Happy Chuseok!

Saturday was the Korean holiday Chuseok.  As I mentioned before, this is basically the Korean Thanksgiving.  Many people travel to other cities and visit with relatives and have lots of fun, and most importantly, time off of work and school!  I've heard tales that the main highways are so crowded with cars it can take 12+ hours to drive across to Seoul, which usually only takes about 3!  With most people I know out of town in Seoul, I had the weekend to myself.  I did some exploring on Saturday but not much else besides.  A bit quiet, but definitely relaxing.  I was able to study up some on some Korean customs and language.  I'm learning Hangul at the moment, which is the Korean alphabet.  It doesn't use characters so it is much easier and quicker to learn that Chinese or Japanese.  But being able to pronounce the words doesn't mean much if you don't know what they mean!  Anyway, here are some pictures from my jaunt around Duryu Park in Daegu.

After hiking up to the top of Duryu Park there are phenomenal 180 degree views on both sides.

A path through the park.

I stumbled across some illicit gambling in the park.  Mostly men playing some game I couldn't figure out until this woman came up and demanded to play.  They seemed to think it was funny at first but she was definitely forceful.  I took this picture and they got mad so I put my camera away and left.

Families in the park enjoying their time off!

The Korean flag.  It's called Taegukgi.

 

A temple along the road in the park.

Silhouette of a bell hanging from the roof.

Little Buddhas.

As I was leaving the temple, one of the monks came up to me and said something in Korean.  I said I didn't understand.  Then she said "Today is Korean Thanksgiving" and handed me a bag full of all the fruits and treats you see on the table!  What generosity!

Oh, one more thing.  When I was doing my huge first post on Friday, I suddenly wondered if I could get onto the roof of my apartment.  Here is a video I took showing the amazing view from my roof, and a few pictures from the roof.

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3SjHiUsUtA

 

Pretty sweet hangout, huh?

Up on the top most roof.