August 2011 - August 2014
Hahoe Village (안동하회마을) – Andong, South Korea: 2012
Korean Celebrations
Korean Birthday Cake, Sept. 2011
Lunar New Year's Festival, 2012. Boseong, South Korea
Lunar New Year's Festival, 2012. Boseong, South Korea
Seoul Lantern Festival, Seoul, South Korea
Buddha's Birthday, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul, South Korea
Traditional Korean (Mock) Wedding Ceremony
Modern Wedding Ceremony, Seoul South Korea
Strawberry Festival, Nonsan, South Korea
Geomsan Elementary School Festival, 2013
Regularly occurring South Korean festivals and celebrations range from religious and traditional festivals, such as Buddha’s birthday to more bizarre festivals, such as the garlic festival. For Buddha’s Birthday, a national holiday in early May, South Koreans celebrate by decorating temples and honoring Buddha at the temples, and also by attending many light festivals, such as one along Cheonggyecheon (청계천), a small stream in the center of Seoul. The two most important Korean holidays are Chuseok (추석), or Korean thanksgiving, and Seolnal (설날) or Lunar New Year. During these holidays, all shops are closed as Koreans return to their hometown to celebrate and honor their family. Family forms the nucleus of Korean society, and weddings provide a major opportunity for familial celebration with two types of weddings, traditional and modern. Some couples perform both ceremonies, while some only perform one.
Korean Temples
Paper Lanterns - South Korea
Buddhist Temple in Seoul, South Korea
Buddhist Temple South Korea
Buddhist Temple in Seoul, South Korea
Buddhist Temple, South Korea
Buddhist Temple-Paju
Buddhist Temple-Paju
Temple on the hill - South Korea
Buddhism, an historical Korean religion, numbers many Buddhist temples scattered throughout the country, with the most active temple, Jogyesa (조계사), located in the heart of Seoul. Another famous temple, Bulguksa (불국사) is located in Gyeongju (경주), an important center of Korean Buddhism.
Hangeul (한글)
Safety line sign in Mokpo, South Korea
'Always happy' sticker on a bus
Lantern with my name written in Korean
Seoul Lantern Festival - South Korea: 2012
Oppa Gangnam style sign on scarecrows
Sign at Buddhist Temple: South Korea: 2013
Prayer blocks - South Korea: 2013
Prayer Ribbons - DMZ, Paju South Korea: 2014
With much pride, South Koreans prize Hangeul (한글), the Korean writing script. In the 15th century, King Sejong (세종대왕) methodically developed Hangeul, a script that contains 33 letters and is written in syllabic blocks. The script, designed to mimic the shape of the speaker’s mouth, makes the reading easy to learn. Prior to the creation of Hangeul, Korean script based off of Chinese characters made reading and learning difficult. King Sejong created the new Hangeul writing system to increase national literacy.
South Korean Food
보성 녹차밭 - Boseong Green Tea: South Korea
녹차밭 - Jeju Green Tea: South Korea
녹차 - Green Tea: Mokpo, South Korea
만고 빙수 - Mango Shaved Ice
Traditional Korean Tea, Insadong, Seoul, South Korea
조개 - Clams: Busan, South Korea
딸기 - Strawberries: Strawberry Farm, South Korea
제주 병귤 - Jeju Tangerines: South Korea
Various side dishes sold on the side of the mountain.
Drying chilis - South Korea
길거리 음식 - Street food, including ddeokbokki, Hongdae, Seoul, south Korea
Korean bbq - Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea
김치 - Kimchi containers
오징어 - Squid, Jeju-do, South Korea
꿀 - Honey, Seoul, South Korea
샤브샤브 - ShabuShabu, Hot pot in Seoul South Korea
막걸리 - Strawberry rice wine, Nonsan, South Korea
소주 - Bottles of Soju
South Koreans enjoy many food options outside the home with multiple coffee shops and restaurants dotting many thoroughfares. A popular location for meeting friends, coffee shops provide sweets, such as bingsu (빙수) or ice flakes with fruit, ice cream and/or sweet red bean, along with coffee or Korean green tea. Street food stalls vend a variety of foods, such as Ddeokbokki (떡볶이) or spicy rice cake, sundae (순대) or pigs blood sausages, and even squid. Korean barbeque restaurants predominate, and most usually specialize in three or four foods with limited menus. Some types of Korean barbeque may include samgyeopsal (삼겹살) or pork belly, and gopjang (곱장) or beef tripe. Alcohol such as makgeolli (막걸리) or rice wine, and soju (소주) often accompanies these meat dishes.
Until next time,
ㅅ_ㅅ