Wednesday, January 10, 2007

The Magic of Dioramas

In addition to palaces, I went to a couple of museums - including the National Museum of Korea and the War Memorial of Korea. I was able to see a bunch of National Treasures including Numbers 83, 90, and 970. The National Museum was HUGE.The War Museum mainly focused on the Korean War, and had some interesting stuff. A strange parking lot. Part of the table on which the armistice was signed. It also had some cool old stuff including a Turtle Ship.I think the video screen was added later. I learned a lot about the Korean War. Did you know that Ethiopia sent forces to Korea? Can you name all sixteen nations that sent forces under the United Nations? Bonus points for naming the five nations that just sent medical staff. However, one of the more important things I learned about Korean museums (even beyond the War Museum) is their usage of dioramas. They love the diorama. It was a regular diorama-rama. Any chance that a diorama might be used, it was...
For example, the crossing of the 38th parallel by United Nations forces. Korean RefugeesMore refugees at their temporary home. A Korean wedding, did not seem as much fun as a Samoan wedding. Old School Military March to WarI also learned to stay out of the way of the museum cleaners in the yellow four wheelers. I assumed that the tourist standing in front of the diorama had right of way. I was wrong. At first I did not realize the horn I heard was directed at me, until it was necessary to jump out of the way of the speeding cleaning machine. Luckily the diorama on making kimchi broke my fall.

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