Gwangneung and British Culture Day

Today Lana and I visited Gwangneung, the Royal Tomb of King Sejo, of the Joseon Dynasty. It was a beautiful site in the mountains just outside her town. We originally went up on that bus route to visit a temple, but after getting off at the wrong bus stop we ended up at the Tombs--one of those happy accidents in life.

It was beautiful and so peaceful and Lana and I were the only people up there. Admission to the site was only 1,000 won ($1). It was really cold out but I cannot remember the last time I had been up in the mountains in the snow.

The site held the tomb of both King Sejo and his Queen, Jeonghui, buried in 1468 and 1483 respectively. This picture comes from the view at the top of the Queen's burial mound (the raised hill denotes a Buddhist burial ground).

Afterwards we went up the road to a ceramics store and a tea house. The tea house wasn't open, unfortunately, but it had some amazing ice formations and icicles. It was really freezing out. Also...the "Euro Castle Motel" was next door.

I then went with Lana and Steve to their classes--and taught the kids a little bit about British culture. We played games and watched a little Harry Potter...but the coolest part was our tea tasting and biscuit party. It was surprising to find out what teas the kids liked best. They smelled the teas and liked Celestial Seasoning's "Sugar Cookie Tea" and hated the smell of Earl Grey. But in the end Earl Grey was one of the most popular to taste! A fun day was had by all.

Tomorrow: DMZ trip!

xoxo,
Antonia