The Seoul of New Year's Eve

New Year tree, downtown Seoul

2010 has arrived!  we were celebrating the New Year while everyone back in the States was still having New Year's Eve - odd to be not only hours ahead but a whole year as well.  We spent New Year's Eve in Seoul, visiting the Seoul Musuem of Art and the Festival of Lights.

Sarah 'n Andy....

  The featured exhibit at the Museum was Andy Warhol.  Sarah is now a little piece of pop art.  We took a great picture of  Layden with a large silkscreened banana - he won't allow it on the blog.  In addition to Warhol there was a lovely exhibit by a Korean watercolor artist and also a fantastic sculpture exhibit.  No pictures allowed, but you can see glimpses if you go to the Seoul Musuem of Art website. 

After we enjoyed the museum, we headed to Gwanghuamun Square for the 2009-10 Festival of Lights.  One thing that Seoul does really well is techno lighting, and this was no exception.  Most of what we saw just didn't translate in photographs - things like a waterfall light cascade on steps, or a snowstorm projected on a building.  It was bright and interesting and loud - all sorts of music from great big speakers. 

Sarah's favorite part of the festival was an installation of a piece by the Korean-born American artist Nam-June Paik.  This is is piece called Fractal Turtle Boat.  It represents the turtle boat that was invented by Admiral Yi Sun-Shin in 1591.  It had an iron-clad top and was key in Korean military history and naval success, particularly against the Japanese.  This installation is hard to describe but basically was using the concept of fractals broadcast rapidly on TV montors, juxtaposing history and the natural world against techonolgy and rapid-paced living.  Like I said...hard to describe. 

Here is a model of a turtle boat.  And, here is the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin and a turtle boat that was right next to the Fractal Turtle Boat.

Ice skating anyone? 

Part of the Square was turned into an ice skating rink.  Just in case you couldn't skate too well, you could get a skate sled - kids weren't the only ones using them.  These were available for rental, as were ice skates.  Helmets were mandatory.  We though it rather funny that the women would rent the skates, don the helmets, enjoy the ice rink, and then, when done, give back the helmet, replace the skates with spike-heel boots, and scamper off across the icy sidewalk.  Such is Korea!

One thing about this New Year's Eve is that is was COLD!  Temps were in the teens, and then when the wind came up the chill factor was hovering around zero.  So, we headed to a favorite Seoul hotspot, Dunkin Donuts.  Really.  They are everywhere here, and very very popular.

The hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts is pretty good - very rich.  And there were lots of donuts to choose from, so it was hard to decide which one to have.  This one looked pretty good - and it was.

We weren't quite as sure about this flavor - perhaps an adventure for another day!

Well, once we warmed up we went back outside, and we decided that it was too cold to be much fun so we headed for home on the metro.  All in all, it was a really fun way to celebrate the new year.  We are looking forward to 2010 and hope you are too.