Day 5: 북촌 가회 Bukchon and Gahoe

After leaving Jogyesa, we bought some roasted chestnuts because I'd never tried them. They taste like a meaty walnut, which I would have liked, but I think the vendor gave us a bunch of burned ones because she thought we wouldn't know any better. We ended up throwing most of them away.

We headed north to an area of Seoul known as 북촌 (Bokchon, lit. North Village). Bokchon is basically all the area north of Cheonggyecheon, and bordered by a park on the East side, Gyeongbokgung on the West, and a mountain to the North. It's full of the old type of houses known as 한옥 (hanok). These are the traditional houses, made of brick and wood, topped with ceramic tiles. This are is protected by the government, which means thankfully, these houses won't be torn down to make way for apartment buildings. Many of these building are still lived in, but many have been turned into guesthouse, cafes, or museums. To get to Gahoe, exit 2 out of Anguk station, head straight and turn left when you start seeing hanok,

가회 (Gahoe, pronounced Ga hway)  is a smaller in the northwest corner of Bukchon. It's especially known for it's concentration of Hanok and also the spectacular views at the top of the hill of Seoul.

Apparently on the way to Gahoe, you can get your picture taken with a chicken.

The alley ways were so narrow, and yet people drove cars through them. If you see one, duck out of the way, because there is not room for the two of you.

At the top of the hill, the view was amazing. You can see 경복궁 (Gyeongbokgung) on the left, and the blue roof of 청와대 (Cheongwadae), the residence of the President, the equivalent of the White House.

경복궁 Gyeongbokgung

청와대 Cheongwadae

북한산 (Bukhansan), the mountain to the north.

I'd never noticed how many of the roofs in Seoul are green. Probably somewhere along the line, green paint was cheap.

After walking through most of Gahoe, we were starving, We headed back towards Anguk station when we passed by a cafe. Unfortunately for us, they had more in the way of coffee and less in the pastry. I ended up eating a "pizza" pastry that lacked tomato sauce, but made up for it in corn. Koreans eat corn and potatoes on their pizza, and it's often served with pickles. Don't ask.

We headed to the east side of Bukchon where there were three museum I wanted to see. The first was the Dong-Lim knot museum. While being interesting, it was only one room that had a bunch of reproductions of famous norigaes and other accessories. They mostly do business in teaching classes and souvenirs. 

The next museum we headed to was the Gahoe museum. This is a do-not miss one. There's some fantastic paintings and cultural items in there. They were teaching a class on ceramic painting while we milled around, looking. The other thing you can do is to print your own 부적 (bujeok), the closest translation I can think of is a talisman. They are special prints to ward off bad luck and bless the bearer in shamanistic beliefs. They might have been brought to Korea during the Mongolian invasion.

These are the two types we did. I did the one of the left and Justin did the one of the right.

The last museum we went to was the embroidery museum. There's a small fee to enter this one, but it ended up being my favourite one. The embroidery was so exquisite, that Justin thought they were painted for a minute. They don't like photography, so I took a quick couple of pictures of the one in the front. They also offer hanbok to dress up in, but the man in charge was complaining to a guide/translator that he was sick of fat foreigners coming in, as he helped some what looked like southeast Asians. Rude.  

 I took such an interest in the embroidery, I was inspired to try my hand at it. I bought a tablecloth and some napkins and I'll let your know how I get on.

Day 5: 조계사 Jogyesa

We woke up Sunday, and grabbed some strawberry rolls we'd picked up Paris bakery the night before. Seriously, there's a million of them, sometimes on the same, but opposite sides of the streets. Necessary in a city of 10 million? We decided to walk to Jogyesa, another Buddhist temple, but this one much smaller than Bongeunsa. We walked underneath Gwanghwamun plaza and through some streets in which I saw the tax museum. We did not stop in. At some point, I realized that we needed to be at two streets over, but I saw a small path running behind one of the buildings. Feeling adventurous and knowing Sunday was the calmest day I'd planned, we decided to take it. Good choice, as it lead directly to the back of Jogyesa, through a small garden.

The small garden was next to this building. I think it was a small shrine?

소설법전 (Soseolbeobjeon), which I believe were the living quarters. You can see the jars that hold kimchi, deonjang, and other necessities for Korean cuisine.

The side of 대옹전 (Daeongjeon), the large building that housed Buddha. Again, I did not take a picture of the inside as people were worshiping.

I can't remember what this monument was for, but it's on the back of a turtle.

Front of Daeonjeon.

