IT'S THE MOST
WONDERFUL TIME
OF THE YEAR!

 

"Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a

little bit more."

 

-The Grinch

 

 

Christmas has come and gone and what a Christmas it was! It was very different than any Christmas I've ever had before because of two things: I was away from home for the first time during Christmas and, the most obvious, I was in Korea. The festivities started right around my birthday (a week before Christmas). We were preparing for our Christmas party at school, which meant lots of Christmas music with some dances to go along :) My class was practicing Jingle Bell Rock and (yes, I know it's not a Christmas song) Dancing Queen. We ended up having a little dancing/singing contest between the different classes. I only caught a little of the performance with my phone, but here are the bits I got (be prepared for cuteness overload). This first video is from our Infinity class (one of our two 7-year-old classes) and they are doing a rendition of Jingle Bells.

 



 

The next video is of the same class, but this time they are dancing to Jingle Bell Rock.

 







 

 And now we move on to Universe class (our second 7-year-old class, which is also my class!!!). This first one is Dancing Queen.

 



 

And I saved my favorite for last. This is Universe class again, but this time doing Jingle Bell Rock. Eeeeek, so adorable!!!!!! On a side note, if you notice the boy in the green sweater with tan pants, that's Daniel and he wants to be a kpop star when he grows up. He might have a chance with how well he performs. Just watch him :)

 



 

Following the dance competition, I needed some pictures with my cute kids.

 

These three cuties are from my afternoon elementary class. They're
all very silly and VERY active. They keep me on my toes.

Cute little Anna with a huge personality that somehow fits
into that tiny body of hers.

Ever the princess, Betty.

Daniel, the class clown.

Logan, the quiet, camera shy one. He's super adorable though
and though he pretends to hate it, he loves to be tickled :)

Paul, the do-gooder of the class.

And last, Tristan, the trouble-maker. He can still be quite cute though.



 

After our Christmas party, I went to the Nutcracker ballet with some friends of mine. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the actual performance, so I only have a few pictures from before and after, The theater was absolutely beautiful though.

 

A view from the outside of the theater.

They had some gorgeous chandeliers.

We were in the very back row, but the theater was fairly small,
so it was okay.



Group picture with some old and new friends.

And of course, we had to get a group picture by the
Christmas tree :)

We got to enjoy a Christmas party at our branch president's house and we were also invited over for Christmas dinner. At the Christmas party we decorated some gingerbread houses.

 

Confession: this was the first time I ever attempted making
a gingerbread house. And I forgot to get the pictures of me
with the gingerbread house from my friend, so you'll just have
to deal with my friend frosting the Christmas tree.

Some more of our gingerbread-house-making crew.

They even let us help decorate the Christmas tree!

Christmas dinner was absolutely delicious (so much home cooking!!!!!), and we all had a great time talking and laughing up a storm. And thank you to Yong for some of the amazing pictures (his are the higher quality ones, some of which I might have snuck off his facebook...).

 

Enjoying the food :)

Picture in front of the Christmas tree. We had a few people
comment that three of us look like sisters :)

A sampling of some of the desserts.

We kind of filled the room. But oh it was wonderful!!!

After Christmas dinner, I ended up going home so I could Skype the family while they opened presents. While I missed spending Christmas (in person, anyway) with my family, I have to say the experience of Christmas in Korea was a great one. It brought me closer with friends, old(ish) and new, and reminded me of what is truly important during the Christmas season.

 

I hope everyone else has had a wonderful Christmas season and a happy New Year!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





A KDRAMA

RECOMMENDATION

 

The most expensive thing in

the world is...

TRUST.

It can take years to earn

and just a matter of seconds to shatter.

 

It's been quite a while since I've done a book recommendation, so here we go. Except this time, I'm going to be recommeding something different (and if you're smart--which I know all of my readers are--you'll have noticed I'm recommending a kdrama this time instead of a book). For those not familiar with the terminology, kdrama stands for Korean drama. I don't generally recommend kdramas to many people because I know, for the most part, they are an acquired taste (they generally range from cheesy romances to extra super cheesy romances). But somehow they still manage to suck you in and you end up loving the cheese. 

