Blast to the Past

I finally have an opportunity to catch you up on Momma and Gramma's trip to Korea.  From Mon, Oct 10th - Thurs Oct 13th, my poor students had midterm exams, which meant that I was excused from teaching duties and free to spend time with my family.  So after Busan weekend, the three of us headed to Seoul to visit my maternal great-aunt and her daughter (my mom's cousin).  For the entirety of our trip, we stayed at the apartment of close family friends.  On Monday, women from three generations of my family took a day trip to Suwon, a satellite city in the Seoul Metropolitan Area and the home of 민속촌 (Minsokchon), a recreation of a traditional Korean folk village.

When we arrived, it felt like we jumped thousands of years into the past.  Everything about the place seemed so authentic and old.  In tour books and websites, Suwon Folk Village is frequently referred to as "living museum": a term that I dislike, since it seems to evoke creepy wax figurines coming to life.  In reality, it is Korea's answer to Colonial Williamsburg, subtely capturing the nuances of traditional homes, clothing, rituals, performances, and customs.  At the village entrance, we were greeted by a wedding parade, complete with employees playing traditional instruments and young students on school trip dressed in traditional costumes.  It was absolutely precious.

Wishing tree

 Momma!

Momma's Cousin!

My Great-Aunt and Gramma! SO CUTE^^


The word “village” typically brings to mind tiny huts, ancient tools, and homely farmers.  But the Suwon Folk Village definitely surpassed my expectations. There were rows of straw and tiled huts, official buildings, traditional art work, massive vegetation, live animals, a gorgeous river, and people dressed as historical residents.  Not a single detail went unnoticed.  The Suwon Folk Village also serves as the backdrop to many historical dramas on Korean television.  It was super fun to pose with the all cut-outs of famous Korean actors and actresses.

The village was absolutely gigantic.  We spent the entire day strolling around the traditional houses, which accurately represent different economic classes.  In the section dedicated to nobility and royals, we ran into a huge crowd of Korean children, as well as a group of obnoxious foreign tourists.  In the royal courtyard, there was a reenactment of a public beating -  an American boy served as the criminal and a Korean middle schooler was chosen to deliver the "brutal punishment."  It was amusing to say the least. XD

Throughout the day, I saw nearly 10 school groups.  Apparently, its a really popular place for students to go for a historically significant field trip.  If there's anything that I've learned since being in Korea, it's that small Korean children are the absolute cutest.  Like seriously, cringe-worthy bundles of adorableness.  It's a good thing I don't work in an elementary school.  Otherwise, I'd probably be arrested for kidnapping some of them and trying to bring them home with me.

After gawking at small children, I got to sit in a traditional Korean bridal carriage.  It was kinda awkward and cramped, but at least I got a good photo out of it.  Then we sat down for lunch and ate 장국밥 (spicy beef stew) and 순두부 (soft tofu stew), along with many little customary side dishes.  I don't know what I'm gonna do when I get back to the States and can't easily find these delicious Korean dishes.  Perhaps I ought to start learning how to cook Korean food - now that would be a useful skill for the future.

More more more photos.  My family is the best.  It was so nice to spend the day with them.  Now you can see where I get some of my sillyness from.  What can I say - it runs in the family!

It's crazy to think that this quaint little "living museum" is less than 20 miles from Seoul.  Today, Korea is a highly modernized country, with 85% of its residents living in urban areas.  But this day-trip reminded me that not too long ago, Korea was once an entirely rural region with farms and fields, rather than skyscrapers and a web of transportation lines.  This visit definitely served as an enjoyable and interactive history lesson into Korea's past.

After a few hours, we made our way back to Seoul, but not without first stopping at a traditional tea house for fragrant chilled beverages.  It was a lovely trip and certainly unlike anything that I've seen in Korea thus far.  In the next blog post, I will finish detailing my Momma and Gramma's visit.  So much has happened the past few weeks so I'm a little behind on blogging.  But don't you fret.  I'm determined to catch up soon!

