Bucheon Intangible Culture and Heritage Expo (BICHE)

This is the entrance to the expo. The grounds were covered with beautiful sculptures and art projects.



Netta in one of the sculptures.

This was a mask dance performance that we watched. Netta liked this drunk character. He was very silly.

We made necklaces with an intangible treasure. Olive was sad because she wasn't able to do one because we were using exacto knives so the wonderful artist just came over and helped her to make one. He was so kind and Olive really enjoyed being able to make one.


This man was an intangible treasure who was painting fans. He has two brushes in one hand and was switching between them. Netta noticed that only one had paint on it and the other one he was using to blend colors on the fan.
Netta in hanbok.
Netta being interviewed about hanbok. They asked her if she liked wearing hanbok. What it was called and what it's name means. She knew it all!
Netta playing with the spinning frisbee thingy.



John crossdressing again.

John and Netta doing some rock sculpture.
Netta making tashik with the intangible treasure of tashik.

Netta with a lit up sculpture.
This next section is about our tour of the DMZ. It was interesting but not the best tour we have been on. It was a lot of driving on a bus and only a few minutes in each place. Also we were interested in the wildlife that has developed in the DMZ now that fewer people live there but there was only a casual mention of that by our tour guide. We wanted to see some less touristy and more wild places. But with all of the security I think we need to find a tour more catered to that and try again.
This is in the DMZ. This was a sculpture that Netta really liked. Inside of the ball was a raised South Korea on one side and a raised North Korea on the other. The two sides were being pushed together by people from each country. Netta is helping of course.
The view of North Korea. Very barren and different from the tree covered mountains on the South Korean side. Our tour guide said that North Korea has burned most of their trees for fuel. It looked sad and bleak.
An old locomotive that was left in the DMZ.
There were also tunnels that have been discovered that were built by the North Koreans - we couldn't take pictures there. John and Olive went down in one but Netta didn't want to so I stayed with her.

After our tour we were dropped off by the COEX mall which houses the kimchi museum. We have been wanting to check it out so we went and took a look. A lot of plastic food and some free samples. Pretty fun.
Silly staged photos begin........


That's all for now. More to write later --Olive is up and I am back on duty.

Bucheon Intangible Culture and Heritage Expo (BICHE)

Hi folks it has been awhile since I have posted. It has been a hard week. Last weekend John's grandmother died. We are all sad and are feeling the ache of being away from our family during this time. It was also during this week that the 2nd anniversary of the death of our dear Pippin passed. The pangs of pain during this time have been strong. What I wouldn't give for a hug from some of the folks who understand.

I am also sick and feeling crummy. My head is full of snot and hurts.

Instead of cleaning which means bending down and hurting my head more I thought I could catch up on the blog while Olive is asleep and John and Netta are out.

I have not yet written about the BICHE festival that we attended. So I will upload pictures and write about that next. If I try to put the photos in here I find that they go to the top of the post and then this intro is missing so I will end this post and start another with photos and stories of the festival and our trip to the DMZ.

Our trip to Gangwon-do

So I posted the pictures - now to try to tell the stories that go along.

We rented a car for this adventure and John drove. He is such a brave soul - the drivers here scare the bejeezus out of me. But he did great. We even figured out how to use the GPS - not without a few blips but that is to be expected by now.
So we set off on Sunday morning. Loaded up the SUV we rented and headed out of Seoul. With all my parents luggage (we dropped them off with Joe at the end of the trip to stay the night with him and then get to the airport from there) it was kind of crowded in the car. But we managed to cram in and got out of the city pretty quickly.

The countryside was so beautiful - really amazing mountains green with trees. We made a goofy mistake at a toll booth when John went in the wrong lane and it was the FastPass lane so there was nowhere to pick up a ticket which proved to be a problem when we tried to get off the highway to pee and find some lunch. We had to go to the official building and communicate about our mistake and then they just had us pay the toll and go on. These kind of things seem almost normal to me now.

Because it was Sunday, no restaurants were open in the little town we stopped in so we ended up in a bakery with pre-made sandwiches and gross snacks. But we felt fed so on we went. We had the address of the hotel we wanted to stay in. I had seen a blog post about a trip to this area and the blogger had raved about this place so I e-mailed her and she sent me the information about it. John tried to call to make a reservation as she had suggested but didn't get anywhere over the phone so we decided to take a chance and show up there. We figured it was a Sunday night after a big holiday so we thought it would be easy to find a room. We put the address into the GPS and off we went.

