Happy Lunar New Year!
I know, it’s a bit late, but better late than never. And it’s always better to spend the holidays with others. So, with the other interns from Asia Lab, we ventured off to Namsangol Hanok Village for Seollal.
Seollal, also known as Korean Lunar New Year, is one of the biggest national holidays and it celebrates the first day of the lunisolar calendar. It is usually three days, so people like to visit their hometowns.
Although Seoul was quieter than usual, Namsangol Hanok Village was packed with families and tourists. There were performances on the stage every hour, and getting a spot to watch it was like buying a concert ticket — okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But there we stood at the back: three interns and our friendly manager huddled together in our huge coats.
Namsangol Hanok Village consists of five hanoks (traditional Korean houses), a beautiful pavilion, a small pond, and a time capsule square. This tourist attraction is free and holds many events during the year.
On a cultural holiday in another country, nothing beats seeing a traditional performance. Korean history was dancing all around us. The music was hypnotising with the constant high-pitch buzz and the festive drums, while the performers moved about and spun the long ribbon attached to their hats. Following that, they awed the crowd with tricks using spinning discs on a long stick, throwing it up to the clouds.
For me, the highlight was the lion dancing. Being used to loud and active Chinese lion dancing, I found myself laughing at the interactive jokes by the host and lion character.
Afterwards, we strolled through the traditional village. It felt like we were in a period K-drama. The architecture looked ancient but painted a delicate picture with the calm sky and surrounding trees. We even had a gorgeous view of Namsan Tower through the clear blue. Well, I definitely need more storage on my phone now.
We then visited Seoul Millennium Time Capsule Square. Shaped like a meteorite crater, 600 items were buried in 1994 on the 600th anniversary of Seoul being Korea’s capital. It’ll be opened in 2394 for the 1,000th anniversary, and it was engraved with messages from all over the world.
When we started feeling hungry, we left Namsangol and began our quest for food, which proved difficult as most places closed for the holiday. Eventually, we found a quiet chicken place to satisfy our cravings.
But no, our day didn’t end there. The four of us travelled to Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno. It’s well known for the towering statues of King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sunshin. Not only is the large space full of history and events, but it also leads to an entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace.
After exploring the underground museum, we headed to Cheonggyecheon stream — a tick off my bucket list! My eyes couldn’t close, drinking in every angle around the glistening water. With the captivating reflection of blue lights and the rainbow bridge, I highly recommend going at night.
We walked along the path and I felt ready to go home. However, my face lit up when we saw HiKR Ground to our right.
HiKR Ground is a tourist attraction known for their various K-pop music video sets and live studio. There’s also media art and exhibitions for Korean tourism and the Hallyu wave to connect with K-pop fans.
Although it was nearly closing time, we made the most of our idol life in the cool subway concept stage. One of the staff danced up to us and asked if we wanted to do a K-pop quiz. Hmm… why not? On the live stage, we split into two teams and guessed the song by the intro. My racing heart now understands how idols feel on quiz shows. But it was such a blast and I was fully satisfied — we even danced to Queencard like the queens we are.
Now, it was time to bid farewell to the other interns and our manager. While the rest of the long weekend was a roller coaster of relaxation and celebration, I was ready for work the following week. May 2024 be a better year than last year!
