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. (^_^)