Day Six: Perspective, Prime Numbers, Patches & Palaces...to name a Few

We awoke early, yet well-rested, on our sixth (and final full day) in Seoul. The first item on our agenda this morning was to take a short trip to one of the palaces situated in Seoul. With raised golf-course-sized umbrellas (courtesy of the hotel) we set off for the subway station. Although we had read about the changing of the guard, little did we expect to arrive just in time to witness colorfully-clad guards marching and waving their flags to music. We felt as though we had gone back in time...in a much bigger way than we will tomorrow as we time travel backwards into the night through which we already slept! Life IS strange. Luck remained with us as we were able to arrive at the Gwanghwamun Palace entrance one minute before the start of the English-speaking tour. As the rain pelted off of our umbrellas, we listened carefully to hear about the history of the palace and its many rooms, inhabitants through the centuries, pavilions, and gardens. Despite the rain, we were able to get some photos, sans sunshine. We hope you can get a sense of the magnificence of the palace upon viewing the photographs.

On to the conference to hear about: The Beauty of an Archetype: Prime Numbers, Animated Lines to Animated Perspective, Geometric Study of Architectural Designs on a Twelfth Century Structure, and Common Threads between Mathematics and Quilting. It does seem like there's something for everyone here! Having a couple of hours before the scheduled evening entertainment, we were asked to join a merry group of educators/artists for dinner. Our party was made up of teachers from The Netherlands, Finland, India, the US, and one woman from Korea - who incidentally translated the menu for us! Lucky, again! Good conversation and great fun was had by all! After dinner we attended the Bridges Seoul Experimental Theater. Steve Abbott, Professor of Mathematics at Middlebury College, directed the event. (In recent years many professors have become involved in scholarly research about ways mathematics and theater intersect.) What better way to share his excitement at this connection than at a conference of art and math educators! Weary, but happy and more knowledgeable, we headed for the Seoul Grand Park subway station. There's still some gathering and packing that needs to be done before our departure. No time to write tomorrow before our early morning departure. We hoped you enjoyed viewing and reading about our grand adventure. We are so grateful to have had this experience.
Over and out,
Sarah and Becky

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Day Five: Worlds Apart

After our invigorating walk yesterday and little sleep (Sleepless in Seoul?), we were rather surprised to find that our leg muscles were working quite well. Thank you very much.

The conference session offerings that we attended today were devoted to the very practical applications of mathematics to art.  Topics included: Color Symmetry in the Hand Woven Mats of the Jama Mapun, Art and Symmetry of Scottish Carved Stone Balls, Java Runes, Mandalas and their Symmetry, and Some Hyperbolic Fractal Things. Ideas abounded as we marveled at the graphics displayed by the presenters at the conference. Perhaps we'll have some time on the 13-hour plane ride home to wheedle down all of the ideas we've generated from this conference!

Feeling confident about the subway system, we set out for The Korean War Memorial - a request made by one of our colleagues. The museum held three floors of displays relating to the wars the Koreans have fought or helped fight. (The photos tell the story better than we could in words.)  The museum was filled with actual cars, tanks, planes and helicopters (some of which were suspended from the ceiling), used in the Korean War.  All of the halls and galleries were artfully displayed, and some of them sparked ideas for implementation in our classrooms. The  national  pride of the Korean peoples were evident throughout the museum.

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Day Four: Seoul Family Day

    What can we say?  We started out our day in Seoul knowing that the day would hold further adventures and new experiences - both mathematical and artistic, of course. Little did we know exactly what the day would hold for us.........If you'd like to know, keep reading!
   Today, Saturday, was officially set aside as Family Day at the conference.  Children of conference participants and local families were all invited to participate in activities that sought not only to make mathematics fun, but also to encourage children to look at art and mathematics as intricately entwined.
     Hundreds of parents, children,  local high school students, and educators gathered throughout the day to erect domes, make origami models, and create polyhedral structures.  We had the opportunity to attend two performing arts sessions - a short film festival and a mime-matics show. Yes, it's not just about the visual arts and mathematics!
      As some of you may know, Pope Francis has been in Seoul for the dedication of a Korean martyr.  We had the opportunity to "hear" him speak to the throngs of people and view him via cell phones that were freely shared with neighbors, such as ourselves.
     We didn't mention in our previous blog that we walked for quite some time (possibly 2 hours) last night, attempting to locate a restaurant that was recommended.  Although somewhat frustrated with our failure to find it, we were reassured that it wasn't our lack of map skills that was at fault.     Even the local police officers (and many other locals) were not able to help.  Well, what a difference a day makes! We found it today and had lunch there! Victory. We just might be looking for some green tea ice cream when we return home.
       Our after dinner hour adventure ended up being our biggest challenge yet.  After the conference, we decided that a ride in the cable car up Namsan mountain in the center of the city to visit the Seoul Tower would be a perfect way to end the evening.  Three subway transfers later, we arrived in over-populated Myeong-dong, the center for shopping and teen night life in Seoul.  A short taxi ride up the hill left us at the cable car station - only to find a line that formed half way down the hill.  After waiting in the ticket line for about 15 minutes, we realized that we didn't want to waste our time in South Korea standing around. To the left we saw a path that led to the tower.  Why not?  Let's climb the mountain - after all, there are stairs and paths. Lots and lots of stairs, we found, but unfortunately we didn't take the time to count them.  We were concentrating too hard on the 1200m vertical assent. Take a look! We made it.  Feeling proud of ourselves for our endurance and physical stamina (pictures never lie), we took in the astounding views of the tower. 
    Another fun-filled day of learning and adventure here in Seoul.  I think we passed the wellness test.
 

