Back to Nami Island (Food Tour)

As my first year starts coming to a close, I am finding myself torn between traveling or spending my last few precious moments with my host family. This is why I have been looking for more things to do that are closer to home. That way I don't have to stay somewhere, like Seoul, overnight and can just go home in the evening. That may be why this particular tour stuck out.

It was a food tour of Nami Island, a place only about an hour from Hwacheon, and it didn't leave from Seoul, like most tours I want to do. I just had to find my own way to Gapyeong train station and we would leave from there. Perfect. 

The tour included four 'stops.' One beverage, one snack, one meal, and one dessert. When I arrived, I met Heather, a woman who was born and raised in Chuncheon and actually used to work on Nami Island. She was going to be our tour guide. I definitely lucked out this time. She was so kind. Once we arrived on the Island, she gave us lots of interesting history on the Island and why they have the gimmick of being a "Republic of Nami" instead of just a pretty place you can visit. 

Before the first 'stop', the tour guide told us about the history of General Nami and why he was buried on the island, and why the island was named after him. 

The first food 'stop' was a drink. She gave us 수정과. This was a tea, drank both hot and cold (its summer so we drank it cold) made of only three ingredients: ginger, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  It was surprisingly really good. I don't usually like drinks with ginger in them. Traditionally, it is eaten with pine nuts resting on top. 

The second 'stop' was an adorable little snowman bread snack with chestnut paste filling. I'm not a huge fan of nuts, so I didn't really like it, but the snack was absolutely adorable. The snowman, as we were told, is a symbol of Nami island because of the K-drama that was filmed there, Winter Sinota. And if you read my post about Yongpyeong, you may have heard that title before. I have now been to both filming locations of this show and I still haven't seen it. Maybe I should watch it now. 

The next 'stop' was at a restaurant to have a traditional Korean lunch box. This can be filled with different ingredients, but ours was rice, egg, spam, kim, and anchovies (mine was fishless). To eat this, you have to first shake it to mix all the ingredients, then eat it with a spoon. It was really good, and fun to prepare. 

The final 'stop' before the tour ended was the dessert. Traditional Bingsu. However, I don't like traditional bingsu. The more modern stuff is great but Pat (sweet red beans) and the almonds in it is a big turn off, so Heather was gracious enough to get me some ice cream instead. So accommodating. 

We were given some time to roam afterward, that I used to go to the gift shops, then it was back to the train station and back home we go. 

It was actually a really nice way to spend a Saturday, and I learned a lot more about Nami Island that I didn't know. The food was good, especially the lunch box and I am really glad I went.  Thank you Tasty East Tours for the great tour!

*All photo credits go to Tasty East Tours

Well....It's official. I'm Staying!

So I've been hinting at it in previous posts, but it wasn't official until a few days ago. Way back in February, I decided that I wanted to renew my Fulbright grant here in Korea. The Korean Fulbright ETA grant is renewable up to three years. Applications opened back in March and I quickly filled it out. I don't know if this was more or less nerve wracking then the first time I applied. It was a really tense few months of will I, won't I.

This week, after being told we were going to receive our notifications a month prior, I was finally told that I was accepted for a second year, and my school was very enthusiastic about me continuing in Hwacheon. So there you go anyone who has been interested in knowing.

I AM STAYING IN KOREA!!!

For another year, at least. I don't think, at this point, I will renew for a third year. I miss being home and I want to start my career. But at the same time, I feel like my journey here in Korea isn't over yet.

My host family won't be hosting me next year, but I'll still see them around and I am still so thankful for them for hosting me. Part of my homestay contract requires me to have my own room, and I took the oldest girl's room when I got here. She has been sharing with her two younger brothers and she's getting older. She needs her own room and her own space. I understand.

I don't know yet who will be hosting me, there are apparently three families that applied to host me or the other ETA at my school. So hopefully, I will know and be able to meet my family before I leave in July.

Now that I know I am staying, I finally have my flight information and can tell all my friends exactly when I am home, so I can see everyone. I have missed them so much over the past year. I spent the last four years around these people everyday, so it has been an adjustment. Some friends I have had even longer.

