Seoul, Korea
Tuesday. 19 November 2019
Off to the National Museum of Contemporary History. On my way past the government skyscrapers and the mountains behind Gyeongbokgung (a word that spills easily from my tongue, quite proud of that) sharp and beautiful. But first to the Tourist Bureau to ask how to get there. And wasn’t that my lucky day. The woman at the Bureau asked about my work and, of course, I was too happy to show her. She had a degree In Japanese Studies and was well acquainted with my discipline. She found all kinds of interesting things in the photos and made many suggestions. Nobody else was in the office, and no tourists came by, so she and I talked on. It was a constructive morning for “Korea 1908.” I did go to the Museum as well, finished up, and found had a couple of hours in which to be a tourist myself.
It was clear but cold: 29 degrees when I woke up and not much higher the rest of the day. I wore all my clothes, and I do mean all. My friend Wayne says the best way to learn a city is to walk it. Seoul is the perfect city for walking. You can always navigate by peering through the skyscrapers and finding the mountains behind and to the right of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Now I could navigate and had time to visit Namdaemun Market, which is where all the tourists and natives as well go at least for really fresh fish.
Namdaemun Market is next to Namdaemun Gate, one of the original gates of old Seoul. In the Market were the usual array of clothes and shoes and kitchen things, but I wanted to see the food and the Korean Crafts. Ah! the food. An amazing array of fish. Plenty of persimmons, but only one kind of apple, crisp enough, but only one variety in the Namdaemun as well as any of the smaller markets. Many things which I did not know the name of: dried fish, different nuts, Chinese dates. Many deep fry stands selling deep fried fish and varieties of dumplings and doughnuts. (There is a big Dunkin’ Donuts in Seoul.) I was there late, but it did seem as though there was not much fresh produce. Then to the Korean Folk Crafts. They were on a second floor.
I do not know what kind of “folk” make the crafts that I saw displayed. Most appeared to be a knock-off of Disney. Others boggled the brain. You can blow up the photos and judge for yourself.
Walked home feeling like a county rube, for I can never get over the marvel of these buildings that tower over the walker. Such a feat of engineering and so many of them and they are so tall. But to live so far away from the ground itself?
