South South Korea

• This weekend Sunny, her husband, and I went on a road trip to the southern part of the country. Sunny’s husband drove while us girls snoozed in the back seat for the 4 or 5 hour drive Friday night after work. Sunny’s husband was competing against 15 of his co-workers that weekend at a country club. Surprisinly, he won first place; even after only getting 2 hours of sleep that night. Her husband was sharing a room with 3 other guys and I think they spent to evening drinking and singing. Sunny and I on the other hand cleaned up and then went right to bed. We had a big day ahead of us and needed our rest. So no matter how many text messages she got asking for us to join the party she turned them all down.
• The next morning we were up at 7 and packed and out of the hotel before 8. Sunny drove us further south to a green tea farm. It was beautiful! Rows and rows of green tea growing on a hill side. We climbed to the top of the mountain and were rewarded with a breathtaking ocean view. Then, we made our way down the back side of the mountain, the shady side with no tea, and were rewarded once again with another 2 breathtaking views. The first was of fresh, cool, water falls. The second was of an ajima (pushy, older married Korean woman) who passed me on going down the trail in high heels. It was muddy and rocky from the waterfalls but that didn’t stop ajima! My jaw dropped! But surprisingly, she wasn’t the only Korean girl I saw hiking in heels, but she was the only one hiking faster then me.
• After a lovely lunch of seafood bimbibap we went to the next green tea farm. But not before getting our very own green tea plants! Now I can make my very own fresh green tea, I don’t even need to dry the leaves first, just take it straight from the source. At our next green tea farm I we were able to wander down the rows of bushes and found some green tea seeds. So hopefully since I can’t bring the actual plants home, I can bring some seeds and start my own plants when I get back.
Oh, I almost forgot, we also enjoyed some yummy green tea ice cream. So once I grow my plants back home, I am expecting to borrow mom’s ice cream maker and make my own green tea ice cream too!
• Next, we went to a famous Korean author’s museum. There was a really nice lotus pond and a replica setting for his book. It included homes and tools that the characters used in the book. Without knowing much about the book asides from the setting, which was the period after the war, it seemed like a Cinderella type story. Rich guy or girl falls in love a poor person of the opposite sex that works for their family. The replica village was very nicely done. You could go into the different rooms and practice using the various tools etc.
• After the author’s museum, we went to a folk village. This was not like any other Korean folk village I have been too. This one was actually a village. It was still active and in use by people who want to live a traditional life style. Sunny said that some of the houses were pensions and people pay to stay and live a “traditional Korean existence.” It was really neat to see people living, farming, like they have for decades; although they do have the addition of mechanical farm equipment like trucks and tractors. We were there before the sun set so I don’t know if they had electricity or not.
In addition to traditional homes, they also serve tourists traditional foods. One of these foods is bon-day-gee. Sunny was excited to share this dish with me. She bought a cup full and enthusiastically offered them to me. I should mention that bon-day-gee is a traditional dish from a time during the war when sources of protein were scarce. Bon-day-gee are cooked beetle larvae. Mmmmmm. And yes, I was brave enough to try it. It didn’t taste bad, and thank goodness they didn’t really pop in your mouth, just a squish. I have tactile sensitivity to any food that pops in my mouth like cherry tomatoes or fish roe.
When we were walking around the traditional village, snacking on bon-day-gee, we encountered a replica of a prisoners being punished. We got some great photos of our own form of punishment... being forced to eat bon-day-gee! Don’t worry, I am not going to have Sunny teach me how to make don-day-gee in cooking class so you are all safe from having to eat cooked larvae.
• After the traditional village, we drove to meet her husband in GwangJu. Here we had dinner together and then I boarded a bus for a 3.5 hour ride back to Seoul. Sunny and her husband live an hour away from my house on the other side of town so dropping me off at home would have been really out of the way for them. They were so nice. They helped me get my ticket, and her husband even boarded the bus with me and made sure I found my seat. So sweet of them! I slept the whole ride home. What a great weekend!