The 1st anniversary of the Gwangju blog was celebrated with a scavenger hunt – one of my favorite activities – and was enjoyed with 100 or so other enthusiasts. Most had already formed teams, so I was placed with a team of other people that came on their own.

The Kunsthalle in Gwangju played host, and as people got registered, there was plenty of excitement and conversation. Things got started about half an hour late – hopefully next time getting registered will be a little streamlined

With the count of ‘GO!’, we had two hours to get pictures of as many places mentioned by the 50 clues. I had the camera, so I ended up playing photographer as we traipsed across town.

Clue: find this red car you might get away in after your wedding! My team, a pleasant Korean gentleman and his 20-year-old daughter, along with an unrelated mother of two (the infant’s in the stroller – and amazingly it slept most of the time!)

Clue: find the shop that offers white from head-to-toe – or something like that.

After crossing the river, we found our way up to Sajik Park and a white pagoda, then back down the hill to a Western missionary’s house.

Clue: some of the missionaries kids might have played on this swing 100 years ago!

The two-hour time limit – and the substantial penalties for being late – meant almost everyone was back on time, and no one had completed the entire list.

Once everyone was back and forms were turned in, it was beer time. Everyone received free beer coupons, one per team member; needless to say, the line got long quick.

The free kebabs were equally tasty.

The judges had selected several teams to collect their cameras, based on them having a chance of winning. We weren’t in the running at this point – no prizes for us…

A representative of the winning team – six months pregnant! – stepped up to collect the winning prize – 500,000 won worth of gift certificates to Emart / Shinsegae Department Store. Congrats to them, and to the other winners!

After a couple hours of running around, it was time to crash at my hotel room for a nap. Nothing fancy here – one nice thing about Gwangju’s party zone are the ample selection of hotels nearby.

Now Saturday night after a few hours of R&R, I started exploring the nightlife back at Kunsthalle Gwangju. Tonight was apparently a ‘Bring Your Own DJ’ night, which also offered a chance for some modern art to get displayed:

No, this isn’t what happens when your friend drunkenly tries to hang up decorations – it seemed an intentional distribution designed to entangle anyone walking through to the outside patio.

Lights and installation art hanging from the ceiling.

DJ – while I don’t know much about the skills and artistry behind the scenes, more than a few people were nodding in approval.

Some modern art on the 2nd floor – while some artist biographies were against the wall, I couldn’t match up whose work this was.

I thoroughly enjoyed the disco ball and all the reflections from it.

While there wasn’t a lot of light to go around, playing with longer exposures had some interesting results.

A big thanks goes to gwangjublog.com, the sponsors of the scavenger hunt, and Kunsthalle for keeping the party going and making it an excellent Saturday night.

Ratings (out of 5 taeguks): How do I rate destinations?
Ease to arrive:

Foreigner-friendly:

Convenience facilities:

Worth the visit:

© Chris Backe – 2011
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