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