We try and make time once a week to do something together as a family. On this day, the house was a total wreck. In order to clean it up efficiently, I needed everyone out, so Jack took the kids out for some lunch. I joined them a couple of hours later at the Seoul Museum of History. For anyone in Seoul or planning a trip to Seoul, I recommend this place without hesitation. It is
so well done. The exhibits take a look at Seoul's history and material culture. The exhibits are wonderful and I will say that the English translations for the exhibit descriptions were the best I've ever seen. Most of the time, even at the national museum, the English description does not equal the detail of the Korean description; usually only an English title and maybe a short sentence summarizing the content of the exhibit. But, in the Seoul Museum of History, the English and Korean exhibit descriptions were equal. I mean, I know this is Korea, but considering the fact that more and more different kinds of people are living here and the number of foreign visitors, it's about time I found such a well-done exhibit. I can honestly say, the museum's goals of educating people--Korean or foreign--about Seoul's history were really well accomplished. Most museums claim to do this, but I feel really sorry for foreign visitors trying to make their way through exhibits for which a museum has made little effort to make the content understandable for non-Koreans, despite the fact most museums claim to welcome non-Korean-speaking visitors. For more information on the fabulous Seoul Museum of History, you can visit their site here:
http://museum.seoul.kr/eng/eh_main.jsp
Certainly the highlight of the museum was this massive miniature version of Seoul. Wow! The kids loved it, and we had a lot of fun trying to identify the different neighborhoods. Oliver's main concern was whether or not there were sharks in the river (guess I should have never told that story about bull sharks found in fresh water).
Below, Jack and the kids look at our neighborhood. Through close examination, we could see that the model was not exact, but then again Seoul changes so fast. It could have been built a few years ago before a lot of what is present in our neighborhood now came into existence. Dahin's school was there, and one building representing our apartments was there.
The exhibits were just so well done and so well organized. The interactive elements were not impossible for the kids to figure out as in most museums we've visited (I won't even talk about the war museum--interactive my ass; couldn't even figure out how to do the computers and there was no one there to assist us). Here, we needed no assistance because everything was so well designed, but there were plenty of volunteers around to help if you needed it.
The museum exhibits combined models of older and current versions of Seoul (as in the massive one above) as well as plans for neighborhoods in Seoul and Seoul's new satellite cities. In recent years, a number of satellite cities have emerged. Known as 'planned cities,' the goal is to make living comfortable and clean for everyone (focused on environmentalism). Planned cities attempt to knock out those divisions that can occur between 'good' sides and 'bad' sides of town, among other things.
The historical artifact exhibits included recreations of archaeological digs and remants from the Japanese colonial period (above). I would have taken more pics of the murals and poetry/paintings in this exhibit, but I was told photos weren't allowed there (the one fault of the museum: no signs up to say this; plus, people, I wasn't using flash like the family next to me that took a dozen flash photos before being told to put their cameras away).
Oliver poses with the 'royal family.' I tried to get all the kids to pose, but since Jack had taken a photo of the kids there earlier while they were waiting on me to arrive they refused to sit for another photo. Ah well; like hearding cats....Oliver sat for several poses--can't seem to shake that Korean 'v' pose. : )
In the back of the museum, they had a garden with some recreations of pagodas, etc. It was beautiful, and the cooler fall weather meant that walking around outside was a very pleasant experience.
After leaving the museum, we wandered over to Gyeonghui Palace for a little visit. It was one of the five grand palaces of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), but during the Japanese colonial occupation period (1910-1945) it was torn down and replaced by a school for Japanese citizens. In the 1990s, the government rebuilt it in an effort to restore all five palaces of Joseon, but because the area had been built up over the years there was only room to rebuild about 30% of the former palace. It's located right behind the museum, so it was a great historical stop before heading out for dinner.
Above, the three men in my life posing under Sungjeong-mun, the main gate/entrance to Gyeonghui-gung. Posers, all. : )
Above, Ronan runs toward the main throne room, after which he notices the official ranking stones and decides to pose on one (an apology to any former official with that particular ranking--yikes!) Oh, the things kids do in palaces; fabulous sites to run around in, for sure.
Above, Ronan proudly displays the print he made in one of the museum's interactive exhibits (you had to buy the paper, but this was genius since I know it cuts down on paper waste).
The boys pose in front of Sungjeongmun. Dahin had bought Ronan a little traditional knotwork thingy from the museum at the store (using her own money that she earned helping me clean a little that morning--I know, sweet, huh?). He turned it into an 'earring' with a rubber band. My kids certainly are resourceful!
After we left the palace grounds, we made a b-line to Mapo-gu (a district in northern Seoul famous for its bbq) for some galbi. Mmmmmm, barbecue! Love it. The problem was, every place on Tojeong-gil (Tojeong road) in Yonggan-dong (Yonggan neighborhood--the heart of Mapo-gu bbq country--they were having a galbi festival) claimed they were the 'original' (원점) Mapo jumulreok (refers to a specific, unique recipe of galbi marinade) and charcoal roasted galbi house. Oh, the dilemma. Which one to choose? We finally settled on one and this place was really, really good. We like going to galbi places because the kids tend to eat very, very well.
