I have been slacking...seriously slacking. And for that, I do apologize.You know, to this day I still want to spell it 'apollogize'. Auto-correct is the only thing that reminds me it's otherwise. Everyone has one of those words, right?
But. Back to the topic... I went to a little place on the other end of the country from Seoul many moons ago (Oct20). It is called Gyeongju, and it is an area where one can see the traditions of Korea. It's lovely, really... I adore the older style of architecture.
I did write a journal for a bit on this trip, and I'm going to share it whether you like it or not. Since I starting writing quite early, I do believe at least the first half will be entertaining.
And so it begins...
4:30- wake-up, pack, shower, and get ready
6:00- leave for bucheon station (부천역)
Everything on the bus goes creak, squeak, creak. Creak, squeak, creak. Creak, squeak, creak...
6:20- get on subway and be surrounded by people in hiking gear
Too early. I saw a ton of tanks and a subway train full of military personnel stopped in oryudong (오류동). I transferred twice and am now sitting on a bus in indeogwon (인덕원) with a name tag. I still don't really care for name tags... It's ten to eight. We'll be leaving in 10, I think.
After getting on the bus, we heard from the lady with the tour group, Cecilia, and then watched a UNESCO video about the cultural and historical aspects of Gyeongju. Ha, I found it pretty amusing when Cecilia's talked turned to how you're supposed to drink soju. 8:15 in the morning and we're talking about how to drink soju! (Careful or you'll get drunk quickly. Also, it's clear so you can pretend its water.) Mind you, I was terribly tired, so that might not have been what she actually said.
Because Gyeongju is a long trip (bottom up, it goes Busan, Ulsan, and then Gyeongju at the bottom of Gyeongbuk Province- if you follow the eastern coastline), we are going to stop halfway there. Which is GREAT because I drank copious amounts of coffee this morning :D
This is going to be a long post. Just pretend like I'm letting you in on my Dear Diary... Or that I'm talking to you personally :)
Lunch in Andong (안동)! We ate salted mackerel and Andong jjimdalk (안동찜닭), which is a local specialty involving chicken and potatoes. It's sooo good! Then, we took a shuttle to Hahoe Folk Village (하회마을) where members of the Ryu clan have lived for a loong time. Beautiful, but we couldn't spend much time there, unfortunately.
Two hours to Gyeongju National Museum. We are set to spend an hour there. Hopefully we're able to be there for the full time. Traffic to Andong was pretty bad...
<Insert> The museum was pretty cool. I bought a book that was a transcribed lecture about Korean paintings. It's so interesting!! In the museum, there were many different Buddhist statues and relics. Of course, there were also tools from the area that were developed over time and later excavated. <End of insert>
Stayed at the Commodore- beautifully lit at night. Buffet breakfast!! Went to a temple- the Buddhas were really cool to see! They were golden with lovely paintings behind them. The incense smelt great, too. Relaxing... Then we moved on to watch a traditional wedding ceremony. We saw the traditional way to make rice cakes, too! (Not the Quaker Oats kind. The sticky pulverized rice kind.) Then we ate bulgogi for lunch. After lunch we watched 'Flying', a mostly non-speaking performance. It was awesome. Like, seriously, watch it if you find the means to. I was laughing so hard!
Now, at 4:30, we're heading home.
Traffic is supposed to be bad again, so we may not get in to indeogwon till 9:30, which means Bucheon at 10:50ish. Ouch.
End
My trip to Gyeongju was a really great experience. I know I've uploaded the pictures to facebook already. Ha, I had to select just a few. I took sosososo many pictures that weekend...
I do wish that I had typed this up after it happened. Maybe my vitamin D is low again? I have vitamins that I don't take. Haven't changed very much there!
Quite a bit has happened since, though... The students here put on an exhibition, in Korean it's called a hak-ye-hwoe (학예회). There was dancing, acting, sign language, singing, and the playing of several instruments such as the tambourine, recorder, violin, and flute. There was a flash-mob style dance from one sixth grade class, and a script including voice-over acting, jump roping, taekwondo, violin, and dancing. The younger grades were so cute to watch! One of the third grade classes danced to 'Hey Mickey'... So, so precious...
I will write another post soon about how my birthday in Korea has been! Promise I won't take a month this time!
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