There was a national holiday Tuesday, so we were planning on doing some great things with our day off.
PLAN A was to go to the amusement park, Woobang Tower Land, but Heather got sick. We decided to save that since she was chomping at the bit to go.
PLAN B: Our friend Won really wanted to take us to Gyeongju, which is an historical city, and far be it from me to deny a ride in someone's car. Won and his friend Maxwell picked us up and we took a little trip to Gyeongju.
We started out at the museums, looking at all kinds of artifacts and old stuff. The English translations on the artifacts usually used proper grammar and spelling, and even the right words, but they still didn't make sense. The museums were pretty boring, but we thought the guys were really interested, so we oozed like snails, pouring over every little sign, staring an abnormally long at simple, rusted remnants, bobbing our heads, and making little comments to feign interest. As it turns out, the guys only went to the museums because they thought we were super interested in it. We were feeding each others sluggishness. But boy did we have a laugh after pouring over 30,000+ years of history! (This is a lie).
Then, we went to a park to see the hill tombs where kings are burried. We watched horse drawn carriages mosey through the park, we watched families picnicing, we walked in fields of wildflowers, we watched Won perform on the rings and parallel bars, and we took some very posed pictures.
We bought a hat for sicky-Heather and and I made the boys try it on. Max is very shy and he turned about 3 shades of red when I asked him to put it on. He kept saying, "No, no, no, no. I can't." I finally convinced him that he could and that he should. When he put that hat on his head, you'd have thought I'd asked him to prance around in his underwear. He was mortified. I loved it.
Jessica soon became obsessed with the hat. I am not exaggerating about this part: About every minute or two during the walk, she would sing another praise for the hat.
At lunch, Won and Max ordered for us. I reminded them that I hated seafood, so they ordered me tofu soup, which they assured me was delicious. The waitress brought out the boiling bowls of soup, and peering up at me were 4 beady, black shrimp eyes attached to gigantic, fleshy, shrimp bodies. In this soup, you crack an egg into it and wait for it to cook. As I was stirring it and waiting for it to cook, my spoon met with a hard, brittle suprise at the bottom of my bowl. Oysters were lurking at the bottom, lying in wait for my unsuspecting spoon. My egg never really cooked, so I also had raw egg floating amongst the shrimp and oyster. I tasted the oyster and as soon as it bit into it, it came out of my mouth and into my napkin, which got big laughs from everyone but me. I also tasted this soft jelly stuff that was dark camo-green and was made from buckwheat. It was not delicious, but I managed to keep it in my mouth.
After lunch, we went to this really gorgeous, romantic lake. The weather was perfect. The sun was hot, but there was lots of shade and a slight cool breeze. People were riding little scooters, four wheelers, and bikes everywhere. Children were playing, couples were strolling. It was perfect. We rented a paddle boat shaped like a duck, where Won and Jessica sat back and relaxed while Max and I paddled, slaved, and cheuffered all around the lake. I did learn lots of Korean from Won's commands, though.
Then, Won drove us to Gampo, which is a beach about 40 minutes away. It was dusk and getting chilly, but we stood and stared quietly for a long time. Finally, we saw some flying fish! After the fish stopped jumping, we headed home to check on Heather. On the way home we had a little sing along to a corny country cd someone gave Won for Christmas in Kentucky. Apparently when he studied there, he developed quite a love for country music.
What a great day!
Create Your Own!
PLAN A was to go to the amusement park, Woobang Tower Land, but Heather got sick. We decided to save that since she was chomping at the bit to go.
PLAN B: Our friend Won really wanted to take us to Gyeongju, which is an historical city, and far be it from me to deny a ride in someone's car. Won and his friend Maxwell picked us up and we took a little trip to Gyeongju.
We started out at the museums, looking at all kinds of artifacts and old stuff. The English translations on the artifacts usually used proper grammar and spelling, and even the right words, but they still didn't make sense. The museums were pretty boring, but we thought the guys were really interested, so we oozed like snails, pouring over every little sign, staring an abnormally long at simple, rusted remnants, bobbing our heads, and making little comments to feign interest. As it turns out, the guys only went to the museums because they thought we were super interested in it. We were feeding each others sluggishness. But boy did we have a laugh after pouring over 30,000+ years of history! (This is a lie).
Then, we went to a park to see the hill tombs where kings are burried. We watched horse drawn carriages mosey through the park, we watched families picnicing, we walked in fields of wildflowers, we watched Won perform on the rings and parallel bars, and we took some very posed pictures.
We bought a hat for sicky-Heather and and I made the boys try it on. Max is very shy and he turned about 3 shades of red when I asked him to put it on. He kept saying, "No, no, no, no. I can't." I finally convinced him that he could and that he should. When he put that hat on his head, you'd have thought I'd asked him to prance around in his underwear. He was mortified. I loved it.
Jessica soon became obsessed with the hat. I am not exaggerating about this part: About every minute or two during the walk, she would sing another praise for the hat.
At lunch, Won and Max ordered for us. I reminded them that I hated seafood, so they ordered me tofu soup, which they assured me was delicious. The waitress brought out the boiling bowls of soup, and peering up at me were 4 beady, black shrimp eyes attached to gigantic, fleshy, shrimp bodies. In this soup, you crack an egg into it and wait for it to cook. As I was stirring it and waiting for it to cook, my spoon met with a hard, brittle suprise at the bottom of my bowl. Oysters were lurking at the bottom, lying in wait for my unsuspecting spoon. My egg never really cooked, so I also had raw egg floating amongst the shrimp and oyster. I tasted the oyster and as soon as it bit into it, it came out of my mouth and into my napkin, which got big laughs from everyone but me. I also tasted this soft jelly stuff that was dark camo-green and was made from buckwheat. It was not delicious, but I managed to keep it in my mouth.
After lunch, we went to this really gorgeous, romantic lake. The weather was perfect. The sun was hot, but there was lots of shade and a slight cool breeze. People were riding little scooters, four wheelers, and bikes everywhere. Children were playing, couples were strolling. It was perfect. We rented a paddle boat shaped like a duck, where Won and Jessica sat back and relaxed while Max and I paddled, slaved, and cheuffered all around the lake. I did learn lots of Korean from Won's commands, though.
Then, Won drove us to Gampo, which is a beach about 40 minutes away. It was dusk and getting chilly, but we stood and stared quietly for a long time. Finally, we saw some flying fish! After the fish stopped jumping, we headed home to check on Heather. On the way home we had a little sing along to a corny country cd someone gave Won for Christmas in Kentucky. Apparently when he studied there, he developed quite a love for country music.
What a great day!
Create Your Own!
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