I've been seeing this little guy around Seoul all year (actually I think it's supposed to be a girl, but this blue one looks like a guy to me, so...). I didn't know what he was or why he was all over, but I thought he was cute. And one day I said to Blake, I wish they had a figurine or stuffed animal of this guy because I'd like to take one home with me.
And then one day, I saw it like this:
And thanks to Google (whatever did we do before Google?!?), I found the official website of Haechi. So I learned a little about where the symbol came from and that the very worn, but still charming stone "guardians" I'd been noticing outside of all the temples in Korea are the same thing. Haechi is supposed to be an imaginary animal that has the "power of justice." I'm not really sure what that means. How anyone or anything could have a power of something like that. Especially, when they're, you know, imaginary. But anyway, I suppose it's a nice idea as long as you don't really take it seriously.
But even better, I discovered that there are at least two Haechi shops in Seoul! Yay! So when Blake and I were in Seoul for the Chinese New Year, we went on a quest for the Haechi shop.
And we found it!
All the Haechies (Haechis, Haechii?) you could possibly want!
And now that we were really looking for him (her?), we saw Haechi everywhere.
A "real" one outside of Gwanghwamun...
A character Haechi in front of Cheonggyecheon...
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| (ignore my UGly boots, as I call them - it was FREEZING! literally) |
On a roll-up door for a street stand...
You can get a free Heachi app from the iTunes App Store! It's super cute. You should check it out. Although, be forewarned - the app is called "Talking Haechi," but so far I haven't been able to get it to make a sound. LOL. Oh well, it's still cute anyway. If you tap her, you'll get different reactions. Be sure you tap her mouth. That's my favorite one.
And if you ever go to Seoul, make sure you find a Haechi of your own!
Just caught up on your blog!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE YOUR NEW HOUSE! It is gorgeous. I know you can't wait to "make home" and get everything in its place.
Hey...it's okay. We all sport the Uglies when it's cold outside. Haha
I was wondering what we did before google the other day too! I guess we went to the library, if we were curious enough. I used to look stuff up in my encyclopedias all the time. Nerd alert! :)
Thanks, Misti! Sorry I just noticed your comment. I was in China for a week and work is just crazy right now trying to get ready to move home. We're really excited about the new house. We just got some furniture in. My wonderful in-laws have been delivering it for us, and both they and my parents are keeping an eye out on the house.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has succumbed to the UGly boots. I didn't have any before we moved here, but working in a sea-can office last year with only a space heater for warmth finally beat me down. :)
Wow. Encyclopedias... Those were the days! I guess we just use those for kindling, now, huh? Ironic, since I do most of my reading now on a Kindle. Ha ha. What's funny is I think of "the old days" as the ones when you had to actually wait to look something up when you got home on your computer. Now we can just whip out our phones. Crazy! What will it be like in 10 more years - "remember those days when you actually had to *gasp* type?!?"
Anyway, I hope you guys can come visit us some time after we get back - we'll have plenty of room! And I want to come up to Ruston to see you guys and meet Ella! My best friend is actually moving to Ruston really soon, so I suspect we might be there with more frequency.
I've been driving myself buggie searching everywhere to be able to get haechi goodies over the Internet with absolutely no luck. I had read some of the mythology one day, and fell in love with the creature. Then I found out about all the haechi stuff in Seoul. Unfortunately, there's no way I'd be about to visit Korea anytime soon, so I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through your pictures. ^-^
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