My First Korean Festival

On my second weekend in Korea, one of the local teachers who lived in the same apartment complex as I invited me to go for a hike with her family.  I gladly accepted and although I wasn’t sure what to expect, I certainly didn’t expect to be picked up and then driven for about 5 minutes to this abandoned area full of trees where we parked the car.  We were with her husband and two young daughters, so I knew that we weren’t going on a strenuous hike, but we literally stopped the car in the middle of an area with trees and just started walking.  It wasn’t long before we reached a flat area where I would expect to see a playground, had I been in Canada.  However, in Korea, it’s common for the government to install outdoor exercise equipment instead, and many people of all ages take advantage of these areas.

After a very short walk, we ended up at Jaun Seowon Lecture Hall, which was full of people enjoying some sort of festival.  There were all of these booths lined up on one side with all sorts of arts and crafts.  Another area had some traditional Korean games and vendors that allowed you to participate in making some things like rice cakes. 

After walking around for a bit, we bought some snacks and sat down to enjoy a traditional Korean concert.  I didn’t really know what was going on, but it was really neat being there surrounded by all this culture.

It was quite dark by this time, so we hurriedly made our way back to the car for the short ride home after a fun night out.