towns, temples and tests

so i guess it's been two weeks or so since i've last had a personal internet connection or cell phone. there were darks nights. days when i did nothing but sat and stared at the wall. i walked around in a constant stupor. i was a junkie cutoff from his junk (which just sounds weird now that i've typed it out and read it). but now i'm back! hello free internet in room! you're so lovely. soon i will have a cellphone. or handphone as they call them in korea. isn't that adorable? but anyways...there is serious catching up to do. first up on the docket: korean cultural experience tours!

for the first leg of the tour we visited a traditional korean village in jeonju. i'm not sure if the village had a name...oh wait, the rock in the first picture says jeonju hanok village. it was what you might expect of a traditional asian village - plenty of cool architecture (i'm not sure what that roofing structure is called but you probably know what i'm talking about), people doing crafts by hand, automatic sliding glass doors...you know, real traditional things. we also made fans. a group of us decided to start the "epik drinking club" so we decorated our fans to signify membership. we asked the staff how to write that in hangul, but apparently what ended up on my fan (something like sul-kun or maybe sul-gun) is more closely translated as "someone who is a heavy drinker." at least they got the spirit of the club right.

jeonju is known for their bibimbap.

this is a traditional korean drum and dance performance.

they invited us to join in.

the second leg of our cultural experience was a visit to the geumsan-sa temple, a massive buddhist temple founded in 599 AD. it was basically one of the most picturesque places i've ever been. if only all those damn foreigners weren't there ruining my pictures (and my immersion!). there was a good 10 minute walk up to the temple from the parking area that followed a winding path next to a stream. all along the path, families were camping and bbqing. many were swimming in the stream. some people set up a table and chairs right in the middle of the stream and were having lunch there. it was a great idea. i mean really, kudos to those people, i'm doing that the next chance i get.

after we were all sick and tired of the beautiful scenery, we took a dip in the stream ourselves.

the rest of orientation was a series of lectures and survival korean courses. all good and useful things. at the end of the week, we were put in 2-3 person groups and had to give a 15 minute sample lecture. of course my group (myself and the lovely ms. joyce kim) had to go first, but out of the 10 groups in my class, our lesson was voted 3rd. not bad for someone with no experience, right?

the orientation wrapped up with a farewell dinner and talent show. each class had to be represented, so someone from our class decided to sing beyonce's "single ladies" while a group of signed up as background dancers. yes, i did sign up to be a background dancer. yes, i was pressured into doing so. yes, i was awkward. but yes, it was a lot of fun. the next day we said our goodbyes, were shipped off to our different locations, and started our new lives in korea. wow.

this post is dedicated to the epik drinking team founders: max, sean, josh, melinda and, of course, gollum, who is sadly no longer with us (he was shipped home due to anxiety issues - true story and totally bizarre, maybe some other time).