Adventures with my coteacher: GwangJu + GunSan

First things first. From my last post, the INTESTINES were the most expensive. 30CAD per person. I couldn't believe it!!

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A coworker I teach with invited me to spend a weekend with her and her family in her hometown, GwangJu, 3 hours away from Seoul. Her family does not know a word of English so I was nervous, but I promised myself that I'd kick my own booty out of my comfort zone in Korea, so here I go! 

At 9am I met her at the express bus terminal where we grabbed donuts, bought our 25 dollar tickets, and went on our way to GwangJu. She was giggling the whole time thinking about me meeting her family - me being nervous about speaking Korean and her family absolutely terrified of me because i'm the first foreigner they've ever met. 

When I arrived at her home at GwangJu, her mom went RIGHT to work. She sat me down and immediately served me a big home-cooked korean meal. 

Panfried fish, seafood soup (with a whole crab), rice, and lots of side dishes. Delicious:) 

And here is the highlight of the meal. Octopus. 

Now that's nothing special except for the fact that her mom purchased these octopuses as babies in september, raised them, and threw them in a pot of boiling water when she got the call that I was going to arrive soon. Now that's what I call FRESH!

Delicious. 

Then it's off to do some exploring. There isn't really anything to do in GwangJu so we went to an exhibition hall. 

We went to an interesting sculture garden where a bunch of old people were playing chess. Then we went to a national geographic photograph exhibition. Not very GwangJu-y but the pictures were beautiful. No cameras allowed!

Then it's coffee time. I spend more time in cafes here in Korea than I do at home. More on that later. 

We did some shopping downtown. Looks a little bit like Seoul. After shopping, it was the moment I have been waiting for. Dinner.

We put our shoes in lockers and we each get a key. We eat in our socks like so many other Korean restaurants.

This restaurant is famous for a dish called Bo Ssam. On the left is steamed pork. You wrap it in the steamed napa cabbage on the bottom (or a variety of different leaves on the top left), along with a sweet (not spicy!) radish kimchi, and ssam Jang (a mixture of hot pepper paste, bean paste, sesame oil, garlic, and onions).  The picture and my description does not do this dish justice. Despite my daily consumption of delicious food here in Korea, the first bite of this dish was still shockingly delightful. 

1 dollar waffles for dessert. 

Stayed over at her house, where we watched tv in our PJs. 

The next morning, her brother drove all of us to GunSan , southwest coast of South Korea, where her father is currently posted for work. A 1 hour ride. Road trip with a korean family!! When we arrived, her father took us out for lunch. 

The food kept coming and coming!!

Then her father spent the rest of the day driving us to go sightseeing. We drove on Seamangeum, the longest manmade seawall in the guinness book of world records (33km), and walked along the yellow sea. 

Then it's off to the GunSan Port. 

There was a big battle here during the Korean war. The troops here held off the enemies long enough to allow the town to evacuate, and so a monument has been set up here to commemorate their bravery. We got to take a look at some of the tanks, planes and ships used during the war.

After sightseeing, it was dinner time again!! 

This time we had pig's feet and potato stew. The leg and foot of the pig were marinated, boiled in a sauce, and thickly sliced. It is eaten with a shrimp paste. I have been told that eating pig's feet is an excellent way to prevent wrinkles and hangovers.

Also delicious!

I wish I could have communicated with her family. Her father seemed like a really kind and thoughtful man. Took care of everything to make sure we were all happy. He also insisted on buying me my bus fare home. Her brother is also the same age as me. Wish I could have had a conversation with him! Regardless, it was a wonderful experience. I don't think most foreign teachers here get the opportunity to 1)stay with a Korean family, 2) roadtrip with the korean family, and 3)see so many obscure places in the country. I am so lucky!