Historic Gyeongju

On the weekend of November 18th, over 100 women who work at TCIS travelled 3 hours south to the historic city of Gyeongju for a women's retreat. Highlights included a hike up a nearby mountain (the fall colours are in full swing), seeing an ancient astronomical observatory (called Cheomseongdae) and visiting a tomb park that is home to dozens of tumuli-style tombs from the Silla dynasty (it existed from about 57 BC to 935 AD). We were also able to worship together and enjoy lots of fellowship. It was a beautiful weekend.

Savouring Acorns...

A few weeks ago we joined a bunch of other TCIS staffers and went to a traditional acorn jelly (muk) restaurant. Acorns have been eaten here for years, and are really good for you (high in protein, etc.). The traditional way of making acorn jelly is to soak the acorns repeatedly, then dry them out fully and pound them into a fine powder. The powder is then boiled with water and, when this mixture cools, it congeals and becomes a jelly that can be cut into cubes or into noodle-type shapes. It can be added to salads or soups, or eaten on its own. Slightly nutty and very tasty, the muk provided the basis for an excellent evening of fellowship.

Old and New Juxtaposed in Korea

One of the amazing things about Korea is observing how things that are thoroughly modern and high-tech abut traditional ways of living. As an example, while driving to Buyeo on Thursday, we passed many fields where hay and rice were being harvested. There were big round bales of hay in some fields, and square bales in others (just like you'd see in Ontario); but in the majority of fields, there were hand-cut and tied sheaves of hay grouped together in bunches, drying in the sun. On one small side road, we stopped to observe this couple at work; the woman was using an old-fashioned sickle, and both the man and his wife were piling up hay in preparation for bundling.

Legendary Cliff...

On November 9th, Brian and I played hookie and took a personal day to go and explore the small city of Buyeo, located about 1 1/2 hours away (due west) from Daejon. This was the last capital of one of the powerful kingdoms in Korea, the Baekje kingdom (which lasted from about 18 BCE to 660 AD). There is a legendary cliff here (see the forested hill in one of these photos?) where 3,000 ladies of the Baekje court threw themselves to their death when they learned of the defeat of their leaders. Called Nakhwaan, the name of the cliff means Falling Flowers (in honour of the ladies who fell, dressed in their colourful, traditional hanbok dresses). It was a beautiful day to explore some stories from the past, and Brian even drove a car for the day (this was the first time he was able to try out his Korean driver's license!).

Wandering at the Palace...

This past weekend (Nov. 3rd) Brian, Hannah, Cora and I traveled up to Seoul to see our friends, the Covingtons (poor Rebecca had to stay home to finish some projects for school). Before our visit, we wandered around the largest palace complex in Korea for awhile, enjoying the fall sunshine and getting a sense of palace life from the 1700s.

Traditional Dance...

During Korean Culture Week at TCIS, I participated in a traditional dance/drum presentation. After a year of practicing, we presented about one minute of a traditional dance pattern (it is hard work!), and then taught the students some of the drumming. It was nerve-wracking, but a lot of fun, too!