Johnnie and Angela: Folk Village Revisited

In May of last year, Johnnie, his sister, and I spent a day at the Korean Folk Village. I blogged about it here and here. The Korean Folk Village is near Suwon and is a living history museum that highlights Korea's past and traditional folk culture. There are over 250 traditional houses and buildings, arenas for performances, souvenir shops and restaurants, and gardens all in a beautiful outdoor environment. It's a great place to experience traditional Korea so I took my mom and aunt there for a visit.

Near the entrance are some stone structures covered with rope that has pieces of paper tied it. The sign in the photo below says:

REALIZATION OF WISHES

At this place, you can write your wishes and hopes for you, your families and people whom you love on traditional Korean papers, hang them on straw ropes and make wishes.

Also, the collection box here will be donated to UNICEF and used for saving children of the world.

Contribute money and make your wishes here.

Many of the buildings were getting their roofs re-thatched. We were careful not to get our clothes dirty :)

There is a buddhist temple in the Village that you can visit. Just make sure you take off your shoes before going inside!

One of the performances to watch at the Folk Village is a traditional Korean wedding ceremony. The bride's beautifully embroidered outfit is my favorite part. It is a very involved ceremony with a lot of standing, bowing, and kneeling.

Another performance is the Equestrian Feats which is really a show of balance and strength. The horses galloped around the small circular arena while the performers on their backs hung off the sides of the saddle, did handstands, and shot arrows.

Acrobatics on a Tight-Rope is a fun performance to watch. The old performer had incredible balance, flexibility and a crotch of steel. He was quick and graceful, holding only a large fan for balance.

The final performance to see is the Farmer's Dance. This dance is one of the oldest dance forms in Korea and was traditionally performed during planting and harvesting, stemming from early records of farmers working to the beat of percussion instruments. It is characterized by fast-paced music and gravity-defying acrobatic movements. Dancers have long white streamers attached to their hats which they twirl in beat with the music.