Being a live-in tourist

I think it is human nature to seek a level of comfort and just stay there.  This is fine when you are dealing with, say, your favorite brand of jeans, or favorite coffee shop.  However, comfort is a problem for one reason: you don't venture out. And, when you live in a place and get comfortable the excitement and exploration stop.  The problem then becomes, especially for a military family, you discover that even after living in a place for 2 or more years, you have only scratched the surface on knowing that place, understanding the people and culture, and enjoying the uniqueness of your current abode.

So, when we moved to Korea, I vowed never to get comfortable! (Okay, I still embrace the days when I can just wear yoga pants and a sweatshirt...but you know what I mean!)  It's too easy to let life (read: school, sports, work, church activities, squadron events) drive us to a routine of comfort, familiarity and predictability. I wanted to make sure that we went places where the kids could hear the voices of native Korean speakers, where we could feel the pulse of Korean culture, and taste the spectrum of the Korean food palette.  This means that my Korean guide book is right next to my bed, and is marked with little scraps of paper that show potential for exploration.  It also means that my dear husband and I have to work constantly on balancing the calendar so that he can secure a few days at home to rest and relax before I propel us out the door on another adventure.

We decided to go big on our first flirtation with exploration and headed to the capital city of Seoul. (Korean Language side note:  The word seoul actually means "capital" in Korean.  So, the seoul of Korea is Seoul.  And the seoul of the United States is Washington, D.C.  I'm discovering in my twice-weekly Korean class that the language actually does make sense.....after you get beyond the seemingly random arrangement of lines and boxes that make up the characters (letters). But, I digress....)

Seoul is a HUGE city.  I mean mammoth.  It is home to over 10 million people, and to make room for all of those bodies, they just built everything UP.  As you can imagine, the city is awash with skyscrapers that contain businesses and homes-- and provide a good number of people a bird's eye view of the city's expanse.

Taking the escalator down to the subway platform.

That being said, like most big cities, it is very well organized and connected with bus and subway services reaching clear-out to our "suburban area" 40 miles away.

I was giddy at the thought of traversing the city on the subway-- a practice reminiscent of my years growing up near London-- and showing my kids just how fabulous big city transportation can be.
After loading won onto credit-card type tickets, we passed through the turnstiles on the brink of a sub terrestrial adventure with two warnings for the kids: stay away from the edge, and don't loose your ticket (yes, it's like ACTUAL REAL money).  Both seemed to sink only part way in before the train came barreling into the station and they were lost to wonder and amazement.

Our destination was Deoksugung Palace, one of three royal palaces in the heart of Seoul.  As we 1) can't blend in with the local population and 2) are brand-new to the country, I embraced my role as tourist and was not shy about hitting uber-culturally significant sights in the city.  Surprisingly, there were far more Koreans at the palace that Westerns.... so then our focus became being good ambassadors!

The Palace gate

As we emerged from the subway station, we were met by a massive wooden gate, painted in a traditional style with bright colors, and a roof that swept out from the apex with beautiful , clean lines.   And, there amongst the skyscrapers, the Western influence (notice the Dunkin' Donuts in the pictures below, the hustle and bustle of city streets, stood a relic of Korean culture and an "oasis of tranquility" (so says the guide book!).  It was a very strange sensation.  Like two eras that met, and rather than colliding with disastrous results, they co-exist with a sense of understanding.  The modern age can witness where it came from, the roots and heritage.  And the proud past can nod to the beauty of progress and diversity.

East meets West.  Apparently, not only America runs on Dunkin'!

 Our timing coincided beautifully with the changing of the guard ceremony-- which is full of pomp and circumstance as most changing of the guards are.  There were ranks of men in yellow tunics who played various traditional instruments to include horns, chimes, drums and even a conch shell! They  heralded in the shift change and men, clothed in red and blue, armed with imposing sythe-looking weapons and bows and arrows marched in procession around the front of the gate.  This color coding, I'm sure has cultural significance, but it was especially helpful when pointing out the the kids that each group of soldiers had a different purpose!

 




The palace grounds WERE actually peaceful and tranquil-- a nod, I'm sure to the great deal of respect that is afforded to both royalty and the past in Korean culture.  And, for less than the cost of a cup of Starbucks coffee, our entire family got to wander around the palace where emperors once lived, conducted business, and entertained foreign dignitaries.  So many details surprised me: in the building that served as the dining room, King Gwanghaegun actually imported a chandelier to have hung so that he could impress the visiting Western dignitaries; he also very much enjoyed coffee after being introduced to it in Russia....it was so favored by him that one of the assassination attempts against him involved poisoning his coffee!

 

Our first trip to Seoul gave us a chance to peek through a window of Korean history.  The culture, the buildings, the ceremonies, and the past are so colorful....I can't wait to get out of our comfort zone some more!