A Seoul-ful New Year: part 3

For Lunar New Year's Eve, a group of cousin Breda's friends and I rented a chateau/cabin/pension out the in South Korean countryside. We grilled meat/veg skewers and played Scrabble, and then because we're old, we were basically in bed by 10:30. Arpit and I rang in the New Year by watching an episode of Seinfeld. This was moderately more exciting than my Western New Year's Eve where I fell asleep on the couch until 12:05 while Tanu and Mengchen watched Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D. I'm pretty much a rock star.

Self pity aside, the cabin was really fantastic. We slept on the floor--which is apparently the way Koreans do slumber--but the floor was heated, so any discomfort on my part was overshadowed by the feline-like method of curling up on the warm floor.

 One phrase I heard quite a bit was "blah blah blah It's good for your health!" Included in these admonitions was to sleep on a marble mattress. yep, you heard right. stone.

Sleep Number: infinity.

 After our country excursion, Breda and I visited a lil village museum that houses traditional structures from around Korea. For New Years activities, they hosted quite a few folk games.

the STICK GAME!

the father would get the top spinning and his daughter would just start whacking
at it relentlessly.  She may have enjoyed making her dad re-start the top more than
actually playing with the toy.

tying New Year's wishes to be read by the wind.

KIMCHI POTZ.

 We found the main stage where several young men in traditional attire were banging drums and twirling streamers from their hats. Admittedly, it looked a little silly but must've taken quite a bit of coordination.

Then a group of break dancers rushed the stage and I anticipated a battle of the boy bands. But, alas, they worked together in an odd anachronistic mash-up.

The time came for demonstrations! Being one of the few white people in the crowd, we stood out easily. To Breda's delight, she was chosen to do a plate-spinny-thing.

so much glee. 

magical Breda is magical.

They appreciated her help so much that she got hugs and lots of attention. She loved it.

Quite a few food stands sold snacks outside the village. My favorite: red bean-filled fish-shaped waffles.

My least favorite: boiled silk worms that smelled like musky dust.

"good for your health." yeah, right.

Our bones started chattering with the setting of the sun, so we headed over to a BATH HOUSE (no pictures allowed). The hour preceding pajama attire consisted of lounging about nude in different saunas. I made the mistake of dipping into an extremely hot bath, so I turned quite a few heads as the hairy pink blob as I walked by. I may like attention, but even that was a bit too much.