First of all, William makes friends wherever he goes, and we have been a bunch of places. People keep kissing on him and giving him gifts. Mostly he gets food (sweets and candy), but he has also gotten a key chain and a fan. People even take pictures of him like he's a tourist attraction. Does my son mind? Nope. He eats it up. He waves when he sees someone coming and chases after them if they don't stop and talk. I've found Korean children are also fond of my little guy. Older Children come up and want to play with him. Younger children smile and wave back. I maintain that he will be sad when we go home and is "normal" again.
I was a bit worried about making the trek across the world and having to travel around by myself, but I actually feel very safe here. The streets are clean and I can always see at least three people when I walk down the street, but it's never so crowded that I feel overwhelmed. Everyone is friendly. When William and I got caught in the rain, two different ladies (one coming and one going back), held their umbrellas over us and walked us to our destination. I can't imagine anyone doing that at home. It's been great. I have learned the value of the completely clueless face and have gotten good at it when I need help. I've yet to see another white woman (or man) outside of the two tourist sites we visited this weekend. In the shops around here people are beginning to know me and William and smile and wave as we pass. Mostly, I think I feel the safest knowing that if anyone tried to hurt us, about a million little old ladies would attack them with a passion. And those little old ladies are spry; I wouldn't want to mess with them.
William and I have been walking everywhere. We have to pad in time to stop and talk to all the Korean women we pass, but we eventually get where we are going. Francis thought I was kidding when I told him that, but he found out this weekend exactly what I meant, hehe. There is a park behind our hotel and a playground down a street nearby. We have frequented both on our daily outings. I've also walked to a "mall" (basically a big Dillards) and the Home Plus store (kind of like Walmart on steroids) where I bought William a book that is in both Korean and English. I've decided that my new thing for a while: buying children's books for William from where we travel. I got him a counting book from Ireland and he loves it. Anyway, back to walking. I've been walking 5 or more miles a day. I'm so glad I have good shoes, or it would be torture!
Francis had off Saturday and Sunday so we made the most of it. Saturday we went to the Traditional Korean Fold Village. It was so fun! It was supposed to rain, but we went anyway, and you know what? It didn't rain and it was a beautiful day. I guess everyone was scared off by the forecast because no one was there (Francis has been there before when it was packed). We saw all kinds of traditional Korean houses including peasants, scholars, farmers, and noblemen. We saw wood working, silk spinning (which was fascinating!), carving, and harvesting. Most notably, we saw a traditional Korean wedding. A real one. It was in the program, but when we arrived we noticed some people were dressed like tourists while others were wearing suits. After talking to some, we found the wedding was legit! The bride was American and the groom was Korean so it was an interesting mix of people. The ceremony included two chickens (thrown into the air), some food (that was eaten), drink, and a LOT of bowing (mostly to the parents of the bride and groom). The strangest thing to me was that the bride and groom had a large table between them and they never touched.
Sunday we went to Suwon Fortress and the Temporary Palace. Suwon was originally a walled city built by a King to honor his dead Father in 1795. All of the buildings have been restored after they were destroyed when the Japanese invaded. It was amazing site. We walked about halfway around the wall, after which we were so tired that we took the “dragon train” the rest of the way around. The palace itself was impressive and large, with 33 buildings in total. The nice thing about old Korean buildings is their open floor plan. You can see everything from the outside. I especially enjoyed the changing of the guards ceremony. It was full of colorful costumes, an appearance by the (ancient) king and archery and gunfire. Overall a winner. Oh! And we wandered into a special area on accident where we were offered tea, taught how to wrap and store traditional herbal medicine, and given a traditional medical exam. The treatment for Francis’s back was herbal tea and acupuncture! He said it didn’t hurt though. He would do it again.
You may be wondering how we like the Korean food. Well, to
be honest I hadn’t much cared for it until last night and William had been flat
out refusing to eat it. He’s not a huge fan of rice or noodles, so I wasn’t too
shocked. Last night, though, we had a meal that was amazing. It was SUPER SPICY
chicken with a bunch of trimmings. I
think there may be a permanent hole in my stomach, but it was worth it. They
also served a huge egg dish which William ate almost all of (which is saying
something since he ate before we went out!). Today I went out on a limb and bought
these fish shaped waffles on a stick that have bean curd in them as well as
some colored cakes. Both are delicious and William really likes them. Hopefully
he (and I) will come to really enjoy more Korean food very soon!
Well, got to go. My typing keeps waking up William. Till
next time!
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