Day 6

Today we visited an area of town that had many old, traditional houses, all of the same style. The first location was a house that was turned into a museum. This museum was a few of these old traditional houses that were turned over to the government in 2009 to be made into a museum. It as restored to reflect the old traditional style as much as possible. After this, we walked around an area on a mountainside that was filled with these houses, but they were all still occupied by residents. The whole area had signs and people with signs asking all of us to be as quiet as possible. The whole area was quite tranquil and peaceful. I think that all of the plants and trees in this area are incorporated into this peace and tranquility. I think that traditional Korean culture values peace in nature. Lots of these houses had small gardens, and every opportunity for some plants, there were some. In the museum we visited, the house at the very top had a very developed green space beside it. It had many rocks rearranged to form steps and walls, while abundant with greenery. The traditional Korean houses have a definitive contrast with the urban-scape of the city. I think that the gardens can provide somewhat of a barrier to the hard concrete making up the city. It provides people in touch with a traditional Korean way of living to also stay in touch with nature, and have some peace and tranquility.

Pictured is a street lined with traditional houses, and the second picture is an example of the green spaces/yards in this area, serving the purpose as mentioned above.