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Published: November 18th 2006
Ok so about four weeks ago ( I work on a delay around here can you tell!) one of my wonderful 1A students (Kelly) and her mother Gloria took me to the place in the title (I'm not spelling it again and I can't say it either, trying to explain to people where I went just drew lots of blank faces).
This vilage is one of the few remaining walled villages in the country and was first constructed as an earthen-wall fortress during the late 1390s. Inside there are many traditional thatched roof cottages, geometric rice paddies and ponds.
I was picked up at 9am on a Sunday morning at my house and it took three hours to get there. On the way there it began to rain. And I mean seriously rain. Up until then it hadn't rained since I had been in Korea so I was only wearing a T-shirt and a thin jumper. After investing in a big plastic bag with hood the situation improved slightly but nevertheless I was totally sopping wet and very very cold. Add to the mix the fact I'd had only three hours sleep the night before, well, the pictures say
it all really. Wish I hadn't quit Brownies after only a few sessions and then I may have been better prepared, I blame mum who hadn't let me defrost the fridge for my house keeping badge, apparently the Brownies had no understanding of home economics if they wanted to defrost the fridge when there was still perfectly good food to be eaten. Therefore my first badge was a lie and I totally rejected the notion of 'being prepared'.( it wasn't that I was hungover and not thinking when I left the house, no no no no no)
However, regardless of the rain and the cold I had a really fantastic day, it was wonderful to get out of the city and into the countryside, the fresh air was just what I needed and I slept like a baby that night. There was a traditional food festival going on at the folk village and I ate the best dok galbi I've had since I've been here (I'm develping what I like to refer to as a galbi belly- not a sign that I'm getting fat and greedy, I'm just merely immersing myself in he Korean culture as any foreigner should).
Better than your average tea ladies..
..they were wearing the traditional Korean dress hanbok and their tea (dare I say it) could rival TetleysI also drank LOTS of traditional green tea- the warm cup was most welcome!
Gloria then drove us the FIVE hours it took to get home- honestly from what I've seen the Busan traffic is a nightmare. Busan is Korea's second largest city and yet the road we were on, one of the major roads into the city, was only a dual carriageway, not even a motorway. Basically in the late 1980's cars went from being considered as a luxury item to being a necessity meaning that the numbers of cars increased dramatically but the infrastructure couldn't support them.
On a weekend it is perfectly normal to be stuck in traffic for hours- it completely defeats the point of getting out of the city. You go from being peaceful and relaxed hiking in a mountain to meet modern living again with not so much a bang but a honk and a toot toot.
I couldn't thank Gloria and Kelly enough for giving m such a fantastic day out- Goria drove 8 hours in total that day and if she was stressed she didn't show it.
There are also some photos of a temple we went
to, sorry but the name escapes me.
Hope you're all well 😊
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