Seoul
Pictures from around Seoul: 2004-09-10 to 2004-09-15.
These photographs are licensed under a Creative Commons Licence (by-nc-sa).
Gyeongbokgung.
A pavilion at Gyeongbokgung with mountains in the background.
A traditional Korean “cure” for bedwetting: the child is sent to a neighbour’s house to ask for salt.
This textbook is interesting because of its then-voguish writing across the top. The hangeul consonant and vowel components have been broken up and stylised to serve as a Western-style “alphabet”. Evidently, this didn't take off.
It seems that the Koreans had movable metal type before Gutenberg.
The many varieties of kimchi.
A traditional kiln at the Korean Folk Village.
A traditional toilet—how little things have changed!
Traditional toilet “paper”—apparently, you are supposed to use that grassy stuff to wipe.
A soju still. Actually, soju isn't that strong at only 20% alcohol.
Scary wicker monkeys.
Typically Korean: a large quantity of chili peppers out to dry in the sun.
“Leg screw torture.” The good old days?
More instruments of torture.
A typical Jeju island pig. This one is sleeping, not dead. They are known for their coprophagic tendencies. “Shit-eating pigs” seems like a pretty good name for a band, no?
One of Jeju’s mysterious harubang statues.
A farmer’s dance. This seriously rocks. with its heavy beats and athletic dancing.
Korean see-saw athletics.
A traditional wedding. It’s much less tedious than its western counterpart.
Koreans often have a problem with grasping the use of the definite and indefinite articles. In this case, they were spot-on: a peony, and a pathetic specimen at that!
Monolith at Pagoda Park.
Monolith detail.
The pagoda itself, inside a protective structure.
The Declaration of Korean Independence was read from this pavilion in 1919, and triggered a crackdown by the Japanese Empire. Now, it’s a rest spot for geriatrics.
Korean town planning resembles Lego bricks strewn across the floor by a particularly spoiled child.
Seoul is really big, as this view from the Seoul Tower on Namsan shows (in spite of the mist).
Looks like a Mercedes, right? Actually, it's a local knock-off from Ssangyong.