 

As I've mentioned in the past, I used a lot of kdramas to help me start learning Korean. I've seen quite a few, so if you ever want a recommendation, let me know what kind of shows you like, and I may be able to find a kdrama to fit your preferences. Anyway, back to the recommendation. As I was saying, I don't normally recommend kdramas, but this one was just absolutely amazing! There's actually not a lot of romantic cheese to this one, actually I can only think of one small instance in the series that has an overtly "Oh, these characters are totes going to end up together" vibe. The name of the drama (I know you've been in utter suspense waiting for it) is Liar Game. Here's the promotional poster.

 

 

I'll try to give you a brief description of the drama without giving too much away. The main character of this drama is a girl named Nam Da-Jung who is extremely trusting and loyal. She is selected to participate in a TV show called Liar Game. The premise behind the show is that a number of contestants will compete in various challenges to win 10 billion won (the equivalent of roughly $10 million). Each challenge is essentially a battle of wits, and all the players are trying to decieve each other so they will end up with more money by the end of the round. The last man standing gets the 10 billion in prize money.

 

There are three very key players in this drama. The first is the afore mentioned Nam Da-Jung played by Kim So-Eun:

 

 

The second is who you might call her partner in crime, Cha Woo-Jin played by Lee Sang-Yoon:

 

And the third is the mysterious creator and host of the game itself, Kang Do-Young played by Shin Sung-Rok:

 

 

The reason I love this drama so much is because it doesn't focus entirely on the romantic side of things (like I mentioned before, it barely touches on it), and it focuses more on the psychological aspects. I'm also in love with the undertones of trust/distrust between not only close friends and family but of complete strangers. It delves into the multiple questions dealing with human behavior in regards to trust. Twists and turns are incorporated into every new challenge. Things almost never came out the way I expected them to. This drama did a very good job of throwing in the unexpected and leaving the viewer almost completely unaware of what might happen next. And then of course they throw in the characters' pasts and suddenly you have a whole new mess to try and figure out on top of the game. But that is what is so attractive about it. It's a puzzle you're trying to solve and when you think you've started to figure it out, something new is revealed and you find yourself no closer to solving the mystery than at the beginning of the show. I would venture to say it is the Korean equivalent of Sherlock in its complexity (especially since most kdramas don't pay attention as much to the minute details as this one does). It also leaves you agonizing for the next season (for those unaquainted with kdramas, very few of them have second seasons). So that's why you'll understand why I was both extremely frustrated that I was left with somewhat of a cliff hanger and also elated to find out that meant they HAD to have a second season. I'm more than thrilled to watch another season as long as the promise of a similar intensity level is satisfied in the second season. Dare I even hope for a third season?

 

*For anyone who wants to watch it, there are a few sites with English subtitles available. The best ones I've come across so far are dramafever.com and dramafire.com. Enjoy!!!

 

P.S. I would love to hear feedback from anyone who watches the drama or who has already seen it. I'd like to know your thoughts, theories, and also feel free to throw out other recommendations. I'm always on the lookout for new series :)



A COUPLE MORE PALACES
AND AN OLD WALL

 

"The more you know about the past,

the better prepared you are

for the future."

 

-Theodore Roosevelt

 

Being in Korea, I've learned a little bit about Korean history, especially visiting all these historical sites. But I'd like to learn more. I've realized I know only a very small portion of Korean history and being a lover of history (not one of those I-have-to-know-absolutely-every-detail-there-is-to-know-history lover; more like a I-think-old-things-are-cool-and-want-to-know-more history lover), I want to start delving more deeply into the histories behind these places I've seen.

 

Another reason I want to include more Korean history in my blog is because most people know very little when it comes to Korea. Some will remember the Korean War (others may not). Usually the most people know about Korea is centered on two things: North Korea and the famous song Gangnam Style. There's definitely a whole lot more to Korea than those things, and I would love to share them with you.

 

In September, my friend Alora and I went to see Deoksugung or Deoksu Palace, located in Seoul. This was only the second palace, of the five great palaces of Seoul, I had visited. The first I'd ever been to was Gyeongbokgung, which was also the largest of the five (I intend to go back because I didn't get to see all of it the first time because it was just too big). Deoksu, in comparison, was much smaller (we were able to see all of it in a couple hours) and parts of it were much newer. It was originally built in the second half of the 15th century, but wasn't recognized as a palace until the late 16th century. It was used by Korean royalty up until the turn of the  20th century, and among its other unique aspects, it also features western style buildings in addition to the traditional Korean ones.

 

The front gate to the palace.

