Jeonju Trip Pt. 2

Welcome back to the second part of the IES Abroad Seoul Jeonju Trip! On the last day, we continued to be immersed in Korean culture by visiting historical sites and museums.

The day started off early, and a lot of us were sleepy since we slept on the floor. Lots of people in Asia slept on the floor in the past, and a few people still do today. Sunny, our tour guide, taught us some more history while showing us some historical buildings, explaining what the life of guards and the elite was like centuries ago.

The next stop on our trip was the Jeonju National Museum, which contained a lot of smaller historical pieces like pottery, furniture, scrolls, and art. I’ve always liked museums, so it was very relaxing to take my time looking around the museum. Furthermore, the objects in the museum reminded me of the East Asian history I learned in one of my high school courses.

Our last stop on the trip was the Jeonju Hanji Museum. Hanji is Korean paper, and it has a long history behind the process of creating it. We were able to watch a pro make a large sheet of paper. In the vlog, the man had been making paper for over 50 years. Moreover, as someone who took mixed media art classes on crafting fashion pieces from non-traditional materials, my favorite part of the museum was the gallery of hanji dresses and clothing pieces.

Before leaving the hanji museum, we were given the chance to make our own piece of hanji. I tried to do it the same way as the professional we saw earlier, but it turned out that the mini sheets we made had a slightly different process. The paper forms on a heated surface that is at a very specific temperature to avoid burning the fibers while still causing the excess water to evaporate. Luckily, my sheet still came out fine and it even came with a certificate!

Overall, I think Jeonju is an underrated area of South Korea, and I’d recommend visiting if you want to learn more about Korean history and culture. Anyways, I plan to keep making more vlogs of my adventures abroad, so stay tuned for more videos!!