OK, starting with my first weekend in Jeonju by my onesie, no errands to run, sleeping in until when I like, staying up to whatever time suits me ( a choice that has come back to bite me), and generally having a lackadaisical attitude letting the wind blow me where it may. I decided that I was going to walk around my city for a day, since I had no money for anything other than food, and see what I could find.
Well, I took one good look around, and one short stroll outside of my home and realized that I needed to go find the base of that mountain over beyond the bridges, and climb it.
And so I started on my merry way down the stream, making small detours down the streets lined with restaurants and run down apartment buildings. When suddenly I happened upon this sign. One would think that a NASA sign would signify some cool space museum or important site...
...but alas it was neither of these. Turns out NASA is Na Sa Sushi, a sushi Restaurant about a fifteen minute walk from my place. Silly? Yes. Will I probably go back for sushi? Most definitely.After my sushi discovery I found the bottom of the mountain. Granted in order to get there I needed to cross the street (something that can take days in Korea), go under a sketchy bridge (mostly sketchy because it was for cars but could just barely fit one at a time), and pass some farmland filled with elderly people staring at me as if I were not from around here, go figure. Anywho, once all that was conquered I finally got to the top, and here's what I found.
A temple! One of the prettiest temples I have seen so far, mostly thanks to the picture below. Not a very old statue as the placard outside said it was a recreation of one that exists(ed?) somewhere else. Still gorgeous though, the photo hardly does justice to seeing it in person.
Next it was time for the hike down. I had made a friend who was telling me all kinds of nice little tidbits about cheap food in Korea when the people who live at the temple offered us water, some of the most refreshing and clean water you can find. Turns out they have a natural spring which you can drink from. It literally is a watering hole in the ground and you are given a ladle to scoop up the water. For safety/sanitary reasons they placed these metal tops down. Don't want someone washing themselves in your drinking water!
That was the end of my adventure that weekend, but the next weekend was CHUSEOK! Which, if you don't know, Chuseok is like Korean Thanksgiving but WAY better. We had 5 days off for Chuseok, so I went to visit my friends in Gunsan. Expensive? Yeah if you call $5.20 bus fare super expensive. Either way, well worth it in the end. Turns out it was our friend's birthday! So we ate cake and celebrated his birth the only way we know how.
Delicious dinner, cake and candles, and then Norebang. As I mentioned in my last blog Norebang is "karaoke" but way better. So we went, we sang, and by the time we were done it was like 2 AM! So, of course, we had to get second supper. And what better place to get second supper than at Lotteria? What's Lotteria you ask? Think McDonalds, and then add Korea. So now you're ordering "set"s not meals and you get things like the "Lady Burger" (I got that one ^^ ) instead of a Big Mac. SO. GOOD.
After a night of fun, and watching the sun come up on Chuseok morn, even though it was overcast and we didn't get to see it come up, we slept into the early afternoon; only waking for lunch and an exploratory afternoon. We went to Eunpa (sp?) Park to see the longest wooden bridge.
When viewing the bridge I noticed that there was a cathedral on the other side of the lake. Now, I'm not a particulary religious person, but I'm a sucker for a good cathedral. So I asked if it would be alright if we went to explore the area, specifically the church. All in agreement, we set off to find the Cathedral, and find it we did.
It was about a quarter of the way around the lake and we decided, after finding and exploring the cathedral, that we might as well go all the way around the lake, and so we did. Finishing the entire route talking about upcoming events, climbing trees, taking pictures, and generally having a pleasant afternoon.
Tomorrow, or today I suppose, is the start of yet another weekend. I don't plan on doing much other than cleaning my apartment thoroughly and possibly starting to decorate it, so maybe I'll post some pictures :D I hope all is well wherever you are in the world, and I hope that the world is being kind. Until next time.-Sara
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