So let's begin. Last Thursday, 7/1, following one long Korean class (~3 hours, and there's no class on Friday!) I join a group of folks and we go eat dinner- soondobu jigae for 4000W? obviously jigae soup) is becoming my favorite dish-- plus it's the only thing as of now I know how to order. Looking for a chill night, me, Austin, and my new Korean friend Alex went to a bar in S[h]inchon. We had some rice wine, very traditional, along with yogurt soju, some other kind of wine, and regular soju. All in all a good night, and then a not so good night based on the amount of alcohol consumed in the time period.
ANYWAY, short sleep and then 6am rolls around, thanks to Austin's phone call I wake up, pack like a maniac, and make it to our meeting spot at 6:30am. Sign in for the field trip, get on the bus, and we leave at 8am!
About the field trip: UCEAP put on a field trip for the first ~135 students who sign up, which was going to Gyeong-ju, a popular temple area, and Busan (more correctly pronounced Pusan, with a soft 'p'), a beach town maybe 5-6hours away from Seoul. It was 3 buses full of UC students, and 5 of the UCEAP staff members that work here at Yonsei University.
Our first rest stop has a bunch of convenience stores and little shops, very different.
Another rest stop, and then we get to Gyeong-ju by 12PM for a very big lunch, sitting on the floor.
Followed with a very popular rice drink, we're back on the bus and make it to our first destination: the Bulguksa Temple.
My first observation of Gyeong-ju is that all of the buildings have the same tiled roof, the similar kind to temples. It's an homage to the history that the town has. The buildings are 2-stories max, a nice change from the city of Seoul, and it has kind of a quiet feel to it. It's fairly spacious and more rural.
I always love temple. Raised Buddhist, it always reminds me of home when I visit temple, especially that smell of incense that is so familiar, the ritual and the donation bins, the statues and the tranquility. If you've ever been to a temple, you'll know how peaceful and serene it all is. Even if you're not Buddhist, I highly recommend going to one sometime. Someone mentioned that even though much of South Korea is catholic/christian, Buddhism has played a great role in the history of Korea. One building we saw had been there for 1600 years!
(some fun pictures ahead. make friends with people who are willing to be your photographer.)
Lots of walking around, lightly drizzling (it's actually supposed to rain all weekend! it did in Seoul!) We also got to try some special bread that Gyeong-ju is known for
It's like 2 mini wheat pancakes filled with red bean paste. yum yum. regularly costs 2/1000W. mmm.
next stop is the Gyeong-ju cheongseondae, which is an astronomical tower... not very impressive, but it was built between ~632-647. impressive right? It wasn't very tall, and required a fee to go into it/up it... but it would have been about the same as if you stood outside it on ground level. There were lots of mounds/hills, to represent tombs/burial areas.
"Cheongseondae gives a sense of balance, harmonizing straight lines with curves."
Following this, we are back on the bus to Busan, about an hour-2 away.
DINNER, at a really fancy restaurant. We had to grill our own meat, and we were oh so impatient.
after all that meat, I knew my stomach was going to hurt/I was going to pay for it later, especially because I've been mostly avoiding beef and they don't exactly have fresh fruit here, so I was so happy to find some green tea for only 500W [50c.]:]
Back on the bus, to our hostel: Arpina Youth Hostel. It's about 22000W a night, pretty cheap, for rather nice accomodations. Bed with soft comforter and pillow, tv, bathroom, hair dryer, good stuff.
It's only maybe 9pm, so I find a group of people and explore the city. We take avery cheap taxi to Haeundae, a beach town, and what I notice is that it is VERY foggy. Busan is home to the beach, lots of tourists and people traveling, namely, foreigners. Eventually just end up checking out the beach and going to a bar. Wasn't feeling like drinking because of the night before, so I just watched the Brasil/Nederlands game. damn, what a game! Some people wanted to go clubbing, but I just went back to the hostel and fell asleep at around 2am.
Wake up at 8am (Saturday, July 3), breakfast is juice and a sandwich, and there are sights to see: we go to the Jagalchi fish market first. I try not to think about caged animals and the dead upside down crabs I saw... but anway, here I try LIVE OCTOPUS. they add sesame oil so that it goes down easier/doesn't suck onto your throat and you die. you know.
Short tour of the flea market, and off to lunch. Seeing all the fish and sea creatures made me lose my appetite, and I just wasn't feeling the pork. Following lunch go to the store next door for some nomular green tea and back on the bus, half an hour break, and then next trip we go!
