Jochiwon Peach Festival

 Yeah, I'm not kidding.  It's an entire festival celebrating peaches.

 1st Place!!

 Lots to do...

 FREE Ice Cream!

 Festival food!

 I convinced other people to eat BUGS.

Korean version of the Mexican piñata :)

I'm NO Artist!

 So I walk into my lecture and see this.  Initial thought... Uhhhhhh?

 This old man and his wife hand out these paintings.  He then tells us that he painted each one of these by hand and would like us to have one to take home. The symbols on the left are both Japanese and Korean.  They signify the date, season, and his signature. 

 His cute wife instructing us on how it's done.

 My attempt at Korean art.  It's harder than it looks!!!!

Final product! I'm no artist lol.

Work Hard... Party Harder?

 This is us heading to class at 8:00am after breakfast.

 I have class from 8:00am to 5:40pm Monday-Friday with a one hour lunch break.  We're so exhausted by the end of the day.... So we resort to certain forms of entertainment.  & just in case you didn't know, Korean society in general is one of a lot of drinking. 

 Sunday Night 8/5/2012: First night out partying in Korea.

Half Afghan/half Polish Canadian born Evelina is one of the most fun people I've met here.  She stuck her tongue out in this picture and I knew we were meant to be.

 Long story short: We met some random Korean natives on the street and somehow were directed into this hidden karaoke bar.  After two minutes in this private room that they supplied for us, they brought out this tray of free beers and beverages.  One of the most random, fun nights of my life.  Totally unexpected and FREE!  It pays to be a foreigner sometimes!  Here's how our Sunday night went: 

 Your future teachers.

ROUND TWO: Wednesday Night

Random, Random, Random.

Teachers who are already in Korea with our program came to say HELLO!... As I mentioned before, Korea is a drinking society. When in Korea, do as the Koreans.

There's a Little Kid in All of Us...

So next to the Korean Folk Life Museum there just so happened to be a "Joyland Park"... You know we just HAD to go.

 This was the entrance to the park.  Coincidence??? I THINK NOT!!!

Turtles for life!

 Did I mention it was a Monday and it was SUPER empty lol.

 I rode EVERY ride.

 Me and Emily waiting for the roller coaster to start.

 The roller coaster of death. (Slight dramatization in that on my part)

 Well, they didn't have one of those fancy cameras that takes pictures of you while you're on the ride. So we improvised.  Boom!

 Best chocolate gelato of my life.

Awesome people from all around this planet.

Scavenger Hunt in the Nation's Capital

 Mixing of old and new.

 The new Korea... So developed... So nice. 

 Temple.

 Foreigner's District in Seoul

My scavenger group.  People from everywhere.. Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and the USA. 

 My favorite shot that day... As the sun was going down.

 This stream was part of a city-wide cleaning project.  It used to be filthy and now it's crystal clear. 

 Did I mention how HOT it is in Korea right now???

 Just thought this was a cool shot.  Old generation of Korean with a new generation.

The fact that this city came up in 50-60 years is truly amazing.

Some Food

The next three pictures are all the same meal.  On this first picture is my plate.  It consists of white rice (there's ALWAYS white rice) and beef tips with cabbage.  Not bad at all.  Just needed some salsa lol. 

 Our table.

 It's customary to have these "side dishes" that everyone at the table shares.  In Korea, a necessary thing is Kimchi (fermented cabbage in chili paste- the one in the center)

 They have CHURROS!  I will try those next time. 

 Hungry?  Buy a Snickers. 

배고파?스니커즈를 구입하십시오.

 Hot and Spicy noodles.  SO MANY CARBS in this country!!!

 I was enjoying it until I saw squid tentacles floating in between noodles.  I need to get over getting freaked out easily by squid/octopus and other sea creatures. 

 BEST lunch at the University thus far.  I was so happy.