A long weekend...Saturday

Saturday 1 March was Independence Movement Day, a Korean national holiday, when Koreans commemorate the day in 1919 when one of the first displays of Korean independence movements against the Japanese occupation of Korea took place. The Declaration of Independence was read, and still is to this day at Tapgol Park, Seoul. The demonstrations that began March 1 1919 spread through Korea and over 7,000 people were killed by the Japanese during the demonstrations. The March 1 movement resulted in a major change in Japanese imperial policy towards Korea when more lenient policies were introduced.

We went to Tapgol park to see the events which included dancing, music and many displays of national pride. At one point, as the pounding drum reached a crescendo, a man angrily defaced a Japanese flag with paint. Next a long white sheet was split in half and the crowds walked through the centre, symbolising the separation of Korea into North and South.



In the afternoon I had a leisurely stroll around Seoul and took in some of the sites in the Jongno area.

This is the Central Temple of Cheondogyo near Insadong. Cheondoism is a Korean religion rooted in Shamanism and Buddhism.
I visited Unhyeongung (Palace) near Anguk station. It's a very small palace, but must have been one of the only quiet places to be found in central Seoul on a Saturday afternoon. It was great to wander round without tonnes of tourists.


I got to take some lovely photos of Gyeongbok Palace, which I went to the day before, from the road adjacent to the palace wall. These are different views of the East Gate. Notice the monkeys on the roof. This is a common feature on traditional korean buildings.


Here are some random statues I saw along said road. I have no idea what they are. Buddhist maybe?! On the left is a building at the junction on the palace road.


This is Bosingak, a big bell near Jonggak Station, which is where Chi He and I saw in the New Year.

Here is a really cool building, Jongno Tower, which has a restaurant and bar at the top. I'll have to go there some time. I bet the views are amazing.
And that's it for the pics. The only other thing worth mentioning is my first bad experience with a Korean person. I was in a book shop on my way back home and got pestered by a Korean guy. He seemed a bit aggressive so I politely told him I was a bit busy and tried to edge away, at which point he said to "Go back to your country, or I'll kill you!" He then repeated shouted this at me, prodded me, picked up the books from my hand and followed me when I tried to leave. I ended up running away from him really scared. Thankfully everyone else in Korea has behaved in the opposite way - incredibly friendly and welcoming. Let's hope it's a one off, but be warned...

A long weekend...Friday

After having to work a couple of Saturdays introducing the new English program at school we were allowed a day off. Yay! So we planned an action packed few days, starting with the Van Gogh exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art.

The exhibition is the largest Van Gogh exhibition in the world since 1990. The exhibition was organised in chronological order which made it easy to see the transitions in his artistic styles. It was pretty cool to see so many of his famous pieces in one place.

(The Sower, Self Portrait 1888, Irises, Country Road in Provence by Night)

In the afternoon we went to Gyeongbok Palace. It was nice, but palace buildings from one palace to the next are pretty similar, and so much of it reminded me of Changdeok palace which we saw fairly recently. However, the pavilion in particular looked beautiful and happens to be depicted on the 10,000 won notes. We also got to see the hourly changing of the guard ceremony, which was quite over the top, with loud speakers giving us a commentary and guards wearing stick-on beards. The National Folk Museum of Korea is also on the site which was really well presented. At the north gate of the palace we were able to see the Blue House, which is where the president lives. There was a car leaving the house at the time and I'd like to think the lady in the car was someone important!