Gyeongbuk Cultural Trip
October 18 -19, 2012
On October
18 and 19, I attended our POE cultural trip. Our destination was Jeollabuk-do
Ilwon. I thought the trip was planned at a very good time with a lot of
activities and I really did enjoy seeing more of Korea.
We were
asked to arrive at Daegu at 8:30am on Thursday to then take the bus to Jeonju
for the bibimbap festival. Jeonju is known to have the best bibimbap in of all
of Korea. Our bus ride was about 3-4 hours and when we got to Jeonju, we ate
the best bibimbap I’ve had in Korea. Honestly, I am not much of a bibimbap fan
but I had to admit, it was pretty good. After lunch, we went to the Jeonju folk
village. I thought it was really beautiful since the leaves on the trees were
starting to change colors. I really wanted to stay longer and walk around more
but time was limited. We did three activities at the folk village. First, we
took a tour of the folk-style homes and visited the art museum. We learned a
lot about the famous kings in Jeonju. Second, we made a picture frame with
Korea’s famous paper, Hanji. I enjoyed that session a lot because it gave us
time to sit down and just have conversations with one another while we work on
our frames. The last activity was a tea ceremony. We got to learn how to make
and serve tea. The tea was really good; especially when the weather was getting
so cold outside.
We left
Jeonju and traveled to a resort in Buan. I think our POE really knows the best
venues for overnight stay. The resort was really nice and very high class. I
was especially happy because I really wanted a good night sleep. We had a really
good dinner and rested til 8:30pm. We were told to come down for a “meeting” at
8:30. We arrived at the conference room and saw that it was more like a
surprise party than a meeting. We had snacks, drinks, and beers on the table.
The “party” began with speeches from our POE supervisor and our President. We
ate and caught up with one another about our experiences so far.
The next
morning, we took the bus to Chaesok River. The bus ride was about 5 minutes
since the river was really close by. It was called a river but it looks more an
ocean. The sight of the ocean is breathtaking, especially in the morning. I
personally really enjoy going to the ocean because it just reminds me of how
small how I am. We departed from Buan and went to see the Saemangeum seawall
then had lunch. I enjoyed that lunch very much because we had spicy crab for one
of the side dishes. One of the servers asked me if I was Korean and I said no.
She then asked if I was ok since the food was really spicy. I would totally eat
more of that spicy crab if I weren’t so full.
We arrived
in Daegu at around 6pm and I took the bus back to Pohang. I got home at around
8pm.
Overall, I think the best thing
about the trip was seeing other TaLK scholars in my province again. Even though
the bus ride was tiring, it gave me a chance to talk and catch up with one of
the scholars. We talked about our experiences at our school and our time in
Korea. It really helped me to feel not alone because we experienced a lot of
the same things. I was happy to get some time off of school and do something
out of the ordinary. I think trip also was one of the key factors in helping me
decide whether or not I should extend my contract and stay for another six
months.
Jeonju bibimbap Festival
Jeonju Folk Village
Chaeseok River/Ocean
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