Seoul and Fall Weather!

This blog is long overdue - but we were recently on holiday! This past week was a traditional Korean holiday called Chuseok. Dan and I ventured to the big city! Seoul is one of the most populated cities in the world with over 20 million in the center and outer lying areas. We had great time and stayed with some of our friends for the week. Luckily, we went at an opportune time because of the big Chuseok holiday, and for the first two days Seoul was (almost) empty. We had great tour guides - Dan's friend - Tom and my friend David. We were fortunate to have them because we might have been lost for days.

Most children still wear the traditional Korean dress on Chuseok, the very colorful Hanbok - I have a picture below (not a creepy picture, I asked the mother before taking it). We wanted to do some tourist things since it was our first time to the city, so we visited the Gyeongbukgong Palace. We were also able to go to Seoul Towers - a massive circular structure that overlooks the entire city. I did not take any pictures, mainly because the camera would not do justice to the amazing views. It is overwhelming to look at how far the city stretches and how extensive everything is. There is also TONS of shopping in Seoul (I restrained myself this time...) and more importantly tons of open air flea markets. These are, of course, our favorite type of places to shop. Just something exciting about cheap and unique crap. We always feel like we need more.


A part of the Gyeongbukgong Palace. It is one of the largest palaces in Korea.


Dan and I with the guards of Gyeongbukgong Palace - they don't smile.


A little girl in traditional Hanbok. They are all different and hand made - very beautiful. The little boy outfits are even better.

Anyway, went to a few very fun jazz bars and another restaurant/bar where the owner makes his own rice wine and tofu. Delicious. We are planning another trip soon, you can imagine with a city that big - we only touched the tip of the iceberg on the true Seoul experience. Despite the city being amazing, etc. etc. - Dan and I are really pleased that we live in our city. It has allowed us to immerse ourselves a bit more in the Korean lifestyle. If we were living in Seoul, we probably would've turned to things that made us immediately comfortable - and there are LOADS of western things in Seoul. Thusly, bring it on Gunsan.

On another note - the weather here has taken a turn for the better. The most delicious fall weather that I have ever experienced...well actually the only fall weather I have ever experienced. It is windy and cool outside - extremely pleasant and I could go on forever. So we are trying to take full advantage and spend time outside! We had a great holiday and will begin school again tomorrow. Cheers. We love you all x x (Many pictures below. Enjoy!!)


Koreans love shoes! This is a photo at one of the flea markets. Shoes everywhere.


A stop at the Korean War Museum. We spent a few hours here, very interesting and informative as you can imagine.


Dan, David and I at the bar that makes their own rice wine. As you can see - Dan is looking more and more Korean with every passing day.


WHAT! Black and Gold at the Dongdaemun Underground Market. Too good baby, too good. Apparently, they took an American shirt with English on it, then translated it into Korean and then untranslated it back to English. I can tell all of this because of the literal phrases that they use that are located above and under the Saints helmet - Shiny Gold and the best located underneath which you unfortunately cannot read: "Strong Man - I am enjoying the speed, a handsome man." And, of course, this shirt was created in honor of Archie Manning - which I am sure the Korean designers definitely knew to be...a handsome man.

Baseball and Temples

Greetings! We had a busy week and attended our first Korean baseball game (and Dan's first baseball game in general) with our Air Force friends. It was very exciting - we were cheering for the KIA Tigers, our home team, and they won 9-3. Korean baseball is much more active than American baseball due to smaller field dimensions and less steroids. It made for an interesting and fun game! Sadly, however, this was one of our last outings with the military guys. A few are leaving Korea and are being shipped out to either Iraq or Afghanistan. We will miss their company.

On Saturday, we decided that we were in need of some sightseeing, and we ventured to our first temple. We went to Eunjeok-san, a local Buddhist temple located at the base of one of the hiking trails in Wolmeyong Park. It was very peaceful and calm, and we were excited to see some of the amazing architecture and painting. After several hours of deep meditation and mental cleansing, we went for an exciting walk on one of the mountain trails. There are a few massive structures located around the mountain. The picture below is the Susi Pagoda and it is a symbol of the city's defenses. This particular structure can be seen from around the city and is especially beautiful to see in the evening.

