Our second weekend we were back in Suwon, and decided to visit Minsokchon, a Korean folk village on the outskirts of the city. It’s sort of like a Korean version of colonial Williamsburg, with people dressed up in period outfits, traditional demonstrations and performances, and loads of touristy souvenirs.
I’m not really cut out for farm work. Also note my Lilly shorts, I had to celebrate National Wear Your Lilly Day all the way from Korea!
This man was making shoes out of straw! You can see a few examples of this work on the shelves behind him. I have no idea how he did it, but we watched him for a good five minutes or so as he wound pieces of straw around these three poles that were attached by a bigger rope around his waist.
Lydia and I happened to stumble across these guys while trying to find our way to the Nobleman’s Palace. Lydia has been an equestrian for a long time so we had to stop and watch. These performers were insane. They jumped from galloping horse to galloping horse like it was nothing, doing flips and tricks the entire time. Then…
There were five guys on two horses. I got nervous just watching, expecting someone to fall off, but they went through the entire show without a problem.
Someone bail me out!
This was really cool: the village puts on a traditional wedding every afternoon. It was interesting to see what a wedding from another culture looks like, even though weddings like this aren’t as common nowadays. The bride and groom never spoke, and the bride kept her eyes lowered for most of the ceremony. The first ten minutes was just the groom performing ceremonial duties, until the bride comes out covered by her attendants. Lydia told me the two attendants were originally placed into the ceremony in case the bride fainted, and they stayed by her side the entire time.
At the end, the bride is carried out in a little sedan while the groom rides in front on a horse. The entire crowd followed the wedding procession, which coincidentally ended right in the middle of all the souvenir shops. Well played, guys, well played. It worked, however, as I ended up buying several souvenirs, including one of the little hats worn above as a present for my brother.
Apparently I’m 5 years old and had to jump on the swing. It’s harder than it looks!
Don’t fall in!
We had a pretty fun day at the village, if you like history, culture, or just people dressed up in period costume it’s worth a visit if you’re in Korea!
