Palace of Wonder and Garden of Dreams

The Changdeokgung Palace is a step back in time. From the imperial gate to the secret garden, it has been the movie set for many historical Korean dramas. The picturesque view and the artistic atmosphere draws in tourist after tourist. But for me, it's more than that. Once I arrived, it was like walking in a Korean fairytale. I could see the crown prince running along the game field. I saw the servants walking through the gate quickly with laundry to the great well next to the public garden. And of course, the minute I walked over the Geumcheongyo (stone bridge) I could see the crown princess with her ladies in waiting, and the procession that followed. 

This palace also has a forbidden garden, that we were lucky enough to grab tickets for, right before it sold out. (I reccomend geting them as soon as possible- they sell out fast) The great pavillion was a private resort for the royal family and a few selected noblility. The garden itself was a quiet retreat for tea, and it even has it's own area for the rice only eaten by the royal family. 

The area was beautiful, and reminded me of many Korean myths and legends. 

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find books about Korean folklore, but their history begins with a myth, and slowly turns into facts. The Kingdom of the Four Winds begins Korea's tale, and from then on, the history unfolds. But actually walking around the regal and beautiful buildings gives you a taste of what life was like whne men feared Gumihos, women were chosen to be the crown princess, and the great school of Sungkyunkwan was the most promising school in the country. 

This area of Korea, preserved in the Joseon period is inspirational and its own work of art. 

Some of the Korean Dramas filmed here include The Moon that Embraces the Sun, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Gu Family Book, Goong, Goong S and of course Queen Inhyeon's Man. 

A Thousand Years: Kang Chi and Yeo Wool

Because this was too beautiful to not share.

Gu Family Book - Destiny

"Let's meet again."

"When I meet you again, at that time, I will recognize you first. When I meet you again, at that time, I will love you first."

"And our time that had stopped, started to flow again."

-KangChi - Gu Family Book

This Korean Drama has been a fun ride, and it's my favorite drama of the year. 

Top picture made by me.

The Nine Tailed Wish Chapter 2: The Dandelion

My mother knew I was gone before the sun came up. I could hear her howl and feel the fresh rain of her tears as I left the divine forest. I had to tell her, especially after she saw me talking to what she believed was a human. My reasons fell on deaf ears. Mother has always hated humans. She told me my father trusted a human once and was betrayed. Once the human saw what he was, their friendship ended, and the hunt for my father began. But I was convinced that not all humans were bad. I spent most of my days watching them from trees, bushes and of course standing in crowds. They couldn't see me, but I always wanted them to. 

It started when I saw a boy, long ago, when I was little and unafraid. I watched him leave the village, even after his mother told him not to leave. She didn't notice him slip away, but I did. He was headed straight for the forest. 

I tried to think about how I could save him. The divine forest was full of monsters and creatures that ate humans. I didn't want to see such a cute and innocent child die. He couldn't see me, so as I followed him, I thought of ways I could lead him back home. I couldn't talk to him, but I found that I could draw things in the sand, on the trees, and I could even throw flowers on the ground. He seemed amused by them, so I started making a flower path and marking the ground. He giggled and followed the flowers that seemed to jump from the stem and land before his feet. He tried catching them, but soon he was back to the village gate and safely home. He tried to explain what had happened to his mother.

My mother was furious.

"We don't reveal ourselves, and we don't help humans!" she shouted when I returned home. 

"He couldn't see me." I said, "And I kept him from going deeper into the forest didn't I?"

My mother couldn't say anything to that, shook her head and told me to go hunting for dinner. She warned me not to help humans over and over again. Each time, she became more hysterical, but this time, hearing this wish, and the process I would go through, she was sad.

"Sakura, you've risked everything! If you become human, I will never be able to talk to you again. You will lose your ability to see me and hear me. Is that what you want?"

"I do love you mother. But I don't feel like I belong to the divine world. I want to try becoming human, and I want to be able to actually live alongside them."

"You can't have both worlds." My mother said, "Stay here with me. If your father were here, he would tell you that you are choosing humans over our own divine race."

"My father isn't here, mother." I said with a sigh, "We don't even know where he is, or if he'll ever come back."

"If you leave here, you won't be able to return."

