Changwon
Last Sunday (Feb. 19) I travelled with some friends to Changwon which is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam province. It's a very beautiful, modern city and larger than Masan, but like Masan, it is surrounded by beautiful mountains.
The above picture is one of the big department store chains around here, "LOTTE". There's a cinema in the same building. I wanted to see "Memoirs Of A Geish" there, but it had unfortunately come and gone. Unless there really big blockbuster type movies, like "King Kong", Western movies don't stay here very long. Korea has its own very busy movie business, and its movies and dramas are becoming more and more popular all over Asia.
As we drove along the street, one of my friends pointed out the cherry trees that line the street. Sometime in early April there will be a cherry blossom festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. I can hardly wait to see that!!
The above pictures were taken on my second trip to Changwon and unfortunately on my first one, I forgot my camera. I should have known better. From that point on I resolved to always bring it with me whenever my friends come to take me anywhere.
Our first stop in Changwon was "Changwon House". Located at the centre of Changwon this small estate has been reconstructed and serves to remind the people that life was very different here 200 years ago. There are several buildings on the property. The first building you see as you walk through the totem guarded gate, is the office and living quarters of the master of the house. Behind this building is a small sand covered courtyard where servants and children would play games when they had time. There's a ring toss game and another game where you try to throw sticks into a small box. The sticks can only fit into the box if they land upright. You stand perhaps 6 feet away; your first challenge is to get the stick in the box; the second, is to do so in such a way that it doesn't bounce right back out again.
It is directly in front of, and serves to guard a separate building that was the wife's living quarters.
After perhaps an hour or so of walking around looking at the historic artifacts of Changwon House, we went to the provincial capital building which also serves as one of Changwon's two art galleries.
One of my friends, In Sook, is a painter. She is now learning a style of traditional Korean painting from a master, Mr. Kim. After walking for a little while around the grounds of the capital building, we went to the studio where In Sook is studying.
Below are some of the pictures around the studio. They are the work of Mr. Kim's students.
The studio used to be a cafe. It was a little chilly in there and we sat around a kerosene heater drinking some sort of chinese herbal tea. Mr. Kim and his students really enjoy trying all kinds of different and exotic oriental teas. At first I found the tea to be just a little too pungent for my taste, and didn't really like it. But, as I kept drinking it, it grew on me and I came to enjoy it.
The following pictures were done by Mr. Kim. Both won prestigious national awards.
Virtually all of the paintings are in shades of black. They were painted using a black ink stick. It looks like charcoal. My friend explained that it's to soot from burnt pine wood that's been bound with some kind of glue. The result is a rectangular piece of very light, very black material that is ground on a hard surface, and the powder is mixed with varying amounts of water. I find the effect simple and yet stunning!
Here's another of Mr. Kim's paintings. It's hard to see, but Mr. Kim painted the red flowers using his own blood for the colour. Now, that's dedication!
Here's my favourite...it contains two of the ten traditional symbols of long life, the crane and the pine. There are ten symbols in all that can be found in traditional paintings from many Asian countries. The other symbols include water, the sun, deer, and mountains. I can't remember the other ones off hand.
After sipping tea, chatting and laughing about a cultural misunderstanding, i.e. the dog/duck story (see previous blog article) I took my friends out for supper and then they took me to a traditional Korean Tea House.
In fact, we went to what my friend said is the best tea house in Changwon.
Tea House Building
The ambience of this place was just fantastic! There were all sort of tea pots, cups, strainers and other such paraphenalia for sale. Many of these things were hand made, painted, and glazed using a very secret process. The selling price for some of them was $500. On the walls there were a couple of Mr. Kim's paintings, and some beautiful photographs. There were also flowers around the room that were trimmed oriental style so as to be simple, and very understated.
There are a couple of Mr. Kim's paintings decorating the walls of the tea house.
They treated me to a traditional tea ceremony. In the hustle of modern life this ceremony is generally enjoyed by people who care neither for time or money. It's quite complicated and isn't cheap. The tea in this place costs as much as a full meal at a restaurant. A course in how to properly serve tea costs a lot of money and takes a long time. A beginner's course alone is 3 months long.
I went back to Changwon on Saturday, It took a little over an hour to get there by bus. Up to this point all the Koreans I've met have been very, very nice. But, while waiting for a connecting bus I met my first Korean jackass. I was just standing there and this drunk guy (why do they always find me?) crossed the street just to insult me in Korean. Then he seemed to ask if I wanted to fight. I said no, he hailed a cab, turned around and said something else I'm probably better off not understanding and that was it. On the up side, that was the first time that I took a bus by myself, and I managed to make my way to Changwon without too much trouble.
Before going to the studio on Saturday we went to the opening of a ceramic studio owned by a friend of Mr. Kim's. Like Mr.Kim he has won national competitions. He was in Seoul but has recently moved to Changwon.
We entered the studio and were greeted by the artist, Mr. Song. We went into a room where there were many examples of his work .Great stuff! Then, we were led into another room with tables laden with lots of snacks. He told us to eat as much as we wanted since that would bring him luck in his new endeavour. There was one particular type of rice cake covered in a special type of crushed bean powder. It's often served served to guests at the opening of a business or other endeavour to bring good luck.
Before leaving the studio Mr. Song gave each of us two of his handmade cups ... what a wonderful gift!
I was at the studio till almost midnight, and got to try painting something. Well, mostly I was playing...I copied a picture from a book. Mr. Kim told my friend that I was good. Who knows? If he will take me on, I may become one of Mr. Kim's regular students. The trip to Changwon is a little long, but it only costs $1.80 for a one way trip. Mr. Kim or someone ususally drives me back home.
That's it for now.
Stay tuned.
pae
P.S. One of my friends gave me some live yogourt bacteria. I now have a free and long lasting source of yogourt. All I do is fill a glass about 1/5th with this stuff, add enough milk to fill the glass. Then, I leave it out for 24 hours and voila, yogourt. I add a little honey and/or a teaspoon of jam and it's perfect! Then, best of all I just leave 1/5th in the glass, fill it up again with milk and the process continues.
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