Hahoe Folk Village and Halloween x2

Very close to Andong, is the Hahoe Fold Village. I actually went to this village once when we were in Andong for the mask festival. We traveled to this village to watch fireworks, but the night was not as eventful as planned because it was raining and many of the fireworks were postponed. Also, we arrived in the village after it had gotten dark, so we couldn't really see what was there.

Sian and I decided to go again when the leaves were changing and we got to see it at a really beautiful time. Even though, it was again cloudy and bit misty, the villages beauty was quite obvious. Most of the buildings were very traditional. I also got a close up view of the rice fields being harvested and that has been on my list of things to see since I've been in this country! 

We met up with Ben in Andong, and Sian's roommate, Kaitlynn, from Jeonju orientation also went with us. We walked around village and also took a small ferry across the river to the cliff. We hiked up the cliff to get a great view of the village. Again, this would have been very beautiful in the sunlight, so I think I might make my way here again in the spring! 

These are the pots that they make kimchi in...

             "Kimchi (Korean: 김치 Korean pronunciation: [kimtɕʰi]; English pronunciation: /ˈkɪmtʃi/), also spelled kimchee or gimchi, is a traditionalfermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. It is often described as "spicy" or "sour". In traditional preparation Kimchi was often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months at a time. It is Korea's national dish, and there are hundreds of varieties made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, scallion, or cucumber. Kimchi is also a main ingredient for many Korean dishes such as kimchi stew (김치찌개; kimchi jjigae), kimchi pancake (김치부침게;kimchijeon), kimchi soup (김칫국; kimchiguk), and kimchi fried rice (김치볶음밥; kimchi bokkeumbap)."

There were these awesome swings in the village. They were a little bit of a challenge to really get going. The Koreans of course had it down. Us foreigners were struggling to say the least... Sian was surprised when Ben almost sat on her face! ahaha

Sian! I really love this girl! Always up for an adventure and always a good chat! It's obvious she cares about people so much!  I'm so excited to visit her in South Africa and Kenya in the future! 

Steve & Ben

Halloween x2

It was slightly strange to go to a Halloween party on the weekend after the 31st. I think that we got even more weird looks. If I could read minds, I know the Koreans were thinking... "I thought we were done dealing with these foreigners and this holiday..." 

Of course I needed to come up with a different costume... Partly because I wanted a new one, but mostly because my last one got beaten up, was a wide costume and hard to wear in small spaces. 

So on Friday night as I was trying to figure out what to do, I had these options: firework (carry around a bunch of sparklers), magnetic white board with letters, chalkboard, or blackboard. Because of a mistake on my part, (I thought I bought a chalk board) I was a black board. It worked out just fine. I wore all black and wore a black board on both sides of me. I had all the markers attached to my belt and encouraged people to write me. Wasn't the best, but for a last minute idea, it worked...

"Draw me like one of your French girls..."