Korea 2012 Guest Post – Julie Miller

Guest Post by Julie Miller:

Annyeonghaseyo! (안녕하세요) And the Korea adventure has begun! The Tea Institute at Penn State landed in Korea just a few short days ago and we have already done, seen, and accomplished so much. One set of sights that has really caught my interest was the imperial palaces in the middle of Seoul. So far we have toured both the main palace and the secondary palace. At the secondary palace we were able to see the entire palace and take a tour of the secret garden. This garden was used only for the private use of the royal family. All around us, the beautiful landscape made it hard to remember that we were still in the middle of a thriving metropolis. Today we toured the main palace. The splendor and extravagance of the royal palace was stunning. Beautiful painting and statues of phoenixes, dragons and other creatures decorated every room. There were even large ponds with beautiful pagodas set out in the middle. Also, providing a wonderful backdrop for most of our pictures, mountains rise up out of the city and can be seen over the palace walls. Oh, what life must have been like when one lived in such grand palace. It is hard to imagine that these buildings were in use only one hundred years ago. Despite being wired to electrical lighting and other commodities, they still retain such an old world elegance that can not be replicated in modern times. Touring these historical sights was an amazing experience and I am so happy to be sharing this adventure with my friends. Gamsahamnida! Annyeonghigaeseyo! (감사합니다, 안녕히개세요)