SCF staff had arranged to meet me at the subway stop. Since I’ve been to this office at least twice previously, I think I could have found it but am always happy to accept assistance. We went to the conference room where staff from a variety of departments wandered in, many clutching their lunches to eat since the session was occurring during their lunch hour.
The portion of the May, 2011, fundraising TV telethon in which I “starred” was shown. I had not previously seen it since the on-line link to it I was given didn’t work (for me anyway). I now have a DVD of the show so can relive my 15-minutes of fame in Korea and being a reality show performer any time I want.
My oral presentation told the story summarized in the video with a little more detail. The listeners were very gracious; the staff appears to be a very dedicated group – pretty much a requirement for working in a non-profit (NGO – non-governmental organization).
And most are quite young, also almost a requirement for what is a relatively low-paying job. Only two of the staff at the training session were young men.
Afterwards the Director of Marketing and Communications and one of her staff took me to lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant (but I elected to sit at a table, not on the floor!). So, one more “eating” picture.
After a brief return to the SCF office to meet the Director, I went off on my own for a little sightseeing and shopping. The Gyeongbokgung subway station is very fancy and has art exhibited because it is the primary station for the primary tourist sites.
Exiting the subway I took a picture of the palace entry. Didn’t go in because I have toured this palace several times on previous trips.
I was very pleased to see that the reconstruction of Gwanghwamun (the ceremonial gate to the palace) had been completed. My two previous trips to Seoul, it had been out of sight – behind scaffolding and plywood. This is the view from the inside.
In walking to the bookstore I saw this billboard which highlights ongoing issues between Korea and Japan. Dokdo is the Korean name for a hunk of rock in what Koreans call the East Sea. Japanese call the same body of water the Sea of Japan and have a Japanese name for the island. Uninhabited and not really significant in and of itself, the disputed ownership highlights Korea’s negative feelings, remembering years of Japanese colonialism, and Japan’s need to maintain its position.
This photo once again shows the Korean juxtaposition of traditional and modern as a guardhouse for the palace has as its backdrop a new office building.
Seoul Selection is a small bookstore that specializes in books about Korea in foreign languages, mostly English but also some French and German. They advertise in Korean Quarterly, the newspaper published in the Twin Cities for which I am a proofreader; so I want to support them. And they do have a good choice of interesting books.
After sitting, reading a bit, and making my selections, I moved on (with a heavier load) and spent a little time in InsaDong, a main tourist souvenir area, wanting to purchase a few more postcards. Also bought a shirt – at more than double the price of the one I purchased in Bali. But at least this one had no raw edges.
Subway home. I gratefully sat in one of the “old people” seats on a crowded train; my feet were really sore from all that walking in new shoes. To bed early tonight.
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