Korea Travels - Day 5, Wandering Around and Gift Bringing

Monday, October 12, 2005.

We decided to view the secret garden today, but found it was closed. Instead, we headed back to Insadong for additional shopping.

On the way, we saw this sign. I think we could use a "Commission Against Corruption", although, we would probably need a "Commission Against Corruption on the Commission Against Corruption", too. ;)

Monday night, we went to Sangmi’s mother’s house. Sangmi’s fiancé brought the traditional gift of engagement. This gift was placed upon a large bowl that contained a rice cake. The rice cake contained sweet red beans. Eric thought it was funny that the cake had beans on it. An episode of an online cartoon he watches contained a segment where the character put beans on a cake, in case anyone wanted beans on it. I am not sure why it is so funny. The cake was chewy and I thought it was bitter, but, I am used to buttercream frosting.

The gift was wrapped in bright red material with a white braided ribbon. The ribbon on the package is made of 100% cotton and will be used as diapers for the couple's children.

Under the cloth should have been a wooden chest; instead it was a travel case. The gift was still approved by the family. ;) In the olden days, the box would contain the material to make the wedding dress. Today, it contains the dress already made. In addition, cosmetics, two sets of jewelry, a purse, and a few other items were provided. There was also a formal request of marriage from the groom's family. The entire evening was very informational.

For dinner, we had homemade Bulgogi, which was excellent. They also served jellyfish and a noodle dish that had a sesame seed sauce. The dressing on the salad was vinegar based with pear. It was different, but good.