In the Joseon Dynasty period, the kingdom was enveloped in a
political maelstrom. Cheo-seon was born as a posthumous child and
separated from his mother immediately. He was raised by Weol-hwa and the
old Swe-gwi, who ran the eunuch school. When he meets So-hwa, the
daughter of a powerful noble, he falls in love with her immediately. He
voluntarily becomes a eunuch to be close to So-hwa and is assigned to
work for Cho Chi-gyeom, a senior eunuch. Entering the royal palace, he
sees King, Sung-Jong and So-hwa spend their first night together. He
becomes So-hwa’s loyal protector. As the political battles rage on among
the courtesans and wives in the palace, So-hwa is chosen by the king to
be his queen and Cheo-seon vows to be her loyal servant. But So-hwa is
eventually dethroned as the queen and leaves the palace in disgrace.
Cheo-seon helplessly watches these events unfold and he secretly helps
So-hwa. But in a cruel twist of fate, he is the one chosen to execute
So-hwa’s death sentence by serving her a bowlful of poison. After So-hwa
dies, he looks after her son King, Yeonsangun as if he were his own
son....
My own thought about this drama: I came across this drama on arirang TV http://www.arirang.co.kr/Player/TV_Live.asp?code=TVonAir (English TV channel of korea defentily worth to watch) and only saw 2 episodes of the drama yet. You are used that 1 episode is 1 hour or longer but in this serie they only are around 30 minutes. But have much more episodes then the most drama's. I was caughted at a point when they cut the testikels of the boy (you don't see anything of only blood that comes on other people so don't worry :P) So try to check it out and if you already have seen the drama tell me about it what you thought!
Yesterday in the newspaper i found some article about Korea. It was about the soul of korea and the things you really should do when you go there.
What it's writing in this article are the 5 things you need to do when you go to seoul! and also the best times to travel to korea
[Transelation]
The soul of Seoul
Big chance that you don't directly get travel Jitters when you think about south-korea. That is why the Metro give 5 travel tips to dream away.
1. Explore the metropool of 25 million
The coming in the endless tangle of Daewoo car's, Samsung skycrabbers and Hyundai shopping centra is more overwelming then 3 crazy days in the beefhive (Bijenkorf). Start your travel in Seoul slowly. Get intothe rhythminthe palace of Changdeok, across the Cheonggyeriver or the student area Hongik, where saterdays the students sell handmade bags, impellers and commic books. In the evening you go via Namdaemunmarket, where you can be amazed on the silkworms with lots of omega-3 and preserving jarswith ginsengrootstoNamsan. That hillislike an island inthe concrete jungle, whereyou look downfromthe Koreanversion oftheEuromast. Still not aculture shock? Visit the30,000storesofDongdaemun, because they areopen all night.
2. Climbthe roof ofthe city
the best thingBukhanberg, just outsideSeoul, theKoreansare reluctantscramble in theweekends.Because althoughyou can standwithin twohoursthey gethalfwayupthe climbtheirrolledSushieandkimchi(fermented cabbage) from their backpacks. They drinksoju-like pine needleswithadrinkas strong asvodka andfresh asthe pine forest. withagood drinkthey willmeetthe last legthatruns alongBuddhist temples, onstairsand througha fewmeters of steelcablesto the top.Are youthere withtheKoreans, then you have a360 degreepanorama of themetropolisandsurrounding mountains. Maybeyoucan seeon the horizonare. EvenNorth Korea
3.Experiencetensionson the border
There is noborderin the world wherethe tensionis so intenseason the border ofNorth Koreaand SouthKorea. withanexcursion busyou can visit theborder areafrom the capital. which isonly 53kilometers away.Thetour startswith the signing ofa waiverafteryou enterthe domainofbunkers, roadblocks, secret tunnelsand tanksescorted byarmedAmericansoldiers. Every nowandthen you look atabsurdpropagandaflagsorlifelesscities inNorth Korea. Right on the bordernearpanmunjom, aresometimesbarracks wherediscussionstake placebetween north and south. walk acircle aroundtheconference tablein the middleyou canonly hope thatthe doorsuddenlyfliesopenon the north side.
4. Sweat it outin the bathhouse
ofa regular saunaisakoreannot hotor cold, becauselivingis at leastoncea monthin a bathhouse. The ritualin suchjumjulbangstartson a plasticstool in front ofthe mirror.PoodleNudeiscleaned, shaved andscrubbed. After a roundFinnishsaunasis thefloatrideinthehealingbaths.Whatexactlyisitdepends onthe bathhouse. With someluckyou should do itwith mineral rich water, but in alittlejimjilbangbadderyoucoffee, pine needles, mud orbitterginseng.Inthe mixedspaceliein yourone size fits allt-shirt and shorts puffingon saltstonegravelor sitnext to asnowman intheice room.A movie theater, dormitory andinternetspace belonganywhereas standard, because inKoreanbathhousesis thedayandnight sweatsand play.
5.Live withthe monks
Thereis also asouth koreawhere timestands stillfor centuries. Buddhistblushberfachtigeparametersare spread over theareaof the peninsula. whomthe pace ofthe forest andthe mountainswants to experiencestayingin a temple. Oftenthe complexesconsistof a collection ofpaintedwooden buildingswithgelwalls andcurvedeaves, texts with chinesewijheden, Buddha imagesand a lot ofrest.Duringthedayyoufollow thetea ceremonies, discuss aboutyourwisdom, you eat vegan, you mumblingmantrasand meditatewith the monks. Thusthere aroundfour o'clockin the morning108timeskneelingon a cushion. Although youthis in themiddle of the nighton yourtatamiistumbled,givesmeditatingunder the watchful eyeof a smilingBuddhaa realeuphoric feeling.
Somepractical things forthose whowantto southkorea. -To go there(fromNetherlands) canflyto Seoulfrom599 euros, a three-month visa issuedupon arrival.
Best travel times. Wintersandsummersarehot and wetbar. Thereforetravelin April, May, June, Septemberor October.