The first building you see when you enter through the front gate.



I thought this was a good illustration of the mix of Western
and Eastern architecture in the palace.



The painted patterns on the ceilings are always super colorful
and intricate.

I love all the detail that goes into even the smallest
parts of the palace.



It's a little hard to tell since it's covered with lily pads,
but this is a nice little pond we found
in our wanderings.

It had a nice little stone walkway that wound around the pond.

It was a very tranquil spot in the palace.



In case you can't read it, here's what it says: Gwanginyeongmun
was originally the South Gate to Hamnyeongjeon, sleeping quarters
of the king. It was moved to its present location when the east wing
of Seokjojeon was expanded in 1938 to be used as an art museum
of the Yi Dynasty. Inside the gate are an automatic striking water
clock called Jagyeokru (National Treasure No.229), the Bell of Heungcheonsa
Temple forged in 1462 (National Treasure No. 1460), and a powerful
wheeled cannon that can fire 100 arrows at the same time using
gun powder.



Here are a few picures of what's described above.

 

I had to get a closer shot to show off the amazingly
detailed dragon carving.



This is the cannon :)



Beautiful walkway :)

One of the Western style buildings.



 

After the palace, we stumbled onto one of the Eight Gates of Seoul, only six of which still exist. The West and Southwest Gates are no longer standing, though there was talk for a time of trying to rebuild West Gate. The North, South, East, and West gates were known as the "Four Great Gates," while the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest gates were known as the "Four Small Gates."

 

This was our first unobstructed view of the gate.

One of the cool things about Korea is that you can just be walking
down the street in the middle of a modern city and stumble upon
something like this.

 

This is the view from the other side

We weren't sure which gate we were at until we found this sign.
Turns out we were at the South Gate which had actually been
severely damaged in a fire in 2008, but was later repaired.

 

The South Gate, 숭례문 (Sungnyemun), is also known as the Exalted Ceremonies Gate. It was originally built in 1398, but because of the fire damage in 2008, it had to be rebuilt and was officially reopened in 2013.

 

 





 

It's hard to read in the picture, but it says:

 

"National Treasure No. 1. Designated on Dec. 20, 1962. Sungnyemun, the South Gate of Seoul, was errected in 1398, 7th year of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, as one of the four main gates of the capital city. Major repairs were done on the gate in 1448, the 30th year of King Sejong the Great , in 1479 the 10th year of King Seongjong, and during the reign of King Gojong (reg. 1863~1907), the second to the last king of Joseon. During the Joseon Period, the gate was closed around 10p.m. and opened around 4a.m., at which times the bell installed in the gate house tolled to proclaim the closing and opening of the gate. At times of flood and drought the king came to the gate to preside over prayer rituals invoking fair weather and rainfall, respectively.

The two-story gate house erected atop the gate wall has a sturdy internal structure and beautifully decorated early Joseon-style bracket system. Between 1907 and 1908, the city walls to the left and right of the gate were torn down by the Japanese, who had made Korea their protectorate in 1905 and exercised practically sovereign power.

The gate was damaged during the Korean War (1950~53), so from 1961 to 1963, it was taken compoletely apart, thoroughly repaired, and fully reassembled. In February 2008, an arsonist set fire to the gate, almost entirely destroying the roof of the gate house, to the nation's great horror. Repair was planned and carried out for five years, from 2008 to 2013, during which the city walls to the right and left of the gate were also restored."

 

These next pictures were the paintings done on the ceiling of the gate.

 

 

A little note on Korean dragons:

 

In Korea, like other Asian countries, dragons play a big part in mythology. Korean dragons resemble the stereotypical Chinese dragon rather closely, but have a few differences, one of which was a longer beard. On occasion, these dragons are known to carry a dragon orb known as a 여의주 (Yeouiju) in one of its claws or in its mouth. It was said that whoever could wield the Yeouiju was blessed with the abilities of omnipotence and creation, and that only four-toed dragons (who had thumbs with which to hold the orbs) were both wise and powerful enough to wield these orbs, as opposed to the lesser, three-toed dragons. As with China, the number nine is significant and auspicious in Korea, and dragons were said to have 81 (9×9) scales on their backs, representing yang essence.

