Palaces, Paintings, and People from Home

Last week, we had Friday off and so did my friend Kim in Uijeongbu, so we decided it would be a good time for a "Heritage reunion." On Friday afternoon, Kim and I both took the subway and met up in Seoul to hang out for a while before heading back together to my town to spend the weekend at SYME.

Because I had never been to Seoul before (not counting the airport and church), it was a lot of fun to be a tourist in a new city again. It took me about 2 hours to get downtown on the subway. I managed not to get lost (but here is a picture that shows the story of my life). Our main destination was Gyeongbokgung Palace, the largest and most important palace in Korea. Built in 1395, it served as the main seat of power and the location where the kings were coronated. Unfortunately, like everything else in Korea, the original was destroyed in a war with the Japanese in the 1500s and the current one was rebuilt in the 1800s. We arrived in time to see one of the changings of the guard in front of the outer walls. They had lots of men dressed in traditional costumes carrying swords and marching to a drum, horn-thing, and cymbals.
Inside the walls, there are many other buildings, all different sized but painted with the same decorations. The largest buildings were the throne room and the meeting room. We could also go in some smaller buildings, which were the rooms and homes of some of the queens and other nobles. The rooms were pretty, but very small for a palace. Most were about as big as mine at my apartment is. In traditional style, everyone sat on the floor and the beds were just slightly off the floor.
Behind the main buildings, there were gardens with trees and grass that were a lot more peaceful than the palace. The royal family probably built them to escape from the 3000 people who lived and worked on the palace grounds. One of the most beautiful spots was a tiny island in a small lake with a six-sided pavilion built on it. I took at least 20 pictures just of it.

After we had sufficiently explored the palace for a couple hours, we walked to a different part of Seoul. The palace is more or less in the center of downtown. We went to Insadong, which is a small area (one main street and a couple side streets) known for the arts. There are a lot of painters there, as well as shops selling traditional souvineers. I found a pretty scroll there with a silk painting of a waterfall in the mountains to hang in my room. Insadong was very crowded but a lot of fun to see all the people, shops, and random vendors in the street. We found a small Korean restaurant for dinner, and then for dessert we had frozen yogurt with toppings at a fun place called Red Mango.

By that time, it was getting late so we headed back on the subway. Even though I live here, both of us stayed with the Hawkins so we could spend more time together. We hung out with them on Friday night and most of Saturday, just relaxing and talking in their apartment. Saturday afternoon we met up with a girl Kim knew and walked around the area near the base, and then Saturday evening all the Spauldings came over for dessert and playing games. All of them live in the same building.It was so much fun being with so many people from home in Korea. Sunday I went to church with Kim, and she left to go back in the afternoon. It was a wonderful weekend and very relaxing. And now I know how to get to syme so it should be easier to get together with them from time to time. Now, dear readers, I love you all!