We try and make time once a week to do something together as a family. On this day, the house was a total wreck. In order to clean it up efficiently, I needed everyone out, so Jack took the kids out for some lunch. I joined them a couple of hours later at the Seoul Museum of History. For anyone in Seoul or planning a trip to Seoul, I recommend this place without hesitation. It is so well done. The exhibits take a look at Seoul's history and material culture. The exhibits are wonderful and I will say that the English translations for the exhibit descriptions were the best I've ever seen. Most of the time, even at the national museum, the English description does not equal the detail of the Korean description; usually only an English title and maybe a short sentence summarizing the content of the exhibit. But, in the Seoul Museum of History, the English and Korean exhibit descriptions were equal. I mean, I know this is Korea, but considering the fact that more and more different kinds of people are living here and the number of foreign visitors, it's about time I found such a well-done exhibit. I can honestly say, the museum's goals of educating people--Korean or foreign--about Seoul's history were really well accomplished. Most museums claim to do this, but I feel really sorry for foreign visitors trying to make their way through exhibits for which a museum has made little effort to make the content understandable for non-Koreans, despite the fact most museums claim to welcome non-Korean-speaking visitors. For more information on the fabulous Seoul Museum of History, you can visit their site here: http://museum.seoul.kr/eng/eh_main.jsp
Certainly the highlight of the museum was this massive miniature version of Seoul. Wow! The kids loved it, and we had a lot of fun trying to identify the different neighborhoods. Oliver's main concern was whether or not there were sharks in the river (guess I should have never told that story about bull sharks found in fresh water).
Below, Jack and the kids look at our neighborhood. Through close examination, we could see that the model was not exact, but then again Seoul changes so fast. It could have been built a few years ago before a lot of what is present in our neighborhood now came into existence. Dahin's school was there, and one building representing our apartments was there.
The exhibits were just so well done and so well organized. The interactive elements were not impossible for the kids to figure out as in most museums we've visited (I won't even talk about the war museum--interactive my ass; couldn't even figure out how to do the computers and there was no one there to assist us). Here, we needed no assistance because everything was so well designed, but there were plenty of volunteers around to help if you needed it.
The museum exhibits combined models of older and current versions of Seoul (as in the massive one above) as well as plans for neighborhoods in Seoul and Seoul's new satellite cities. In recent years, a number of satellite cities have emerged. Known as 'planned cities,' the goal is to make living comfortable and clean for everyone (focused on environmentalism). Planned cities attempt to knock out those divisions that can occur between 'good' sides and 'bad' sides of town, among other things.
The historical artifact exhibits included recreations of archaeological digs and remants from the Japanese colonial period (above). I would have taken more pics of the murals and poetry/paintings in this exhibit, but I was told photos weren't allowed there (the one fault of the museum: no signs up to say this; plus, people, I wasn't using flash like the family next to me that took a dozen flash photos before being told to put their cameras away).
Oliver poses with the 'royal family.' I tried to get all the kids to pose, but since Jack had taken a photo of the kids there earlier while they were waiting on me to arrive they refused to sit for another photo. Ah well; like hearding cats....Oliver sat for several poses--can't seem to shake that Korean 'v' pose. : )
In the back of the museum, they had a garden with some recreations of pagodas, etc. It was beautiful, and the cooler fall weather meant that walking around outside was a very pleasant experience.
After leaving the museum, we wandered over to Gyeonghui Palace for a little visit. It was one of the five grand palaces of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), but during the Japanese colonial occupation period (1910-1945) it was torn down and replaced by a school for Japanese citizens. In the 1990s, the government rebuilt it in an effort to restore all five palaces of Joseon, but because the area had been built up over the years there was only room to rebuild about 30% of the former palace. It's located right behind the museum, so it was a great historical stop before heading out for dinner.
Above, the three men in my life posing under Sungjeong-mun, the main gate/entrance to Gyeonghui-gung. Posers, all. : )
Above, Ronan runs toward the main throne room, after which he notices the official ranking stones and decides to pose on one (an apology to any former official with that particular ranking--yikes!) Oh, the things kids do in palaces; fabulous sites to run around in, for sure.
The boys pose in front of Sungjeongmun. Dahin had bought Ronan a little traditional knotwork thingy from the museum at the store (using her own money that she earned helping me clean a little that morning--I know, sweet, huh?). He turned it into an 'earring' with a rubber band. My kids certainly are resourceful!
After we left the palace grounds, we made a b-line to Mapo-gu (a district in northern Seoul famous for its bbq) for some galbi. Mmmmmm, barbecue! Love it. The problem was, every place on Tojeong-gil (Tojeong road) in Yonggan-dong (Yonggan neighborhood--the heart of Mapo-gu bbq country--they were having a galbi festival) claimed they were the 'original' (원점) Mapo jumulreok (refers to a specific, unique recipe of galbi marinade) and charcoal roasted galbi house. Oh, the dilemma. Which one to choose? We finally settled on one and this place was really, really good. We like going to galbi places because the kids tend to eat very, very well.
Ronan makes me presents everyday. Anything from oragami to straws taped together is fair game.
Above, Ronan shows me the Korean 'love' sign while eating a piece of squid--aaah multitasking; training them young.
Sorry I've been slow on posting these days. The fall semester has begun and, like the beginnings of all semesters, it's kicking my butt. Once I get settled into a routine and all reading packets are complete and printed, I'll be a happy camper.
