Perfect Timing - Part Two

Our next stop is Chanddoekgung Palace. While Gyeongbokgung Palace was the main palace, this was the favored one. A large part of the reason for this is the secret garden which comprises almost half of the 80 acre site. We arrive just in time for the last guided tour of the secret garden which is otherwise closed.

It is a beautiful nature area with very few buildings. It is very steep in parts and very hilly overall, but only us peasants have to walk. The royals were carried in carriages. Must be nice. Kim keeps calling back to me, “Buns of steel, eomma,” as she power walks up the incline. I tell her where I am going to put my foot as I follow slowly behind.

It is basically a retreat area. A place for the royals to get away from the scrutiny of court life. Here the king can do things like go fishing and compose poems. There is a rock in the center of a small man-made pond carved with a poem said to be written by King Sukjong. Our guide tells us that after composing this poem, he challenged his friends who were all sitting around to write one better and that he created the first line then put his cup of wine in the water and pushed it toward someone. That person had until the cup reached them to make up the next line or they had to drink the contents.

I can’t help but laugh at the thought of a Joseon Dynasty king just hanging out with his homies playing drinking games. It is here in the secret garden that history begins to become more than just a series of names and dates and starts to become ‘real’ as I begin to see the human nature sides of the political figures. I think that for this reason, this palace has also become my favorite as well even though it is not as colorful or as grand as Gyeongbokgung.

It is also here that I see a FB message written by one of our teachers back home saying how proud she is of us and that our photos and my stories not only make her homesick but also remind her how compelling Korean culture is which is something that she took for granted while living here. This touches my heart deeply and makes me cry. It is high praise indeed when a native of a country you are visiting tell you that you have managed to capture something that can be very intangible and bring it to life. It is, after all, one of the reasons that I write them in the first place.

To be continued ….