We decided to take a trip to the hanok maul (traditional village; hanok is a style of house that people now call "Korean traditional house") in downtown Seoul. We took one of Dahin's schoolmates, Daisy with us. Daisy lived in Vancouver for a while and can blabber in English with Dahin about Hannah Montanah, High School Musical, and all those other 8 year-old blabbery things. The village, while it contains real buildings, is really just a museum. You go from building to building to see the different rooms and in the central courtyard they had games set up like see-sawing and swings. Above, we're on the subway headed there and, below, Jack and the kids rest on the steps that lead to the central courtyard.
Below, Dahin and Daisy try the seesaw. It takes some skill since you have to balance while jumping up and down on the plank.
Looking inside the various rooms was a lot of fun. The kids, especially, wanted to see the Queen's residence. Oliver got pretty upset, however, when he realized there was no Queen, just a replica of a room with her stuff. He had asked "Where's the Queen?" over and over, as if we were to have an audience with the Queen as part of our trip to the village. The only way I could explain it to him was by saying, "Oliver, it's just pretend. There is no queen."
Above, Oliver strikes a very Korean pose. The kids have learned this well.
This wishing well was very cool. I couldn't resist taking a photo. The kids next to me were talking about all the money in the well and wondering how far down they would have to go down to get it.
Say "Kimchi!" people; kimchi. In the central courtyard, there was ddok (rice cake) for sale and a 'you can take a huge hammer and pound some rice flour' activity next to the ddok stand. There were also people walking around in costume with whom you could pose. So, we did.
The highlight of the folk village was not the people dressed in costume nor was it the games. The highlight was this really, really beautiful pond filled with huge koi. We sat and watched it for a while.
Looking inside the various rooms was a lot of fun. The kids, especially, wanted to see the Queen's residence. Oliver got pretty upset, however, when he realized there was no Queen, just a replica of a room with her stuff. He had asked "Where's the Queen?" over and over, as if we were to have an audience with the Queen as part of our trip to the village. The only way I could explain it to him was by saying, "Oliver, it's just pretend. There is no queen."
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