We followed the GPS until we missed a turn - turned around and then it showed up that we were at our destination when we were in the middle of a tunnel. HHHMMMM didn't seem right. We decided to get off the highway and fish around. It was pretty hopeless but I was so determined that we got out and tried to ask a local where it was. It worked!!! He got us on the right road and there were signs from there up to the hotel. It was beautiful (I posted some photos in the earlier post).
Not that it was without trouble - we got registered and went to find our room. Netta and I jumped out of the car and went to check out the room. It was really nice 2 rooms and a bathroom shower and simple kitcheny area (really only a sink and fridge). I suddenly realized that it was completely empty - no beds or furniture. I looked in the closets and found some yos. Yos are thin mattresses that Koreans sleep on on the floor. I was worried about my parents having to sleep on the floor but they were game. It ended up being fine and with the heated floors it was kind of cozy. It was quite cold in the mountains.

Then we all went to the restaurant to get some food. It was very Korean food and Netta refused to eat any of it. Also my dad felt he couldn't eat there. There was a convenience store next door so they went to try to find food there. Not much luck. My dad ate funions and digestive biscuits for dinner. Netta was more involved. I had a box of mac n cheese but nowhere to cook it. She insisted and I found a microwave in the store. I used boiling water and put it in a bowl stuck it in the microwave then I added the cheese? sauce to the water with the noodles and ta da. The lady in the store I'm pretty sure thought we were crazy but she let me do it. Thank goodness. Netta ate the mac n cheese and we were finally all fed.
Then we pretty much turned in for the night.

The next day we awoke to rain - yuck - our "out in nature" vacation seemed a little hard to do with the rain. But Netta insisted we try to do the rail bikes that we had also read about on the same blog. So off we set. It was a crazy drive there - lots of curvy roads. We made it there and the weather was dreary but not raining. We ate some pasta and then waited for the rail cars.

People ride them down and then they ride back on the train pulling the rail cars behind the train. It is an old railroad that is no longer in use and they have set it up with these bikes. It is a nice steady downhill - a very fun trip through beautiful farms and canyons. There were some weird fake animals along the way. But all in all it was a great time. As usual I am glad that Netta convinced us to try and go. During the ride some guys snap a photo of you and then try to sell it to you at the end of the ride. Dad and Netta's was really funny but he didn't want to pay for it so he tried to take a picture of it - oh my the salesman was not pleased.

After the ride we decided to drive back via a short trip to see the ocean. Netta has really been missing the ocean and we were so close that we figured we would try to dig our toes in the Korean sand. John endured a lot more driving on curvy roads and we made it to the ocean after dark. We didn't mind except that there was a huge fence there topped with barbed wire. We figured out that because it was so close to North Korea there was a fence preventing you from going on the beach - or preventing North Koreans from coming over the ocean after dark. It was pretty sad but the girls found a patch of sand and dug their toes in anyway. They even found some shells and some folks were setting off fireworks which was fun to watch.

Then we drove home and collapsed exhausted.

The next day we had to head back to Seoul but decided to take a short hike before we went. As it turned out the place we stayed had an easy accessible trail up to the top of a mountain so up we went. It was great for my mom and Olive to be able to hike with us.
That's about it for that trip.

Since then we have attended the Bucheun World Intangible Heritage Exhibition and the DMZ but Olive is up from her nap and there is a huge mess of dishes that also need my attention. So those stories must wait for another day.

photos

This is the Seoul model at Seoul History Museum. That is Seoul Tower.
This is Joe's family when we had dinner with them. His wife Ok Sup and his sons Daniel and Samuel.
Netta with her stone family.



The sky - Netta took this photo from our deck. Fall sky.
Our neighbor's persimmon tree with an almost ripe persimmon.
Olive at Lotte World making friends with a plastic ghost.
Netta at Lotte World.
Netta pushing Bobbe at Lotte World.
Ok needs no explanation......
Olive driving- this was before John let her sit on his lap and drive in traffic......
Netta and Olive on the merry-go-round.
The kids and the grandparents.
Netta's turtle ship model that she made in her multicultural art class at school.
Dragonflies .....
Mom and Dad in Nakseongdae Park.
Netta and John at Seoul National University. We had a picnic in the field there.
This is in Gangwon-do - fall colors.

This is the mating grasshopper restaurant at the beginning of the rail bike track that we rode on. We ate here - Italian food - Netta was very happy. Although she ended up eating pork cutlet and french fries because they wouldn't do just noodles and butter. Or rather we couldn't get the idea across.
Inside the grasshopper.
On the rail bikes ready to ride. So fun. I will write more about this soon...
Dad and Netta arguing on their rail bike.....
Olive and Bobbe on the rail bike.
The tunnel...
A bridge we saw while riding the bike.
The mosaic fish at the end of the rail bike track.
The ocean----behind a big fence..
More fall colors.
A shot of our cabin that we stayed in.
A cool plant that we saw on our hike up the mountain at the cabin.

John amusing Olive with the acorn hat guy.
She took the hat and laughed.
The view from the top of the mountain.
A weird fungus.
A caterpillar Netta found.
Olive and her fake smile.