The spaces between the spokes represent the Eight-Fold Path of Buddhism. I only recognize the first character, which is at the top of all them. It means "positive" or righteousness."

This is a 500 year-old white pine. I love this because it's called 백송 (white pine), which matches my Korean name and the name of this blog, 백송화, Baek Song Hwa (meaning white pine blossom). So here's a 30-year-old white pine flower in front of a 500 year-old pine.

This wasn't a bell, but a money collection of something. I'm not sure what.

There were lanterns everywhere. Each one has a tag hanging off of them, each with a wish.

범종루 (Beomjongru), the pavilion that houses the Brahma bell, and the temple drum.

Rows and rows of lanterns. It was a few weeks before Buddha's birthday, which is why I think there were so many of them.

The front entrance of Jogyesa.

History of Jogyesa

I honestly can't remember what this building was. Based on the background, I think it was the gift shop?

Peonies are some of my favourite flowers.

Hanbok Family pictures

After buying and hauling back 6 hanboks (two of which were for my brother's kids), I was determined to get family pictures done. We'd paid a fortune for them, especially mine, and I wanted to get them done before the kids outgrew theirs. I choose the brother of my friend, Lindsay, who does photography on the weekends. I choose the Washington Arboretum, a gorgeous place if you ever are in the area and have the time. Here were the results:

The only picture we got with the duramagi on because it was hot.

For some reason the binyeo in my hair kept slipping to it would be upside down. Not a big deal, but it still bothers me.

This is one my favourites; I wish it was in landscape rather than portrait.

This remains one of my favourite pictures of the kids of all time. It shows their personality perfectly.

Jared managed to get this shot WHILE walking down the path.

We were waiting for an engaged couple to finish on the bridge, so I retied my sash. That's when I noticed that I'd put my norigae (the gold tassle hanging down) on the wrong side. Sheesh.

Aaaaand the selfie I took while waiting for Justin to get the car. A group of high schoolers past us while I was waiting with the kids. I don't think I've gotten such strange looks- until I had to stop at a grocery store on the way home. People at Fred Meyer got a show that night.

Back from the Dead

Sorry about the long hiatus. I fell down a very deep rabbit hole of depression this time. It lasted for a surprisingly long time, exacerbated by trying to buy a house and losing out on THE house. It's a long story that ends with banks suck, mortgage officers suck, and because of that, someone else is in MY sq ft kitchen, with MY hardwood floors, and MY bedroom suite that was an entire floor. I know I'm handling it with all the grace of a stampeding elephant, but this one hit hard.

It hit so hard, I'm now on an anti-depressant for the first time in five years, and a mood stabilizer to boot. I think I'm now taking so many medications, I'm going to start rattling. During this time, I've also contracted some mystery illness that has resulted in weeks of fever, x-rays, and ultrasounds of my lymph nodes. My doctor also wants a biopsy of the lymph node in my NECK, at which point, I say I have so many holes and scars in my body, why not? Ugh. You suck, body.

Anyway, remember when I went to Korea? Nearly a year ago? I'll try to catch up on the few days left I didn't tell you about. If any of you still are there and reading, strap in. It'll be a roller-coaster until that mood stabilizer kicks in.

She has her eyes

"Mom, I have football eyes."

I froze. I had been brushing her hair, getting Alana ready for school. 

"Where did you hear that from?"

"Nowhere." She pointed to the mirror. "I saw in the mirror."

"You have my eyes."

"Oh, okay," she said, as she skipped off to breakfast, totally unaware of how much she had rocked my world.

I grew up hating my eyes. From either kids telling me I had "squinty eyes" to make up artists telling me everything I could do to make my eyes bigger, or every performing group I was part of designing makeup meant for Caucasians, I soon wished my eyes were bigger, a different colour, deeper set, anything but what they were.

This is my profile pic. I love this picture, and it wasn't until now I couldn't explain why. From a photography perspective, it's not that great. The lower half of my face is obscured by Alana's hands, my hair is escaping, and Alana looks oddly placed. But I realized that all that doesn't matter because I saw the look on Alana's face. She's looking at her mother's face, the same face she'll grow up to look like. And she's not criticizing my eyes, she loves them. And me? I'm looking back at the same face, finally able to love those eyes because they belong to my perfect daughter.

So Alana, my wonderful baby girl, soon enough we'll have the first of many talks about race and learning to love yourself, but until then, I'm glad you've noticed your football shaped eyes and accepted them without guilt or wish for change. I'm sorry I was too much of a coward to tell you that I love your eyes.