Korean Folk Village

Next we go to Korean Folk Village just outside of Seoul.  It's basically an in-depth live museum on how Koreans used to live.

There is also an amusement park for kids, but we didn't go to that because Sohee and I are too big, and Hannah is too small.

Anyways, near the gate is a few guards, like they have in some of the palaces.  This dude posed with me and didn't stab me with his sword.

Our shoes are centuries apart, yet quite similar.

 The main area has some beautiful trees and traditional restaraunts and shops.  Even though they look traditional, some are quite modern inside.  One of them was even a 7-11.  I'm not kidding you.

7-11 has been an important part of Korean history

Next, Hannah and I stop to feed a bull.  He was the smallest bull I have ever seen, but he was nice and had no qualms about letting me pet him. Come to think about it, maybe it was an oxen or something.  Whatever it was, it was hungry.

Thanks for the hay!!

 Next, we visit one of the many little houses they have set up.  They have wax statues inside of what they would be doing in particular rooms.  This one is educational.  A tutor is teaching a young child.

Teachers just don't have beards like that anymore.

Then there was a spot where you could play some traditional games.  They had jump rope and some other games, but I chose "throw-an-arrow-into-a-hoop" game.  It's harder than it looks.  Took me 5 tries to nail it.

Boom!  Nailed it!

We then take a short hike up a hill (notice I'm wearing shoes today), to the temple.  Not sure if it is a real temple, but it has everything a real temple would have, including a real Buddha.  The entrance gate has these cool stairs and beautiful architecture:

The temple itself is really beautiful.  Inside is a decent size Buddha and contains a whole bunch of candles lit up inside.  I couldn't take a picture inside as a monk was in there.  A few Korean drama scenes have been shot in this temple (actually all around this folk village), so it was cool to see some of these in real life.  Disregard the blue tarp, they were doing some reno's (I know that pain).

I just remembered I have more reno's to do at home in Regina.

Next we go to a part of the village they'd take people to get totured.  If you committed a crime or they wanted some information, they'd beat you.  This is place is so cool, because not only can you see the places, but they actually let you beat your friends with the paddles.  It really is a look and touch museum:

He was actually hit pretty hard. Friends always like to see you in pain.

Right beside the public torture is the jail. There is no light in this place, so it'd would have been best to not commit any crimes back in the day.  You might be asking yourself, "Jaret, you are wrong, there is lots of light in this photo", to those people I say "I'm near the door, and the camera is set to a long exposure".

Kid: "I want to go to jail when I grow up!!"

We keep walking around (the village goes in a circle path) and we come across this beautiful gazebo (I'm sure there is a Korean name for this).

Gazebo's are way cooler in Korea.

You can stop and eat your lunch here if you brought it, but we didn't so we head to the outdoor food court.  Here you can buy your meal ticket and get a traditional meal from folks dressed in traditional Korean outfits.

Another amazing meal.

Next we do some walking around the park area.  There are lots of trees, grass, and there is a small river (it's not flowing so maybe river isn't the right word) that has many bridges.  Some of them are safe with railings, some of them have no railings (like this one) and some are just scattered rocks.  Hannah is a little risky:

I hope my parents put the brakes on.

After walking around a while, we get to a Chinese Festival that was going on.  We were told it had Wushu (Kung Fu) and martial arts, but there was none of that.  We ended up watching a whole hour of Chinese gymnastics.  It was kinda cool, but not Kung Fu cool.

They were all kids.  Not fighting each other with rad weapons.

Finally, and the reason we came, rice planting.  Although this looks lame, this was actually the coolest part.  You basically put on rubber boots and a hat and get in the water field planting rice.  It was pretty fun because it was kind of had a community vibe, and we were all in this hardship together.  There was also a dude on the side singing folk songs for inspiration:

I have farmer's blood, so this is very natural for me.

After, they give out free snacks and rice wine (yup, just hand out alcohol) to anyone that helped.  I had quite a gathering around me because I was the only foreigner doing this.  What can I say, I love to help, and I do anything for free booze:

Reward for a job well done.