Parakeets and Paparazzi
Last weekend they sent us to Seoul for educator's day. They provided us with a day of seminars to choose from to expand our educational knowledge. Some of the lectures were actually informative, but the best part of the weekend is the free train tickets to Seoul. :)
I went and visited the DMZ again and actually took some pictures this time. Since I've already blogged about the DMZ I won't bore you with that again, but I will add some pictures to the post on it. Check out "38th parallel universe" for the new visuals.
I will instead tell you about Insa-dong. It is an art district in Seoul that has one main road, a myriad of alleys, and in that space, over 100 galleries. Now I'm not talking just paintings, but all kinds of traditional crafts. I saw people making really cool paper crafts like boxes and lamps, wood carving, and character scripts that I guess are like calligraphy. I had a great time strolling through the street vendors and galleries...except people kept taking my picture. Some of the pictures were from college students on a photo scavenger hunt who had to document themselves chatting with a foreigner. I also got super snapped by a man with a telephoto lens. It was really weird. I definitely feel objectified sometimes and a little bit of a freak.
After walking around for a couple hours I slipped into one of the many tea houses in that district. The Old Tea House is at the end of one of the allies and up a narrow flight of stairs. When you get into it, the only thing you notice is how packed the place is with furniture. I mean I almost thought I'd walked into a furniture shop until a young woman appeared with a menu to seat me. Once I sat down though, I forgot I was in the middle of a big city. The shop was full of parakeets! They were just flying around loose, coming periodically to get the crumbs on your table, and chirping quietly. The shop also had water features for a little relaxing background noise. Between the birds and the water, I thought I was in a forest somewhere. It was lovely.
I went and visited the DMZ again and actually took some pictures this time. Since I've already blogged about the DMZ I won't bore you with that again, but I will add some pictures to the post on it. Check out "38th parallel universe" for the new visuals.
I will instead tell you about Insa-dong. It is an art district in Seoul that has one main road, a myriad of alleys, and in that space, over 100 galleries. Now I'm not talking just paintings, but all kinds of traditional crafts. I saw people making really cool paper crafts like boxes and lamps, wood carving, and character scripts that I guess are like calligraphy. I had a great time strolling through the street vendors and galleries...except people kept taking my picture. Some of the pictures were from college students on a photo scavenger hunt who had to document themselves chatting with a foreigner. I also got super snapped by a man with a telephoto lens. It was really weird. I definitely feel objectified sometimes and a little bit of a freak.
After walking around for a couple hours I slipped into one of the many tea houses in that district. The Old Tea House is at the end of one of the allies and up a narrow flight of stairs. When you get into it, the only thing you notice is how packed the place is with furniture. I mean I almost thought I'd walked into a furniture shop until a young woman appeared with a menu to seat me. Once I sat down though, I forgot I was in the middle of a big city. The shop was full of parakeets! They were just flying around loose, coming periodically to get the crumbs on your table, and chirping quietly. The shop also had water features for a little relaxing background noise. Between the birds and the water, I thought I was in a forest somewhere. It was lovely.
posted by Claire | 2:46 PM
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