P.S. - Today was my birthday and it was one of the most memorable ones I've had in a long time.  Much love to those who helped make it a special day.  I'll talk more about it in another blog post.  Until then, take care! ^^

Funny Faces

Apologies for the delay.  But this week has been the absolute busiest yet.  I've tackled bronchitis, stomach woes, 3 weeks worth of lesson plans, a winter internship application, and over 600 Korean words plus various new grammatical tenses for my final exam this coming Monday (uhh yea, so the last one's a lie).

WHEW!  And from Friday until Monday, I'll be in Gyeongju for the Fall Fulbright Conference.  Unfortunately, I doubt that I'll have the time to devote to blogging until my Korean exam is over.  Until then, please enjoy some photos of the beautiful students in my Advanced Conversation Class.

For today's class, I had them use PhotoBooth on my Mac to take ridiculously distorted photos of themselves.  Then, they had to think creatively on the spot to come up with a story about what happened to their face.  It was absolutely hilarious!

Last but not least...

생일축하합니다!  I hope you have an amazing day.  Miss you so much!  Sending you lots of love from overseas.  ♥♥♥

Beaches, Int'l Film Festival, & Shinsegae

Immediately after my last class on Friday, October 8th, I headed to the KTX station to go to Busan for  the weekend.  I opted to take a taxi instead of the subway, as I assumed it'd be faster, but the rush hour traffic slowed us down immensely.  Once I arrived at the station, I bolted to the ticket booth to redeem my reservation pass for an actual ticket.  But of course, there was a long line and I kept frantically checking my watch, convinced that I would miss my train.  But due to a stroke of luck, my train was delayed 4 minutes - an oddity for Korea's incredibly punctual transportation system; and I literally hopped on my train as it was leaving the platform.  WHEW!

Since Daejeon is the central transportation hub of Korea, I can get nearly anywhere in 2 hours or less.  On the KTX (bullet train), it takes 55 minutes to get to Seoul and only 100 minutes to get to Busan, which is located on the southeastern tip, 300 kilometers away.  Busan is Korea's second largest metropolitan city, its largest commercial port, and the fifth busiest seaport in the world.  While Seoul is undoubtedly Korea's answer to New York City, Busan is often compared to Los Angeles due to its laid-back, coastal culture.  I arrived in Busan around dinnertime and took the subway to meet up with Fulbright friends in Seomyeon, Busan's restaurant and nightlife district.  There, we ate a scrumptious meal consisting of 3 different meats, which we cooked on a charcoal grill in the center of our table.

Over the weekend, I think I saw over 30 of my Fulbright friends, many of whom I hadn't seen since Orientation.  I was so nice to see everyone and hear about their new experiences.  Now this wasn't just a coincidental reunion of Fulbrights.  We all came to celebrate the birthday of our beloved friend Alex Park: a Busan native, a Korean student at Jungwon University, and one of our RAs from Orientation.  He's a good friend to all of us and his English slang vernacular is so extensive that we often forget he's not American!  We spent the evening chatting, laughing, and engaging in nightly festivities.  It was a great time.  We even ended up at Gwangalli Beach, which is popular among locals and famous for its fine sand.  There, we lit fireworks on the beach and admired the illuminated Gwangan Bridge, which is the largest bridge in Korea.  Talk about an amazing view and even better company!

