추석 잘보내새요 - a visit to Seoul (updated)

추석 잘보내새요 - a visit to Seoul

It's "추석" ("Chu-seok")! And the sentence "추석 잘보내새요" ("Chu-seok chal-bo-nae-sae-yo") is a Chu-seok holiday greeting.

Chu-seok is an important holiday in Korea. It happens at a different date every year because it is defined on the lunar calendar. It is a thanksgiving festival. Historically, its purpose was to celebrate and to offer thanks for the harvest. In modern times, it has become a major family holiday. During Chu-seok, a large number of Koreans travel to visit their families and friends. It seems to me that the holiday is comparable to Christmas in Canada.

This year, I'm taking advantage of the Chu-seok holiday to visit Seoul.


Seoul is an AWESOME city! I love it!

There are a few places that I have visited where I have been struck by the life and the energy of the city. Montréal is an example of such a place in Canada. In these cities, I felt that life could be fast-paced and intense. And yet, the inhabitants seemed relaxed, friendly, and enjoying life to the max. Seoul is like that. This is a city that, in some neighbourhoods, literally never sleeps. And the people here are friendly, cheerful and fun.

I even like the Korean spelling and pronunciation of the word "Seoul". The Korean spelling of Seoul is "서울". It is a two-syllable word. The first syllable, "서", is sort of pronounced like the English verb "sow", but more like the "so" in the French word "soleil". The second syllable, "울", is pronounced "oul", as in the French word "roule". The Korean pronunciation of the word Seoul is therefore not quite the same as the pronunciation of the English word "soul". It actually sounds more like So-oul.


Seoul is both a modern and a traditional city. During my first day here, I chose to visit some of the city's historical sites.

First, I visited a traditional Korean palace called Chang-deok-gung (창덕궁), located in the northern part of Seoul. It is a beautiful place. I found the traditional architecture and decoration of the palace buildings to be very interesting. I was particularly intrigued by the triple tae-guk pattern appearing on the inside face of the doors of the palace. I had seen the double tae-guk pattern before, and knew they represented the concepts of yin and yang. But I had never seen a third part added to this symbol to represent humanity.

Entrance gate of Chang-deok-gung.

Inner side of the entrance gate of Chang-deok-gung.  (Triple tae-guk patterns are visible.)

 

 

Architectural detail of some buildings at Chang-deok-gung.

What I appreciated the most, however, were the forested grounds located behind Chang-deok-gung. Usually, visitors can only take a guided tour of these grounds. However, during the Chu-seok holiday, visitors are allowed to explore the grounds unescorted. The Asian tree species that populate the grounds were fascinating to me, as they reminded me of some Canadian tree species, but were slightly and subtly different.

A conifer tree in the forested grounds at Chang-deok-gung.

** Note. This is an updated version of a post, originally published on 2010-09-23.
In the original, I wrote that I visited Gyeong-bok-gung (경복궁).
In reality, I had visited Chang-deok-gung (창덕궁)
I also added photos to this version of the post.