Inwangsan: Peaceful and WARM

Ok, today, less talk, more pictures! Yay! Right now, I'm sitting in the dorm house that I will be living in all semester... but this blog post will be devoted to just one day, Monday, which was before I left Paul's sister's house. Why? Because Monday deserves one blog post... mostly due to the many pictures I took! I went to Inwangsan, or Inwang Mountain, a gorgeous rocky mountain with many hiding places and paths that lead to heart-stopping precipices. Okay. Not quite heart stopping, since I'm alive. Ha. But, it was the most interesting mountain I have ever climbed! Plus, it was in the 40's! So, it was super warm! Right below the mountain (or actually halfway up it, since the bottom half is covered with apartments and buildings) is the buddhist temple complex, Inwangsa.

Inwangsan, behind the temple, is a sort of buddhist worship area. The paths that are scattered through the mountain all lead to little alcoves or spaces where buddhists will pray, chant, or do whatever. There were quite a few out there when I came, so it was good that I came alone, so I could be quiet. I didn't want any dirty looks. The mountain had a great view of Seoul! There were so many boulders to climb and get a better view than the one before...

Music video for today? Cheojin Dalpaengi with Apgujeong Nallari. Sorry there's no video! There wasn't any official one...



-레이첼

Standing Eggs, Gorgeous Views, and a Treacherous Hike

Ah, sick days. . . sometimes the worst, but sometimes the best. I've been getting quite a bit of rest while touring. Usually I leave after lunch and get back before dinner. Yet perhaps I needed a sick day of just laying around and playing with Si Yeon! But that's today... and I'm going to start on Wednesday, so I'll get to that in a bit!

Annyeong, Jeonju!

After Maisan, I had some deliciously spicy Sundubu Jjigae (순두부  찌개) and then we called it a day!

The next day was pretty low key, I was going to take a train back rather than a bus (ha, they said it would be more comfortable! At least it wouldn't be unbearably hot). Though I did manage to balance an egg on its end! Paul's dad called me a few days later and said it was still standing. Hahaha. I can't say I'm not proud!

I would crop out the handsome guy on the TV screen, but he's Kim Soo Hyun, and he looks very touched by my standing egg, so I could not.

I made it to the train on time with no problems, but there was a problem on the train... but it didn't concern me. Paul's parents came onto the train with me in order to help me load luggage and say goodbye, but all of a sudden, the train started moving! 8-O It had left with them still on it! They had to get off at the next stop and take the first train back. I felt bad, but... it was sort of funny. Later, at least, haha.

And I randomly got this shot of Jeonju countryside while on the train. Lucky much?

And Si Yeon loved her monkey stuffed animal I brought from the States! And She had lots of friends for her too. She named her Minji!

City Tour

While surfing the net before coming to South Korea, I ran across a small organization that provides free personal tours of Seoul, your choice of where to go. (if you're coming to Seoul, and you're interested: http://www.meteoryouth.org/index.html.) The 16th was when I had booked the tour, so I headed out at 2pm that day to meet my guides! I had assumed that it would be two girls, but, ha, it was one guy! And before you go "Wow, that girl is stupid..." just know that I am alive and unharmed. They had never said it would be girls. It wasn't that sketch. He was a talkative, nice young man, called Sunkyun. First we went to see the guard change at Gyeongbokgung.

Then we headed to a hanok village where we met Sejin, the other guide, who was a girl!

And then Myeongdong! That was fun. I found idol socks (Daesung, G-Dragon, and Heechul) so I bought them! As jokes of course! Maybe... Then I found a spiderman earring for my cartilage piercing, which I am still wearing, by the way. We ate budae jjigae, which is like a bunch of random stuff thrown into a pot and boiled. DELICIOUS. It had stuff that looked like spam, pepperoni, ramyun, onions, etc. It was amazing. Apparently it came from the time when all Koreans had to eat was the US military's scraps, so they made a soup out of it. With good result! 

Next stop, Namsan Tower! Very touristy, but there were still Koreans there, and the view was gorgeous.

And the day was over! My guides were great, and I learned a lot more than I would had I gone alone. And... It would have been sad (pathetic) to go to Namsan Tower alone... it was full of dating couples, and I think it's called the Love tower or something. That would have been awkward. Hahaha.

On Friday, I went to The National Museum of Korea, but my legs hurt so much and I was so tired I spent most of the time sitting down. But the outside was more interesting to me than the inside. :-)

That was all I did on Friday, but I needed rest, because I was going to wake up at 6 the next morning to hiking with a English speaking meet-up group! I had found out about it through a blog of an English teacher and, since I like hiking, I thought I would check it out. I'm glad I did, despite the very early start!