 

And this was how we ended our day out: with a selfie in front
of Sungnyemun :)





 

It wasn't until just last weekend (Dec. 6) that I made it to another couple historical sites: Hwaseong Fortress and Hwaseong Haenggung Palace. My friend Alora had been to the Fortress before and being the history lover she is, wanted to search out a specific king's gravesite (she'd been watching a couple dramas based on that particular king's life...and I can't remember his name off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to look it up right now). So she wanted to go back and find the grave. We got off the subway, all bundled in our winter gear, yet still freezing our little bums off. On our way we passed a Buddhist temple and decided to stop for some pictures. The snow made it picture perfect :) At least snow is good for something besides making me wish I'd never left Hawaii.

 

 

 

After our brief pause, we started off again. We came to the beginning of the fortress wall (a whole lot of steps). At least we got a little warm hiking up all those stairs. Okay, it really wasn't that many stairs.

This was about halfway up the stairs.

This was our view down on the city from the top of the stairs.

We found a giant statue of King Jeongjo.

And a little closer view.

A view of the fortress wall (I think I mentioned somewhere in
a previous post...maybe the one on Namsan Tower...that I
have a thing for old walls).

The inside of one of the tower rooms along the fortress wall.

Alora posing for the camer (a little stiff because of the cold).

One of the watch towers.

 We had gotten a map of the place when we bought our tickets, but unfortunately it didn't have any information on the grave we were looking for (at least not that we could tell from the little Korean we could decipher). So we thought the most suitable place to look for a dead king might be the palace that was right next to the fortress. At least it looked right next to the fortress until we tried to find our way there and got lost...But we eventually found it, though we were quite cold and tired by then.

As I mentioned before, the palace was called Hwaseong Haenggung Palace (화성행궁). This palace wasn't one of the five great palaces of Seoul. I'm just goint to copy a little history provided from a Korean travel website I've used in the past:

 

"Haenggung means a shelter where King rested or retired from a war.
Hwaseonghaenggung castle is the biggest one of these shelters; Kings used them since the Jeongjo King period.
This is the temporary palace where King Jeongjo stayed at the time of Wonhaeng (long journey) and also where he held a splendid feast on Hyegyeonggung Hong, his mother's 60th birthday and more other events.
Especially Nangnamheon is the place where King Jeongjo threw a party for soldiers to commemorate the 60th birthday of Hyegyeonggung Hong, his mother, and awarded certificates to successful candidates at special national exams here. "

 

What I liked most about this palace is it had mannequins set up in traditional garb and some of the rooms were furnished so you could see how things would have been hundreds of years ago.

 

On the way into the palace, the sidewalks were
covered in cool depictions of the palace and
people as they might have appeared during
the Joseon Dynasty.

The front gate.



And here are some of the mannequins I spoke of.

This one is supposed to be the king.

If you were dying to know what a traditional Korean
palace kitchen looked like...well, here you go!

The sign to the right of this small building says "Traditional Toilet."
I was disappointed they didn't have it open so you could see what
it looked like. I'm sure it would look very toilet-like, but still.

Some traditional winter garb.

The throne room. Not very large, but then again, this wasn't
what one might consider a true palace.

That was the end of our palace tour...but not the end to our adventure. We went back to the front gate only to find it blocked off by a bunch of men dressed up in the traditional winter garb of soldiers from the Joseon Dynasty. That was when we remembered! They had advertised a martial arts exhibit starting at 3pm, which was about to begin in 5 minutes!!! I even caught some of it on video for you guys. Don't mind if there's some shaking. I had to remove my gloves in order to take the video so my hands were super cold. I think they were numb by the end. And I had to take the videos in short segments because my phone doesn't let me upload more than a minute at a time, so sorry if they're cut off at random places.

 

The first video is just the initiall prosession.

 



The second is a show of their archery skills. I can't say how good they were at hitting the target because a tree was in the way so I coudln't see :(

 



 

The next is some spear work (long and short spears).

 

 



 



 

And this one is a little sparring session between some of the different spears.

 

 

 

 

This is a guy with two swords (one of my favorites!).

 



 

Next, some sword drills.

 



 

A continuation of the last video, this time adding in some shields.

 





 

And this is the last video. There was more to the performance, but Alora and I were too cold to stay. We'd already been outside for four hours by that time and we wanted to get home to some warm blankets and hot cocoa.

 



 

 

And that was the end of that adventure. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And you even got the benefit of being able to see it while staying warm indoors instead of traipsing through the snow and cold.