Chosung Kimchi Village

Ewha Peace Buddy Farm Experience at Chosung Kimchi Village

For our field trip with the Ewha Peace buddies they took us to a farm experience to Chosung Kimchi Village. It is located about an hour and a half from Ewha Women's university which seems far but it was technically still in Seoul. However it was pretty empty and felt like you were definitely out of the city. We rode a pretty nice bus in Hawaii standards its more like tour bus so the ride didn't feel too long.

Our Bus

We arrived at our destination and broke up into smaller groups to do all the different activities. It was a little hard thought out the day because it was pretty much raining the whole day and even colder then usual but I think we made the best of it.

On to our First Activity..

For our first activity we did something similar to tye dying but with traditional dye and we used handkerchiefs. We first had to rubber band them for smaller rings and we had these plastic foam ties for rings that we wanted thicker. 

After that we had to soak our handkerchiefs in warm milk and then we could put it in the dye which was the orange type mud mixture and massage it into our handkerchiefs. It was pretty cold and raining so it made it harder but the milk made our hands really soft. In the end my handkerchiefs looked pretty much just all orange and but it was fun making.

On to our next activity

To our next activity to make kimchi. That was for sure the activity I was looking forward to the most. We went into a room where we all had our own individual places to work and even aprons and headbands for each of us to wear at each station. On top of that our ingredients and materials were all there as well.

It was pretty easy to make just a spoon of four things which were sugar and ginger and two spices I believe and the pepper paste and we just mixed it all together. I learned the ginger is used to keep it from rotting and the sugar is used instead of salt.

We even got our own containers to take our kimchi home. I was really impressed with how professional it all was. And the kimchi was really yummy too!

Lunch Time!

Next Activity..

For our next activity after lunch we learned to play some traditional Korean games. This one involved four blocks which had writing on one side and the point was to throw them and get them all on the letter side and depending on how they landed different points were given.

After that we moved to a different room to play two different games one that was semi like a hacky sack but with tassels on a piece of plastic. I am not sure what that really was but no one could really do it for more the one try but I feel like I've seen it in a few dramas before. It was pretty hard to do.

The next game what were there was a pot and you had to get these sticks into the pot. I am not sure exactly what the name was but I have seen it before. Even standing pretty close I couldn't get it in. It was a lot harder then it looked.

Last Activity of the day..

The last thing we did that day was making rice cake or Ddok in korean. We got to see them make it in the traditional way by pounding the rice cake on a board. It was really fresh, you can still see the steam and the grains of rice in it. It was similar to the way that the Japanese make mochi I noticed but Japanese did it in a round stone pot where as the way a long wood shallow plate instead.

People even got to try and pound the rice cake too. I was surprised that the plate board thing didn't break cause some guys were going at it and it sounded pretty hard.

At the end they coated the rice cake in a soybean powder and we got to eat some. It was so fresh you could even taste the grains of rice still in it.

Namsan Tower/ North Seoul Tower

Namsan Tower in Myungdong

Ticket to ride the cable car up to Namsan tower

Some easy to understand directions that helped us to find Namsan tower from Myungdong area we got from Eatyourkimchi. This also gives a really good idea of everything that you will see and have to look for when you want to go to Namsan Tower.

Directions to Namsan Tower

Some of the view as we rode up in the cable car. It was about time for the sun to set when we went up which to me was a really good time to see the tower because you are able to see everything in daylight and the beautiful night scenery all within a pretty short time. Getting the best of both worlds and seeing the sunset was really nice.

There is also a path up to the tower if you don't want to ride the cable car. People usually just walk it or bike it but I believe it is a bit long but there are sights to see along the walk as I saw from above in the cable car so if you have time I'd try that too.

View at Sunset heading up to the main Namsan Tower Area:

View of walking path below

Sun is setting in Seoul..

This is the main area at Namsan Tower has a few shops and restaurants. There is even a Teddy Bear Museum up there as well. Once you get up there the area is pretty big and there a a beautiful view of the city. However you have to buy another ticket to go up into the observatory which is the actual tower and also if you want to go into the teddy bear museum.

This area is also the place where you can find all of the famous locks. There are tress of it in one area and in another there is a larger area of locks on walls. If you don't bring it a lock the gift shop has many cute one that you can buy that come with all the supplies you need to right a cute message and lock them on the wall or the trees.

Inside the observatory there is the entrance to the observatory and also the Teddy Bear Museum. When you enter the main entrance to head up into the observatory there is a green screen type tourist photo they make you take before going up that you can purchase up in the observatory. After that there is a really neat slide show that goes on on the elevator doors and then you head up in the elevator as a video plays above your head reenacting shooting into space some what like something you'd see in an amusement park.

Entrance to the Teddy Bear Museum

Light show on Elevator

This is the view up above at night inside of the observatory:

Each of the windows tell you a place somewhere in the world that is in that directions. This one was in the directions of North Korea.

More Pictures of the tower at night when everything is lit up it is really beautiful 

Directory up in the main tower area

Cable car up above

Main Entrance to Cable Car station

Dinner time after Namsan tower at Twoowy 

After we finished our adventure to Namsan Tower we headed back down toward Myungdong and had dinner at a restaurant along the path down called Twoowty if I read the plate correctly I can't actually remember the name but it was a chicken restaurant that had pretty good garlic chicken and we also got a just a regular fried chicken and some french fries and cider. Talk about unhealthy but it was pretty filling and definitely hit the spot.

Fried Garlic chicken and Fried Chicken

French Fries

Our full Meal

Korean Cider with our meal