Day 1: Wednesday 7 July 2010
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| Day 1: The Korean War Memorial |
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Tuesday morning, I woke up early, and checked out of the hotel. The Park family insisted on helping me navigate the city and make it to meet up with the teacher’s program. Before I knew it we were in the lobby and I was amongst a number of teachers who were all weary from a long trans-Pacific flight. We were mixed in with teachers from both group 1 and group 2 and headed over to the Korean War Memorial. They only had a limited number of seats on the bus, so group one and a few volunteers (myself included) took the subway. **I should note that spending a day with the Parks really gave me an edge…I had a subway pass already, I have seen many shopping areas, I have a lot of inside information about cultural practices from the conversations I’ve had with Jenny…it’s been helpful! : )
We arrived at the Korean War Memorial and were given about thirty minutes to walk around and check things out. I had enough time to walk the grounds and view many of the monuments and historical vehicles, but did not have enough time to explore the museum. As someone who is intrigued by modern history, I have put it on my to-do list and hope to return to the museum in my free time. The monuments were stunning. I am always interested in what symbolism has been incorporated into a monument. One of the statues was a large bronze statue of two brothers embracing each other. The brothers had fought on opposing sides and their faces are wrought with emotion. They are standing on top of a dome that is separated with very jagged edges to symbolize the current separation of the peninsula, but also the hope that they can become reunited at a later date.
There were many rows of military vehicles and weapons to check out including B-52 bombers, Korean fighter planes, US cargo planes, many different tanks and weapons, ships, and my favorite – the missiles. After running around in the sun trying to make every second count I was relieved to collapse in a chair in the auditorium for our first guest speaker. We were extremely fortunate to be graced with the presence of General Paik Sun Yup who was one of the generals leading the Republic of Korea’s military during the Korean War. Even as an elderly gentleman of ninety, he passionately described his version of the war. It is always extremely interesting to listen to different people’s interpretations of events, and this was no different. His lecture style was interesting and was different from the US story-based lecture style. It was such an incredible honor to hear his story!
The remainder of our day was spent getting lunch at a local department store food court. We were mesmerized by the extravagance and multitude of choices in the food court. Afterward, we were deemed free and were able to rest, explore, etc. We each crashed in our own way and prepared for our next adventure.
Day 2: Thursday, 8 July 2010
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| Day 2: The National Folk Museum |
For day two, we headed to the National Folk Museum and were given time to explore the grounds and museum on our own. After having read a detailed book on Korean life and culture, I really enjoyed the life and culture section of the museum that confirmed the different facts I had read and gave me the opportunity to see pictures or artifacts from the rituals and ceremonies I had read about. I was really drawn to the beauty of the Korean craftwork.
After this, we headed to Insadong, a local shopping area, for lunch and shopping. We really enjoyed our wanderings – this shopping area has a little more artsy feel and many of the goods were more customized and tailored. We grabbed a cab with enough time to clean up and prepare for our orientation dinner. At the dinner, we were briefed on the mission of the Korea Foundation, the sponsor of our program and served a beautiful dinner. Again, we were flattered and felt very warmly welcomed!
And then we received our schedule for day three…and braced ourselves.
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