was expected to at least cover dinner expenses.  Then we went to find the bride where she sat for 2 hours allowing all guest to have pictures taken with her!

Then as the wedding before crowd exited the hall, Lina's wedding party entered.  This is what I found the strangest....nothing was personalized.  Straight business. Out one wedding, in the next.  It was a very noisy room and even if I could understand the ceremony I could barely hear it!  People just chatted the whole time...EXCEPT for when 2 friends sang songs during which was excellent.  They cut a fake cake right up on stage then the whole thing ended with everyone gathering for a photo.  

Afterwards, everyone went upstairs to enjoy a buffet dinner while the Bride with the Groom and his family performed the Korean ceremony somewhere in the building.  They then joined their guests near the end of the meal.  There was no head table, no dancing, no music.  There was beer though.  The whole thing was over very quickly.

Ben is in the championships with his football team this weekend!  His team is a lot of fun and he/we usually go out with them most Saturday nights after their games.  Like 2 weekends ago when we went to an all you can eat meat BBQ restaurant and stayed there for nearly 4 hours...

He has also really been getting into screen golf and he's now joined a league that has a monthly tournament. 

As for me, I found a place not far that sells real caesars and I bowled a turkey on Monday night.

I have a load more things to post that we have done in the last month but I'll split it into another post soon, promise! 

LOTS OF LOOOOOOOVE ALWAYS 

Day Trippin'

Ben is busy most weekends with football Saturdays and baseball Sundays and I've been trying to keep if fresh with some excursions. 

Namsangol Hanok Village (Traditional Korean Folk Village)
Here I got to see traditional Korean homes and various ways of life.  Similar to Doon Heritage Crossroads at home in Kitchener.

Watched a Teakwood demonstration.

Re-learned to write my name.

Dragon Hill Spa Resort

I stayed overnight at this jimjilbang in Seoul to try and get an early start for a market in the morning.  Both Ben and I are huge fans of jimjilbangs and we have heard fabulous things about this one.  Its one of the largest and nicest.  I treated myself to a body scrub and soaked most of the night away in the different tubs, pools, saunas and spa rooms.  No clothes allowed thus no pictures allowed.

I would have had a better time if I hadn't gone alone.  There were far more unisex (clothed) options.  Ie. arcade, virtual golf, outdoor pools (bathing suites necessary), restaurants and bars.  I mostly stayed in the ladies only part aside from dinner.

Noryangjin Fish Market - The biggest fish market in Seoul
At this market you can seriously buy anything that comes out of the ocean.  I cannot describe the sheer number of fish in this building. It was unbelievable...as were some of the smells.  Obviously, everything is incredibly fresh, if not still alive.  I will definitely be returning as this market is also famous for its numerous restaurants on the second floor where you are supposed to bring your purchases to be prepared... often this means just cut up into sashimi. 

My only purchase was a kilo of fresh mussels for 2,000 won (about $2).  First batch were steamed in beer, soju (Korean Liquor), tomato, onion, hot peppers, garlic and basil.  Second batch was much the same but with a bunch of curry powder! 

Seoul International Firework Festival

Last Saturday four countries, including Canada, competed in a firework show.  I love fireworks.  The people I went with surprising did not.  Unfortunately, with the huge crowds and the lack of enthusiasm from my peers we didn't stay long. I still enjoyed myself from this distance, haha.

After this blog post, I've decided I definitely need a selfie stick.  This blog needs more selfies. Everyone else is doing it...