"I know, but this is what I want. And I can still talk to you. Promise you'll visit me? At least once?"

She never answered me, and left our cave.

I decided that I would have to leave, and a tear slid down my cheeck, causing a light drizzle of rain. By the time I left the forest, it was a downpour. I heard my mother's howl and bowed to the forest hoping she could see me. 

On the way toward the city, I saw a dandelion. Many human children wished on them and scattered the seeds to make their wish come true. I decided to try it, at least once.

"I wish I will see my mother again." I whispered, then blew the seeds into the wind. 

I walked slowly toward the city, and realized that my outfit might freak people out. I found a clothesline, and a light pink dress with white lace sleeves. With the thought of paying the human back later, I changed quickly and found a tree where I hid my gumiho hanbok. I promised myself that I would come back, hopefully with the human who would accept me as I am, and always remember that before I was human,  I was a gumiho. Not thinking of how my hopes could be too high. I bowed to the tree, asking it to keep my divine clothes well hidden, and made my way down the long grassy hill toward the city. 

The Nine Tailed Wish: Chapter 1: The Wishing Tree

I stood before the wishing tree, with the white and pink papers dancing with the wind. One wish, and one ring of the bell. With a little magic, it might work. I decided that I would. This year, it would be something different. Something I haven't tried before. Maybe asking for help wasn't a bad thing after all, even if it did require a little faith.

"Sakura!" My mother called, as I stared at all these wishes, hopes and dreams, complementing the dark green and brown tree that hovered above me. If I didn't make my wish quick, I was in trouble. 

The wish started as a simple thought, but as time wore on, and my worry that my mother would find me grew, the wish became a story. It grew from one sentence to two, and three and four. I found myself overwhelmed by the amount of things I wanted to happen in my life. As I stood there, my eyes shut tight, and my shoulders tensed, someone cleared their throat right in front of me.

Startled, I opened my eyes to see an old man, with a long wispy beard and jade green eyes staring at me. I looked around, no one else was in sight.

"What do you really want child?" the man asked.

I noticed that he wasn't dressed in modern clothing, but thought little of it. It was a festival after all. What worried me was the fact I couldn't hear my mother anymore, nor could I hear anyone else walking past this wishing tree, which was usually very popular. 

"I asked you what you really wanted!" the man said sternly. He was watching me like I was up to no good, and I stared at the floor.

"Come on. I haven't got all day!"

He looked less angry than irriatated, and I waited for him to say something else.

"I wish to be human." I replied, the simple thought that had started the entire list in my head.

"Is that all?" He waved his hand like it was nothing. "But why do you want to be human?"

"You can see me?" I asked, suddeenly shocked that a human was talking to me.

"Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" He asked gruffly. "How else would I be talikng to you?"

"No humans can see me." I said, waiting for his reaction. He merely liftet a brow and shook his head.

"You still haven't answered my question." He said. "Why do you want to be human?"

I sighed. I supposed I would have to answer sooner or later.

"It's lonely." I said, "Be able to see the world grow and change around you, but you aren't a part of it. They don't see you. They don't talk to you. Sometimes they say something, or appear to be looking at you, but they aren't."

"I suppose that it lonely." The old man replied, "But you still haven't answered my question."

I was irritated. I had answered his question in full, yet he still wanted me to go on. Embarassed by my long list of wishes, I blushed and crossed my arms.

"Who are you, old man?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"Why won't you tell me?" I asked, stomping my foot. "You can't be human, or else you wouldn't be talking to me."

"I can't?" he asked with surprise. 

I sighed again, and took a step away.

"Wait!" he said, "If I tell you who or what I am, you must promise to answer my question completely."

"Why?" I asked, my eyes turning blue. 

"Because, I must hear every wish, every dream and every true desire of whoever walks past this tree."

I waited for more of an explanation, but he never gave one. He just smiled and said, "Your request is very rare. Not many divine creatures come to this tree wishing to become a human. The usual wishes I get are for love, health and happiness. Why is yours so different?"

"My real wish is to live life like the people I see everyday. To have friends, to go on adventures and of course to make a difference."

"Are these really all you wish for?" The old man asked with a wink. "Most young women ask for love. To find their soul mate."

