Korean Folk Village

I promised this post several weeks ago... and for some reason, I just haven't gotten around to it! Since I had the day off school today, I had some time to relax and enjoy life... and finally decided to post about the Korean Folk Village I visited nearly 3 weeks ago.

Saturday (October 25) was a marvelous day. Bok ja invited me to go visit the Korean Folk Village in Yong-In with some of her friends. We had a delightful time. I have to admit, I wasn't very excited about meeting up at 8:20 on a Saturday morning... but it was completely worth it!

We traveled about 1 1/2 hrs. after we met up together - by subway and by bus. The travel time allowed for us to get acquainted with one another, which was nice. We also had GREAT weather for most of the day. It only rained a little bit in the afternoon, after we were finished with most of our activities anyway.


My companions for the day: Jeom Soon (she surprised us with cute little snack bags in the morning and a special gift at lunch, which I'll tell more about later), Ah Ju (Bok ja's middle school-aged niece), me, Bok ja, and Hae Kyung (a Korean/Americanish exchange university student who spoke really great English).


The autumn scenery was lovely...


I really enjoyed watching this traditional performance. I don't remember what it's called in Korean... but my brochure refers to it as the "Farmers' music and dance." I especially like watching the long white ribbons twirl around their heads... I guess it doesn't take much to get me excited!


Tightrope acrobatics...


Delicious meat on a stick...


A traditional Korean wedding ceremony




The groom after the ceremony...


...followed by the bride!


Ah Ju being super-cute!


We had a sweet time together


Ah Ju and Hae Kyung posing under and "umbrella" of beautiful autumn leaves


This is when I started to feel like a celebrity. Several elementary school students were visiting the village that day and had the assignment to speak in English to a foreigner, describing different Korean traditions. At the end of their little speeches, I had to sign their books and actually give them a grade! So, I literally felt like I was signing autographs. Oh dear... they were cute.


Jump roping!


Trying to see-saw...


Couldn't resist playing with my camera settings with this one...


Me and Bok ja...


With Bok ja... It was starting to rain at this point, but we couldn't resist getting a photo in front of the gorgeous scenery!


There was also a small amusement park at the Folk Village. Jeom Soon and I decided to ride the non-music-playing-carousel while the girls went to play bumper cars. Not being an adventurous person when it comes to rides and amusement parks, I was content to ride around the carousel, trying to imagine that I could hear the carousel music...

Oh, and something more about Jeom Soon... at lunch, she surprised us all with little cards. Even though we'd never met her before, she had spent time writing a little poem for each of us using the letters in our names. So incredibly thoughtful! This is the poem she wrote for me (she thought my name was spelled with an "a" instead of an "o", but it didn't matter too much, I just appreciated the thought!):

Hello! I think that I couldn't see you in Korea.

Awesome God! God carried you here. It's God's will.

Lord! I praise you.

Lovely Hally! Make good experiences with your God. Please meet ~

Your God who he is deeply through everything.
^**^

Her thoughtfulness really blessed me in a very unexpected way!

Last of all...

They all wanted me to take a picture waving to my friends and family at home. So, here I am waving to tell you that I miss you all!!!