Gwacheon National Science Museum

On Saturday, we met friends at the Gwacheon National Science Museum. It's really close to where we live and it is fabulous. I cannot wait to go again. It was so big with so much space for active, wild kids. It was the perfect thing to do on a cold and gloomy day. For grownups, there is a coffee shop inside--real coffee shop with espresso, cafe au lait, etc.--that helped perk me up after an early morning writing sesssion and a cleaning commitment at Dahin's school. Plus, I can't get over the fact that museums in Korea are sooooooo affordable. As they should be. For our whole family it cost under $10 (boys were free). They have a planetarium, which we weren't able to check out but will for sure on our next trip, and many awesome exhibits. After attempting to snap some photos of the kids inside (Oliver, above, is the only one who cooperated), we made a b-line to the dinosaur area outside.

The dinosaur area was really cool--many,many life-size figures of dinosaurs, bridges, hills, tunnels, and a playground, which brings me to another reason I love this museum: at least three spots outside (that we saw) where kids could play and explore.

The first indoor exhibit area we caught was the traditional Korean science area. There were all kinds of exibits from traditional house-building to food storage, maps to astronomy. Below, Dahin finds her doppelganger in the astronomy exhibit.

Ronan is in love with outer space. The boys did a whole discovery section on outer space. They did all kinds of assignments, learned about their 'signs,' and a song about Cassiopeia ('oh, caaaas-sio-peeiaaa..."). Ronan was giving me a little lesson on 14th century astronomy in which the earth was king and square and the universe was round (or something like that). It was great to see him so excited about something.

Oliver's a little map freak, so he enjoyed walking across this old map of east asia.

During potty breaks, Dahin demonstrates that her phone can be a constant attention-grabber; even in a museum (yay).

The natural history exhibit area was just awesome. Being a failed paleatologist (ok, I never really tried at that one, but still loved the idea when I was a kid) I was like a kid in a candy store. I walked around with Oliver and kept trying to read the signs to him as he said, "Let's go!" I also made him pose with many of the dino-bone figures, which, after a few times he refused to do.

With all these cool bones, fossils, and sharp teeth, the computer is what caught his attention. The museum includes several computer areas in each exhibit area. Perfect for kids who like to punch buttons.

Tired of me asking him to pose in front of dino-bones, Oliver took my photo in front of a woolly mammoth that looks like it's about to stampede me (a little catharsis, little buddy?)

The natural history section also included an exhibit on the natural wildlife of the peninsula. The kids loved seeing the toads, turtles, plants and stuff, but what they really loved were the sharks. They weren't big sharks, but good enough for the kids to yell, "Sharks!" and hang out by the tank for a good while. Dahin, below, snapped a multitude of photos at all the exhibits.

The natural history exhibit included "Dr. Fish." I'm sure this exists elsewhere, but it's very popular in Korea. There's a restaurant somewhere in Seoul called Dr. Fish--you stick your feet in water as you eat and these little fish come and nibble off your dead skin cells. Sounds gross, but people seem to like it. We got to stick our fingers in little side tanks and let the fish 'tickle' us.

Above, Dahin ponders how she can rule the world (mwa-ha-ha!) as she spins the globe. Below, the kids stop off at a hand sanitizing station. These were all over the museum as well.

There was a great kids area with lots of hands-on exhibits with water play, stationary bikes that measured energy, music, art, homes (including this little fun house that helped kids learn about gravity and the plumming system). Jack exited the children's area early because he said, " It smells like sinchong flu (H1N1)." He's so funny. We stayed for a while, but it was pretty musty and had that 'kid' smell. Didn't ruin our fun, though.

After we left the museum, we headed to a nearby roasted duck place. It was so, so good. The dinner was relaxing and cozy.

It was, obviously, still Christmas at the roasted duck restaurant (below). I liked the atmosphere--felt like we were on vacation in a mountain get away. When you head outside after you eat, there are sweet potatoes roasting in a stove and you can see the ducks roasting in the massive roaster. There were rides on the side of the building for the kids. They had fun, but at one point, Oliver forgot where we were (around the corner eating sweet potatoes) and thought we had left him and his friend and Ronan. Ronan ran and got me to say that Oliver was crying and when I went to check, he and his friend Leon were gone! I heard a sound coming from the parking lot and Leon was running toward us with Oliver, in tears, running behind him. Apparently, Oliver had panicked and ran into the parking lot; Leon had followed him to get him to stop. Good thing Ronan came to get me. I have to remember that about Oliver--even when we're at a playground, I have to constantly remind him where I am and check on him. Even if I see him; if he doesn't see me, he freaks out and cries. It doesn't happen as often now that he's entering big boy status, but the duck restaurant incident reminded me that it can still happen. Poor little guy. Glad his brother and friend were looking out for him.

Once your meal is done, you can head downstairs and outside to get some roasted sweet potatoes for desert. Each patron gets 1 or 2 after their meal. Coffee is on the house as well. Lovely place--hope to go back sometime soon.

