Seollal

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! It is the year of the snake... is it an awesome coincidence that I happen to be a SNAKE!? The next year of the snake is 2025... the fact that I am in Korea right now makes me feel pretty awesome... :D

Anywho, this weekend I stayed in two traditional houses. (hey, Lunar New Year is a traditional holiday, right?... so, it was only proper to stay in a hanok...) One night, I spent with some of my co-workers, and the other with a Camp Peniel friend. Here is a timeline, FULL of pictures ( I know you love it), of my weekend...

^ About to take off for Seoul with our semi-matching backpacks ^

 

^ Looking for our hanok, we were lost for quite a while... fortunately, a sweet man that was shoveling snow in front of a church, took us to a tourist information booth... and we were finally able to find it ^
 

^ Igloo, snowman, and kitty cat! ^

 

^ Front gate of our hanok ^

 

^ Ali in the courtyard... and our hostess... she was slightly terrifying... we were woken up at 8:30 in the morning by her banging and screaming on our doors... to come eat breakfast... ^

 

 

^ Hallway connecting our doors and the bathroom... it was nice not having to walk out in the cold to use the bathroom! ^

 

^ Me and Ali's bedroom ^

 

^ Dinner in Insadong... Bulgogi! ^

 

^ Kkul Tarae, traditional Korean candy. So yummy, sugary, and tastey, but the texture is kinda crazy... almost feels like your eating hair! ^

 

^ Sunday = New Years Festival! So fun! ^

 

  

^ Videos from the performances at the festival, it was fun to watch! ...even though it was FREEZING and I couldn't understand a word they were saying... :) ^

 

^ Coloring New Years post cards... Brittney, Allison, and Ali chose to color a dragon! ^

 

 

^ Some old lady took Ali away from us and made her drink hot water... we were slightly confused by this act of kindness... ^

 

 

^ I colored a tiger... ^

 

^ Lindsey sewing her fortune pouch ^

 

^ Look at that concentration! It was hard sewing with cold fingers :( ^

 

 

^ My pouch and the fortune that I wrote... It says something about good things will happen to me all year... ^

^ I GOT TO HOLD A FALCON... NBD... ^

^ And then... we got all dolled up... in traditional hanboks. So fun! ^

Then... I left my SLP friends to meet up with my sweet Camp Peniel friend, Eileen.

We stayed in another traditional house that was close to the first house I stayed at!

^ They had a dog as their mascot ^

 ^ Inside our room ^

  

 ^ Business card... A picture of the dog with sharpie on the back... very nice... :)



^ We decided to take a trip to North Seoul Tower ... ^

 ^ The tradition is that couples come up to the tower, "lock in" their love (on trees and railings), and throw the key off the mountain... ^

^ Tower grounds... ^

 ^ Pictures from the tower at sunset and night... ^

Funny story... Eileen and I were sitting at the top of the tower waiting for the sun to go down (to view the city lights better) and all of a sudden a man sits down next to me and says, "Smile!" I look to see what's going on and by that time, a lady had taken a picture of him and I together... Then he said thank you and walked off... I didn't think much of it until ten minutes later. Eileen and I were conversing and then there was a flash out of no where. We hear "Surprise!" and the same man is standing behind us and he had taken another picture with us without us knowing... it was really bizarre... but I also felt like a mini rock star :) ^

^ Teddy Bear Museum in Seoul Tower.. Psy Bear! ^

^ North Seoul Tower lit up at night ^

^ We took the cable car down, so fun! ^

^ New Years dinner at the most adorable (and delicious) Italian restaurant in Insadong called Ahndamiro.  ^

Monday, we went to 63 Building! It held the record for being the tallest building in Korea for a while... but it is no longer. It does have awesome exhibits inside it though! We went to SeaWorld (aquarium), 63 Wax Museum, and Sky Art Hall (observation deck with art display).

 ^ Seaworld ^

^ Wax Museum ^



 ^ Sky Art Hall... These tags are sort of the same concept as the locks at Seoul tower... buy a tag, make a wish, write it down, and hang up your tag... easy way to make money :) ^