Unhyeongung (palace) in Seoul, South Korea -- Part 2

Walking into the second area of Unhyeon Palace (check the map in Part 1 of my entry, or wikipedia's Unhyeon Palace entry for the name) . . .

I noticed this little item just inside and to the right of the entryway . . .

I think it might have been used as a litter for transporting nobles . . . but don't have a source for that guess. Regardless, I liked the coloring and details . . . the thought did occur to me that it'd be absolutely hysterical to see if I could FIT inside the thing and get a picture . . . but then, I don't really want to see what the inside of a Korean jail looks like so I restrained myself.

Moving along . . .

I walked into the next courtyard . . .

I found it very puzzling to see that many of the display rooms seemed to be EMPTY of historical items and decoration . . .

This room was located under the main level rooms. It had a lot of interesting stuff in it, but there was no info available about it.

And in the second room . . . yes, the same dress again.

And in the third room . . . yep, you guessed it: the same dress again.

And . . . again . . . did they really all wear the exact same dress?

I was VERY intrigued by this room. I wanted to know more about what the women did here, and the living conditions, etc, but again . . . no info.

I really liked this room. It actually seemed to be a completely finished exhibit . . .

Another underground room . . . with the need for some signs and info about what was done here, etc.

And then there was this room . . . I'm pretty sure that this was the 'toilet' . . . cool.

Back outside . . .

I really liked this door/gateway . . .

In this area there wasn't really anything to see other than the design and architecture of the buildings . . .

Moving along . . . to what were pretty much empty buildings . . .

and another courtyard . . .

I guess Korean history and architecture buffs would appreciate this part of the palace the most . . .

See Part 3 for more pics . . .

J

Unhyeongung (palace) in Seoul, South Korea--Part 1

Two weeks ago I was in Seoul and had some time alone while Julianne was with a friend from America . . .

I decided to go check out a palace I hadn't been to yet: Unhyeon Palace. If you happen to be one of those special members of a very small minority of foreign tourists, teachers, expats living in Korea who are able to read Korean at a high enough level to understand history and information about the palace the official website is http://www.unhyungung.com/ It's sad that while many Koreans really want foreign people around the world to learn about Korean history and culture there is a deplorable lack of information available in other languages.

Anyways . . .

Arriving outside I took some shots of the layout and palace map.

I always take a picture of these steel information signs because you never know if there will be any info on the Internet about the place you're visiting in ENGLISH.

I then noticed that I had to buy a ticket to get inside. 700won for a ticket? At first I thought this was rather cheap (about 50 cents in Canadian/American) . . . later, after having walked around inside . . . I kind of think it should be free.

View from the main gate onto the palace grounds . . .

Immediately inside there is a large open area . . . I really liked this tree for some reason.

It seemed to me that there wasn't really much that looked historically authentic . . . everything looked new and kind of just thrown together in each of the rooms . . .

I wonder what kind of historical aesthetic is behind how the displays were put together. I mean, if you're a guard isn't it pretty likely that you're going to have really tanned skin from having spent countless hours on patrols and standing at your post outside? Take a look at the mannequin they chose . . .

Looking closer at the room and its contents I noticed the floor . . .

I'm pretty sure the floor material isn't appropriate to the historical period, and that makes me wonder about the objects in the rooms . . . and yes, I do realize that "The site dates from the 1300s. Most early buildings were damaged or destroyed over the years, but some of the early construction remains" (from wikipedia's entry on Unhyeon) . . . but that doesn't mean you don't try to re-create the original using the original materials if at all possible . . . unless of course that historical knowledge has been lost . . . I don't know.

Oh, and add to that the materials of the 'period' costumes . . .

I thought it was kind of funny to see a 'street sign' telling you what each direction will take you to . . . lol.

And then I saw them . . . children . . . on tour with their teacher. I walked through the door with great trepidation (not really, but come on, how often do you get to use the word "trepidation"? lol) . . .

Surprisingly, I wasn't accosted with the-wind-of-a-thousand-hellos-and-what's-your-name . . . this time.

The displays began to feel like they'd been done by a 2nd year 'museum display' major, or whatever you major in when you want to be the person that puts together historical displays in Korea . . .

Were these guys Spartans? The quarters sure look awfully bare . . .

I don't really have much to say about the next series of pics . . . so read the info signs . . . and enjoy.

I think that this might be the chimney for an ondol heating system.

I'm still getting the hang of using my wide angel zoom lens . . . there are times where I'd swear the composition is straight and horizontal and then I get back to my computer to see this . . .

I think the most interesting thing I saw while visiting the palace were the ondol chimneys . . .

Finishing up the first area of the palace I began to walk towards the next . . . it was really hot and humid . . . I mean REALLY hot and humid.

See Part 2 for more pics of the palace.

J

A: "Jason, isn't it delicious?" B: "Uhm . . . yes?"

One of the 6 month trainees in my class brought in a traditional Korean dessert/snack for all of us to have after we finished the last class I'd be teaching them for the program.

The trainees kept asking me if I thought the rice/potato dried pieces (I'm not sure what the name of it is) was delicious . . . I said it was to be polite all the while chewing on a small piece and thinking: what the hell? it's dry, there's hardly any flavor, and the texture is . . . something else.

Here's a shot of it.

And here's a close-up . . .

I can really only think of one thing that comes even close to a comparable flavor in western cultural food from Canada: burnt toast with no butter or any kind of sweet flavor topping/sauce . . .

I guess I should be proud of myself for having developed diplomacy and tact skills after nearly 5 years in Korea. When I first came here I held to my personal belief about always telling the truth in every situation . . . I've learned that this is not a universal value and that telling the truth is NOT always the best choice. Often, if you tell the truth in Korea, it leads to unnecessary stress and conflict that could easily be avoided if you just take the time to learn the expected/scripted responses for the role foreign teachers play on the Korean stage of 'reality' . . .

I don't know whether or not it's a case of my taste buds just not being developed enough, sensitive enough, to 'savor' the subtle flavors of this snack . . . or if it's just a case of I didn't have my mother and/or grandmother indoctrinate me into seeing it as delicious over the course of my childhood . . . maybe if I eat more of it I could learn to appreciate the flavor more . . .

Maybe . . .

Anyways, the 'moral' of this story is that one should just generally say 'it's delicious' every time they're asked that question in Korea--unless of course your face is turning inside out and green from trying not to be sick or something from the food you're eating at the time, lol.

I wonder where the trainees are taking me for lunch . . . knock on wood.

J