Well that's it. That's all I have. But on the bright side, there is another year of posts coming to all of you. Thank you so much for coming on this journey for the past year, and I look forward to another one.

More Solo Adventures

And this time, I was really on my own. Now there are a bunch of websites out there to get discounted experiences and tours when your in a foreign country. I went with one tour group a few months ago to Yongpyeong. I actually had a lot of fun, even though I was by myself, there were a bunch of people in the tour. Last weekend, some of my plans had fallen through, so I though, instead of spending the four day weekend home alone (my host family was going away for the weekend), I would make new plans.

I looked around and found a tour on Friday to three locations. I knew that I may not have this chance again, since I usually have to spend the night before and after in Seoul. But Thursday was a holiday so I was able to have a four day weekend. I signed up for it on Wednesday, got a place to stay and was in Seoul
the next day. I'm very proud of how spontaneous I have been able to become since being in Korea.

My original plan on Thursday evening was to explore a bit. See some places I haven't been able to see yet, but it was a very rainy afternoon. So instead, I went to the movie theaters. I had planned on seeing Aladdin, but when I got there, I got way too excited to see X-Men: Dark Phoenix had come out already.

Friday morning was a bit muggy, but still okay. I knew that the rain was supposed to clear up by lunch time, so I was hoping it wouldn't be too much of an issue.

When I arrived at the meeting place to catch the bus, I was really surprised to have trouble finding any other people crowding around. I was alone. My tour guide approached me, and I found out, I was the only person on the tour. Apparently there were three other groups that all called in and cancelled. So I got on the bus, just me and the tour guide and the bus driver. This is going to be interesting.

My tour guide was actually really nice. He was close to my age, cute and spoke really good English. He really tried to make sure I was having fun, literally with only me on the tour.

The first location was Gwangmyeong Cave. I visited a different cave in Jeongseon with my host family back in September, so I was not expecting it to be so small. I was in and out pretty quickly but it was still beautiful to look at. There was even a little replica of Lord of the Rings. I also learned a bit of history about the cave and it's role during the Japanese Occupation, the Korean Civil War and the financial crisis during the 70s. It was actually really interesting. Though short.

The second location was Anseong Farmland, which seemed like a pretty good place for kids when it was in season, but it being a Friday at the beginning of June didn't really help the place. It was pretty deserted, which I overall didn't mind. I don't like being in huge crowds of people. We spent the longest in this place. There wasn't much to see but there were lots of animals. I saw different breeds of cows, some sheep, goats, pigs, horses, ostriches, peacocks and a bunch more. There was a room where I could go in and feed beautiful birds and they could actually eat out of my hand. There was another little paddock that was filled with bunnies that I could pet and feed grass. Although this was the least Korean thing I did the whole day, it was probably my favorite. It felt like I was home being able to see all these animals.

The final place, which took some waiting around for was the Ansan Starvillage Photoland. The smallest of the three places, but the main reason I had picked this tour. I love lights. I love looking at them and just being surrounded by them. This place definitely held up to it's name too. Everywhere you looked was a photo-zone. A place to take a perfectly instagramable picture.

After this, I returned back to Seoul and got some dinner.

I went home on Saturday and was able to relax all day Sunday.

Four day weekends are great!

Botanical Gardens in Korea

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love nature. I just feel at home there. I grew up in a rural area, and it just makes me feel at home to look at trees and flowers and water. That is one reason I specifically requested to teach in a rural area instead of a city. I just could never survive in a city. It's just too suffocating.

Sometimes, even when I live in a rural town, I want to look at even more nature. 

One weekend, I was really bored and found a botanical gardens in Chuncheon. It wasn't big but it was cheap and I could just go and enjoy a day out. It was so relaxing. The flowers were just starting to bloom, there was a rock garden, and it was just a nice way to spend an hour out of the house. 

But this little garden wasn't enough. I had to go to the biggest one in Korea.

The Garden of Morning Calm. 

I had wanted to go there during the winter, because they had a light festival, but I didn't get to go. When I found out there was a spring festival, I had to do. So a few friends and I went out to the gardens and walked around. It was so big and so beautiful. I could have gotten lost in that place and stayed there forever. I plan to go back in the fall for the colorful trees and the winter next year for the lights. I know it will take my breath away again.