Korean Folk Village

Following our arrival in Korea, the Opening Ceremony, and a brief break after lunch, we boarded the buses and visited the Korean Folk Village. This is a town designed in the Choson-era tradition with thatched huts, traditional dancers, and a wide variety of food. On some afternoons, a wedding ceremony takes place with a great deal of pomp and ceremony.

Despite the excitement of travel and the picturesque setting, I found the combination of a lack of sleep on the plane flight and participating in the Opening Ceremonies to be quite fatiguing. I was sorely tempted to sleep the afternoon away in exhaustion. However, a brief nap after lunch revived me somewhat, and I actually began to look forward to a more active afternoon. Although not feeling exactly one-hundred percent, I attempted to enjoy and appreciate the tour as my companions were so readily doing with great enthusiasm.

Arriving at the folk village, I still felt "washed out" and struggled to generate any enthusiasm. One of our group members met his brother and family at the gate and invited me to join them. When I told him of my predicament, he knew the perfect solution: traditional herbal tea. We stopped at a hut where the women sold a very sturdy concoction that was not for the meek. The tea was handed to us in a shallow wooden bowl and served with pieces of ginger. The tea had a bit of a bitter quality to the taste but was not unpleasant. Upon finishing the tea, I was invigorated and ready to begin the trip in earnest. The tea certainly had an immediate refreshing effect to overcome the my extreme lethargy. It was by far the best medicine I could have received.

Afterwards, I enjoyed the visit to the folk village with much greater enthusiasm. I rejoined others in the group and we watched the amusing and entertaining tightrope act before heading off to the market. By far, the favorite of the group was the scroll artist who would use non-traditional calligraphy of the customer's choice to create a unique, personalized scroll. Another interesting sight was of the individuals making rice paper. All the vendors worked in thatched huts so that passersbys could oftentimes watch the artisans working from 4 different sides provided the equipment was not in the line of sight. The making of rice paper is an interesting process confirmed by the number of spectators crowded around the hut.

Although it was a cool, wet morning when we arrived in Korea that morning and we fully expected to experience thunderstorms all week, the afternoon at the folk village was absolutely glorious. Simply walking around, sampling different foods, and watching the performances was a pleasant and relaxing way to begin our trip.

The Korean Folk Village has a very good web site. Be advised: you will need the Shockwave plug-in to gain the full experience.

http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/

Next:   Kukkiwon