매애

"Baa"

Just from that you can probably guess what this blog post is about...well, vaguely :). This weekend, my friend planned a day trip to 강원도 Gangwon-do, where we checked out a sheep farm, a mineral spring, and an herb farm. As usual with these trips, the actual bus trip itself took much longer than actually exploring the places but as usual with these trips, there's no time for bonding with friends like bus time!

Our first stop, the sheep farm, was, well, not too full of sheep, as maybe it was because of the weather? I'm not sure, but for some reason the sheep were in their pens rather than roaming the pastures. Still, because of the blue skies above and the somewhat chilly, but in the comfortable range, weather, we had fun wandering the scenery and taking pictures with the sheep and amongst ourselves.
Hehe is it just me or are they smiling like anime characters?

Our group!
Yup that's a patch of snow. Not quite my idea of the end of April...
Buds :D Kevin, Kana, Henry, and Xue Qing.
Ah, wouldn't it be nice to lie on the field and just watch the clouds float by? ^^
Jump!
Kick!

After that, we went to a restaurant for lunch where we had 황태찜 (a spicy pollack dish) after arguing with the ajumma for about a minute or two that we would be able to handle the spiciness (which, ironically, did not turn out that spicy in the end). Ah, one of the things about some Koreans is how they will assume that if you're not Korean you can't handle spiciness, when there are many cultures that are abundant with spicy food, but that's stereotypes for you ^^. I also got the other day, "Oh, using chopsticks must be difficult for you."
황태찜

But, moving on to the second place! The mineral spring was a short trip, but we tried the mineral water there from the spring and it tasted pretty gross...pretty much like water filled with a LOT of metal. On the bright side, it's supposed to protect against cancer, swine flu, and other diseases ^^. We also had a bit of fun here taking pictures with Kevin being a monkey hehe.
Our last destination was 허브나라 herb farm, which had very pretty gardens and had a delicious bakery that sold yummy herb pastries and delicious herb jam that I decided to buy as a souvenir :). There were also herb aromas and other neat products, not to mention we were able to take some nice pictures there =].
One thing that's been really nice is how we've all developed from Level 4 when we all first met (well I entered a bit late as quite a few had known each other since Level 2 ^^) but how we've reached the point that we can all talk to each other in Korean as if it's our language and how it's not awkward even to speak to our English-speaking buddies in Korean too! It's fostered a new kind of bond I've definitely never experienced before and has led to some lifelong friends =]. It just makes me sad that I'll be going back home soon and leaving them, unsure of when I'll see them next :'(. If only the world were just a bit smaller! It's at least metaphorically become so in recent times, what with all the travel and foreign exchange. Woo for Light Fellowship! :)

건배!

"Cheers!"

Normally a word used when saying cheers to drinking beer or liquor but in this case what we said when we said cheers to our 갈비탕 kalbi tang that we ate for lunch--Suwon is famous for its kalbi!

Backtracking a bit for why we were in Suwon, today was the graduating class trip! That is, us Level 6 students and the Level 7 students took a bus with our teachers to 화성 Hwaseong Castle in Suwon as our trip. Although it's been fairly cold lately (I had to wear my winter coat yesterday and the day before, which I should not be doing in the middle of April...), today the weather let up a bit and we had a nice sunny day with a gentle breeze (what in Korean would be 산들바람). We didn't walk around the entire castle wall (a decent 5-6km) as it would have taken a while, but we took a decent walk, enjoyed the breeze, saw some very pretty areas, and had yummy kalbi tang! Afterward, we went to Yungneung 융능, the grave for king 정조 Jeongjo who was one of the rulers of the Choseon Dynasty.

The story of the king's father's death is pretty gruesome, as apparently King Jeongjo's grandfather put his own son to death by burying him in a rice bin for several days. Talk about being buried alive @_@! Granted, he was apparently a very unfavorable ruler, but even so, I dunno if anyone deserves to be killed by their own father! Would filicide be the right word? Aside from that story though (and apparently according to a professor who I told I was going to see Hwaseong Castle to, there were a lot of murders around there some time recently, the story of which was made into a movie) the place was quite peaceful and pretty. I'm not the biggest history buff so I enjoyed the landscape and absorbing the atmosphere more than the actual story, but it was a pretty good feeling to understand most of what the tour guide said (with several historical words that we don't know though, of course). Granted, she probably dumbed down the Korean a bit taking into account the fact that we were foreigners.

Some pictures :).
The East Gate, decorated with the dragon, who protects the East in Korean castles. The tiger protects the West, the phoenix the South, and the turtle the North.
The part just outside the gate is built as such to prevent an easy attack to break down the gate.
A hole to shoot through...although now you just see cars XD.
Winding road, and cherry blossoms!
It'd probably be really nice to live around here and go to this park just to relax or to walk around ^^.Sorry, I can't resist the Engrish :)!
Because jumping pictures are awesome :D!
건배ing the kalbi tang!
Patterns make for excellent pictures hehe (Kevin, Meng Ju, Jennie, and me).
Kana and 곽 선생님 (our next door teacher ^^).
Me and a cannon (and Kevin behind).
Hehe we like having fun ;D (Me, Kana, Meng Ju, Apple, and Casey).
Contradiction much?
Heading towards Yungneung, the king's grave. Pretty flowers on the way :)! (Kana and Meng Ju).
Yungneung grave.
Also, today marks exactly one month before I head back to the States. Wow! Talk about time flying by. I can't believe I'm already this close. It'll be quite the experience to adjust back to the Western world, New York, and Yale ^^! For now, time to make the most of my last month here :)!