The Susi Pagoda in Wolmeyong Park. I thought this was particularly nice. It is in the shape of a flame and represents the prosperity and protection of Gunsan (I got that out of a guide book.)


Eunjeok-san Temple in its beautiful courtyard. The weather provided us with a slight misty rain that I thought added to the visit. There were a few other buildings that we were not allowed to enter, but were equally as beautiful. We assumed that these were for the monks living there.


This is the inside of the main temple. The entire temple - both inside and outside - is painted with bright and beautiful colors and with very intricate details. The Buddha statues were made in 1629 - they depict the perfect and well balanced postures that are practiced in Buddhism. I wish I could share all of the photos with you!

We then ventured into the local fish market. Here is a sample of some of the fish/squid/sting rays that they offer. We were not brave enough to buy a fish that we didn't know how to appropriately gut and fillet, so maybe next time.


After our walk, we treated ourselves to dinner. We decided to go for the traditional Korean meal as pictured below. It was delicious. The meat we had is called galbi - and we cooked it at our table and wrapped it in lettuce leaves. All of the sides were delicious - bar a few - one that looked like the skin of a spiny snake-snail hybrid.

The colors of the food are just as good as the food itself! I am grilling - I've become quite the cook over here :)



Here is Dan trying out the spiny skin thing. Naturally - he is much braver than I am. However, I will say that neither of us thought about trying the raw octopus that they brought out, or the flesh colored squiggly substance that accompanied the pieces of raw liver. Sick.

Until next time. We miss you.

Friends!

This weekend, we went out with our military friends again. One of them is being shipped to Iraq, so he was celebrating his last week in Korea and they wanted us to tag along. The night was fun (and long)! We ended up at a German Ice Bar and were served beers in mugs made of ice. Nothing special, but then we were able to throw our ice mugs at a target to win prizes. Needless to say, we definitely didn't win. We were in a very lively area of town, and happened to meet some Koreans playing games in the street. There are games set up - sort of like games at a fair - to measure your strength...basically how hard can you punch a punching bag, kick a soccer ball, etc. So there we were...4 Americans and a Brit in the middle of the street testing our strengths with an onlooking crowd of cheering Koreans. It was hilarious.


Our cheering buddies from the street.


Our military friends.

The next day, we went to a tourist area called Eun Pa Park. It is an extremely popular spot in the city and has a big walking trail and restaurants. It has a bridge that crosses over the lake that lights up in the evening with bright techno-colored lights, and there is also a music fountain that plays every hour. In the spring, the park has a cherry blossom path that will blossom as well. We took a stroll around the lake and listened to the live music being played in the park. It was very nice.


Dan in the stream at Eun Pa Park.


The bridge at sunset. The architecture of the bridge was very unique.


Here is the bridge lit up at night from across the lake. So colorful :)

Walking around Town...

We've taken a few walks around the neighborhood over the past few weeks, but I have not posted any pictures of the surrounding area. After visiting some of the different places in the city, we consider our area to be the "industrial" part of Gunsan. A lot of door and glass making businesses are located around here. Needless to say, the buildings are more run down and shabby than in other areas of Gunsan. However, there are very funny murals painted on various walls around the city, we assume these are to liven up and bring color to the streets. Since the other areas of the city are fresh and new, I suppose that the paintings are meant to bring a sense of pride and a future hope to the Gunsanians in this part of the city.


One of the few paintings on the walls. Must have to do with Art Vandelay's prosperous importing and exporting business that was set up in Gunsan (a Seinfeld joke for those who do not follow). As you can tell, most of my pictures are of Dan doing funny things.


This is a good one. Huge Korean girls playing on the beach.


Both of these paintings are across the street from this place. I put this here just to give you an idea of what the rest of our area looks like. I find it ironic. Images of a beautiful Gunsan...next to an interior decorating/remodeling business that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 20 years and has been infested with hoarders. I wonder if they get any business.


But then you walk a few blocks - and you get stuff like this! This was on our walk in Wolmeyoung Park nearby. Lots of hiking and lots of statues and monuments. To me, these stairs have an Asian feel to them. Very cool.

O yeah - we found out about the special "bugs" that we ate. I have posted the picture again in case you have forgotten how delectable the look. They sell them in the grocery store. As it turns out, they are silkworm larvae. Disgusting.