We arrived on Friday afternoon and easily found the Hanjin Hostel, which had been recommended in all of the travel guides due to its nice accomodations, great location, and crazy/eccentric owner, Mr. Kwon. When we got there, we were happily suprised. The hostel felt more like the home of some Korean grandparents...in a good way. They showed us to our large room with three queen-sized beds, which was through a back courtyard where we were told we could hang out or "have party" at night. The room was very uniquely decorated; a quilt of the last supper hung on one wall, while a massive painting (at least 5 feet long) of deer was on the other side, along with other asian decor through out. We decided to venture off right away, so Mr. Kwon gave us maps and brochures and pointed us off in the direction of the recommended sites. The first was Tumili Park which is regarded as an outdoor museum because of the many tombs, one of which we were able to go inside of. We then walked south to an ancient observatory, then to a beautiful temple in the middle of the city that is lit up at night. When we finally finished four hours later, we stumbled upon a little Korean restaurant where we were served pork and cabbage stew, which ended up being the best meal I've had in Korea yet. We went back to the hostel and made friends with some German PhD students, but called it a pretty early night so we would be ready for day two.
The next morning we woke up at 10 and found a restaurant that served western breakfast, yum! We decided to rent bicycles because Gyeongju is supposedly the only city in Korea where you can safely ride bikes (Busan is definitely not safe to ride in anyway). We headed off to Mt. Namsan Park because my travel guide said "riding bikes in Namsam park is the perfect way to spend a day in Gyeongju." We arrived in about 30 minutes and stopped to check out some ancient thing in the ground that was once to be used to play drinking games (I don't know how else to descibe it). Anyway, we decided to purchase rice farmers hats while there, so that we could "truly expience the history of Korea." Haha, no, actually we just thought it was funny. We then decided to continue our bike ride around the park, but soon discovered that its called Mt. Namsan Park because its on a mountain! It was full on mountain biking up steep, rocky terrain. So, we parked the bikes, and went for a little hike and then got back on our bikes and headed back towards Gyeongju to explore. It was a hilarious afternoon, but also very tiring. We went back to the hotel around 4 pm to take a nap, and then hopped on the bus and took a 30 minute ride out to a famous temple, called Bulguksa. At the temple, we wandered around until dark and then found a traditional Korean restaurant nearby. We went home exhausted, but happy at how great our first adventure in Korea turned out.
After our long weekend, I thought this week would be so slow, but its actually gone by so fast! I am really enjoying teaching and although I'm tired sometimes, I never dread going to work or teaching a class. I'm having a lot of fun with the kids, and my confidence in creating and giving lessons has really increased. I now teach first grade by myself four times a week, and I really like it. I have a good system down, and I've found games that are fun and exciting for the kids, but very easy for me to plan and do in class. This weekend, I don't have any definite plans, but there are a bunch of festivals going on in Busan, so I'm sure I will check some of them out. The Pusan International Film Festival will be ending, there is a global culture gathering downtown, and the Jagalchi Fish Market will have a festival. Should be fun! Well, that's all I can think to say for now... annyonghe keysayo!!
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