I signed up for Erin's blog hop as soon as I heard about it. I have always liked traveling, getting on a plane and arriving some place that you have never been before. Getting the chance to visit places and see the sights.
When I signed up, I had the option of choosing my own country or letting Erin choose for me. I chose the continent, Asia, and Erin chose the country, South Korea.
South Korea! I immediately thought of the TV series M*A*S*H. Taking place in the early 1950s at the time of the Korean War. Never mind that it was actually filmed in California.
South Korea was created after World War II when Korea was divided with Russia having a trusteeship over the north and the United States having trusteeship over the south. This was supposed to be temporary but the North would not agree to holding elections and establishing a national government. An election was held for the South and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed on August 15, 1948. The United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea in December 1948.
Below is the flag for South Korea called Taegukki (Taeguki means harmonious state of movement for yin and yang and ki means flag). The red stands for Yang and the blue for Yin. Yin and yang are opposites and struggle with each other while they cooperate in harmony thus taeguki. The symbols in the corners are called Kwae and mean the principle of movement and harmony. These different symbols mean heaven (Kun) (upper left), fire (Yi) (lower left), water (Kam) (upper right), and earth (Kon) (lower right), thus the movement of all objects in the universe and the movement of the universe itself.
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image by Željko Heimer (information on the flag came from "FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/")
image by Željko Heimer (information on the flag came from "FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/") Seoul is the capital and largest city with 11,000,000 of the reported 48,900,000 population living there. The best months to visit are April, May, September and October. You can stay in the country for up to 30 days with no visa and up to 90 days with a tourist visa. Travel within the country is reasonably fast with fast and comfortable buses and trains along with domestic air flights. There are well maintained roads and rental cars are available. There are many choices for rooms and restaurants to meet every price point. Many people speak at least a little English and some of the street signs are written in English. There are plenty of tourist attractions depending on what you are interested in. You can also shop, hike, play golf, visit museums, or temples.
Here is what I started with to make my South Korean represented jewelry. The large square stones are jade from South Korea in a kind of grassy green with black markings, thus the black seed beads and cubes.
Earrings made from the black cubes and 3-sided Korean jade.
Bracelet with Korean jade and black accents.
Matching necklace
Thanks for stopping by. Please stop by the other participants and see where they have traveled and what they have made.
Name | Blog | Region Chosen | Inspiration Nation |
Monique Urquhart | Africa | Burkina Faso | |
Niky Sayers | Africa | Egypt | |
Therese Frank | Africa | Kenya | |
Raychelle Heath | Africa | Lesotho | |
Joan Williams | Africa | Mauritania | |
Sherri Stokey | Africa | Senegal | |
Regina Santerre | Africa | Seychelles | |
Raida Disbrow | Africa | Tanzania | |
Kristi Wodek | Africa | Zimbabwe | |
Sally Russick | Americas | Brazil | |
Melissa Trudinger | Americas | Mexico | |
Tracy Stillman | Americas | USA | |
Sandra Wolberg | Asia | India | |
Tanya Goodwin | Asia | Japan | |
Susan Kennedy | Asia | Japan | |
Beth Emery | Asia | Japan | |
Lisa Cone | Asia | Japan | |
Tanya Boden | Asia | Japan | |
Inge von Roos | Asia | Laos | |
Erin Prais-Hintz | Asia | Nepal | |
Dee Elgie | Asia | Phillipines | |
Carolyn Lawson | Asia | South Korea | |
Lisa Stukel | Asia | Sri Lanka | |
Elly Snare | Asia | Thailand | |
Shelley Graham Turner | Europe | Austria | |
Mallory Hoffman | Europe | Bosnia Herzegovina | |
Paige Maxim | Europe | France | |
Jenny Davies-Reazor | Europe | Germany | |
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson | Europe | Greece | |
Evelyn Shelby | Europe | Iceland | |
Holly Westfall | Europe | Ireland | |
