I can't wait for summer so I can go swimming.
Every now and then we would hop off the scooter and take pictures. Chris teacher tells me that this is in the Guinness book of world records for closest train track to the coast.
You can just leave it running on the side of the road without fear of it being stolen. At one point we jumped off where there were a bunch of Koreans hanging out and chatting, I bet not one of them even had the thought that they could just hop on the running scooter while the stupid foreigners were taking pictures on the other side of the road. I like how safe I feel here.
Soon we came to what looked like temple so I made Chris pull over and we went to it. My first authentic temple. It was incredible! Inside the monks were chatting and banging drums. They have really nice singing voices, I wish I could have recorded a sample to share. I did take a ton of pictures though.
The first thing you see at the temple is this structure, do you see the dragons hanging up there? Everything is so detailed and colorful.
On our travels through the countryside we found many small Korean villages with old traditional houses. The country side is really rural, many of the homes look ready to collapse.
Remember that you can see a larger version of any picture if you click on it!
Something interesting that I've forgotten to mention is that every now and then all along the side of the roads there are sometimes very old Koreans digging and picking through the grasses for stuff. By the shoreline there are many who walk up and down picking out things.
Chris showed me another nice public beach. As we were walking by the entrance I made us stop so we could get some boiled bugs and shells. The snails were my favorite, they have a really nice sorta crabby taste. The bugs I liked but I don't think I'd have them again.
We got one of each then went to the rocks by the shore and ate our bugs and shells while admiring the sparkling coast. In the distance you can see a cruise ship hotel that has been placed high up. I'd like to stay there one night. I bet it is fun.
For lunch we stopped at a shack on the side of the road. The way we choose places to eat is by seeing how many Koreans are eating there, this place was jumping for just a tent on the rode. We saw a table eating crabs, so that is what we pointed to. We got some crabs and kimchi, they were tasty and
cheap.
We tried to climb up a waterfall/stream that was on the side of the hill but had to turn back because I kept slipping into the water. Need hiking boots ASAP.
After he dropped me off at my place we took a couple of hours to rest and regroup. Then we went and checked out the cherry blossom festival. There was a full orchestra and opera singers. We listened for a bit then headed to the food stands where we got crab corndogs and sweet crispy french fry kind of things. We walked to the beach, then found a place to eat. We ate Eastern style (sitting on the floor). We had a tofu, fish, and green stuff stew and many side dishes.
On Sunday the 3 of us were suppose to go to Seoul, but Stephanie bailed because of some lame excuse about church or something. So it was just Chris and I. We didn't have much of a game plan and we went to DongSeoul station instead of Seoul station. Then we got ripped off by a taxi driver, never again though! The day was somewhat of a disaster until the very last few hours there. Mostly we walked around a lot, asked for directions, and traversed the subway. Impressions of Seoul? Very big! I am glad that I'm not living there. I love my small little down by the sea with cleaner air and friendly people.
One thing we did was go to Namdaemun Market, this is a HUGE market that spreads over many blocks. There are people selling anything and everything you can imagine. We got there right was it was opening up so it wasn't very crazy yet.After the market we went to Lotte World. Lotte World is a very strange but a neat place. Lotte is one of the major companies here in Korea, they make candy and also have many department stores and cafeterias. Lotte World is one of the largest malls in the world. They have an ice skating rink, swimming pool, indoor and outdoor amusement park, and more stores than you could visit.
We did go ice skating. It was only my 2nd time ice skating. I was a little wobbly at first but then I got the hang of it. Under Chris' tutorship I even managed to do a fancy circle turn.I did find some hiking boots. I never would have believed it but my feet are actually small by Korean standards. I had to get kid size shoes, the sale ladies had a good a laugh. haha. Now I can go hiking! And because they were kid shoes, I got a really good deal. If you say "sale" or "discount" or "special price" many stores will give you 10-30% off. Chris said that the shoes I got (Salomon) are a good brand too. We found some brand new sketchy converter boxes and each got one. I also got some postcards, the first I've seen in Korea. You don't see any places with stands of postcards and tacky trinkets here. I had to buy them at a stationary store.
Even though there is much to do in Seoul.. I'm in no hurry to go back. From all the haggling and traveling Chris and I did learn some Korea.. olma-eyo means 'how much' and odee- 'where?' cho-ghee 'there' and yo-ghee 'here.' Also learned 'expensive' and 'inexpensive' and a few other words. I took flashcards with us on the bus and made us practice periodically. I think the flashcard thing was a sucess and will be doing it again for future trips.
I'm feeling a little stressed out and homesick. Today I was told that I would be teaching art and music to the kinder kids mon-thurs starting tomorrow. I need to learn some kid songs on my accordion, I've hardly had time to practice since being here and now I need to go learn polly wolly doddle and things like that. I wish I had more free time. I'm feeling a little sick. I have a small cough and headaches. My head feels cloudy. I hope I feel better soon.
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