This weekend, I went to Cheonju with my suitemates. SCH sponsors a weekend trip for suites to travel to a nearby region of Korea together. My suite decided to go to the neighboring province of Jeollabukdo to visit its largest city. Cheonju is a very old city that has a population of about 500,000. It is famous for having well preserved Joseon architecture and the most delicious Bibimbap in Korea.
We took a 2 hour bus from school to Cheonju, which is located in the central region of Korea. When we arrived, we ate the famous Hwae Bibimbap at one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Hwae Bibimbap is a little unique in the region in that the meat is raw beef. You are served steaming hot Bibimbap where the meat cooks halfway as you are eating this spicy specialty. It was very tasty, most likely the best Bibimbap I've had. I liked how as you continued to eat, the meal changed in that the beef began to cook. It was a unique experience to eat something that was literally still cooking as you were eating.
After lunch, we went to Homeplus, which is the main competitor with Emart as the dominant Walmart-like store in Korea. We bought food for dinner to cook at our Hanok (traditional Korean house) as well as some breakfast. I always find these stores intriguing to see the products that are viewed as normal items. It is interesting to see no ground beef, yet there is an abundance of packaged squid, octopus, and Asian vegetables. It is a sight that I would never see at home, even at our Asian market. This completely different environment is what keeps me curious about this place, I am constantly learning in every situation.
After purchasing our dinner, we made our way to the Hanok. We met one of the boys suites from school there. They had a late start and missed the Bibimbap, but they made it in time for dinner and the evening activity. We had a squid stew along with Budaejigae. After dinner, we learned more about traditional Korean teas and the customs when drinking tea. Last May, I went to a tea farm and learned this ceremony, so this was a nice refresher for me before I go home and make tea for my family. I feel like a very educated traditional tea maker (would that be the right term....hmmmm...) We also learned how to do the traditional bows. For women, your right hand goes over your left, smoothly sit with your legs crossed, and move your hands up to meet your bowed head. If you are bowing to the dead, your hands are reversed. For men, left hand over right, smoothly get to a kneeling position, hands on the ground and head meets the hands. For the dead, hands are reversed. It was really cool to see my suitemates and the Korean guys perform these bows that come so naturally for them. This is the bow they perform for their relatives on Chuseok and Lunar, much like our tradition of hanging ornaments at Christmas. I was not too skilled at this bowing action, but not too bad for a beginner.
After this tea activity, the boys decided to go buy some Soju and drink with some of the girls. Because I have disagreements with the way the drinking culture is carried out here in Korea, I spent the evening partially with them, and then took a walk out in the brisk cold of the village in reflection under a very clear sky. It was good to clear my head after a couple weeks of nonstop action between planning events and studying for midterms.
The next morning, we had Jinramen (spicy ramen, great way to clear the senses in the morning!) for breakfast. We then learned how to make Korean rice cakes. We pounded rice to make the dough and rolled it in a flour like powder, resulting in a tasty morning snack!
We then went to an ancient Confucian school located in the city limits. It has been around for almost 800 years. What was also pretty cool about this location (apart from its amazing historical significance), I know I'm gonna sound like a thirteen year old...oh well....one of my favorite Korean dramas Sungkyungkwan Scandel was filmed here! Locations for dramas are a huge deal here in Korea. Loyal fans will make pilgrimages to these ancient sites not for the cultural and historical aspects, but for the fact that their favorite dramas were filmed there. I saw several Korean couples attempting what looked like a reenactment of some of the more famous scenes from the drama, obsessed fan a bit much I think? I really liked the fact that this was one of the founding schools of Confucian thought in Korea (along with Sungkyungkwan, ironic). It was neat to see the spirit tablet shrines where scholars from the past are buried. This city has so much history and unlike Seoul, it is not as touristy with foreigners flocking every corner, this feels more like Korea.
After visiting the shrine, it was time to make the journey back to school. We just missed the hourly bus to Cheonan, so we arrived to school quite late (around 8pm). I was exhausted at this point, but it was a great weekend touring a new area of Korea with my amazing suitemates.
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