Rebecca Siervaag | Europe | Ireland | |
Toltec Jewels | Europe | Ireland | |
Lee Koopman | Europe | Ireland | |
Laren Dee Barton | Europe | Italy | |
Cindy Wilson | Europe | Norway | |
Kathleen Lange Klik | Europe | Poland | |
Shaiha Williams | Europe | Portugal | |
Jennifer Justman | Europe | Romania | |
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca | Europe | Spain | |
Lola Surwillo | Europe | Sweden | |
Kim Hora | Europe | Switzerland | |
Leanne Loftus | Europe | The Netherlands | |
Patti Vanderbloemen | Europe | The Netherlands | |
Marcie Carroll | Europe | Turkey | |
Marlene Cupo | Oceania | Federated States of Micronesia | |
Ine Vande Cappelle | Oceania | Fiji | |
Tammie Everly | Oceania | Guam | |
Alice Peterson | Oceania | Kiribati | |
Elisabeth Auld | Oceania | Nauru | |
Susan McClelland | Oceania | New Zealand | |
D Lynne Bowland | Oceania | New Zealand | |
Denielle Hagerman | Oceania | New Zeland | |
Rebecca Anderson | Oceania | Papua New Guinea | |
Mischelle Fanucchi | Oceania | Samoa | |
Kari Asbury | Oceania | Solomon Islands | |
Cece Cormier | Oceania | Tonga | |
Emma Todd | Oceania | Tuvalu | |
Debbie Price | Oceania | Vanuatu |
The Korean jade is gorgeous and I love what you made with it.
ReplyDeleteNice post! The jade beads are lovely.
ReplyDeleteThat Koren jade is just beautiful. Good post. The information about the flag was great.
ReplyDeleteNice job, Carolyn! I love the colors you chose! Never been to South Korea, but I'm sure that they would be appreciated there!
ReplyDeleteIts great to learn more about South Korea. Very interesting and beautiful jewelry pieces ;)
ReplyDeleteKorean Jade is gorgeous.. great job.. I love your pieces.
ReplyDeleteA pretty set! The Korean jade is a lovely colour isn't it!
ReplyDeleteWow! I enjoyed the trip! I love the bracelets and the earrings!
ReplyDeleteSuch an informative post! I have learned so much I didn't know like the symbols on the flag. I have to admot that MASH is the first thing I think of too! I love that you found some beads from the region to use. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Enjoy the day. Erin
ReplyDeleteOkay, another walk down memory lane with M*A*S*H! I catch an episode here and there on TVLAND and I still love the show to this day! Thank you for including the flag and its symbol interpretation - I love reading this stuff! Your jade pieces are stunning - such a beautiful stone! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteLove your pieces! The thing I think about Korea is tang so doo, (I think that's how you spell it!) my son went to 2nd degree black belt before he quit! Master Kim teaches here, he taught the American army in Korea martial arts!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the history of North and South Korea, and also the South Korean Flag. Both the earrings and bracelet are beautiful. Of course I just love Jade. And thanks for the welcome flashbacks to the M.A.S.H show!
ReplyDeleteHot Lips would have totally rocked these jewels - Beautiful. M*A*S*H was an often quoted show in our home
ReplyDeleteJade is a delightful stone to work with,Great job.Love and hugs Tanya
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking me along on your trip to South Korea I enjoyed learing about the country. The necklace, bracelet, and earring are very pretty.
Therese
Carolyn, your necklace is a wonderful tribute to the nation of South Korea, and how fabulous that you had actual Korean jade to make it so authentic. I love how the shapes in the necklace echo the elemental symbols on the flag.
ReplyDeleteI am new to Korean Jade and am loving it. Your pieces are very nice. This whole blog hop has been so informative, learning about the different countries. You have done a great job sharing your influence with the pieces you created!
ReplyDeleteI was stationed in South Korea for three years and later went back to visit -- it's funny but I always homesick for that place. I did some really integral "coming of age" there. It's such a unique country. The cities are so modern, but it doesn't take long to get to areas that are still what we'd call Third World or undeveloped. When I was there, I taught English on the side, and the town I went to was like that -- very undeveloped. It's all developing at such an unbelievably fast rate, though, that soon I'm afraid those peaceful enclaves are going to be gone.
ReplyDelete