Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 51 of 58

Faces of Insadong

Friday, February 27th

Learning Moment: Insadong Street, Seoul, Korea

If there were a vote for 'favorite place in Seoul', Insadong would probably be the people's choice. Popular with young and old, locals and foreigners, teeming with those who are curious and those who are curiosities - Insadong is filled with great restaurants, cutting edge galleries, traditional shops, music, and the entire range of human drama.

While we were wandering Insadong yesterday, I conducted two interviews with college students who are studying English. This is a normal occurance. Students lurk all over the street with notepads, waiting for a foreigner who isn't moving with a sense of purpose. When they find one, they ask, "May I interview you?"

Everyone is an artist, a subject, or both...

One student asked me, "What is your favorite thing about Insadong?"

The answer was easy - the energy of the people on the street.

Despite the restaurants, the galleries, and the historical sites that surround the area, I could be happy just standing there all day and watching people on the street - so I did.

Who needs art galleries?

Dance me to the end of time... from Seoul

Here's a shocker... we saw more dance today.

We took a taxi up to Samcheonggak, where we saw an afternoon dance show.
It was a story that was almost impossible to follow, but it didn't matter, because both the dancers - with their brightly colored hanbok - and the dances, were beautiful.

Afterwards, we headed to Insadong.
The temperature was perfect for a stroll, so we took a walk down the street, where we found another performance.
It included dance, martial arts, singing and swordplay.

Hope we see this much excitement in Israel!!