Korean Folk Village

On Saturday, January 2, 2010, we visited the Korean Folk Village. It is about 15 minutes away from our apartments, and to get their by bus is impossible (for us, anyway), so we took a taxi. Calling a taxi is a hilarious thing to do when you don't speak Korean, but somehow (and by somehow, I mean Dustin) we figured it out. Betsy, Dustin, Karen, Luke, Marissa and I left around 2 pm (after a quick lunch at Kimbap Chungguk), for the village. It is a huge space of Korean heritage. It's like a big, traditional, historical, outdoor museum.

We arrived just in time for the daily performances. First up, the drum dancers. It was an all male team, and much of what they did seemed more acrobatic than dancing. It was amazing what they were doing, how they were spinning their long ribbons and how they were twisting and carrying each other, the whole time with these enormous hats on. Very cool. Here's Bear with two dancers after they finished:

After the dancers was this 800 year old man doing tricks on a tightrope. The tightrope alone amazed me, his age left me breathless.

Next was the equestrian show. These men rode around in circles on horses doing weird tricks like running with the horse, or standing on the horse, or standing on the rider while riding the horse...
After the shows we walked around the village until we were just too cold to stand it anymore. We found this beautiful Korean women spinning silk like they used to do before factories did.

Then we found a traditional bridal glen, complete with the bridal box that she is carried in to the ceremony. Here comes the Betsy...

After we got home, we were tired, cold, and hungry. So, we hopped on a bus to Dustin's favorite dduk-sam restaurant for some samgyeopsal. It's like super thick strips of bacon grilled in front of you with kimchi and bean sprouts. This restaurant also served this slices of white, pink and yellow dduk (rice cake) with the side dishes. Get it? Dduk-sam? Dduk and samgyeopsal. They're very direct around here.

There were 3 different dipping sauces, steamed eggs (gaeranzzim), a cabbage salad with a wasabi soy sauce, sliced onions and lettuce for wrapping. Macheesuhyo! (Delicious)

Come visit and eat with me! :-)