Despite the stress my Wednesday after school parent's class caused me for the majority of the semester, one really great thing has happened as of a result of it. Two of the women (the only regular attendees) have taken me under their wing and we are going to try and meet up once a month now the class has finished. Yesterday, Nikki and Megan drove me to Palgonsan area where we visited an authentic traditional Korean village. All the inhabitants have the same surname because their ancestors have lived there so long. It turned out to be one of my favourite Korean experiences so far. The area was so tranquil and scenic with narrow, winding roads and picturesque, dry stone walls. The houses are very much lived in but also set up for people to walk around the grounds. Traditional Korean houses and farming materials are contrasted with TVs, fridge freezers and modern appliances. The only part of these houses where there is any privacy are the bedrooms. The living areas are usually open to the elements and prying eyes. My favourite one had beautiful dark wood furniture which matched the dark wood of the buildings. A huge framed Hangul poem written by one of the family's ancestors was hung on one wall. It was about the woman's love and respect for Palgon mountain but also about how she still misses her childhood home at the age of seventy. Nikki grew up in the country so she could explain what everything was used for. She also loves plants and flowers. She picked flowers we could eat! I particularly loved the shoes made from left over farming materials and a cute little balcony which leads onto the attic.
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| The living area of one of the houses. |
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| Clay pots which contain kimchi and bean paste. They are buried in the ground while they ferment and then dug up when ready to eat. |
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| The interior of the living room. So beautiful, I want to live here. The big frame contains the hangul poem. |
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Shoes made from waste farming products.
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After this we had a lovely lunch in a building which looked like one of these traditional houses. We had a rice drink I haven't tried before then lots and lots of dishes of fish, meat and vegetables. One of my favourite Korean meals.
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| Oops...forgot to take a photo before we started eating! |
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Rice drink. Apparently this is a traditional drink because before rice cookers a lot of rice used to get burnt so they would re-boil it to make this drink.
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Finally, we stopped at a garden centre where I bought a pretty little plant for my apartment and then went to the cute cake shop near my place and had Bing Soo.
In the evening, I went downtown to pick up my Korean name necklace. I love it!
