Rice and Liquor Festival

[Pictures taken by Chris Kuisle and Jared Gramza]

[Thanks to everyone for all the sweet comments about making sure i'm doing ok with the Korean sickness ridiculousness.  I am finally over the worst of it and now just have an annoying cold.  Hopefully the magic Korean medicine combined with the medicine on its way to me from my Dad should be able to make me kick this cold for good.]

Ok. Back to the Korean oddities.

#63. Koreans love their television to be accesible. You see tvs in a taxi, bus, market, bar...anyplace that frequents people. Some taxi drivers prefer to catch up on their soaps while taking their fares to Homeplus while others feel like Korean music videos are the way to go. You just never know what you're going to get.

#64.  Taxis are very inexpensive.  A cab from my apartment to the foreigner hangout bar costs less than $3.  In America it would cost at least double, if not triple. 

#65.  Other forms of transportation are inexpensive as well.  A 25 mile bus ride  from Pohang to Gyeongju costs less than $3.  Point Korea.

I know it's been awhile since i've written on here but honestly with being so sick I didn't do a whole lot until the weekend.  Hopefully this week will be markedly better than last week. It includes my second soccer game of the season, trying live octopus and my first birthday in a foreign country. It should prove to a week I won't soon forget. I hope.

Ok quick recap of the highlights of my weekend.  My first jaunt out of the confines of my bed was to Gyeongju on Saturday for the big blossom festival/soju rice festival.  You combine 10,000+ Koreans, 500+ foreigners, carvinal food of every variety and free alcohol samples...it makes for quite the interesting day.  Everyone seems to like the pictures I post on here so here a few.  More will come later.

Amazing Korean man doing the tightrope

More beautiful blossoms

FREE samples of Soju.  In total, close to 30 different kinds. 

The festival was amazing and I cannot wait until the next one.  Koreans love their liquor, food and entertainment.  What else can a girl ask for?

Ajummas and Chicken Noodle Soup

[So my dad has gotten some of his coworkers to read my blog on here.  It's sometimes weird (but awesome) to think that people who read my blog I have never (and probably will never meet).  I'm glad that I can bring a little laughter or insight into their lives.  Hopefully both.  Keep the comments coming.  I love 'em. ]

#60.   Old Korean women (Ajummas) wear visors. Everywhere. Think of the visors your mom wore to your athletic events when you were younger only bigger. Much bigger.

Ajummas are notorious for their visors.  While the visors do help shield the face from the sun it also results in the wearer looking as ridiculous as humanly possible. Almost Darth Vader-ish. Koreans don't like the sun because of the effect it has on their skin.  Here in Korea light skin is desired by all.  Pretty much the opposite of America.  If someone has dark skin they are thought to be poor and have a job that requires them to be outside laboring.  If someone has light skin they are thought to be wealthy. Just one of the little quirks of Koreans.

#61.  Koreans love whitening masks.  They want their skin to look as white as possible because white is considered a sign of beauty.   It is very similar to the masks Americans use to make their skin firmer or without acne.  Theirs supposedly will make their skin white. Who knows.

Well my weekend in Korea definitely could have been better.  It started off great on Friday with pizza (my first since landing) and drinks with friends downtown but ended horribly with my cold coming back with a vengence Saturday morning.  It is now Sunday afternoon and with exception of a 3 hot showers (mistakely thought the hot water would help) and a quick walk outside for cough drops I have been confined to my bed. 

Remember the medicine I had to take 3x a day to get rid of this nasty thing?  All gone.  Still have the cold.  If anything it's gotten worse.  Big thank you to the Korean pharmacy.  Your tiny pills are just not enough to kick this.

Due to my sickness I was unable to attend the cherry blossom festival in Kyongju Saturday.  Thankfully my friends took plenty of pictures.  The below pictures are from my friend  Darin Novak.  This is what  I would have seen if I would have NOT gotten the plague.

Beautiful aren't they?

Sorry for the debbie downer post.  Being sick sucks.  Being sick in a foreign country without the comforts of certain things to make you feel better sucks even more.  My paticular comforts are hot baths and mom's homemade chicken noodle soup.

 Right now I would pay an obscene amount of money for one bowl of that soup.