Mungyeong Tea Bowl Festival

Saturday Erik and I got a bus and went to Mungyeong to the Tea Bowl Festival! It was the greatest place ever! It rained all day, but it was nice and muddy; perfect for a pottery festival. This is the path that leads to Mungyeong Saejae Provincial Park where the festival was held.

more funny signs

The pictures don't do this place justice. The fog and the huge mountains were really beautiful. I can't believe so many people came out because it was raining so hard all day.  

Here I am hugging a tea bowl guy

They filmed parts of the dramas that I was glued to the week before I came to Korea at this place.  KBS also films other historical dramas here but this is the only one I've seen.

Here is a bowl with decorated with traditional Korean patterns. The style is similar to Punch'ong stoneware  and dates bach to the Goryo period (935-1395). The pattern is created by applying white slip over the clay probably with a stamp. Then a thin coat of glaze covers the bowl. This is not an ancient bowl, but it is a nice example of how Korean ceramics still have traditional decorative patterns. 

There was an international artist exhibit held in this building. Some of the potters where here selling their work in another booth.  

Here you can see the muddy roads.

We decided we needed a break from the rain so we found a little restaurant. We are getting better at reading a menu in Korean so we are not as surprised when they bring out the food because we kinda know what we are getting. 

Porcelain Jars
 I My art history training is kicking in, but I won't bore anyone with a description of these =)

A happy Kara in a land of Pottery

I think my yellow skin matches the pot. 

This guy was pretty cool. He invited us in for puh-eh tea. There were a whole bunch of little "booths" where you could try different teas and see how they used different ceramics in traditional tea ceremonies. 

Well I finally got my hands in some clay. I wanted to do it myself though! 

Haha he was telling me I pinch the clay too hard, and that I need to do it softer. 

And then I got my feet in some clay! 

and I got Erik's feet in some clay

but they didn't tell us until after we got our feet muddy that we had to wash them in a bucket of ice cold water. It actually ended up feeling nice the rest of the day because our feet felt really warm when we put our shoes and socks back on. 

I think I will need one of these pottery shelves when I get home. 

Here is a lady making Japanese matcha tea. 

She puts the green tea powder into the big bowl and then uses a wooden whisk to make the tea frothy.

I bought a tea bowl from this place. Can you see where the empty space is?

I'm glad I had Erik to carry my bag while I continued to run around like a kid in a candy store

I also bought a bowl from this place. They were so nice. I think we sat and had tea with them for 15 minutes or so. They said the tea was called wellbeing tea..?? don't really know what type of tea it is, but it was really good. They also served some rice cakes filled with honey (the little green balls)

This is the potter I bought from. He was really nice. I think I liked the bowl so much because I could tell it was made by such a kind person.  

I took this picture while running. As we were heading back to look for a cab, it started to down pour! We ran to take shelter under this museum. We managed to stay dry until the very end of the day. Then we were soaking wet for the bus ride home!