The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea

The art teacher and her husband took me to the Museum of Modern Art.

Here is a picture of some "totem poles" that were in the front.

They have some great pieces here including a huge display from a Korean-American digital artist.  It is probably about 5 stories high and fills up the center of a huge spiral staircase.

I was also amazed, that in a country where there are so many squatty potties, there are also a TON of rather advanced toilets in public places.   This is a toilet/bidet is a the restroom of the museum. 

I don't like to use them becuase all the buttons are in Korean.  I am also not sure I feel it is super sanitary. 

The jury is still out, but at least it's good for a chuckle every time I see one.

63 Tower

This is the 63 Tower on Yeouido Island.

I don't have much to say except that it is one of the biggest buildings in Korea.  (The third largest to be exact.)

There is a small theater, many shops and restaurants, an aquarium, and a wax museum. I especially like this wax museum sample of Einstein.  (It's hard not to love someone who was such a rebel genius.)

I think the real draw is the art museum which happens to be on the 62nd floor.  The art museum was nice.  There was a flower theme when I was there.  I don't know if it was a permanent exhibit or not.  The view from there though was phenomenal.  I have included soem of my pictures here, but it was cloudy the day I went, so I am sure there are better pictures out there. 

Here is a view of the Han River.  Those are boats down there in the river.  Each of those buildings is a huge complex of condos.  I would guess that there are at least 1000 apartments in each of those buildings.  And there are tons of these buildings all throughout Seoul.

I noticed they have a LUSH store there and a Totes Store where I bought an adorable purple polka dot umbrella with UV protection. 

Even though it was cloudy, I had a great afternoon there and have some adorable souvenirs.

To find out more about the 63 Tower, please check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/63_Building

Cookin' Nanta

I went to see this Korean Modern Stage performance of traditional Korean arts.  It was great.

I was going to just give you a link so you could look at pictures, but I found this site instead:

http://danormansinkorea.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/cookin-nanta/

This girl tells you ALL about it and she has awesome pictures (I don't know how she got them though because taking pictures was prohibited during my show).

Either way, it was worth it, because she really tells you everything that happens.

If you have a chance to see it though, you should go, it's worth every penny.

The Title: An explanation

I'm sure a "good" writer would make you figure out what the title means in the middle or near the end of the story, and some of you may already know, but I'm not like that; as a teacher I don't believe in hiding the ball and as a person, I just don't have that kind of foresight.

I started my journey on my "Motherland Tour" about 10 years ago. I and about 60 other Korean adoptees from all over the world were flown in from our respective countries and took a tour of Korea, our Motherland.  Even though they call it the motherland, I know I am an American and wouldn't claim Korea as my motherland, it really is only the land where my Birthmother, in contrast to the mother who raised and loved me, is. And there you have it: the birthMotherland.