Korean Folk Village

Saturday we decided to take the kids on the Seoul City Bus Tour. This is a 2 hour bus ride that stops at 30 of the popular sites to see in Seoul, South Korea. We knew going into this that there was no way in hell the children would behave for all 30 stops, so we played it safe and chose the 2 stops we wanted to see the most. First we stopped at the Itaewon Market. This is a series of narrow streets with shops everywhere. There are 2nd floor shops and street shops and even basement shops. Each shop is extremely small and overflowing with merchandise. I was on the hunt for a well-made knockoff purse, while Jason sniffed out athletic jerseys and golf clubs. Neither of us found what we were after, but there was no way Jason was leaving empty handed. After about an hour Jason stumbled across a shop owner with luggage dollies he has to have. In Korea nothing on the economy has a set price. All shop owners expect you to haggle for deals and they always offer you the best deal as you are walking out the door. Ok, so Jason and I have haggled this guy down from 70,000 won for 2 dollies to 55,000 won. Right here, right here is where we completely messed up. Jason looks at me and says, "Lets save our won and use American money." (Koreans love American money because the exchange rate is pretty good right now.) I agree, and without thinking Jason hands the guy 50 dollars. The man smiles and hands us our new luggage dollies (which are probably crap, but they are now our crap). It takes us all of 3 steps out the door before we realize we have just given the shop owner way too much money. 55,000 won is roughly 40 dollars. We ended up paying the man 10 dollars to teach us a lesson we will never forget. Kicking ourselves, we make our way back to the bus stop to continue our tour.

Next stop, The National Folk Museum of Korea on the grounds of the Gyeongbok Palace. I have to say, this was such an amazing experience for all of us. The museum chronicles how noble and common families lived and worked through out their history. The intricate details and elaborate colors in everything astounded us all. We spent the better part of the day marveling at all the exhibits and taking pictures of the buildings. This is definitely a stop that I would recommend to anyone visiting the Seoul area.