We hike Homyeongsan, it was around 10 km. The first part was pretty brutal for a girl who hasn't actually worked out since high school. It was straight up. But fun! I survived! It was fun to speak English with people for whom I didn't have to edit out complicated grammar or big words. I was the youngest, for sure. They all kept asking me if I taught English. It was a good group, and afterwards we went and ate Dalkgalbi, a famous chicken dish of the area. 

I also met a woman who attends a church with a large English ministry in Seoul, so I'm hoping to get more information about that! I haven't been able to attend a church here yet, mostly because I don't know anything about it around here, so I'm glad I met her!

I nearly fell asleep on the subway home. I was standing, because there was no seat, leaning into my arm half way. A person in front of me got up and left, leaving an open seat, but I didn't notice. Then an older woman to my left tapped me and waved me into the seat! I tried to protest, but she insisted. How sweet is that?

Well, I was sick. I thought I was sick before the hike, but I pretended I wasn't so I could go. So I woke up feeling sort of awful in the throat area. So what do we do? Have a sick day! And sick days include looking up memes on the internet; watching Finding Nemo in Korean and realizing that it was not due to my language ability that I was able to understand nearly everything, but rather due to that I have seen it millions of times; eating healthy food, listening to John Piper on my computer, singing songs with Si Yeon, and trying on a hanbok! Yeah, lots.

 Well, I'm out! 

Music video: Ice Fortress, by Dear Cloud. I LOVE this song.

-레이첼

Encased Umbilical Cords and Piles of Rocks

Hello, hello, from 전주시 (Jeonju) South Korea! I'm with Paul's parents right now (so wonderful). This is what they told me to say: "가장 한국적인 도시 전주입니다!" I believe it means that Jeonju is the most like Korea, or it is the most cultural city.
But I'm getting ahead of myself!

Minsokchon

On Sunday I went to 한국 민속촌 (hanguk minsokchon/ Korean Folk Village) with the families of Si Yeon and the two boys. There, I experienced true torture. But let me explain through pictures:

Anyhow, it was super fun! I got to see what Korea would look like if we were in the Joseon Dynasty. It was super cold, but I managed! And something else that staved off the cold? Korean sweet potatoes!

This treat I had seen before, in a drama... Their sweet potatoes are yellow, not orange, and they're sweeter! They just throw the potato in coals and let the skin burn. We peel off the skin and eat it straight. Delicious!
Below to the left is some impressive tightrope walking we saw!
Now, below to the right is a wishing tree. You write your wish on a piece of cloth or paper and tie it to the rope, and pray your wish comes true. As you can see, I am very hopeful...
And below is the kids, Paul's younger older sister, and I!





Also, I had my first alcoholic drink, makgeolli (막걸리), which is rice wine. It's legal, and there were adults present, so no worries! And I only had one bowl... Don't freak out mom! :-) I drank my  makgeolli with Korean pizza, as they're supposed to go well together.

Bibimbap

 I also had bibimbap! This stuff is delicious...






















Jeonju (전주시)

On Monday, I left Paul's elder sister's house and boarded a bus to Jeonju, but not before succeeding to show off my chopstick prowess by dropping my mandu into my water cup and a fermented sweet radish into my bowl of not-sweet soup.

But after I got on the bus that Paul's sister had to actually run out in front of to stop it from leaving without me, it was quite a smooth and uneventful trip! Though I must have been sitting next to the wheel, because it was unbearably hot in my seat. Nowhere else, just my seat. Ha.
Thankfully the ladies had helped my get a cellphone before going, so when I got there, I just called Paul's mother and saw her answer the phone. :-) His parents were so sweet when they met me! His mother is very good at English, but his father doesn't have too much knowledge, but I knew enough Korean when I got in the car and met him to know he was saying I was pretty. It wasn't long before he was calling me is third daughter from America, and saying that I looked like Audrey Hepburn! He's a riot...
His mother is nice to talk to, since she knows so much English... and just because she's nice to talk to! She asked all the essential mother questions like, "Does he study hard?" so I decided I would just brag on Paul (you'd better thank me!) :-P.

On Tuesday, we headed out in the morning to see Jeonju's traditional area of town. It was pretty cool, since they were real houses that nobles once lived at. Something I learned: royalty back in the day kept the umbilical cords of their babies and encased them in a monument. Hmmm... Interesting, right?

Umbilical cord monument

Maisan (마이산)


Next we went to Maisan! (Pronounced mah-ee-sahn, or mah-ee mountain). That basically means horse ears. You'll see why...