That's all folks. I'll try to fill in the details later.

Missing home.............

Bye bye mom and dad

Hi I'm back - Mom and Dad are on their way home right now and I finally have time to write. I'm not sure how much of the 2 weeks I can really get here on the blog but I'm willing to try.

Mom and Dad arrived on Chuseok and I wrote about that day already. Well the rest of that week was mostly mom and dad recovering from jetlag and settling in. We tried to show them around our neighborhood between naps and other distractions.

I got to unpack all the stuff they brought for us. I hadn't been able to find sheets here (they kind of have a different sleeping set up) so Mom and Dad brought me sheets all washed and ready to go on my beds --yay!! Also they hooked us up with lots of foods that we have been missing - polenta, maple syrup, peanut butter, spices, more tea. So exciting!! In addition they brought all of our winter clothes. I had thought that Pauline would ship them but that proved to be more expensive than the clothes themselves. So my parents brought extra suitcases with our warm clothes. Just in the nick of time too - I think we started wearing them the next day and have been needing sweaters and socks ever since. It was like Equinox arrived and it got chilly. I'm so thankful that they were able to bring all of that for us ----they are so sweet. It was like Christmas opening all the goodies and fitting them in our house.

Their first Saturday here John and I got to go out on a date. This was very exciting for us as we have had no time sans kids except late nights and early mornings. We went to see a concert by a composer that John knows. It was really great - so nice to sit and listen to music. I have been quite jealous of Netta getting to experience all of the Korean Music with John. After the concert we went and walked around Sadang. This is an area that is close to where we live, it was where we wanted to live but it was too expensive - we decided to go over the hill and get a place that was cheaper. Anyway we have been wanting to check it out for awhile. It was fun we saw a beat boxer who was really amazing - went to a huge bookstore - and ate at a meat restaurant. It was great - nice to talk without being exhausted or interrupted.

Sunday we went to the Seoul Museum to revisit the amazing model of Seoul. We have been wanting to go back and find our house on the map. We tried earlier in the week with my parents but ended up getting there too late (I didn't realize it was a holiday because of Chuseok weekend and so I got the closing time wrong). But when Joe invited us for dinner in the same neighborhood we decided to try again. It was a fun trip to the museum and then a nice dinner with Joe and his family at an Italian restaurant that my parents ate at when they lived here 15 years ago.

Monday we braved Costco. I have been wanting to get a few things there and knowing my parents love for Costco and that the crowds there would have been huge before Chuseok we decided to go together. Another bonus was that they had a credit card that Costco would accept. It is difficult to get the right amount of cash and it always is embarrassing and time consuming when you need to get money while you are checking out. As it turns out, of course, the Korean Costco takes only one credit card but it is not the one my parents have. So it ended the same way all our previous visits have - with us holding up the line and running to the cash machine. Oh well, I still am very stocked up on yummy comfort treats.

Tuesday we went to Lotte World - Netta was very excited because Bobbe and Grandpa had told her they would take her when they came. Lotte World is like Disneyland - pretty much a copy but mostly indoor. Actually inside this huge dome. It was fun - I hate these kind of places but when I see them through the eyes of my kids they are a blast. Netta loved the roller coasters and Olive had a great time on the little rides. She loved the merry-go-round so much. I will post photos in the next post. Although it is getting hard to get photos of Olive because she tends to be a blur of movement in all the photos now - she is a girl on the go.

Wed we had a home day - regular routine - I worked and Netta had classes. My parents went to Itaewon to visit their old neighborhood.

Thurs. we went to Nomdaemun Market which was fun but very crowded. It was a bit much for all of us - Netta was the most successful shopper. She found some good bargains.

Friday I took my parents to Nakseongdae Park - fun to show them our local spot. Pictures in the next post.

Saturday we all went to see a breakdancing show. We won tickets when John was on the radio on Chuseok. It was a really fun show - people doing amazing things with their bodies - defying gravity and such. I was nervous about taking Olive but she was mesmerized during most of the show. There was a part with black light that was a little scary and she asked to "go home" but I held her and she got through it. At least in a breakdancing show the music is so loud that a baby talking is no trouble. After the show we went out to get tacos at Dos Tacos. Yum - Yum!!!!

Sunday we left town. My parents rented us a car and brave John drove us to Gangwon-do. The province to the east of us. I had read a blog about a trip there and we decided to do a similar trip with my parents. It was quite an adventure. I think I will leave my story of this trip for another post.

I will post the photos now (in the next post) and then write about it later.

I have an early morning tomorrow I'm taking the girls to the Bucheon Cultural Heritage Festival. I'm sure I will have things to write about that too.

Also coming soon a post dedicated to Olive and her amazing command of the language - she is talking up a storm and it is so fun. No more Gaga - now Netta is Nekka.

So I'll leave you with those to look forward to.