As many of you can well imagine, a certain sense of apprehension accompanies any instance of trips involving small children. Saturday’s field trip was no exception. We were lucky to only be in charge of 25 kids. There were three foreign teachers (Ed, Kurt, and myself), and three Korean teachers (Mina, Danny, and Judy), along with one of the head honchos, Mr. Kim. The bus ride to the Ganghwa Museum was a noisy one. I think they were playing car games similar to American ones. I say “think” because every word was in Korean. As for myself, I sat blissfully unaware in the back of the bus.

I love museums. I always have. I like learning new things and having the visuals there. I like seeing the dioramas and imagining myself at that time in history. None of that happened that day. I was too busy being paranoid about losing a child, so I counted like I had OCD. I didn’t learn anything, but I also didn’t lose any children. I’m trying to look at it as some sort of trade-off.

After the museum, we had a picnic of gimbap and fruit. As far as I know, no one spilled anything, which is a feat in and of itself. One of my kids did eat a bug though. Andy. The same one who kisses my hand and calls me Mama. He tried to give me a booger once too. Such a thoughtful child.

After lunch, we checked out the dolmen. Having not learned anything at the museum, I had to do a little research upon my return. Thanks Wikipedia!

The Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites are the location of hundreds of stone dolmen which were used as grave markers and for ritual purposes during the first millennium BCE when the Megalithic Culture was prominent on the Korean Peninsula. The sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. Korea is said to contain more than 40% of the worlds dolmen, which are mostly concentrated in these three sites. [1].

The megalithic stones are invaluable because they mark the graves of the ruling elite. Pottery, comma-shaped jewels, bronzes, and other funerary artifacts have been excavated from these dolmen. The culture of the people during this time can be gleaned from the evidence left by the dolmen. Additionally, the stones show how stone was quarried, transported, and used to build dolmen.

Dolmen in Korea have been dated to the seventh century BCE in locations such as Gochang and the practice ended around the third century BCE. The dolmen culture is linked with the Neolithic and bronze cultures of Korea.

Excavation at the sites did not begin until 1965. Since, then multiple digs have been sponsored and an extensive program of inventory and preservation has been initiated by the Korean government.

Once we were done viewing the dolmen and having our photos taken, we headed off to a grassy area for the kids to sit and draw pictures of the dolmen. Once the kids finished their drawings, we got to play around. I actually raced two of the girls and came in second place. I felt so proud. As did my quads. They felt the pride the next day. I need to get in shape.

All in all, it was a good day. It’s nice to spend some time with the kids without yelling at them to finish their work. Even with the ones that eat bugs.

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