Seoul

We went cruising on the Han river in Seoul - however the pictures are from the shore from where the cruise ships leave.


















The last picture is from downtown Seoul where there are lots of small shops or boutiques.

Korea: Folk Village

In May we made a business visit to South Korea and fortunately reserved some extra time to see some of the country. The Folk Village - in the proximity of Seoul - can really be recommended for a visit as it gives you some insight into the traditional way of life in Korea. The pictures in this posting are from there.


These guys welcome you to the village.


Korean traditional architecture is related to Chinese and Japanese architecture in style but has its distinctive style in the roof shapes.


The kitchen is central in the Korean house - even more than in most other cultures. Koreans have developed a floor heating system with air canals under the floor and the heat originating from the kitchen fire place. Hence the kitchen is below the floor level of the rest of the house and the fire place is even lower. Korean winters are cold and without this system it would not have been possible to sit on the floor. (In Finland we certainly needed chairs - floors were freezing cold.)



The gingko tree.










Each room has a door to the outside - not necessarily to the neighbouring room.










Pre-school children learning about their history and heritage.






Budha.










Spinning silk from the silk pupa.








Korean farmers' folk dances.











The wealth of the house was in the big jars of fermented vegetables- f.ex kim-chi - and soy sauces. Even today you can see these jars on the roofs and terraces of houses in Korean towns.


The bride.