To the country!

I spent last weekend ignoring my latest crisis and enjoying a lovely countryside adventure courtesty of my dear friend Lina and her relatives. Lina's aunt and uncle are 오이(cucumber) farmers and two of the most generous people I have had the pleasure to meet. Unphased by the language barrier they invited me to stay in their home, fed me, fed me, fed me some more, gave a smattering of useful gifts, and took me to my first Korean historical site. Oh... Did I mention the fed me?

The farm is a a long trip from where I live in 외장부 (Uijeongbu), in the northern part of South Korea. We left at 5:30am, so naturally, I stayed up all night baking cookies. We caught the first train through Seoul and then boarded a bus to take us four more hours south to 구 례 (Gurye). 

See map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=204378762783380085870.000499a252e5ff34c2133&ll=36.148965,127.781982&spn=0.833899,1.766052&z=9&start=0

The green house was so toasty. My glasses and camera lens fogged up 

immediately.

There's a 360 view of mountains from Lina's Uncle's roof. 

The first thing we did after emerging from the sauna-like bus was hit up a large outdoor market that springs up in town once every five days. Every kind of seafood you can imagine (and some you never have), freshly butchered meat, vegetables, herbs, and dry goods are available for purchase from buddled up 아줌마 (ajummas) yelling out their starting offers as you pass by. I bought a hefty bag of 대추 (techu), dried jujubees, for 15,000 won. I'll used them to make a delicious cough soothing tea for the rest of the winter.

These are traditional Korean kitchen tools and shoes.

This cow statue reminded me of home.

The exhaustion caught up with us after lunch and Lina and I napped the afternoon away. After a delicous dinner of 김치찌개 (kimchi stew) we went for a walk to make room for some fresh fried chicken. Lina's uncle called ahead to have our chicken caught, plucked and chopped. As we pulled up in the tiny blue truck our chicken parts were tossed into the oil. The chicken tasted really fresh. Too fresh maybe. The taste was good but almost startling. After a lifetime of chicken purchased at a grocery store, I've gotten used to the taste of old meat. 

Lina's uncle and a chicken foot.

The rest of the evening was passed with a combination of translated chitchat and studying Korean from the phrase book Lina's uncle gave me. 

The next morning we awoke early for our trip to the nearby 절 (temple). 

The 화엄사 절 (Hwaeomsa Temple) site is about 1500 years old but the oldest buildings standing today are 500 years old. They were rebuilt many times after invaders burned them to the ground.

Here we are at the gate to the temple grounds!

This dude was about 15 feet tall.

Beautiful woodwork

Budda

Bowing to Budda

Prayer lanterns hung by people who stay and pray at the temple for 100 days. 
Photo credit: Lina Yim

I love the juxtaposition between the 500 year old temple and the 
soccer ball clock.

We hit the road after a quick, delicious and filling lunch.

Thanks to the generosity of Lina and her family I now have a fridge stocked with:

오이 Pickles (unpickled, so actually cucumbers)

고추장 Gochijang - A sweet and mildly spicy sauce which can be used in as a marinade, in soup, or as a dip. It's great with the pickles.

Soybean paste- Used for soup bases and sauces.

고구마 Sweet potatoes- not your average orange sweet potato. These are white and sweeter than the American variety. 

Fresh plum tea- YUM

Popped black 콩 beans- I'm not a fan of cooked beans because I dislike the texture, but when popped these beans taste like popcorn's sweet and healthier older brother.

I now have a great challenge ahead of me: a thank you note written in Korean. I feel I have mastered the art of the thank you note, in English at least. However, expressing sincere gratitude in Hangul is proving to be a bit difficult.