Namsan in the Spring

I live sort of on the side of Namsan, a mountain in the middle of Seoul on the top of which is Seoul (or Namsan) Tower. It's a nice place for walking when the weather's nice. Last weekend the cherry blossoms were still out in full force. Beautiful. It's an interesting contrast when some trees are covered in flowers and some are still dragging themselves out of winter mode.And of course Namsan has some fantastic views of Seoul.Inside the base of Namsan Tower there is a restaurant and store. Along the central wall, little tiles have been bought and decorated by friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. I love it! Such a great idea.A gift. :) Did I ever mention that I LOVE giraffes?!!

weather

The weather here is nuts. Yesterday it was pouring rain. Then I woke up today to snow which turned to sleet which turned back into snow. Sometimes today there were huge snowflakes. Other times it stopped. I'd prefer if it just all went away and let the sun do its job. ^.~The lovely view (would be better without all of the cables and wires) of Namsan Tower as I walked up Haebangchon on my way home.

Chuseok and Namsangol Hanok Village

October 4th, 2009
Since it was Chuseok I decided that I should do at least something Korean, as opposed to spending the entire weekend out all night and sleeping all day, which is what I did Thursday night, Friday night and part of Saturday night - not that that isn't a very Korean thing, as they seem to do that quite frequently, even on week nights (the drinking part, at least). So Sunday I got up at a fairly decent time and dragged my friend Revo to the Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골한옥마을), at the base of Namsan (san is mountain), near Chungmuro station. [hee hee. made him pose for me]The Namsan Hanok Village is comprised of 5 traditional Korean homes from the Joseon period that were moved there in 1998 when part of the army base was moved. [a kitchen][a kimchi hut - a kimchi pot is buried up to the lid and covered with this hut to keep it cooled]There are always traditional Korean activities to partake in but since it was Chuseok, there were even more. Revo wearing a Jige - a traditional Korean device for carrying things (wood, etc).A throwing game - throw a bean bag like thing through the hole.[making traditional Korean shoes/slippers]There were Korean crafts and games such as kite making, paper doll making (well, the painting part and giving them clothes, at least), fan painting, [Revo's fan][my fan :)]

mask making (using crepe paper on a pre-formed paper mask of varying designs such as traditional, cat, butterfly), and solpyeon (rice cake) making. [pounding the rice to make rice cake]There were plenty of other activities as well: trying on traditional clothes, ball tossing, and see-saw jumping (nolttwigi), which is typically a women's activity or sport. It is similar to the western see-saw only a bit longer and they stand on it rather than sitting, jumping in turn. The women literally fly and often do acrobatics while in the air. It is quite impressive, actually. Others are swinging (kunettwigi), which is also done standing up, spinning tops, arrow throwing, hoop rolling, demos of traditional Korean bow making and other such things.[kimchi etc pots and a persimmon tree][making dubu (tofu) I think]Of course, as well as the activities there are the homes to check out, some of which contain examples of the costumes that they wore.There are also traditional Korean characters to pose with. View of Namsan Tower from the Namsan Hanok Village:

my new home

the wall:This might give you an idea of what I meant in terms of the wall going in and out. The part sticking out on the left, I am pretty sure is the drains from the floor above. The bit in the middle (the opposite wall has the same thing) sticks out about 25 cm. It makes fitting things in this room a bit annoying, especially since it is such a small place to begin with.my kitchen:I do like my kitchen. I have more cupboard space and counter space (even though the microwave is on it). My fridge, however, isn't so great. It is a mini fridge. Going from a normal size fridge to a mini fridge is NOT an easy thing to do.
my bathroom:YES!!!! I have a sink and a mirror!!! (There was no mirror, and no sink in the bathroom of my last home, only a faucet coming out of the wall near the floor.)

AND... There is a cabinet in the bathroom, and a toilet paper holder. (The last one only had a corner shelf thingy above the toilet.)
the enclosed balcony:my washing machine that I am slowly figuring out (It is VERY different from all of the others that I have had here).I do like the balcony part.I do find it a bit strange, though, in that I have to climb through a window to get to it.Some of the windows slide open to a little gardenish ledge,and a great view of Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower).