National Museum of Korea 국립중앙박물관 & Hanging out with Jay Liu

For some reason the last two semesters I did not go to very many museums. Sure I went to palaces and cultural sites but I never went to explore any of the museums or art galleries available in Seoul. This semester I think I am going to find more of those to visit.

This week is pretty relaxed since we have free time except for the 2 mandatory orientation days (Wednesday and Friday). Thursday March 1 is a national holiday here in Korea. Today was also the opening ceremony for the freshman class of 2012. When I went to the subway station to head up to Seoul there were so many of them lining up to take the shuttle bus to our university.

I decided to go to the National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관) today with my friend Jason visiting from Beijing (originally from Toronto). I remember seeing it out the window of the airport limousine bus when I was heading home for the winter break. It looked so beautiful and I thought I must visit! Since it was Jason's first time to Seoul, and this is actually a site I've never been, we decided to give it a shot.

The National Museum is located at Ichon (이촌) Station on Line number 4 or the Jungang (중앙) Line. If you take Line number 4 it is at Exit number 2. Very easy to get to, there are signs posted everywhere. You walk about 10 meters to the intersection and turn in towards the museum or you can walk straight for just a bit further and go through the main entrance.

The main exhibition hall and Children's Museum is free to the public (closed on Mondays and major holidays). There is also a special exhibition hall that requires a fee and a by donation section in the main hall. We did not go into either of those places, we just roamed through the main exhibition. The exhibits basically go through the history of Korea starting from the prehistoric/stone age and moving through. I didn't read too much this time around because Jason and I were catching up. Since it's free this could be something that I do next time. They have some really nice and special artifacts that are highlighted throughout the museum.

They also have a special section just about Buddha and a South East Asia sector. The Buddha section is really neat because they have pretty sizeable Buddha statues within this really large room. It's quite grand, I enjoyed that displace. The outside of the museum is really beautiful as well so after walking indoors, it's quite nice to take a walk around outside in the fresh air. Today was a bit chilly so we didn't venture off too far, but in the spring time I can imagine it being really nice.

After we dropped my Myeong Dong (명동) and had Kalguksu - hand cut noodles (갈국수) from a famous noodle place in Myeong Dong called Meong Dong Gyu Ja (명동교자). It's quite famous, there is always many people and line ups. It seems this places is recommended in a lot of tourist books, especially Japanese tourists. It's right behind the giant FOREVER 21 on the main strip.

After our giant meal we walked up to the cable cars to Namsan (남산) Tower. I've never been to Namsan in the day time so it was neat to see performances and traditional reenactments right at the base of tower. The cable car ride is reasonable price 8 000won for return trip. We decided to walk off our lunch so we walked to the cable car station and back down. If you didn't know already Namsan Tower is a big destination for tourists and for couples. However, since it was a Tuesday afternoon we saw more tourists today than couples.

But of course the couples weren't completely missing.

It's great to be back in Korea, still a bit jet lagged! Of course with time it will regulate. It really feels like I live here and am not just visiting anymore...but of course there is still so much more for me to see! I promise to continue taking pictures and updating this blog more since this is my last semester. I am super excited!!!