We drove around it and parked at the bottom. I didn't know we would be able to, but we walked up to the Buddhist temple that Maisan is famous for! Also, an interesting fact about Maisan: It is not made of volcanic rock like most other mountains in Korea. It has an almost gravel consistency, and they've found fish fossils up there. It is believed that the two mountains actually have gender. The left mountain is the man, and the right one is the woman. I don't know why... haha. But, the temple nestled up the the mountain is called Tapsa temple. A hermit, Lee Gap Yong, came to this mountain in 1885 and decided to build stone pagodas to find peace. He built as many as 120 them and none of them with mortar! So, about 80 are still standing today, and I got to see many of them.

Not to mention having some good 'ol fun, too.

I am a tiger tamer!

Paul's dad trying out his hand at selling wine... All of the booths were empty since it's the off season.

And now for a music video, from the essential Big Bang. It's an extremely popular group here, but if you don't know anything about kpop, then you obviously wouldn't know them! This is my favorite song of theirs:

-레이첼

Of Flyin' Seoulo and Palaces

Flyin' Seoulo (Ignore the terrible pun.)

After seeing Ssamziegil, Si Yeon had to be picked up, so her mom told me I could stay out by myself, or I could return with her. In a snap decision as she walked down the stairs to the 지하철 (subway) I told her I would "uh. . . stay here?" So I did. I just started walking around, and as I sat confusedly perusing my 10 year old guide book, a pair of women bedecked in red "TOURISM AID" outfits approached me. They asked if I needed help. Surprisingly, to them I'm sure, my only question was "Where can I find maps?" They told me where (a bookstore) and I found my way there successfully! Thankfully, I asked where it was in the skyscraper before I went... Because it was in this thing over here. . . >>

Yeah, so it was actually in the basement, connected to the subway underground! Wouldn't it have been awkward if I had gone into the building full of business men in suits not knowing where I was going? But I didn't! So, good for me.

I bought my map, after walking around the huge (and I mean HUGE) bookstore, not knowing where to find it, and asking in broken Korean "지도 있어요?" (Jido isseoyo? = Is there a map?, or Do you have a map?). Score!
Then I ate my double chocolate donut I had bought.

Next I went to Cheonggyecheon, or Cheonggye Stream, since I saw it on my new map and I had seen it in a lot of dramas... yeah. It was pretty!

And then I made it all the way back to the apartment, with no problems! I just found a random station, read the map, and got on the subway. The right one, of course...

I love Koreans.


Ok, so I already knew that from having Korean friends at Tech... but I didn't know that pretty much all of them are so great! They're friendly, sweet, and kind (sometimes too much, ㅋㅋㅋ). Much more than the people I've ever met travelling elsewhere. Most kind people want your money in Europe. On the subway home from my solo travels, I was standing next to where a 할아버지 (grandfather/little old man) was sitting. The benches were full, but when a man sitting next to him left, I didn't notice. The cute old man kindly tapped my arm and waved me into the seat next to him before anyone else got it. It was a small gesture, but it nearly made me cry. I was just a random foreigner, and he decided to show me kindness... When he left, he gave me the head nod/bow thing Koreans do (and now I do it automatically, too ㅋㅋㅋ). And then there was the woman who said I was pretty to Si Yeon's mother when we were eating. And there was another old man on a subway who asked me where I was from. And another girl who said I was pretty (in Korean, while staring at me, ㅋㅋㅋ) then she asked my age and I got a little creeped out... but they're all super sweet! Just like my lovely friends at Tech. Every time I see a person with hair or glasses or some feature like one of them, I miss them a little! But I would rather miss them than not, if you know what I mean... Of course I miss my other friends, it's just much harder to be reminded that they're far away, since I don't see people like them everyday. :-)
And don't even let me get started on Paul's family! They are wonderful. I met his other sister and her family the other day, the kids are fun and the adults are lovely. I'm wondering where Paul got his personality...? ㅋㅋㅋ, just kidding!!! Paul's awesome because he suggested for me to stay with them!

This takes me back...


On Saturday, the 11th, I toured Seoul with Paul's oldest sister and her two sons (8 and 12), and it was quite an adventure! There are pro's and con's to travelling both alone and with people. The pro's of travelling alone are being able to take as much or as little time as you like at places, you can go where you want, you don't have to deal with other people's annoyingness, you can take as many pictures as you want, etc. The con? Loneliness. Of course, travelling with people (especially children...) is the exact opposite. But it's fun to be with people (especially children, ㅋㅋㅋ) so I still don't know which I like more!
We went around Seoul to a few of the palaces: 덕수궁, 창경궁, 창덕궇, and 경희궁 (Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, Changdeokgung, and Gyeonghuigung)


I

Alright! I'm out!

-레이첼

Music video of the day: