When I first decided to go to Korea, my roommate Emily told me about this girl she had become friends with in Boston that was already there. So I friended Laura on facebook in order to make contact, ask questions and stalk her life in Korea. Low and behold she went to IU and was good friends with Annie Gill, whom I lived with in San Fransisco when we did a summer program together. I got a reference to live with Annie back then because she had lived with my good friend Margaret when they studied abroad together in Vienna. Laura informs me that she knows another girl who is planning on coming around the same time I am. She also knows Annie, as she too lived with her in Vienna. Enter Kay, who knows Annie, Laura and Margaret. Laura knows Annie, Kay and Emily. Margaret knows Annie, Kay and Emily. Annie knows Margaret, Kay and Laura. I know them all and they all know me...now. As Kay and I arrived, Laura was getting ready to go home. She was so busy that Kay and I decided to met up for a blind date since we just so happen to live about a 15 min bus ride from each other. During dinner we decided that I had met her in her apartment at IU when I was there with Margaret about 4 years ago. It's a small world after all.
Moving on. Kay and I took a tour with the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch to see the cherry blossoms. I jumped at the chance to have get out of the city with no planning or responsibility on my part. We left early Saturday morning for our 5 hour road trip to the south coast of So Ko. First we went to the island of Namhae. We visited a few points of historical interest of course, but most of that information went in one ear and out the other. Sadly, I am not now (nor do I ever plan to be) an Asian history buff. It was wonderful to but out in the "country" though, driving along the coast. The highlight of the day had to be the ferry boat tour we took along the coast. It was a tri-leveled boat. The top being an open deck, the middle being enclosed with plenty of comfortable seating and big windows, and the bottom being two large dance floors. As we entered the boat the party was already bumping with about 50 ajahshes and ajahmas (old men and old women) in full on hiking gear. I felt like I was on a post-prom-party boat, except it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and everyone partaking in the rowdiness was over 60. We checked a few times, and the party was raging the whole two hours. There were even three white Ukrainian women dancers that were hired to keep the party going. Basically they come out every once in awhile and danced around in basically their underwear. Seriously. Also, I became obsessed with taking pictures of fishing boats during this time.
We went to a beautiful temple up in the mountains next and then off to dinner at a restaurant on the beach where we had a wonderful feast which included the most amazing oyster concoction I've ever had. I'm not much for sea food, but they looked so good (and non-Korean foodesque) I had to try one. We later came to learn that the restaurant owner had learned how to make them from a French friend. The Koreans love their fusion....
We stayed in a nice Motel with Korean style accommodations (sleeping on a mat on the floor). At this point I'm so used to my hard bed that the floor was no different. Plus, we had a bathtub. Score!
It was another early morning to head over to Jinhae for the cherry blossom festival. I kept hearing about how Jinhae is just a small town of 200,000 with a Naval Base that hosts over a million people each year for the cherry blossom festival. It wasn't quite was I was expecting. In my mind I was thinking it would be like walking through an apple orchard, but with flowering trees. Not so much. I almost felt like I was at a street festival in Chicago, but all the streets were lined with cherry blossoms. It also was not as crowed as I had expected. I think I might be too used to Seoul.
Another exciting aspect of it was the "road trip" like experience we had on the bus. Mainly, I enjoyed stopping at rest stops, which are crazy! Of course. Everyone has restrooms, gas station, convince store, Korean cafeteria style food inside and bad for you "street" food outside. And of course vendors are set up in the parking lot to sell you all kinds of stuff. I really think the states need to pick up on this.
All in all it was a wonderful little weekend. It also marked my official joining of the "Twilight" train. I hadn't even heard of the book series until I got here and the movie hit theaters in November. A couple of girls in the office wanted to see it, so I went. Seems like since then everyone has been reading the books. I finally got my hands on the second book and read the whole thing on the trip. I would just like to state that it is ridiculous, and I loved it. I am a Jacob fan.
Pictures are up too...
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