Seoul National hosted a trip to Jeonju, a beautiful little town south of Seoul in which the cathedral is the tallest building. I love Jeonju--the traditional houses, the street sellers, the whole atmosphere. We made our first stop in Seoul at the National Museum. We had a great guide, but limited time. Still, it was great to see all of the sculptures and paintings. The tour guide was so enthusiastic. I hated that we had only 30 minutes for a tour (we had spent an hour listening to a lecture about the museum--the curator put a lot of effort into it, but why not just SEE the museum with a great tour guide?) After that, we headed south to beautiful Jeonju.
We stopped off for lunch at a great tofu place. If you want to get our kids to eat, serve them tofu. Seriously. After that, the kids were pooped so slept on the bus (yay for quiet knitting time!)
When we got to Jeonju, Dahin found a store named after her--really. The store was called "다인" (da-in). So cool. We just had to snap a photo of her in front of that store. I think it was a store selling traditional paper crafts and calligraphy supplies. Anyway, it was an arts and crafts supply store--a perfect fit for Miss Dahin. 
We walked through the center of the town and made our way to a hanok (traditional home) for a great dinner. Such great food, and the makgeolli (rice wine) was even better! It was a welcome relief after the hour-long workshop we sat through upon arriving in Jeonju. The kids were not thrilled, but it was informative.
Dahin and Shali enjoy the great meal, and Oliver introduces himself to a bottle of makgeolli (of course, only for the photo--give me some credit ; )
After dinner, we walked to a pansori concert at the Jeonju cultural center. Oliver posed in front of this cool fountain on the way there. The concert was held in this small hall with some hard-core pansori fans. The singer was superb. The first songs were a few scenes from Shimjeonga--the story about the young girl who sacrifices herself to save her father. Then, she performed kayageum pyeongjang--pansori singing accompanied by the twelve-string zither. The songs she sang for the pyeongjang were from the story of Chunhyang--the story about a young daughter of a court entertainer who falls in love with the son of an aristocrat (and visa versa). Her singing was so good. Some of the faculty member's children would not stop making noise, and the parents did nothing to stop them. The accompanying drummer, during the transition between sets, asked the audience to please reign in their children. I was so embarrassed, but very glad he said something.
Above, Oliver not-so-subtly tells me to stop taking pictures. But, Dahin and her friends were very happy to pose--happier than Oliver, that is.
We slept in a great hanok. It was huge and divided into many rooms. Modern convenience--flat screen tv and cable, so the kids watched some cartoon network before bed. I loved waking up and seeing the light come in through the paper doors and windows.
Next, we went on a tour of some historic buildings in Jeonju. The kids were a little restless during the tour (especially the boys) because they really just wanted to play, but not walk around a lot. They were great sports, though.
Next on the program was some traditional papercraft--we made hanji boxes! It was really a lot of fun, and a great idea for a souvenir for each of us. Dahin is using hers to store her keepsakes from Jeonju, and I'm using mine to keep some hairbands in. The boys and Jack--well, the use of the boxes is rather random and sporadic (sometimes a bank, sometimes a place to keep captive bugs, etc....) but they are being used and they are certainly pretty. They are, without a doubt, a great memory of our trip to Jeonju. 
After the craft time, we were given an hour to explore the streets of Jeonju. Jack and I immediately headed for a capaccino place after he and the boys posed with this giant teddy bear. Outside the coffee place was this pretty little pond filled with colorful koi. After coffee, Dahin and I broke away from the boys and did some shopping on our own.
I bought Dahin some hanji earings, a hairbow, and a handkerchief (all handmade in Jeonju) and I bought some hand-made earrings and the scarf I'm wearing in the picture. It is made from organic linen and cotton and hand-dyed. Below, you can see a view of the rooftops near the shopping district and Dahin poses by the wall with a smoothie in hand.
Exhibit A: how to keep you kids entertained on the bus. Yes, we brought a xylophone, but the sound was not too loud over the roar of the engine. Ronan is actually pretty good and has composed a piece (in solfege) on the instrument.
We had lunch at a bibimbop place on the way back to Seoul. We had lunch on the second floor. They had a mini museum about bibimbap on that level. So, once you finished your bowl full of veggies, meal, egg, and hot sauce, you could go out into the lobby, help yourself to some coffee or cinnamon rice tea, and walk around. They also had a very pleasant room with some wooden tables and benches that I wanted to steal (if I had had a mack truck and super powers, I would have) where you could relax and drink your after-meal beverage. Jeonju is famous for bibimbap. In fact, Jeonju Bibimbap is one kind of bibimbap you can order at many restaurants. I can't really tell how it's different from your basic bibimbap, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the amount of veggies put in the bowl (a lot) and it supposedly has some connection with court cuisine (as the particular form of bibimbap Jeonju is known for is based on royal cuisine). 
The main lobby downstairs had this huge bowl of (I think) plastic rice and plastic veggies in the shape of Korea. The kids and a friend pose outside of our bus, ready to return to Seoul.
