Day 12: Namsangol Hanok Village
One of the reasons why I chose to visit the Namsan area today was because my aunt while looking through the papers discovered that there was going to be some kind of festival going on at the Namsangol Hanok Village on this day. She had this local paper that listed all events that were happening in Seoul for the month of October.
I hoped on the #2 bus near the Namsan Stairs and headed for Namsangol Hanok Village. The Namsangol Hanok Village is an area where they have preserved much of what it was like to live in Korea many years ago. Hanok is the term used to describe a traditional Korean style house. You probably won’t find too many hanoks in Seoul except for some pockets throughout the city like at Namsan or Bukchon. There are actually some places that have revitalized the hanok either through restoration or through new construction but with the purposes of acting like a resort and as a weekend getaway for city people.
On the way to Namsangol, I passed by the Seoul Animation Center and I was tempted to get off and check it out. I’m not too familiar with Korean animation, other than a few children’s cartoons like Taekwon V and am more familiar with Japanese ones like Miyazaki’s movies. I thought it might be a good way to learn about Korean animation but because I didn’t know anything about the facilities and whether there was anything available to tourists in the form of a tour or exhibits, I stayed the course.
I got to the Namsangol Hanok Village shortly after 1:30PM and the entrance to Namsangol was busy with a steady stream of people going in. There was indeed some kind of festival going on but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was about or for. I had to zigzag my way through the initial crowd that was bottlenecking the entrance to get to the rest of the village. It turns out that it was some sort of festival that celebrated the various communities in and around the area. There was a large stage and seating area setup and representatives from each of the communities wearing their own colours were paraded in one group at a time in a ceremony of sorts. In addition to the various people from the communities that came out for the festivities, there was as usual several classes of students visiting as part of a school trip.
The actually hanok houses were all opened and on display and while you couldn’t set foot in them, you could see inside and see how the different rooms were all laid out. One of the interesting things about hanok style houses is that while a house might have several rooms and a kitchen, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are all connected to each other. So if you wanted to go to your brother’s room or your parents’ room, you had to put on your shoes, go outside and walk over to the other room. The same goes for the kitchen. Once a meal was all cooked and prepared, the food then had to be taken outside and walked over to the dining room. It sounds inconvenient and it probably isn’t too bad during the summer but imagine having to do that in the dead of winter!
I took mostly video at Namsangol so I really don’t have many pictures to post but here are just a few of them.
Here are the videos I took at Namsangol. In addition to the hanok houses, further within Namsangol Hanok Village, I came across a Time Capsule that was cemented in 1994 and not scheduled to be opened until 2394 when Seoul becomes 1,000 years old. The time capsule holds 600 items from 1994. I found the Namsangol area beautiful and a nice place to go for a walk as it wasn’t too large making it easy to cover the entire place in a single visit.
As part of the festival, many of the communities that came out were operating food stands that were selling all sorts of typical Korean dishes such as Korean pancakes, ramen, odeng and gimbap. Coming to Namsangol, I thought the festival taking place was going to be more about celebrating the traditions of Korea’s past but it turned out it wasn’t so I probably would have liked to have visited Namsangol on another day when it was less crowded. Before heading home, I popped into the nearby Lotteria for a quick bite to eat.
Evenings at my aunt’s place usually comprised of watching a little bit of TV, spending time in my room, eating fruits or snacks and trying various Korean ice creams I purchased from the supermarket on the way in.^^ If my aunts were watching a drama that I had been following at home in Toronto, I would also watch alongside with them. The ones I watched were 동이 (Dong-Yi) and a little bit of 황금물고기 (Goldfish). I was more into Dong-Yi but my mom and aunts were big-time into watching Goldfish. The Korean baseball playoffs were also going on at this time and if my aunts were watching, I would usually watch with them. When the playoffs were on, other programs were preempted or cancelled which upset my aunts and mom because it meant they couldn't get their daily fix of Goldfish.^^ When I wasn’t watching TV, I normally spent the time lying in my room going over all the photos and videos I took during that day. I listened to my iPod while crossing places I had visited off my itinerary and plotting the schedule for the next day. I always had to make sure I religiously charged 4 things at the end of the day: 2 cellphones (mine and my aunt’s), my camera battery and my iPod.
I slept on the floor Korean style under a foam mattress that was few inches thick and on one of the first couple of nights, I must have slept on my side because I woke up with a really sore hip. After a while however, I got adjusted to it quite nicely and found it comfortable. One of things I found was that heating in condos in Seoul is not continuously given but given at set intervals throughout the day and night. My aunts condo would get heat 4 times a day and as a result, the temperature varied significantly at times. When the heat was on, it got quite warm to the point where we needed to open the windows. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too cold outside so by the time all the heat dissipated, it was still relative comfortable when the next interval of heat came on. The heat was radiant and it came through the floor which made it really nice when it was cold but when it was hot, there was no escape except to hop on the couch or to hang out on the veranda.