We are off to the Haedong Yonggung Temple, which I felt would be nice to see because, when in Busan! Plus it's a pretty big touristy area, and is by the sea, which I knew would be a much breezier area.
definitely peaceful. I loved it. I felt so at peace. Here I tried silkworm, too. haha.
Much exploring, and a nap back at the hostel, me, Julie, and Stacey (all UCSD students!) go to Pizza Hut. YES. We are hungryyyy. We got the "gold rich" pizza, which has sweet potato on it and is so om nom nom nom.
The price (29000W for 10pcs, like a medium-large) was on par with if I went to cheesecake factory. Foreign places are always more expensive. We are full and happy, and so we meet up with other girls at the jjimjilbang (bathhouse) Stacey's masseuse at the hostel recommended to her (Stacey is our resident Korean speaker... and the massage place at the hostel was ONLY 50000W for 1hr15min! such a good deal. Most times you don't have to tip. I wish I did it because that is a steal.)
For 5000W, you can just use the bathhouse and not the sauna, and for 7000W you can use both facilities. Cheap, so I did both. Sauna it up with girls, eat a redbean/shaved ice/condensed milk dessert, sweat disgustingly, then went to the bathhouse, GOT NAKED (when in Korea!) and get scrubbed down for 20000W by a lady, and got a cucumber face mask. It is very peculiar to feel all your dead skin that's scrubbed off still on you. I was feeling so clean and so relaxed when we went back to the hostel at around 11pm. We were stuck in traffic (traffic hours are 11pm-5am, because that's when everyone goes out), and in Korea the taxis have GPS/TV systems, so we were watching the Germany/Argentina game. It was really fun, all of us all relaxed and cozy with the leather seats, cheering and groaning at each play of the game. Futbol is the same across all cultures, love it.
Back at the hostel, refresh and finish watching Germany seriously dominate Argentina. It's sad really. Sleeeep, feeling so clean and my skin so SMOOTH!
Wake up, think about using the computer/internet at the internet cafe, then decide to save my 1500W because what's a few more hours of not using the computer? Go to Centum City, known as the biggest mall in the Guiness Book of World Records, take lots of pictures and just wander. They were adamant about opening at 10:30am, and there was a line of people waiting to get in. When you get in, they all say "Annyong hashimnika" in unison. It was pretty creepy. Don't buy anything because it's just too nice. At these department stores, when you enter a shopping area, there's an employee that follows you, which they consider to be 'attentive' but it's to make sure you aren't mussing up their clothes or stealing anything (though you can't steal, with CCTV watching your every move)
Me and the girls I went with have a goal to eat this fondue dish they have at baskin robbins: it's 12000W (divided among 4 people is pretty cheap) which has ALL of the flavors of ice cream and a chocolate fondue /syrup thing in the middle. but when we got there the worker said they didn't have it. fail. we'll do it some other time and I will have pictures!
Meet at Haeundae beach for lunch, but have some time to kill so hang out in the cold water!
The sand is pretty rough, with all of the broken seashells, but the sand feels so warm when getting out of the water.
Meet up with the rest of the group, and go to lunch at "The Party", a 10min walk from our meeting location. LUNCH BUFFET?!?!?!! Normally it would cost 35000W, which sounds about right. Lots of seafood. I didn't eat any of it. They had FRUIT and I sure went to town on THAT! and desserts. So, I wouldn't usually eat much at a buffet, but I win at desserts. haha.
We're all soooo sleepy, leaving at 17:00, so I fall asleep almost immediately on the bus, as we are traveling back to Seoul. Rest stop, bus, rest stop, back in Seoul at around 11pm. Homework, reconnect with the world, unpack, fall asleep.
It was definitely a great weekend/field trip! I'm glad I went because I met a lot of UC students and now people to hang out with in Korea! :] I hope y'all didn't miss me too much when I was AFK :] I have yet to talk to Joey, who is the student services advisor, about how she got her job...
Things to summarize about this weekend:
-The most important thing I learned to say was, 녹자 (nook cha): GREEN TEA. z0mg0mzgz0m0gmg. plain green tea, without barley and junk!
-when going to a jjimjilbang, it can be pretty nerve-wracking to undress in front of a group of [new] friends. I recommend going to one by yourself first, and then getting naked will be a whole lot easier!
-If the octopus tentacle is still sticking together, that means it's still alive.
Coming up:
random things like matching couples, Konglish, and more on distinguishing foreigners. oh, and review of eclipse (once I watch it) and this upcoming weekend.
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