It's Good to Get Out

On Thursday and Friday we went on a tour sponsored by a group called the Pyeongtaek International Exchange Foundation. We started each day with a lecture or presentation about the culture in Korea in general or Pyeongtaek in particular, and we got a quick lesson in speaking and reading the language. We also got to make kimbap and take a couple of fun field trips.

On day one we walked to a restaurant near Pyeongtaek University for some delicious Korean food, which always makes my tummy warm and happy (warm because I don't care for nangmyeon, or cold noodles). After that, we went to the cultural center where we saw a presentation about the different activities PIEF offers to help foreigners acclimate to the area, and to foster greater friendship with Koreans.

The second half of day two was probably my favorite, because we visited a traditional village not too far from here. I got a lot of great pictures of men in little stalls in more traditional dress working on things like straw shoes, or brass spoons, or weaving fans. While we were there we also saw a really cool dance performance, and a fantastic acrobat. He worked the crowd so well! I wish we could have stayed longer, and we'll definitely be going back.