A Passion for Owls

September 26, 2009
One of the great things about traveling is that you never know what you are going to experience on a particular day. I certainly never thought I'd be writing about owls on my Korean trip. However, what is life about other than finding your passion(s)? Well, Mrs. Myeong-Hee Bae, shown in the top photo with me, has had a passion for owls from the second grade onwards. Since then, she has collected over 2,500 items related to owls, including artwork, lamps, kitchen items, phone cards, and stamps. Apparently at the time of her marriage her collection was listed in her dowry as "family treasure No.1," so her husband knew what he was getting into! Mrs. Bae was an absolute treasure trove of knowledge on all things owl, including that they have an average lifespan of 60-70 years and that they mate for life. She is also troubled by practices in some cultures, such as using owl eyeballs to "cure" visual problems, that are resulting in the worldwide decline of the owl. With the aid of translation, I asked her how had she acquired her collection? She has never used Ebay! She went to flea markets and antique stores all over Korea. Her husband, son, and friends all collect items for her when they travel (she stays home minding the museum). She estimates that she has the largest collection of owl-related antiques in all of Asia. At the end of our personal tour of the museum we sat down with Mrs. Bae for a cup of tea in you-guessed-it, mugs that had owls on them. We learned an amazing fact---there is a teeny tiny owl sitting on the US dollar on the side with George Washington, in the upper left hand corner of the right-sided shield with the number 1. I will show a picture in the next posting. Clearly someone at the US Mint is an owl-lover too!