Korean Folk Village

We met up with an old friend of mine named Chris who is living and working in Seoul.  He is an English teacher, in his third year in the country.  Chris and I have been friends since our days at FLC middle school youth group in Greensboro, so we've known each other at least 18 years, maybe longer.  I played softball with his sister, and we were in Marching Band together- so we shared lots of activities over time.  I'm so glad to have someone we know here in the country that we could get together with!

We took the train to Suwon, where there was a ticket counter and a free bus for the Folk Village.  This is the Songtan train station.

Here is our stroller- it's a Phil & Ted's Sport.  It is FANTASTIC, and totally worth the money for anyone who will have 2 stroller sized kids, and do any traveling.  Right now we have Mdx riding in the back because the infant carrier has to go in the front, but the plan is to have Mav riding in the back when he get a little bit bigger.

Here is outside the subway station at Suwon.  The station was very large, with a huge mall inside it- which came in handy because I had forgotten a bottle!  Luckily Chris's friend Jaemin speaks Korean and was able to ask where we could find one while we were there.  :)  There was a supermarket in the lower level that happily sold me one for 12,000 won (around 11 dollars).

This is right inside the Folk Village.  There were samples of different spicy/hot sauces to taste.

Here is the courtyard of the Village.  Those blue and red lanterns are the logos of the Seoul G20 Summit, they are everywhere around the Seoul area.

This is the picture menu that was posted outside one of the restaurants there.

There is a a blacksmith shop where they sell the handtools that you watch them make.

A beautiful scene by the water.  Unfortunately there aren't many sights like this near where we live (in a town by the base).  I think if we do some more traveling off the beaten path we are much more likely to see things like this.

A traditional Korean fishing boat.

They use roof tiles to build strong walls around the village.

Maddox liked playing with the big mortar and pestle, and other hands-on tools they had there.

A rich person's house, or a palace, I can't remember which.

I carried Mav in the Beco baby carrier for a large part of the time there, it was warmer for him and easier for me to walk around with Mdx.

We crossed over a bridge, and I looked down over the water to see this person crossing a stone bridge.  I snapped the photo right as they got to the middle.

 Maddox is being pushed by Marshall on this giant swing.

After we got back to the train station we ate in the food court there.  Chris told us a lot about the area and his experience at the school where he is teaching.

We enjoyed the visit and hope to see Chris many more times while we are here.  :)