Well today has been interesting and exhausting. Did I tell you that Eastern down in the lobby has a bathroom with those incredible luxury toilets. You know the ones that have the heated seat, that rinse you off after you are done doing your business and then dry you with warm air? Needless to say I like that bathroom but Dave gets impatient when (in his words) "You decide you must pamper your butt." Excuse me if this is too graphic... and yes I agree it is a thought that can elicit night terrors but I do think it is kind of unique to these parts.
We started by taking the subway to get to the Seoul City Tour bus. First thing that happens is I can't find Kullen. My heart drops. Look around. Panic. Look around somemore. Now if you have ever been on the Seoul subway you know it is a madhouse, full of people, fun to ride but insane at the same time. Easy to loose a child esp one like my son. Then just as I feel I will lose it I hear a voice "surprise, here I am Mom" and out he pops from the telephone booth 2 ft away!!! Man if this kid survives until his next birthday (which I might add is tomorrow) he will be lucky. Thirty gray hairs later and we get on the Green Line and off we go.
The Seoul City Bus Tour is great. Fairly cheap and you can get on and off the bus at your leisure. We started by getting off at Gyeongbokgung Palace and were disappointed to see the guards of Changing of the Guards fame on the other side of the street. Bummer. Little did we know that we did make it and saw part of the ceremony. The kids loved it esp Kullen who loved the nice shiny gleaming swords and anything else that could be considered weapon-like. They were also having right in front of the palace a "Look like a Korean in Traditional dress" morning. No sizes for kids but Dave got dressed and the boys put on the hats while Kellis whined. I got some nice pics. Back over to the guards. Pics with the guards. Kullen decides to run over to the BIG Korean Drum and whack it...I get yelled at...then they decide to put up the sign that says NO NOT TOUCH THE DRUM....did I say something about Kullen making it to his next birthday???????????????????????
Well, all I can say is that when you are 6,7, 4 once you have seen one palace you don't need to be bothered looking at another. Scratch palace hopping off the list. Maybe next time we come we will see a second one. So we leave and as we are leaving here come the guards again in a prosession. THe kids loved watching a listening to it all.
Back on the bus. Go past the War Memorial of Korea...decide to go there on Wednesday when it rains. Go past the National Museum of Korea...another Wednesday adventure. Head to Itaewon. Look for Mike's print shop which we find is now named Lee's. It is closed. Bummer. Found an incredible antique store with a traditional hat box for them men's traditional tall hat. Considering this but how the heck to do you get it home? Stop for quiznois subs. The kids have never had one due to their previous to this trip gluten free diet. They devore them. How much forbidden food can these kids put away? See a hysterical sign there that says Smoking Time Am7-Am10 and PM 8-Closing time. Oh, specially priced combos are not available on the weekends...could we pretend it is MOnday then? They then go to Cold Stone Creamery (another previously forbidden delight) while I go to Joy Jewelry and order 5 necklaces in Hangul of my kids names which they will deliver to our hotel before we leave. YIPPEEE.
Then we headed over to Namsangol Traditional Korea Village. Last time I came there were two other people there but today it was packed. The vendors were nearby hawking their yummy corn cakes, chestnut cakes, pine nut pink coated treats and numerous other things that looked interesting or gross depending if you are 48 or 7. What was special about today at the Village was that all the traditional games of Korea were being featured. There was the bow and arrow shoot...did I say something about Kullen making it to his next birthday????....the traditional see saw which I might add is much harder than one would think but something that Kullen excelled at. The best part was watching two ladies in the 60's who were able to do it and here the thawp, thawp, thawp as they landed in perfect synchrony.They were amazing. They also had a game in which you cast arrows into a jar (don't know the name but did take a pic of the directions on how to play), the traditional rope swing, Yut with Horse, and a spinning top game in which you use a whip to get it going and keep it going, etc. It was great to see families with young kids as well as the much older generations playing these games and enjoying themselves. The laughter was infectious and hearing old and young laughing together was just music to my ears.
Suppose to go to Korea House for the performance today but one of my children was acting up and exhausted us to the nth degree...I don't think I have to name names here if you know what I mean.
Thoughts: Never have I been in a country in which its traditional clothing has such bright colors along with the guards uniforms. Dyed purple and pink ears on a dog with matching toenails...now that is almost sinful. How do you teach kids to try much less eat dried squid? Is there any bribe that is big enough for that? I wonder how many people get run over here per year? I have yet to see any drivers flip someone the bird. It appears there is no road rage here...now that would be an interesting research project. How many gray hairs can one little boy give one momma in a day...no research project necessary for that one...43!
