Happy Seollal!!!

Seollal, for those of you who don't know, is the Lunar New Year. POLY celebrated by giving us a four day weekend. WAHOO! (^_^)

Now, because of this four day weekend goodness, I peaced out on Saturday morning and caught a bus from Anyang station to Daejon. Now, let me explain some things. I went down to Daejon for Chuseok, which is a major Korean holiday, in September. A normal bus ride should take about two hours. Chuseok weekend, it took about two and a half. Saturday morning? Holiday traffic PLUS snow equaled SIX HOURS ON THE BUS! SIX EFFING HOURS.

But it was all worth it. When I got to Daejon, Sung-won appa picked me up at the station and took me back to their apartment. Sun-Hyung oppa was there, and together we had a dinner of insanely spicy (yet delicious!) chicken ... and then we met with his friend, Noah, and hung out. Sunday morning, I GOT TO USE A REAL SHOWER!!!, I spent time with Sun-Hyung oppa, had nap-time in the living room while he studied, and chilled out. Sun-Hyung oppa and his friend Hyung-ho oppa took me to see a movie on Sunday afternoon - "Valkyrie". After that, we went to church.

Monday, I ate tteok-guk with Sun-hyung oppa, umma, and appa ... and appa's brother, appa's brother's wife, appa's nephew, and hal-mon-nee!!! I really missed hal-mon-nee (grandmother), so that was nice. (^_^) After umma's homemade tteok-guk, I was taught how to do the traditional Korean bow, and so they had me bow to hal-mon-nee, and then umma and appa ... and I received money! I guess it's a Korean tradition. That's what the kids do. So I laughed.

The trip back to Seoul wasn't as long - I took a bus from Daejon to Cheonan, and then I just hopped the subway from Cheonan to Beomgye. It took maybe ... two and a half hours total. That was nice.

It's been insanely cold this weekend. But, we all know that I do enjoy the cold. However, I think I'm getting a little sick. So I'm trying to take more care of myself. I went out to buy groceries today, and after trying like, four different stores, realized that it's a major holiday and therefore stores simply aren't open. Grrr.

Tomorrow. :)

Also tomorrow, I'm hoping to find an art exhibit in Sinsa-dong that I've read about. I'm quite intrigued. Wish me luck!

Hope you're all keeping warm, and that you had a nice Lunar New Year, too. (^_^)

Boo, computer. YAY, Chuseok!

Well, I had a great post going. A really, really great post. And then, my computer decided that what it REALLY wanted to do was to shut down. Pfft.

Seriously?

Blah.

So, I'm going to give you the Clif's Notes version, and I'll go more indepth later. Maybe.

Chuseok weekend was awesome - I hopped on a bus at the Seoul Express Bus Terminal at 3:20 PM on Saturday and made it to Daejon a little after 5:00 PM. My friend, Kwon Sun-Joong, had asked his family to have me to their home for the weekend, so his father (Sung-Won) picked me up at the bus terminal. He is a very nice man, and was so kind to have me to his house. :)

Sun-Joong (who is currently in New York, studying at a seminary with Jae-Young) had also asked his older brother to, in a sense, look after me while I was there. So, he did. His older brother is named Sun-Hyung, and he is very kind. I'll put a picture of him at the end of this post. My first night there, Sun-Hyung and his friend took me out to dinner. Then, on Sunday, I went to church for the first time in Korea! That was so nice! I really need to find a church in Anyang. After church, Sun-Hyung and I took his grandmother home, and then we went to lunch.

Later that evening, I went with the whole family to visit Sun-Joong's mother's family. There were MANY people there! I was so surprised! Everyone was SO nice to me, too. I really enjoyed my evening. This morning, we went to the Expo Center to see some traditional Korean culture. Afterwards, Sun-Joong's mother made us lunch, and then everyone took me to the bus terminal to catch my bus. It was a very fun weekend. I really like Daejon, and hope to go back there sometime relatively soon. It was very peaceful. :)

So that was my weekend. It was a lot of fun - I'm very glad that I had this opportunity. Now I'm back in Anyang, preparing for my shortened school week - YAY for three day weekends. :)

Sun-Hyung oppa and I after lunch on Saturday - do you like the fact that we're wearing similar shirts? :) One of Sun-Joong's many cousins - isn't she CUTE?!
Sung-Won, Sun-Joong's father ... he is really funny!
Sun-Joong's mother. She is very, very kind.