Traditional Fan Making & Samgyetang in Seoul

Our local Seoul crew kicked off Thursday with a morning of classes followed by a more traditional Korean experience: eating Samgyetang

Samgyetang is commonly eaten during the 'dog days' of Korean summer, traditionally the three hottest days of summer. The first day was July 16th (초복 'chobok', where 'cho' means beginning), and the second day was a few days ago on July 26th (중복 Jungbok, where 'jung' means middle). The last day (말복 malbok, where 'mal' means 'the end') will be on August 15th, 2022! During these times it is tradition to eat Samgyetang by 'fighting heat with heat' (in Korean, 이열치열 'through heat treat/manage heat'). Samgyetang is a ginseng chicken soup that is quite delicious, and in the photos here you can see some of our students enjoying it!

After enjoying lunch, it was time to head over to a traditional Korean fan making experience. The weather was quite warm but luckily, we didn't have to walk far. The instructors had prepared various different models for the students to practice painting on and explained the different meanings behind the objects, figures, and animals within each of the drawings. The instructors explained the basic methods for beginning the painting projects and then went around helping students individually while also demonstrating how to blend different colors for some rather beautiful results. The studio itself had many different examples of intricate pieces prepared in the past and you can see our students posing with their finished pieces above!

Finally, as our students finished up their fan painting projects, we transitioned to a nearby Hanok Cafe that harkened back to the older times of Korea, which many different figurines, art pieces, and furniture that gave a more immersive traditional Korean feeling. Hanok are more traditional villages that give a peak into life long ago in Korea, and have been preserved in many areas around not only the capital, but in cities across the country (one famous example is Jeonju (전주)). Students order a variety of drinks and even 빙수 (bingsoo, flavored shaved ice) to share between them and got to know each other better through conversation in a more relaxed setting. The students even asked our instructors to try some of their bingsoo, and we were even able to enjoy delicious ice cream and waffles as well.

After the Hanok Cafe everyone trekked back to the hotel and prepared for dinner, with a variety of different options available in the immediate area. Overall, it was a fun, interesting day to shake off the last bits of jetlag and get everyone just a bit more acquainted with each other. We hope you'll continue to read along with us as we step up the festivities in the next few weeks!