Chuseok Weekend!!!!!!!!!

Is it general policy to be more exhausted AFTER a four day long weekend than before it? I guess it depends what you do with your weekend. Well in my case I sure made as much use of the time as possible and got out and ABOUT town. Chuseok is Korea's major national holiday where they go home and visite all of their family and honor their ancestors. It's kind of like Thanksgiving,... sort of. Either way, it provides tons of events for non foreigners to become more aquainted with Korean culture and also for Koreans themselves to take that one day a year to really celebrate being Korean. I decided that I was going to cram my long weekend with visites to places I hadn't yet been and with people I hadn't seen in a while. I stayed late on Thursday to make sure that i got all of my lesson plans done for the following week, then I was outta there. Friday was not terribly romantic. I spent the large part of the day doing things like cleaning my house and grocery shopping, but i did go for this really long walk and I discovered an ACTUAL river pathway. It was manacured beyond belief, with a squishy foam walkway and solar powered radio towers that broadcasted cheesie classical music, but it was nice in a non urban (slightly less urban way). Then in the evening I had dinner with my friend Andrew. He brought the wine -thanks dude! And we made sushi and ate and drank way too much. Excellent! I was super proud of myself for having bought Songpyong -a traditional rice cake filled with a honey sesame mellange. And was horribly angry to discover that they were AWFULLLLL! So Andrew suggested that we turn them into wish Songpyong and chuck them off the roof! Verry sattisfying if I do say so myself! Although I'm not saying what I wished for.

Saturday was fun! I went to Childrens' Grand Park with my friend Silvia to see the Namsan, International folklore festival. I had no idea what to expect, but it was actually quite lovely! We went to the botanical gardens, the fountains and the ZOO!!!! Poor animals. There was also an amusement part and plenty of lovely greenery. Expectantly enough there were also a LOT of children and while they can be annoying they were rather charming (as they were with their parents and we didn't have to take care of them at allll). It was nice to be surrounded by oung families considering our families are so very far away! The festival itself was amazing (what we saw anyway) our only misfortune was that it began to rain and the festival was unceremoniously cancelled on the spot. So Silvia and I headed over to the Konkuk University area close by for some chicken and beer! Woop Woop! I got soked going home, but it was well worth it!

Sunday was a rather quiet walk, rest, sit, think, draw, read kind of day that was culminated with an exciting dinner adventure with Silvia in her neighborhood. We decided to go and order Korean BBQ for dinner in a Korean BBQ retaurant. Sounds good, only none of the menues or staff had any English or pictures and somehow then lonely planet version of "I would like some...... " was just not cutting the mustard, but eventually we got there by pointing vigorously at a table near ours which had the dish we wanted and saying "Chu-seo.... " When they brought the food that was another adventure, because the charm of Korean BBQ is that they bring the food and you cook it, so that was a trick, yes, a trick.... eventually it all worked out and with multiple supplications for a bowl our food was spared from being burnt and we enjoyed a delicious meal. well done us! For dessert a cafe and as much whipping cream as possible on a large caramel, moka frapuccino type drink. YUM!

Monday was the most eventful day of my Silvia, Grace, Alice and I (all Canadian Connexion teachers) got together to go and check out the Bukchon Hanok traditional Korean village in the Noth western part of the city. It was absolutely beautiful. Seoul has this cultural resurgency program going on these days where they're trying to get foreigners and Koreans alike interested in traditional Korean culture. It's a very cool neighborhood. So old, you can feel it's oldness around you. Like when I was in Athens or Toulouse. We checked out a bunch of small shops and galleries including this amazing traditional tea shop where we stopped for a beautifully poresented cup of tea in traditional handmade porcelain. Then we continued our way towards one of the gems of the city, Gyeongbokgun Palace. It was the seat of the Korean Royal family and the Joseon Dynasty from the 12-20th century!!!!!!!!! It was taken over and faily destryed during the Japanese occupation of Korea. But for the past 20 years they've been slowly restoring it to its former glory and I have to say it is quite glorious! Like a maze of perfectly designed and structured buildings that form the perfect puzzle. The architecture was just beautiful althoughalso very simple. I find that the design quality and the lines are very harmonious. The chosen colours seem to be this burgendy red and this grass turquoise green. Complementary colours and the effect is great. Afterwards we went and explored the Insa-dong region of Seoul close by. It is fullllll of tiny galleries and art stores and one of a kind designer shops. SOOOO COOOL!!! The tea shops, cafes and restaurants are also increadibly beautiful and full of young vibrant energy. I also found some delicious little book stores that sold English books as well as an art supply store with good materials and reasonable prices! WOOOOOOOHOOOOO! I spent way too much money on books, art supplies, jewlery and food and I had fun doing it!!! Too bad for this whole paying back loans thing. At the end of the day we made our way back to the metro and home to get ready to begin our lessons once again on Tuesday morning. Back to reality. I'm definitely goi9ng back to Insa-dong this weekend to check out more of those galleries in detail. Amazing!

On a completely different note, my dad has been really helpful and supportive in helping me get work into an upcoming art fair in Toronto. It's a combination of established artists and new blood (ie me and 7 other young artists) I really hope I sell some work, becuase that would feel really great and also seeing those little red dots in your portfolio can't help but boost your confidence! Fingers crossed!