This friday I had no classes and was told I didnt have to come in, so used the time to visit some free museums that are closed on weekends, so this was one of the rare chances to visit. The first one, Kyunpook National University Museum, has a somewhat misleading name.

It is named after the province north of daegu, Gyeonbuk. But for some reason the english translation has been recorded as Kyunpook which makes for some confusing pronounciations when trying to explain to a cab driver.

Fortunately I knew the route and its one long bus route from my house. This was my first time on a university campus since my 9 day orientation when I arrived in Jeonju which was an ordeal with classes from 9am - 7pm. The campus didnt have much signage but it was short walk to the centre where there was a sloped landscaped garden leading to the museum

The museum had three floors and had many artefacts from the surrounding region which was part of the Silla Kingdom. They had ceramic pottery, spears and knives, pottery, and royal crowns. They also had some musical instruments, and scale reproductions of village homes.

Outside is a sloped curved landscaped garden with many statues and stupas positioned around. There were tradtional stupas, buddha carvings in rock, and carved rock figures of noblemen. The centre of the campus also had flowerbeds, a clock tower, and a water fountain.

Next I went back downtown for lunch and to visit the currency gallery. This is inside the Bank of Korea building. I was made to sign in and was then handed another pen, so asked what this was for now, and was told it was a gift.

The gallery is just a large room with paper and coin displays on each wall. They show korean currency from different periods in history. They also had commemorative coins from different events such as the 1988 Seoul Olympics, 2002 Fifa World Cup Games, and Apec Summits.

I thought that was it but then noticed another room on the other side of the lobby as I was leaving. This is the international currency gallery so good job I noticed it. They had paper currency from different nations, including pound notes from different periods of UK history, american and canadian dollars, as well as many other nationalities from Europe, Africa, and Asia

Both of the museums were quite interesting and I was fortunately able to visit them both as a had a day off school. I found out each university has its own museum, which is free, so i'll try to visit them slowly throughout the year when I have quiet weekends (which will be quite hard as every weekend from now till november is pretty much booked with festivals and trips!).

Here is a link to daegu museums if you want to explore further
http://tour.daegu.go.kr/eng/see/history /museum/list.asp