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Day Three: The Arts Abound!

We are back in our hotel room after a wonderful, but very long day, and we are exhausted!  So this will be a short post with lots of pictures for you to enjoy!  
Our day started with a walk through the sculpture gardens at the Korean Modern Art Museum located in the stunning landscape and gigantic complex known as Seoul Grand Park.  Essentially, it's like putting Great America, the Botanical Gardens, the zoo and the art museum all next to each other!
We definitely got in a good walk before getting to listen to a keynote presentation by Thomas Banchoff, who shared his stories about math and his friendship with Salvador Dali. What an AMAZING talk! The afternoon consisted of more mini-sessions, again with exciting and engaging presentations.  We went from the conference grounds out to explore some of the city life, in particular, the well-known area known as Insa-dong. Here the streets were crowded with people, Korean traditional crafts, street performers, restaurants and galleries. Another day of incredible experiences!

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Day Two: Experiencing Bridges 2014

Today we spent the entire day at the impressive Gwacheon National Science Museum where the Bridges Conference was being held.  The keynote speakers kicked off the day clearly demonstrating the many connections between math and art.  Minhyon Kim, from Oxford, spoke on arithmetic symmetry and demonstrated beautiful patterns created using regular polygons and random points.  We also learned about Carlo Sequin's Lego Knots, a fabulous way to create 3d sculpture maquettes with snap together forms from a 3d printer. Click on his name to ready his paper and be sure to check out the artists that inspired his work:  Henk van Putten, Paul Bloch and Bruce Beasley. 

After the keynotes, we spent the day listening to ten different mini-sessions covering such topics as: Mathematical Sequencing and Artist's Books, Bubble Clusters,  Mathematical Visual Poetry, Engaging Groups with Large-Scale Construction Events, and The Genius as a Characterization of The Creative Spirit in Mathematics and the Arts.  Obviously, there was much food for thought in these presentations.

Which calls for us to report the chaos of lunch...........which we were told could be purchased on the second floor in the Food Court.  We first stood in line to purchase our ticket, then waited for our order to be called - which easily took 1/2 hour.  Children raced around the cafeteria, screaming and enjoying their day at the museum! Tables and chairs were at a premium - here one minute, moved the next.  Not your typical USM lunchroom experience!    

The welcome dinner was served from 7-9 PM - a delicious and plentiful array of Korean foods available for the taking.  Entertainment was provided by a youthful jazz band throughout the meal. 
The subway ride home seemed so short this time.  Maybe the combination of colors and numbers (in the system) has made this easier for us to navigate?

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Day One: Exploring the City

After traveling for over 24 hours in a car, a plane and a bus, we arrived at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel ready to overcome our jet-lag!  After about 6 hours of sleep, we were eager to explore the city, but not before hitting the all-you-can eat breakfast buffet, which offered an immense variety of Korean cuisine along with some Western favorites.

Our first challenge of the day was learning the Seoul subway system.  We were very impressed with the efficiency and cleanliness of the whole system, not to mention the many people who were willing to help the only two Americans who clearly looked lost moving from one line to the other. Thank goodness for color-coded subway lines!

We decided to explore some traditional Koren architecture by visiting the Bukchon Hanok Village. Here we were able to observe the beauty of the natural materials, flared roofs and winding roads of this quaint area tucked inside the bustling city. One woman even invited us to tour a private home, Simsimheon, meaning the house where the heart is found.  This home, built in 2004,  preserved all of the Hanok tradition, yet included modern conveniences for living in 21st century Korea.

Before heading to the National Science Museum to register for our conference, we had a brief glimpse of the shops in Insa-dong, a web of narrow alleys filled with an abundance of Korean crafts, souvenirs, teahouses and restaurants.  We hope to head back to check out the art galleries and make some purchases before leaving the country!

Arriving at the Science Museum with literally one minute before registration ended, we were kindly escorted to the registration table to pick up our schedule and materials for the next five days.  We were fascinated at the many tables already showcasing the connection between art and math!  We look forward to sharing more of our discoveries over the next few days.
Enjoy the photos!  

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Ready for Take-Off

August 11th has arrived! Today, our adventure begins! Our bags our checked, we've made it through security and we now eagerly await our departure on Korean Air from Chicago to Seoul, South Korea.

We are so excited, and truly thankful, that we have this amazing opportunity to attend the Bridges International Conference in Seoul. For those of you not familiar with this conference, I've included the promotional video from the Bridges website.
See you in Seoul!!!



Bridges Seoul 2014 (English Version) from The Bridges Organization on Vimeo.