Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Museum

Here are some of the displays to be seen in the museum:

Here is the sleeping lady acquiring her white eyebrows :)

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Monastery

There is a monastery which is still used right at the top of the village:

In and around this monastery is a sense of incredible peace - the dense tropical foliage, running water and the mountains rising in the background. 

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Touristy things

There were various things that I am collecting here under 'touristy' things, which don't warrant a post of their own:

Honey Nut sweets

 No post of Korea would be complete without Honey Nut sweets.  The enclosed 'cage' in which they are made is for hygiene purposes.  In front of the sweet maker is a bowl of rice flour.  He begins the process with a 'coin' of honey which he stretches and stretches and stretches into hundreds of very fine 'hairs'.  He takes about 50 lengths of honey 'hair', puts a blob of a nut mix in the middle and then seals the blob of nut mix in the honey hair.  They are really yummy to eat.  Not too sweet and very light.

Demonstration of a Korean wedding

 The bride is inside the 'carriage'.  The men dressed in blue are government officials.

Fans and other souveniers

Tiles depicting Korean life in cartoon form

Basket weaving

 The long column of basket on the left is a doll to sleep with.  It provides cooling and aeration in the hot tropical nights.  I ever so nearly bought one, but thought of the long lug home, so didn't.

Wood sculptures

Balloons of cartoon characters

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Crafts

Here are some of the crafts which were being demonstrated:

Pipe Making

Pottery

Potter's work benches

Wood Carving

Musical reeds - like recorders

Mask Making

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Natural Beauty

There was so much natural beauty:

The above, to me, is a classic.  The tree with pink foliage on the left, a traditional style gateway leading out to the tropical mountainside, the man-made path leading through it.  I could have stayed here for hours, drinking in the peace of it all.

Everywhere, there were small displays of flora tumbling out of tree stumps or kimchi pots.  I have chosen this one because of the wagon in the background, and the very real interest being shown by a monk in the foliage that he saw.

On all the garden walls, squash plants trail abundantly.  No doubt this was common in the early farming days.

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Farm Life

One can get a sense of what it must have been like to live in a village in Korea, back in the days when farming was the way in which people lived:

Example of a farmhouse.  This one is still occupied

The walls were used for storage

And for drying herbs and vegetables

The rooms were tiny, each with a specific purpose

An outside cooking facility

A hut on the river bank

A mill wheel

Korea 2011: Suwon Folk Village: Another Enchanting Custom

The Suwon Folk Village was quite an experience.  I will attempt to cover the various aspects that we saw, starting with and enchanting custom which occurs at the entrance to the village.  There is a table where one can get strips of natural paper.  There is a pen, and there is a donation box.  One can write messages and then do this:

Messages tied to a tree

I did four.  Here is the one that I did for Isy:

For Isy

Isy, I know, will love this.  She is sentimental, as I am.  I suspect that those that I did for others might be regarded as sentimental and silly, so I'll keep them for myself.  I know I did it with a lot of love in my heart.  It is enough for me that those little messages will remain there until the paper disintegrates and becomes part of the land of the village.