With just a few days left before I return to Wisconsin, I decided to check out the Korean Folk Village, a live museum of a folk village called Minsok village (민속촌). The village was created based on the Joseon Dynasty.
It was like I was being transported back into a Korean historical drama. It felt quite familiar to me because I have seen some aspects of the village in historical drama. Apparently, the village has been a popular film site for many historical dramas including My Love from Another Star, Moon Embracing the Sun, Dae Jang Geum, and Dong Yi, which I have all watched. It was a different experience walking around in the village because I have read about Korean history, and now I am in it. I felt like I understood Korea's past and amazed with how far Korea has come. In the folk village, they showed many things that you would find in villages such as the farmers house, the middle class house, traditional herb pharmacy, the provincial governor's office etc. In some of the houses, they had dolls of people doing activities and different equipment used by the people during the Joseon Dynasty.
In different parts of the folk village, there were different shows going on. I really wanted to see the marriage ceremony, however, I had to leave before the time they showed it. However, I saw the music and dance parade, which was beautiful. They started off showing a short performance about a Korean folk story. After that, they started to dance around. The dance I like was the women with fans. They came together in a circle with their fans sticking out. The music was very upbeat, and I was pulled into it. It was making me dance and jump around.
Visiting the Korean Folk Village was an experience. It propelled me back into the past and gave me the opportunity to see the things I see in movies in real life. It was a wonderful experience being exposed to the traditional Korean culture.