Thursday, November 6, 2008

Namhan Samsong Fortress

As my lagging frequency of posts would suggest, I have been pretty busy lately. Yesterday afternoon I visited the Namhan Sansong Fortress with my school's principal and all of the 6th grade teachers (I am technically a member of the 6th grade faculty). The Fortress, which was built during the 1620's, was used to defend the monarchy against invading Manchu forces. Located on a large hill north of Seoul, it was used as a place of refuge for the king. It is about a 20 minute hike to get to the top of the hill.

Here are a couple pictures I took during the afternoon:

This wall wraps around the top of the hill. It is between twenty and thirty feet high at most places.


This is the main building and was used as a base for military options and as a palace if the king ever had to take up residence at the fortress.

After the hike we went out for a meal of raw seafood. Sitting on the floor around a low table in the private room of a seafood restaurant we were joined by the vice principal and a couple other teachers. We were served several courses of different types of raw fish. I tried everything and liked most of it. We also enjoyed several bottles of Soju with our meal.

2 comments:

Lynne said...

Hi Andrew,
The architecture is very cool and must be so amazing to see it in person. The pictures are great. I am impressed that you ate the raw fish. Good for you. I guess, when in Korea, do as the Koreans do. Can you see when I come on and visit your blog?

Andrew M said...

Hi Lynne, I am really enjoying the opportunity to see this kind of architecture. Obviously, it is unlike anything I have seen before.
Regarding the raw fish, I have been trying to eat everything that has been put in front of me. By and large, this strategy has worked out well. I have found a lot of strange things that I really like and I think the principal, vice principal, and other teachers appreciate the fact that I am willing to try all of their food and fully experience the Korean culture.
I have just started tracking traffic on the blog. I can see where hits are coming from but not who is viewing. Though if I see any from specific towns in MA I will be able to make an educated guess.