Studying at Yonsei University

This week we are attending a series of ten lectures at Yonsei University in Seoul. There are excellent speakers on a variety of topics including Education, Economic Development, The Korean Wave, Political Democratization, Art and East Asian Security. After our classes we go on field trips around Seoul.

We have visited the National Museum of Korea which is located in beautiful facility. There were many interesting artifacts and art objects. The Korean Folk Art museum was a collection of things that portray the Korean way of life. This was located on the grounds of Gyeongbok Palace.

SHOPPING
There are several shopping districts in Seoul, each with its own unique characteristics. Insadong is an area that has many traditional Korean crafts and folk art for sale. Mingled in between are intriguing little restaurants and coffee shops. Vendors have carts and sell unusual food. You can find dried octopus legs, fish and lots of kim chi a type of pickled food which is very spicy. The smells are pleasant and the atmosphere is lively.

Down the street from our hotel is another area called Namdaemen Market. Here is where many Koreans shop for food and wares. There are open air booths and it is a place where you feel like you are shopping in a neighborhood market. No matter where you go it is easy to find lots of interesting things to buy.

THE BATH HOUSE
Yesterday night we went to a bath house. This was a very interesting experience. Young people, elderly people and families pay 10,000 won ($10) each for entry. You are given a tee-shirt and baggy shorts to change into. There are 8 (heated) floors of places to relax, exercise, bathe, read, watch TV. and even sleep! There was a room that had about 50 short bunk beds where you could take a nap or sleep for the night. There are rooms to relax in including sauna rooms, oxygen rooms, charcoals rooms, rooms with small heated stones and rooms with chambers that you could lay in and soak up the heat. The baths are separated for men and women. You sit on a short stool and shower off. Then you have a choice of hot, hotter and hottest baths. Some baths have salt, some have pounding waterfalls and some have water jets. They are all wonderful! While you are there you can get a massage, a body scrub, a manicure, a foot massage or an herbal treatment. When you are all clean and relaxed you can go and sit on the floor at a low table to eat. The fare was a sweet rice drink and a smoked egg. After this we were scrubbed, fed and ready for bed!

Until tomorrow,
Barbara