We had a 3 day weekend in late May in honor of Buddha's birthday but since we clearly had no spiritual connection to this holiday, we decided a trip to the beach was a good way to celebrate. In fact, a trip to the beach is the perfect way to celebrate anything in my opinion! :)
Navigating and organizing this trip were Namuk and April. Kayleigh and I were mostly along for the ride and Namuk was driving and brought 2 of his other Korean friends. This made for a unique situation since they didn't speak English, we don't speak Korean and April and Namuk had to act as international translators for the entire trip! :) Luckily some things can be communicated without words.
Our trip began with a long drive to Gojedo Island. We got out and explored a rock beach for awhile and then found some lunch. We spent the rest of the day at a POW museum and headed back to the beach in the late afternoon. We decided that April looked entirely too comfortable burying herself in the sand and plotted to drag her in the water. After much kicking and screaming, we managed to dunk her and as revenge, she then proceeded to knock Namuk in next. It was really funny! After the beach and changing clothes, we found this amazing buffet that served all you can eat, meat! It was the most delicious meal I have had in Korea. Wow!
The next part of our journey was not quite as enjoyable. Because it was a holiday weekend, we were not able to get a hotel and that means we were stuck staying at a Korean jimjilbang (public shared bathhouse). This was to be my 3rd experience at this type of place and I fully anticipated getting zero sleep and my expectations were right on target. If I can instill a mental image for you, picture me laying down on the hard floor in between a set of lockers in a girls locker room, using my rain jacket, shorts and t-shirt as a blanket, my other pants as a pillow, lights on, people everywhere, talking loudly, slamming lockers. And then at 3am, having a old naked Korean woman telling me to move because she couldn't get into her locker. Not the ideal way to be bothered in the middle of the night. I can't say she woke me up though, because that would imply that I slept. However, since this particular situation was out of my control, I did the best I could and tried to enjoy the remainder of our trip.
We drove to Jeonju the next morning and ate bibimbab which Jeonju happens to be well known for. Then we walked around the city and participated in a traditional Korean tea ceremony. We also went to a foot spa and soaked our cold feet in different mixtures of therapies based on our personality test. That was interesting. The weather was rainy the entire day and after fighting with it for hours, we settled into a warm and dry tea shop for some drinks and games. We left Jeonju around 5:00 and headed back to Gongju. I was worn out and grateful that Namuk's friend still had energy enough to drive us safely home!
Navigating and organizing this trip were Namuk and April. Kayleigh and I were mostly along for the ride and Namuk was driving and brought 2 of his other Korean friends. This made for a unique situation since they didn't speak English, we don't speak Korean and April and Namuk had to act as international translators for the entire trip! :) Luckily some things can be communicated without words.
Our trip began with a long drive to Gojedo Island. We got out and explored a rock beach for awhile and then found some lunch. We spent the rest of the day at a POW museum and headed back to the beach in the late afternoon. We decided that April looked entirely too comfortable burying herself in the sand and plotted to drag her in the water. After much kicking and screaming, we managed to dunk her and as revenge, she then proceeded to knock Namuk in next. It was really funny! After the beach and changing clothes, we found this amazing buffet that served all you can eat, meat! It was the most delicious meal I have had in Korea. Wow!
The next part of our journey was not quite as enjoyable. Because it was a holiday weekend, we were not able to get a hotel and that means we were stuck staying at a Korean jimjilbang (public shared bathhouse). This was to be my 3rd experience at this type of place and I fully anticipated getting zero sleep and my expectations were right on target. If I can instill a mental image for you, picture me laying down on the hard floor in between a set of lockers in a girls locker room, using my rain jacket, shorts and t-shirt as a blanket, my other pants as a pillow, lights on, people everywhere, talking loudly, slamming lockers. And then at 3am, having a old naked Korean woman telling me to move because she couldn't get into her locker. Not the ideal way to be bothered in the middle of the night. I can't say she woke me up though, because that would imply that I slept. However, since this particular situation was out of my control, I did the best I could and tried to enjoy the remainder of our trip.
We drove to Jeonju the next morning and ate bibimbab which Jeonju happens to be well known for. Then we walked around the city and participated in a traditional Korean tea ceremony. We also went to a foot spa and soaked our cold feet in different mixtures of therapies based on our personality test. That was interesting. The weather was rainy the entire day and after fighting with it for hours, we settled into a warm and dry tea shop for some drinks and games. We left Jeonju around 5:00 and headed back to Gongju. I was worn out and grateful that Namuk's friend still had energy enough to drive us safely home!
