Day 51: Insadong

Today was a really relaxing, leisurely day. I slept in fairly late at Michael's, woke up before the rest, and got showered up. Michael and Kevin began stirring later, and then Michael made us a yummy breakfast of frozen waffles (very hard to find in Korea!) and strawberries - so tasty! We all sat and chilled for a while and then I had to head out cause I was meeting up with my friend James.

Now I had never actually met James until today. James is friends with my friend Joanne back in Vancouver. When Joanne heard that I was moving to Seoul she gave James my email address so that I'd know a friendly face here in Korea. James and I have chatted a few times on the phone, and have tried to meet up to hang out before, but our schedules just always seemed to conflict. Today we finally got to meet and he's a super nice guy! He's a Korean guy who spent a year in Vancouver (where he met Joanne) and plans on moving back to Vancouver after he finishes university here. He was really friendly and polite and went out of his way to make sure that I feel welcome here in Korea.

We took a cab over to Jongak - an area I've explored several times myself but never get tired of visiting (it's where MusicLand, Chongo Tower, and my Starbucks is.) We went to a Korean restaurant to have some lunch and it was cool just to sit, eat, and chat over a couple of beers. He talked a lot about how badly he wants to become Canadian, and how much he loved it there, and it made me feel really lucky that I am already. So many people around the world dream of being able to live in Canada, and I was blessed enough to be born there! I never had to 'earn' my way in - I was just automatically part of the country the instant I came into this world - how fortunate for me!!!

After lunch we walked on over to nearby Insadong to browse around. I've been to Insadong before too - with Steve - a few weeks ago. Insadong is the street full of stores that sell traditional Korean crafts, and there's lots of really neat art galleries there as well. Insadong is a hugely popular neighbourhood in Seoul, both with tourists and with locals alike. On Sundays it's pedestrian-only which is a real treat - I wish more streets were like that in Seoul! Insadong really is one of the coolest parts of the city and is a must-see for everyone who comes to visit here.

We got to Insadong just in time to see a really amazing street performance! This group of people were dressed all up in traditional Korean garb and began to re-enact this ritual done in ancient times for the crowd that had gathered. The ritual involved dragging prisoners in a cage on wheels through the streets of the city, while guards marched and chanted. The public display of the wrong-doers was a means to visibly demonstrate to civilians the consequences of breaking the laws, and it also caused the prisoners to 'lose face' in public - one of the greatest punishments a Korean could ever experience. The costumes were really beautiful, and there were several dancers following the 'parade' as well who performed several traditional dances - very graceful and elegant. Some of the guards even stopped to perform some martial arts and it was great fun to watch the mock fighting!

It was really packed in Insadong with shoppers and viewers of the parade, and I was able to get some great photos of the show. The weather was absolutely beautiful today as well - a warm breeze and bright blue skies. Later, after the performance had ended, James and I did some more window-shopping along the street. I stopped and bought some postcards to send to my friends and family back home. Before we knew it a few hours had passed and it was approaching evening. James had to leave to go and work at his mother's restaurant so we said our goodbyes.

Not having anywhere to be at that time, I decided to hang out in the Jongak area a little longer. I went back to the Starbucks I was at the other night, and sat down with a yummy chai latte and spent an hour and a half writing out all my postcards. It was really nice to just sit and relax and watch people go by. After I finished that I grabbed a quick dinner and then took the train back home. Knowing that I had to get up *really early* the next day I just watched some TV and then went to bed early.