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!>