Sunday Sledding

We have this nice hill behind our place that is perfect for sledding. Other families have used this hill to sled, so now the snow is nice and packed. Because we STILL have not bought a sled (just slips the mind on those E-Mart runs), we make good use of recyclables as sleds. My favorite is the slick cardboard box--the kind with that little bit of coating on it. Perfect sled. The boys dug out their tiny inner tubes that will be too small for them this coming summer anyway, and we also used plastic bags, mats, and boxes. It was a lot of fun, especially since there was no wind and it didn't feel that cold. The boys got to practice for their upcoming sledding trip at school, and all of us enjoyed wiping out at the bottom of the hill.

Saturday

Saturday began with Ronan waking me up at 8 am and telling me that, 'I made dress-fest [breakfast].' He waited for me to stumble out of my cozy bed, make coffee (always an essential part of waking up) and then sit down to his gourmet, specially-prepared breakfast of an apple, handful (or three) of almonds, and some water on the side. It was actually a nice treat. We spent the day before eating some fatty food, so this naturally healthy breakfast hit the spot. Of course, I asked him if it would be ok if I washed the apples--something he didn't have time to do while preparing. ; - )

Jack and I spent the morning taking down the Christmas tree and cleaning and doing laundry and the kids got creative with their play. Dahin and Oliver set up what was initially a library and then turned into a bookstore/loan program. They were selling tickets for 100 won (10 cents) and you could trade your ticket in for a book. Although, they were a little tricky because, as I was choosing a hardcover book, Dahin told me that the ticket gave me the right to choose a book, but the hard covers cost an extra 1000 won ($1); the little scammers. Oliver diligently traded turns with Dahin in advertising their store (sitting in a chair outside of her room yelling, 'Books for Sale!!! Come to Dahin and Oliver's Book Emporium for the Best Deals!"). He also served as her accountant. Oddly (not), she kept all the money in the end. Between Jack and I, she earned
about 5,000 won and some change (about $5). Ronan-- not sure what he was doing, but he added some moral support by playing with his Thomas computer on the side.

We had movie night in the evening--kids watched 'UP' and Jack and I watched 'Haeundae'--and we also caught a tv show of which I was a very small part. They have these mini documentaries strung together in a new show documentary program on KBS (kind of like a Dateline kind of show). I was at KBS for over 4 hours filming, and I know the producers and writers, etc., spent the whole day filming just our interview and discussion portion of our segment (it was called, "Are Women Really Worse Drivers Than Men?")--the entire segment (there were about four differently themed segments that made up the whole hour-long program) lasted 15 minutes. They interviewed me about driving in the US and if people believed in the US that women are terrible drivers--answer was yes, but not as extreme as in Korea.--plus other questions. For once (and Jack agrees) I did a great job in the interview. The discussion with the other people was ok--hard to do well when you're the only foreigner having a discussion with seven Koreans. In the end, they didn't show any of my interview, but snippets of the discussion (yay). It was actually alright, but a lot of time and work for just a short segment. The other women on the "woman" panel included a race car driver, an announcer, and a comedian. The "man" panel included a taxi driver, two comedians, and a reporter. They also had us do this test that had to do with remembering patterns--pretty much measuring attention span. The women scored higher. The point of the show was to tackle the myth that women are worse drivers then men. Ideas on why the myth exists included the fact that men have been driving, historically, longer than women. The end conclusion was that yes, indeed, it is a myth. Men and women have distinct driving styles overall--men tend to drive faster and women tend to focus on safety--but there is no real evidence to support the idea that women can't drive when compared to men.

Winter Daze

The snowy roads delayed the boys' bus pickup time in the mornings which means, after breakfast, some tv/slugging around time. The roads have cleared up a lot now and, this week, their schedule was pretty much back to normal. Dahin is on break and is experiencing severe cabin fever--because of the super-cold temps she can't really go outside for extended periods.

The Jahayeon Pond on the Seouldae campus is completely iced over and covered with a few layers of snow. After the big snow, we've had a couple of lighter snowfalls that have added to the accumulation. I love the snowy campus, but HATE the slippery pathways. The Han River that divides Seoul into northern and southern halves is also one big sheet of ice. Temps will be rising this week to the 20s F (about 0 degrees C) so I think the Han ice will budge. The cold temps this year have been pretty unusual. Normally, it will get pretty cold here, but the bitter cold temps continued for weeks without much letting up. Usually, there are a few days here and there that are warmer.

Above, the pathway from the College of Humanities to the College of Music. Going up is easy; going down, not so.

Dahin's Sound and Space

Dahin has become my little concert buddy. One reason is I feel it is important to expose her to all kinds of music on a regular basis. Another reason is she can learn the proper ways to behave at such events (e.g. don't say in a stage whisper, "Mommy, when is this over? It's SOOOO boring." Something she did at one concert--yes, I almost died of shame.) The biggest reason remains maintaining peace in our home. I go to so many concerts (mostly for research, some for showing support for students, faculty) that Jack gets a little frustrated with doing night-night time alone or not being able to golf in the evenings--something that has become a passion of his. To ease the burden a bit, Dahin goes with me to many of the concerts. The boys are immensely easier sans Dahin. While attending a Baramgot concert, Dahin drew her interpretation of the music and musicians. I scanned it and sent it to the founder of the group. He sent me a text that said Dahin has a great sense of sound and space. Of course she does!