This past weekend, Caroline and I along with the two other Kinder foreign teachers, Jason and Erica, decided we would check out the Kimchi festival going on about 10 minutes away (by taxi) from our school. So Caroline and I walked from our house to our school where we met the other two and would catch a taxi. Let me just say first of all that this is standard procedure. Any time we meet anyone for anything we meet outside of our school because everyone else, besides us and one other couple lives near the school. We live about 15 minutes away but have now walked the same one route about ten bazillion times that we could probably walk it with our eyes closed. Anyways, so we walked to school and hailed a taxi. The taxi that stopped for us was probably the coolest taxi ever. It reminded us of cash cab. It was pink and swede on the inside and had a red leather roof. His dashboard had a ton of fun decorations, one being a stuffed spiderman. Jason tried to touch it, but got yelled at in Korean. I guess he is protective of his stuff. :) Caroline, Erica and I were sitting in the back taking pictures and laughing. I guess the guy liked us because he then forced coffee flavored gum in to Erica's hands, which we all ended up eating and HATING. But it was a nice thought. Had this been in America, I would have never taken anything from anyone, especially not a taxi driver, but this is Korea where there is no such thing as crime and he ate it so we did too. We finally got to the World Cup Stadium which is where the festival was setup and began walking around. We found a place that said you could rent free bikes so we did that and played on them for awhile. Erica didn't know how to ride a bike so we taught her. This was lots of fun. Plus, every time we rode up and back this one strip someone would take a picture- it was kinda funny. Finally, a guy stopped us and asked if we would ride up and down this one strip so he could get it on camera. We think he was some sort of press for this event. So we agreed. We were taped walking and waving by one other guy as well. We hoped this was for TV. Sure enough, the next day, one of Caroline's students told her that he saw her on the news. SWEET!! :) I wish we would have seen it. Oh well. So after riding bikes for awhile we started to walk toward a tent that read "Foreigners making Kimchi." We couldn't pass up the photo opportunity or the chance to make our own famous Kimchi while we were here, so we stopped in. First we were taken to be shown what ingredients are used to make Kimchi and briefly how to make it, and then it was our turn. We got to put on these super sweet gloves and aprons and then mix ingredients to make the super duper spicy sauce and then spread it on the cabbage. Although, there was nothing to spreading sauce on the cabbage, somehow I managed to do it wrong cause the guy kept coming over to help me. I think I wasn't putting enough sauce on mine. They LOVE it spicy. After making the Kimchi that we had no intention on ever eating (none of us really like the taste of it) it was packaged up and put in this carrying case for us to take it home. We ended up giving it to the owner of our school, the assistant manager, the technology guy and the 5 Korean Kinder teachers to eat and say thanks for everything so far. They liked it and loved that we made it! :) After making the Kimchi some guy who worked at the festival approached us and wanted to be our interpreter. We didn't really need or want him but he wanted to show us around so we let him. He took us into this building where we got to try lots and lots of Kimchi. Like I mentioned bfore, none of us really like Kimchi but we were up for trying a bit so this was fun. I tried way more than I ever expected, partly because if you linger at the booth too long you are forced to try it by the people working the booth and also due to curiosity because I thought all Kimchi tasted pretty similar. Surprisingly enough, some were actually kinda ok, and then others were absolutely awful. Erica and I got forced to drink this water Kimchi juice by someone and I can honestly say it was one of the worst things I have ever tasted ever. It was SOOOO gross. It tasted like drinking straight up vinegar and dirt. bleh! Caroline and Jason at the same time were being forced to try seaweed grossness that they both agreed came straight from the Ocean just a second earlier. They said it was the saltiest thing they have ever tasted and also equally disgusting. Thank goodness this was the last booth so we were able to leave and immediately find a drink machine where we all opted to pay whatever it cost to get the tastes out of our mouths. After that we rode on the "Kimchi train" and looked at some art all about Kimchi. This was kinda funny. After that we went into a building that told us all about the history of Kimchi. Apparently, Gwangju (where I live) is known for it's Kimchi and Kimchi festival and it is considered to be the best in the country. (just ask anyone here, they will tell you. ;) ) We walked around a bit more before getting kabobs to eat and then going home. It was a really fun day and definitely a Korean experience I am glad we did!
This weekend, our school is taking all of the foreign teachers on a mandatory field trip to this Korean traditional festival place. I am not sure what to really expect and they won't really tell us too much except that it will be lots of fun and we will enjoy it so I guess I am kinda looking forward to that.
I hope you all are doing fantastic and am having as much fun as I am here in korea. I miss you all tons!!! LOVE YOU!