I rolled my eyes. 

"Fine, I saw this human. It was a long time ago, so I don't even know where he is now, but he was a very nice person. He had a way with people, talking to them, making them laugh. It was something I have never seen before."

"And you want to be human, so he can see you?"

I nodded, blushing again. 

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" he said with a laugh.

"I didn't lie to you, and my mother will be here any minute looking for me."

"No she won't. I have frozen this place in time."

"You can do that?" I asked.

"I am the guardian of this tree, and the granter of wishes. But be warned that what you wish for is not always what you need or what you believe to want once it is granted."

"What do you mean?"

"It will be tough. You will learn the ugliness in the world, and you will be hurt, heart broken and even sick at times."

"I have seen this." I told him, "I watch humans."

"But you do not know what they know or feel what they feel. Humans feel pain, and they eventually die."

"I know that." I said, "But an eternity of loneliness is worse than a brief slice of life."

He looked at me strangely, as if he was proud and surprised. 

"You have thought this through." He said, "So before I grant your wish, I will give you a hint. One must know who they are before they decide what they want. You must be accepted as you are, before I can make you human."

"You meant that some poor human has to accept this?"

I revealed my tails, all nine of them, and my eyes turned to an icy blue. 

"There is one thing I have learned from the wishes I hear." The old man said, "Humans can surprise you. If you have faith that a human will accept you as you are, I will tell you what you must do to grant your wish."

I gulped. It was a big decision, but living year after year watching people grow and change, and having no part of it had taken its toll. Sure I could talk to goblins, wind spirits and other nine tailed foxes, but I had never felt like I belonged with any of them. 

"I want to be human." I said. 

"Then your task is simple, yet difficult." He replied. "You must find a human who will accept you as you are. I will give you nine months of visibility, one for each tail. When the nine months are up, you will either turn human, or you will return to the divine world."

"What about my family?" I asked.

"For nine months, you will walk among both the human and the divine world. By the end of those months you will either make a decision, or the world will choose for you. If you succeed, you will become human."

"And if I fail?"

"You will learn a very valuable lesson."

  He stood there, waiting for me to answer. I thought about what it would be like. To live as if I were human and be able to communicate with them. To have a chance to find that young man, who changed my opinion about humans forever. It was a chance that I was willing to take. To live, if only for a little while would be perfect. I nodded.

"" I accept the challenge."

"Then starting tomorrow, you will be visible to humans. Good luck."

With that. The old man disappeared, and my mother rushed around the corner.

"Sakura! What happened?"

I stared at the tree, and saw that a new wish was tied on a branch facing me. My journey would begin tommorow.

The difference between being mean and standing up for yourself

"It is better to not have any resentment or take revenge. 

Such feelings are against the law of nature.

Believe in Karma.

People get what they deserve as they go through life."

- Gu Family Book

I almost never learned this lesson. That standing up for yourself and being mean to others were not the same thing. But when you are not insulting someone, or hurting someone, or purposefully meaning to be a jerk to someone, you are most likely standing up for yourself. Enough is enough, and no matter how much nonsense you've been taking, there is a point where someone crosses the line. 

This is where you have to be careful. If you're angry, you can say vicious things and easily cause harm to the person you are angry with, but if you are direct, honest and to the point, you are standing up for yourself and there's nothing wrong with this. But once you communicate this to someone, you should not seek revenge or even resent them. In fact, most people that harm others just for the sake of doing so are pitied instead of feared. I learned this today, when I had been tiptoeing around a person who purposefully spoke rudely and flat out ignored me. It only made the situation worse, and eventually, even after I asked a simple question nicely, the one snap they gave back crossed the line. I  don't regret what I said, because I didn't insult them, or even bully them. I was direct and surprised even myself by the truth in my words. 

So this is a lesson that must be remembered in order to go through life. When enough is enough, be direct, truthful and to the point. And doing so is not mean or rude or even harmful.  

Gu Family Book- Kang Chi's bracelet and Yeo Wool's love

Kang Chi thinks of Yeo Wool to stay human.

Music Discovery - 사랑이 불어온다- Lee Ji Young

One of the main themes for Gu Family Book, a really great show :)