bamboo forest

With my trip last week to Mokpo, and a trip yesterday to Wolchulsan (a mountain with an insane suspension bridge), I now consider myself an expert at Korean travel. Bill and Roxanne (the 3rd teacher who arrived with us) ventured to a town called Damyang (45 minutes away) to see a bamboo forest. I felt like such an expert showing them the bus terminal, how to buy tickets, how to find your bus, etc.. lol

The bamboo forest was awesome. I'd never seen a bamboo forest before. Being a Sunday (Korean unofficial sightseeing day), it was jam packed full of people. It was great, though: a drum show, Korean vendor food, and bamboo wine and tea (when I got home, I tried them both. The bamboo tea has virtually no taste, but the bamboo wine is very good. Might have to go back and get more).

All in all, a bamboo forest, 2 Buddhist temples, a giant Buddha statue, a tunnel of trees, a riverwalk, good times.

a day trip!

My only complaint about living in Korea so far has been my feeling of cabin fever. I've spent the last couple weekends exploring Gwangju, but I've been antsy to get out of town and explore other areas. This is my first time living in a foreign country, and at times it has been daunting. I remember our first subway trip: Bill, Brittany, and I (2 of the other teachers who arrived at the same time) felt a real sense of accomplishment of figuring out the system by ourselves. We were tremendously excited. Our first taxi ride and first department store experience created similar excitement. The objective today: our first trip out of the city.

Britt and I travelled to Mokpo, a port city less than an hour away. It can be reached from Gwangju by bus or train, so we decided to take the bus down and the train back to learn how to navigate both. The ride down was fascinating: old women working in the rice fields, random statue-and-sculpture displays, numerous family burial mounds, and countless tunnels. When we arrived in Korea, it was dark, so this was our first time seeing the countryside (although I'd seen it before when I came to Korea on vacation in 2003).

Mokpo was a charming little town. We took a taxi to a mountain park, where we hiked around and took in the views. We stopped by a sculpture park and a beautiful Buddhist temple. We found a tourist kiosk and stopped by to pick up brochures and maps for souvenirs. One of the 2 women there spoke English, so we asked her for a suggestion for a place to eat. She came out and told us to follow. I thought she was going to point a place to us, but instead she felt compelled to lead us directly to the place itself, about a block away. We were impressed with the hospitality, it was charming that she led us to the place herself, then told the restaurant owner to sit us (we think). It was a traditional Korean restaurant, so we took off our shoes and sat cross-legged at a tiny table, eating bibimbap (rice, egg, spices, and all sorts of unknown things all mixed together).

Luckily we made it back to the town center before a downpour arrived. We sat in a convenience store eating noodles while we waited for the time to board the train. Sometimes the simplest memories are the ones you remember the most..

I was so proud that I figured out how to travel in Korea without help. I was like a kid who rode his bike without training wheels for the first time. I'm sure I was acting like a kid as well when I boasted to everyone at work about it...

the "genitalia" tree- LOL

my first train ride- ever!>

random exploration

Today was a day of exploring Gwangju. Brittany and I set out to find a few local landmarks, with cartoonish Gwangju tourist map in hand. In Korea, only the major streets have names, and addresses are sometimes non-existant. After what seemed like hours of walking and wandering, we found a cathedral and the "missionary house," the oldest western-style building in Gwangju. Next to the house was a swing tied to a tree. On our way out, Britt went into a cafe to use the restroom, as I waited outside. A few minutes later, she came out and told me that the owner of the cafe was insisting I come inside. I was slightly nervous because we were on the campus of a Christian college, which already made me uncomfortable, and the cafe was named after the founder (who had lived in the house in the 1890's). However, the "Jesus Freak" cafe was the highlight of the day. The decor was elegant, with a stage for a band. We were the only 2 customers (probably because it was Sunday, which was strange for me. In Utah, any church-related business would NEVER be open on Sunday). My mocha was the best-tasting treat I had had since I arrived in Korea. The owner was very sweet and gracious. Refreshed and rejuvenated, we left and explored the campus a little bit. We hiked up a hill and discovered at the top, in true Korean fashion, outdoor gym equipment. Apparently Koreans like to hike up a hill, THEN workout.. lol Overall, a very memorable day.

weirdness..

One thing about Korea that's different from home is the Korean shopping districts. In them, stores are clumped together by theme; for example, several shoe stores will be next to each other. Walk a little further, and there will be nothing but athletic clothing stores. Keep going, and all the stores will be selling home appliances. After that comes the section for prosthetic body parts. Yep, that's right- I found the "pbp" shopping section of Gwangju. I counted no less than 6 separate businesses that all sold replacement arms, legs, noses (?), all within the same block. Wow....

(makes me wonder- how many prosthetics retailers does a city need?)