Sunday, April 17, 2011

Seoul Day 3: Namsan Park, Namsangol Hanok Village, Bukcheong Lion Dance

Our third day in Seoul began with a long walk from our hotel up through Namsan Park and down to Namsangol Hanok Village. Along the way, we walked through Pet Row. (Shopping here is a stitch. Shops selling like goods tend to be grouped together, making shopping for the best deal very convenient for the consumer no doubt, but leaving us wondering how any shop owner manages the competition...interesting. But I digress.) So, back to Pet Row. Pet shop after pet shop, all showing their most adorable puppies in their windows. I think Ned said, "Oh, he's so cuuuuuuuuuuute" like 200 times.
Namsan Park is essentially the foothills of Mt. Namsan, on which the Seoul Tower sits. It's a lovely park with commanding city views and gorgeous cherry blossoms this time of year.
And gorgeous magpie nests, too. :) Walking here is a really nice way to escape the energy of Seoul for a mind-clearing morning stroll.
Namsangol Hanok Village was our next stop. It's a mini folk village with a nice collection of restored traditional Korean houses. One the day we visited, there just so happened to be a traditional wedding happening and it was open to the public. (Ooooooh! Korean wedding crashing!) The service was long and as ritualistic as any other wedding service. I still need to look up what everything means. I do know that guy below holding the duck is the groom.
And that woman who held her arms to block her face like that (for an insanely long time, I might add) is the bride.
After the service, we checked everything out. Seriously, it was totally like Pioneer Village Korean-style.
Josiah tried his hand at some traditional games. He was really great at this one. It involved spinning a top and then smacking it with that whip to keep it in motion.
Nedy decided she wanted to try her hand at crafting a danso, a traditional Korean flute.
She worked hard to drill out the holes.
Then she sanded the rough edges and Baba attached the decorative strings.
Finally it was time to give it a try. I think the woman helping us was a bit blown away that Ned could actually blow across the danso with a tight enough embouchure to make it sound!
Look at the mutual thrill on those faces!
Josiah tried his hand at traditional kite-making. Kite-making is painstaking. And that's all I'm sayin' 'bout that. He did stick it out and now has a great souvenir for his room.
She totally digs that danso. Totally.
After our village visit, we decided to head over to the Seoul Namsan Traditional Theater to inquire about ticket availability for a show we saw a poster for earlier that morning, Bukcheong Lion Dance. As it turns out, today was the last day of the show's run and there were some tickets available. But they told us that youth had to be at least seven years old. We toyed around with having Nedy say, "I'm seven, I turn eight in November", but ultimately decided to respect the rules and Dan, Lisa and Josiah got tickets for the 3:00 show. Nedy was disappointed that she and I would miss out. Heck, so was I. So I went down to the box office and explained that I have a three year old who is going on 17 (I don't think my joke translated well...) and would they be willing to allow her in? And they said yes! Yay! Theater for all of us!
They even brought Ned a cushy booster seat! This is Ned's anticipation before the show:
Her reaction after the show:
The kid just loves theater. This show was in Korean and I could barely follow the plot, but the masked characters and random lion dancer appearances kept her on the edge of her seat. In the middle of the show she whispered, "I love dis show! I'm so glad you and me could come, too!"
After the show, they announced that the actors would be putting on a brief performance outside to celebrate the closing of the show. We rushed to the elevator only to have the door open and be met by members of the company! Nedy looked star-struck as they made room and invited us in. And then the drummer guy gave Nedy his stick and told her to pound on his drum!
Outside, the drum and dance performance was magnificently electric. It was really neat. And really loud. :)
Our day ended with a climb up the skirt of Mt. Namsan to the station from which the cable cars climb up the line to Seoul Tower. But it was a Sunday night, and a smog-free one at that, and the line was insanely long. Looks like Tuesday will be our day for that! So much to see, so little time! :)

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