On Saturday morning, we all woke up and split into smaller groups for the day.  I decided to venture around Busan's notable tourist attractions with two of my favorite bros.  We grabbed a scrumptious breakfast of ramen and kimbap and headed straight for Busan Tower.  For a mere $3, we bought elevator tickets to go up to the Observation Deck.  From there, we got an impressive three hundred and sixty degree view of downtown Busan, its surrounding districts and hills, and its huge commercial seaport.  Busan Tower is only about half the size of N Seoul Tower, but it was still a magnificent sight.  I hear that on very clear days, you can even see Japan (Tsushima Island) and other nearby islands.  In other news, I need to tone down the "Asian peace sign" gesture; I am literally doing it in every picture!  (>.<)

After that, we took the metro to the other side of town to meet up with other friends at Haeundae Beach.  It's one of the most popular beaches in all of Korea.  During the hot summer months, Haeundae Beach turns into a virtual human puzzle, with thousands of tourists and parasols jam-packed into a mere mile of sand.  This beach has even been recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of parasols set up at one time: a whopping 7,937 beach umbrellas!  Fortunately, it wasn't nearly as crowed when we arrived; that is, we could see the sand - an feat that cannot be achieved between the months of June and August.  It was beautiful and I spent the afternoon laying out and catching a few rays.

In the evening, we took part in the 16th Annual Busan International Film Festival, Asia's largest cinema event and one of the most prominent film festivals in the world.  This year, 307 films from many different countries were shown at huge movie complexes throughout the city.  A few weeks earlier, I got tickets online to attend a screening of "Inseparable," a full-funded Chinese film which is the first of its kind to feature an American actor - Kevin Spacey.  Kinda random, but whatever.  In the beginning, it was an engaging dark comedy with charming elements of satire and fantasy.  But then the film got really strange and lost its sense of continuity and purpose.  For a full review, consider reading: Inseparable - Movie Review.  But I'm really glad I got attend an actual screening and experience the excitement of this festival firsthand.

On Sunday morning, I woke up early and went to pick up my Momma and Gramma from the Busan KTX station.  From there, we took a cab to meet up with some of my Gramma's friends who live in Busan.  While my Gramma has lived in America for many decades, they still keep in touch with through letters and phone calls.  Pretty damn impressive.  I hope to do the same with all the friends I make this year.

Then we went to Shinsegae Department Store in Centum

Afterwards, we went to Haeundae Beach and Gwangalli Beach.  As usual, Haeundae was packed with lots of people; while Gwangalli was a quiet, peaceful oasis.  I definitely prefer the latter.  It was nice to just wind down and admire the architectural structure of Gwangan Bridge in the daytime.  Here's a few more photos of the beaches and a landscape video of Gwangalli Beach for your enjoyment.

Then we dropped by Jagalchi Fish Market, which is Korea's largest seafood market.  Perhaps the most interesting aspect about the market is that most of the vendors are women, who are affectionately referred to as "Jagalchi Ajummas (middle-aged women)."  These women are a very tough breed.  They are the primary breadwinners of their household, doing the dirty work of cleaning and preparing the daily catch, while remaining strongly devoted to their families.  Yay for female empowerment!

The market is split into two sections, one for dried seafood and the other for live seafood.  Seafood enthusiasts hail this place as seafood heaven, where one can eat the freshest live seafood on the spot.  I, on the other hand, held my breath and tried to walk quickly past the pungent-smelling stands. After that, we ate a non-seafood dinner of 설렁탕(seolleongtang), which is a hearty, heartwarming beef stew with noodles and rice. 

In addition to having world records, Busan also has a lot of cute animals.  When we went to Gwangalli Beach in the daytime, we saw two adorable dogs who worked together to carry a basket between them.  It was absolutely precious.  Then their owner showed up, called them over, and the dogs promptly hopped onto their owner's moped.  It was such a funny sight!  So glad I caught a picture of it.  Later that day, on final walk back to the KTX station, we walked past several pet stores.  Of course, I had to stop and take some photos.

Busan is a really lively and fun city.  I hope I'll get a chance to visit again soon.  Although Sunday was a long and non-stop day, I am so happy that I was able to share it with my Momma and Gramma.  That evening, we took the 9pm KTX from Busan straight to Seoul.  I slept for the entire 2h50m ride.  Upon arrival, we took a cab to our family friend's home in the Gangnam-gu district, where we would stay for the next 2 days.  My next blog post will have a lot of family photos and provide details of our adventures in Seoul!  To be continued...