Korean Folk Village

Gourds

Walking bridge

Fan workshop

Farmer's Music and Dance

Kitchen

Kimchi pots

Mill

Believed to guard against disease and disaster

Jason's seafood pancake...mostly squid

View outside Suwon Station

Stepping Stone Bridge

Mini kimichi pots...I just had to have a few

Oh, the look of a tourist...

Jason and I on the bus to the KFVillage

Today we woke up to rain. Just when I thought it couldn't get more humid in this country, it rained. I'm just not sure if I can explain just how humid it was outside today...but I'll give it a shot. Pretend that you are in a swimming pool, dunk your head under water, try to breathe while below the surface...yep...that's pretty much the feeling. Okay, maybe a little exaggeration, but not too far off the mark in my opinion.

Jason and I hopped on the subway, and I must admit, we are starting to become pros at finding our way around down there. We took it to an area that we hadn't been yet...Suwon. I am just amazed that no matter where you go in this city, there are apartments that stretch out to forever. They are everywhere. In the states, you see neighborhoods with houses...not the same here. The subway ride lasted almost an hour and then we found the shuttle bus that drove us another 30 minutes to the Korean Folk Village.

This place was amazing...talk about culture. Culture from thousands of years ago. It has been an experience to soak up Seoul, although Seoul is very, very westernized and modern. It was truly an experience to soak up and learn about this amazing culture and people...what they did and how they survived so long ago. My favorite thing I saw was how the ladies used to make silk for clothes. They had this hot, bubbling pot of silkworms still in their cocoons. One woman used her chopsticks to stir them and when she did this some of the silky cocoon exterior would stick to her chopsticks. She would scrap it off onto thin rollers and another woman pulled out the string that was formed and wrapped it around a square swift type of thing. Once the silk cooled it was incredibly strong. It was a very cool process although I'm sure those silkworms would disagree.

The Korean people seemed to live in some pretty modest means. They had various different roofing as well as home styles depending on where in the country you lived...the north versus the south. They even had all the employees dressed in hanbooks, the traditional clothing of the koreans. That alone made you feel like you had just stepped back in time. It was all beautiful and very interesting.

After taking around 90 minutes to get back to SWS, we rested for a bit and then headed out for some supper. We decided that although we love korean food, we needed to havea little comfort food. The restaurant of choice: Mad for Garlic. It's funny that you can find an italian restaurant with english menus right in the heart of Seoul. Jason ordered pizza of course and I ordered a giant bowl of pasta. It was delicious and very satisfying. There was even one point at the table where I really felt like I was at home in the states. All of a sudden I remembered just where we were on the globe and it kind of caught me off guard. How weird is that?!?

I found a cooking show on tv...you know me, I love watching cooking shows. Jason was sitting next to me as I started to turn the volume up. Here's the conversation that took place:

Jason: What are you doing?

Me: Watching a cooking show.

Jason: No...what are you DOING?

Me: I can't hear her, I want to find out what she's making.

Jason: (A look of "really, Honey?!?"

Me: What?!? I can't hear it!

Jason: (Another look of "really, Honey?!?")

Me: WHAT?!? I can't hear her explaining things!

Jason: She is speaking in korean...you can't understand a word she says no matter what!

Me: Oh....hmmm...oh yeah, I guess turning the volume up won't really help me then, will it.

I'll blame it all on jetlag and still being tired.