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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