* I know, I suck at this whole keeping up my blog regularly thing! But this week is Chuseok, Korean thanks giving, so I have the week off. Maybe this will allow me to catch up on some of the things you’ve missed. So here are the top 5 changes that have occurred recently that you’ve missed out on. (1) I am staying in Korea till January 14th. (2) Lucas was laid off from his job so one of us needs to have a job. (3) I belong to a team of 3 other people at my work so I no longer work in isolation. (4) I’ve been training for a half marathon so I’ve been running a lot lately, taking advantage of Olympic Park. (5) Because I renewed my contract to stay in Korea, I can now get a visa to go to China, I will go October 20th for 4 days with my friend Hey Jeong.
* This weekend I took a road trip with Bonyun, her husband, and her brother. We went east of Seoul about 3 ~ 4 hours to Andong. First stop was lunch at a wonderful picnic spot. You first order a tray of food and then take it to your private bungalow. Here I got to see sooooo many wonderful creatures!!! They weren’t inside our bungalow, they were outside of it and along the river. I found a praying mantis, huge grasshoppers, a rather plump caterpillar the size of a highlighter, and lots of frogs too! Bonyung got the grand prize of creature discoveries though. When she went to the bathroom she found a snake! I was sooooo jealous!
*After lunch we went for a hike up a mountain with a great view of a little peninsula town surrounded by the river. It was hot so we went down to the river and splashed around in the water for a while. Then, we drove to a really really long bridge. We also go to wonder around the mock town and fortress that they use for some of the TV historical dramas.
*Afterwards, we met with Bonyun’s Mom, Dad, and a Buddhist monk. Her parents are Buddhist so they like to take the monk out to dinner every once in a while. Once again, they were amazed at my ability to use chopsticks, because it’s always assumed that foreigners can only use forks I guess. And I in turn was amazed that the Buddhist monk was eating meat. I really think that only Buddhist in Korea eat meat. I don’t know if it is that they cannot refuse any food that is offered to them or they just interpret things differently in Korea. The next day, when we ate at the temple, we were served all vegetarian foods so maybe they are only vegetarian at the temple. So perhaps what happens outside of the temple, stays outside the temple? Or rather, what Buddha doesn’t know, won’t hurt him?
* After dinner, her parents went to stay with the monk at the temple, and we went to a traditional house. The house was built in 1663 and 14 of its rooms are rented out to people. It is advertised as an artists’ compound where they can go and listen to the earth revolve. The owner had to move the house uphill a few years ago when they dammed up the river and turned it into a lake. It’s a very serene spot he chose to move the house to. It’s tucked into the hills overlooking the lake. Many artists come here to write poetry and do calligraphy. In fact, the owner writes poetry and he gave me an autographed copy of his book of poems that were translated into both English and Japanese. He also showed me the calligraphy and art samples that some of the artists gave to him. He let me choose a piece and take it home with me!
*At the 1663 house, I got to share the American art of making s’mores. I got the marshmallows, Hershey chocolate bars, and graham crackers smuggled off the army base because they don’t sell such things in Korea. Then we used wooden chopsticks to roast our marshmallows on a small coal fire. Everyone loved the sticky, sweet treats! I even gave one to the owner and one to his wife. We also handed them out to any of the guest that came over to see what we were doing. It was I’m sure the first, and only time, s’mores have ever been made at that house.
*The next day we went to the Buddhist temple and Bonyun’s brother taught me how to bow properly to Buddha. You bow 3 times to Buddha and just once in the same fashion to the monk. So when I went to greet the monk I had just practiced with her brother in the temple so I did it correctly. When Bonyun and her husband came in a bit later to greet the monk, her dad told them to bow to the monk and they did didn't do it quite as well. So the monk was laughing and so were we because these 2 Koreans who both have Buddhist parents, and couldn't bow properly to the monk, but this foreign girl could. I guess they needn't know that I had just learned not 15 minutes prior!
*When we finished having tea at the temple, the monk gave me a beautiful stone bracelet. It is to help you keep track of how many prayers or bows you have done. I'm not too sure how to use it, I will have to ask Bonyun's brother for more clarification. Anyways, after we left, we all went to a mask museum. There were masks here not only from Korea, but around the world. It was very interesting to see differences and similarities among cultures.
*I had a great weekend. One of the hardest things about living in Korea is not having family around me. So this weekend, I really felt like a part of Bonyun’s family. I am so grateful to her and her brother for organizing and orchestrating such a great weekend for us!
