Where has the time gone? (To Seoul!)

Hi, everyone! I apologize for the long absence--it's hard to believe it's been a month since I last wrote. It's also hard to think of what I've been doing with that time. It feels like I've been very busy, but it's hard to say how I've been spending my time. My free time is a lot like it was in college--until the weekend, there's usually something I need to work on every evening. One of the biggest reasons for my blog-absence, I suppose, is that my weekends have been pretty busy too lately! So busy, in fact, that I'm going to take a few posts to backtrack a bit. Thanks for your patience ^^

A few weeks ago, we took our first YAV retreat... to Seoul! Right after class on Friday, we headed to the station to catch our train that left at 2:00. Thanks to our YAV leaders' careful planning, we were on an express train that only took an hour to get to the big city. (For reference, it's about a 3-hour drive.) Our train reached speeds of nearly 300km/hr, but the scenery rushing by was the only indication we were going any faster than normal.

As soon as we arrived in Seoul, we headed to the center for our denomination (sort of like the Louisville of Korea?) and dropped off our stuff for the afternoon. After meeting a few of the great people who have been helping us this year, the three YAVs set off on our first adventure. That's right, Uncle Simon and Haejung-Imo set us loose in Seoul! What did we do? What anyone would do in a big city: we went sight-seeing! Most of those "sights" were actually shops, but the people watching was fun, too. A few of the sights were truly special...

EXTRA special. BAAAAAAA!

We didn't have any idea where we were, but we had the greatest time just wandering the area and looking at everything and everyone. I think we were all pretty tired at the end of the week, so everything was pretty overwhelming... in a great way. We stopped for dinner at the most delicious-smelling place, where we managed to communicate that we wanted whatever smelled so good. It was 삼겹실 (sam-gyeop-sal), which it turns out is sort of like bacon. We had bacon for dinner. It was amazing.

What's better than grilled vegetables? Vegetables grilled with bacon!

After all our adventuring, we ended up going back pretty early. Uncle Simon and Haejung Imo warned us that we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday, and we were not disappointed. I'll let the pictures take over for now--we saw a lot of great things that day!

Starting the day with a healthy breakfast at Paris Baguette.

Fair warning: I have a pretty bad sense of direction, so I wasn't entirely sure where we were most of the time. For example, I don't know where we were going by following the river--but it sure was fun.

Don't fall...!

Safe! But where's Uncle Simon?

Walking along the river... so pretty, even in a big city.

Even more shopping?!

Well, sort of.

Look at the pretties!

We stopped for lunch at a tiny restaurant in an alley in 인사동 (Insadong), the neighborhood where we spent most of the afternoon. The whole area is known for combining traditional and modern, and this restaurant did not disappoint. The food was delicious, and it was great to watch the people in the kitchen making the noodles themselves. It started raining while we were there, and the sound on the roof was pretty much perfect.

Not even a leak in the roof could dampen our spirits! (Come on, I had to say it.)

After lunch, we made our way to the Korean Folk Museum nearby where we spent most of the afternoon. There was a huge outdoor area, so of course we had to take heaps of posed pictures in front of all the fancy things.

Photos like this. Usually it's "Say kimchi!" but this time it was probably
more like "Take the stupid picture, Uncle Simon!"

A beautiful roof to shelter us from the rain. But seriously, the detail is amazing.

It was still raining, so we did get inside eventually. We managed to sneak a few pictures, but mostly I was focused on taking in all the history. I'm a sucker for old cultural stuff, so this museum was a real treat. It also made me realize how little I know about Korean history--something I'd like to change by the end of this year. Anyway, back to the pictures...

How much do you think it would cost to send one of these home?

We learned how to make twisty-straw things. I'm pretty sure this guy
is fixing my mistakes in this picture. Whoops.

Back outside, this time to a mid-(19th)-century Korean street.

Stopping for a 1960s-style Korean tea party!

By far the cutest picture of the day. Thanks so much for taking us to Seoul!

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering that museum, and we even got to see a (semi-)traditional Korean dance performance before we had to leave. We returned to Daejeon on Saturday evening, tired but content from such a great trip--and already looking forward to another adventure. Next time, on "Where has the time gone?" -- On a field trip!