I hoped on the #2 bus near the Namsan Stairs and headed for Namsangol Hanok Village. The Namsangol Hanok Village is an area where they have preserved much of what it was like to live in Korea many years ago. Hanok is the term used to describe a traditional Korean style house. You probably won’t find too many hanoks in Seoul except for some pockets throughout the city like at Namsan or Bukchon. There are actually some places that have revitalized the hanok either through restoration or through new construction but with the purposes of acting like a resort and as a weekend getaway for city people.
On the way to Namsangol, I passed by the Seoul Animation Center and I was tempted to get off and check it out. I’m not too familiar with Korean animation, other than a few children’s cartoons like Taekwon V and am more familiar with Japanese ones like Miyazaki’s movies. I thought it might be a good way to learn about Korean animation but because I didn’t know anything about the facilities and whether there was anything available to tourists in the form of a tour or exhibits, I stayed the course.
I got to the Namsangol Hanok Village shortly after 1:30PM and the entrance to Namsangol was busy with a steady stream of people going in. There was indeed some kind of festival going on but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was about or for. I had to zigzag my way through the initial crowd that was bottlenecking the entrance to get to the rest of the village. It turns out that it was some sort of festival that celebrated the various communities in and around the area. There was a large stage and seating area setup and representatives from each of the communities wearing their own colours were paraded in one group at a time in a ceremony of sorts. In addition to the various people from the communities that came out for the festivities, there was as usual several classes of students visiting as part of a school trip.
The actually hanok houses were all opened and on display and while you couldn’t set foot in them, you could see inside and see how the different rooms were all laid out. One of the interesting things about hanok style houses is that while a house might have several rooms and a kitchen, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are all connected to each other. So if you wanted to go to your brother’s room or your parents’ room, you had to put on your shoes, go outside and walk over to the other room. The same goes for the kitchen. Once a meal was all cooked and prepared, the food then had to be taken outside and walked over to the dining room. It sounds inconvenient and it probably isn’t too bad during the summer but imagine having to do that in the dead of winter!
I took mostly video at Namsangol so I really don’t have many pictures to post but here are just a few of them.
As part of the festival, many of the communities that came out were operating food stands that were selling all sorts of typical Korean dishes such as Korean pancakes, ramen, odeng and gimbap. Coming to Namsangol, I thought the festival taking place was going to be more about celebrating the traditions of Korea’s past but it turned out it wasn’t so I probably would have liked to have visited Namsangol on another day when it was less crowded. Before heading home, I popped into the nearby Lotteria for a quick bite to eat.
Evenings at my aunt’s place usually comprised of watching a little bit of TV, spending time in my room, eating fruits or snacks and trying various Korean ice creams I purchased from the supermarket on the way in.^^ If my aunts were watching a drama that I had been following at home in Toronto, I would also watch alongside with them. The ones I watched were 동이 (Dong-Yi) and a little bit of 황금물고기 (Goldfish). I was more into Dong-Yi but my mom and aunts were big-time into watching Goldfish. The Korean baseball playoffs were also going on at this time and if my aunts were watching, I would usually watch with them. When the playoffs were on, other programs were preempted or cancelled which upset my aunts and mom because it meant they couldn't get their daily fix of Goldfish.^^ When I wasn’t watching TV, I normally spent the time lying in my room going over all the photos and videos I took during that day. I listened to my iPod while crossing places I had visited off my itinerary and plotting the schedule for the next day. I always had to make sure I religiously charged 4 things at the end of the day: 2 cellphones (mine and my aunt’s), my camera battery and my iPod.
I slept on the floor Korean style under a foam mattress that was few inches thick and on one of the first couple of nights, I must have slept on my side because I woke up with a really sore hip. After a while however, I got adjusted to it quite nicely and found it comfortable. One of things I found was that heating in condos in Seoul is not continuously given but given at set intervals throughout the day and night. My aunts condo would get heat 4 times a day and as a result, the temperature varied significantly at times. When the heat was on, it got quite warm to the point where we needed to open the windows. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too cold outside so by the time all the heat dissipated, it was still relative comfortable when the next interval of heat came on. The heat was radiant and it came through the floor which made it really nice when it was cold but when it was hot, there was no escape except to hop on the couch or to hang out on the veranda.
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