Suwon Folk village; Where folks is too much

Today we went to a Korean Folk Village, near Youngin. This is very much the equivalent of Sovereign Hill back home in Ballarat. It is a theme park based upon the traditional lifestyles of Korea. Houses and buildings have been constructed to replicate dwellings from various parts of the country and reflect on occupational and social status. Many of the displays are working models and people practice the various trades selling their products as souvenirs.

Unlike Sovereign Hill, the Koreans cannot resist adding a little Disneyland to the park. Luckily though they keep this separate from the authentic section of the park. So those looking for the thrill of a theme park ride need to cross a stream and enter the glamorised world of traditional Korea.

Today it appeared that the park had invited every school child to the park in our honour. Literally thousands of kids were attending as their school excursion.

We saw every type of child possible, from the adorable kindergarten ages through to studious groups completing work tasks based upon what can be observed, the the rowdy out of control high school student seemingly intent of harming each other and everyone unfortunate to cross their path.

Naturally being Korea many children desperately wanted to practice their English and we were greeted with “hellos” from all angles and manner. Many raced up, egged on by peers to say hello and ask us where we re from only to run away giggling as they has exhausted their English.

Others simply shouted a greeting from a distance hoping we recognised their 'boldness' and responded their telegraphed greetings.

I found it most interesting to watch Amelie's reaction to the crowds as she has never been exposed to such number before. At times it was intimidating, fascinating and wonderful to simply watch all the commotion around and to occasionally reach out to touch and silently assess those obviously as young, if not younger than her out on a Kindergarten trip.

This was the moment she discovered the park also had animals. All kinds of animals are in the park fulltilling their role as domesticated stock living in the park as live displays. The visit deteriorated into finding every type of animal and patting them. There were dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, horses, cows, donkeys and Amelie's favourite goats.

Amelie discovered, what many children do, that goats will eat just about anything offered to them. She started with grass, leaves and flowers before branching out to used tissues and a piece of plaited rice stalk rope. This proved Amelie's favourite as she could steal the rope back and have the goat reach out for more much like playing a fish.

We then climbed back on board to trundle off to our home stay. It all started a little fascicle as we arrives at the suggested meeting point to learn our hosts were waiting at another road wayside stop. It meant re-entering the free-way to do a u-turn to arrive across the other side. This being Korea, on the outskirts of Seoul, proved no easy task. The free-way has at least 8 lanes in each direction with the centre 4 each way as toll-way. In order to perform the u-turn involved about 40 minutes driving to find an exit, drive around one-way streets to find the return entry and drive to the correct meeting point.

It meant a late start to the evening, but our host family, Mrs Kim, was very gracious. They had prepared a wonderful meal which we shared with the host families for the Pirotta Family (family of 4 split into 2 groups of two as homestay apartments cant quite take 4 guests) as all of the host families live in the same apartment complex, although different buildings.

We talked late into the night comparing cultures and life-styles. Neither of us could believe the hours the children kept. David, the older child is at middle-school. He leaves home at 8am attends school all day, then goes to tutorial classes in the evening, not returning home till after 10pm. He will often studying into the early hours, often 1 or 2 am. It is little wonder that we see students at McDonald’s and alike falling asleep in their breakfast. It is simply too much for young adults.

Mr Oh is not much different, leaving at 5:30am to run bible classes, before heading to work. He often returns home around 10pm. One cannot help but wonder how much of these excessive hours are actually productive. Surely fatigue and stress cause many errors and mistakes. It is a lifestyle that many Koreans and Governances are seeking to reduce.

Our meal was capped with a small concert by our host families. Children performed magic tricks, played the piano and Mrs Kim played the cello. It is a form of hosting that we in Australia have long since abandoned, but in many ways should recall. Entertaining guests is a great way to share culture and welcome guests. It helped the children break the bounds of shyness and begin playing joyfully.

This home-stay was much too short. Perhaps next time we come to Korea, we plan a longer stay to make new friends here.