A brief post, as I'm a bit rushed for time this week--between a sore throat and running around for work, parent-teacher meetings, and the like, I'm in vegetable mode when I come back home.
We went to Changdeokgung, a palace in Seoul. Once the secondary palace of the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea for several hundred years, the palace became the primary one after the Japanese destroyed the main palace by fire during the invasions in the late 1500s. It's gorgeous, set into the hills and forests of a garden complex in the north end of Seoul. Tucked into the foothills, it's designed to be as natural as possible.
It has a bit of a sad history, despite the beauty and its role as the former seat of power in Korea. It was there that the last Korean scion of the Joseon died in the late 1900s. It was there that the Japanese annexed Korea.
It's a beautiful and sad reminder of how lovely this country is, and how much history is here, both good and bad. I love teaching here, and learning about Korean culture and tradition--it's just a wild turn to see the differences between, say, Canada and Korea, since we don't have the history of a war as catastrophic (within Canadian borders... World War One and Two were devastating to Canada in their own way) as what happened to Korea during the Occupation.
Anyway, enough of the tragedy. It was beautiful, and we had a laugh walking past the National Ddeok (Teok) museum... basically, a rice cake museum. Oh, bother.
We celebrated Valentine's Day by watching JCVD without subtitles and laughing ourselves silly.
All the best, folks,
Chris
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