Weekend Shenanigans: Gunsan Edition

This weekend I decided I would save a little money and stay in town to explore Gunsan. After all, it is my city and I know very little about it since I run off every weekend to explore other parts of Korea. Next weekend we're going to Seoul, so I figured a nice, low key weekend is just what I needed.

Before I begin, I wanted to mention that this weeks accomplishments include me figuring out the bus system! Score! It's so much cheaper than a taxi, especially since the taxi fares went up last Monday. I rode the bus several times back and forth between mine and Emilee's and didn't get lost once. Knock on wood. haha

Let me preface these next story with a little definition. In the TaLK program, most TaLK teachers have a co-teacher. A co-teacher is usually a Korean university student in or near the town you live in who either wants to be a teacher or can speak English pretty well. The co-teacher comes a couple of times a week to help you in your classroom. In my case, my co-teacher is actually a private English teacher who goes to the homes of children and teaches them English, so she is very busy and can only come to my class on Fridays. She is very kind and helps me communicate with my students and mentor teacher, as well as helping me with other things I need while I'm here. She also gives me a ride home every Friday and I tell her about my weekend plans and ask for advice about what to do when I go to these places. This week she asked me what I was doing this weekend and I told her my plans were to stay here in Gunsan. She got really excited and asked me if I wanted to go to church with her on Sunday! Of course, I said yes, and told her I would see her Sunday. After I got home, I relaxed a little and found out that my settlement money had made it to my bank. What better way to celebrate than meeting Lizzie and Emilee for some pizza. It was good, as always! It was also followed up by some Baskin Robbins, as always. haha After that, we walked around a little, but it was chilly outside so we called it a night pretty early.

Saturday started off with some sleeping in, which is still my favorite activity. Then Laura, Emilee and I decided we wanted to find the seaside of Gunsan. Emilee knew how to get us there, so off we went! We took a bus to Emilee's school and then headed in the direction of the water. About 20 minutes later we were there! It was a little windy, but there were a lot of people out walking around. We took some pictures of the water and went to the Jinpo Maritime Theme Park where we got to walk around inside an old war ship and learn a little about a Korean victory over Japan. The words 'theme park' in Korea don't mean the same thing as they do in America. A theme park in Korea is exactly what it sounds like..a park that has a theme to it. There are all sorts of theme parks, as well as amusement parks in Korea. Going to an amusement park is on my Korea bucket list, so hopefully I can cross that one off before I leave!

I'm a sucker for pretty lavender and sky blue walls, even if it is super windy outside! 

We found the water!!! 

Flags! there were more, but I couldn't get them all and still make it look cool! 

Water, boats and mountains! 

More boats and more water!

We decided we were getting hungry and Laura and Emilee knew we were on the right side of town for the Lee Sung Dang Bakery, so we started searching. There are bakeries and coffee shops on every corner of Korea, but what makes this one so special is that it's the oldest bakery in Korea, and it just so happens to be about 10 minutes from my house. Speaking of theme parks, this one resembled an American theme park in the sense that the line wrapped around the building. This place was packed! It's a very popular bakery, and it did not disappoint, except for the long line. After about 20 minutes in line, we pile our trays full of pastries and eat so much bread we can't move! Eventually, we got up and continued walking, finding the old town center and a bunch of clothing shops. It was a good time, but we were tired and came back to Emilee's to decide what was next. We ended up sitting around forever, Laura went home, Emilee and I had some delicious mandu, then I successfully used the bus to get home! haha

The famous Lee Sung Dang Bakery!! 

The big ole line...WHAT! 

Finally made it inside, which means...Myspace mirror pic time! 

More lines...and Korean twins..ah! 

This was what greeted me once I reached the door. So. Many. People. 

They wouldn't let us just get one...so we got multiples. hahaha oh Korea! 

So much bread! 

Today I woke up to a text from my co-teacher saying that she had to practice choir before church, so her mom would come pick me up. Surprise! haha Older Koreans don't normally know English, so I was a little nervous about how things would go. We made small talk with the few English words she knew and she was very kind to me. It wasn't near as bad as I was expecting. Once we got to church, we walked in to find Hyungyoung-my co-teahcer- standing in the entry way. I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life. The ride there wasn't bad, I just didn't realize how comforting it would be to see her! Picture this: you're in a car with a stranger. You don't speak the same language. You don't know where you're going. You don't know how many people are going to be there (although you already assume you'll be the only waygook around). You don't know when you'll get to see the person you know (whom you don't even actually know anyway because you've only met her three times.) You know food is a large part of the Korean culture and assume you'll be fed while you're gone, but you're nervous about the scary food they might make you try. All of these things were running through my head, so when I saw her, I was instantly relieved. Hyungyoung took me to a little room where she introduced me to a few people before we went to find out seats. The whole service was in Korean, so I didn't really know what was going on at all, but it was a cool experience. I was the only white girl for miles, but I already expected that, so I wasn't that surprised. What got me though, was my outfit. Being my sparkle loving self, I wore some nude sparkly flats with a flowery dress and a pink cardigan. Much to my surprise, basically everyone in that church was wearing navy, black or gray. As if I didn't stick out enough already with my blonde hair and blue eyes, here I am in the brightest outfit I could find. After the service was over, the preacher introduce some lady in the back left hand corner. I started thinking, "Oh crap! What if I'm next!?" Sure enough, the preacher looks in my direction, starts speaking in Korean and I hear him say one of the few Korean words I know, meguk (American). Everyone started laughing, so I'm not really sure what he said, but he followed it up with, "Thank you for coming, stand up." So I stand up and do an awkward half bow/half wave thing, say thank you for having me, and sit back down. Luckily, my red face matched my bright outfit. haha 

After all of that awkwardness, Hyunyoung's sister and brother come over and introduce themselves to me, as well as the preacher and a few other people at the church. They were all so nice! Hyungyoung asked if I was hungry, and of course I said yes. (Even though I was a little nervous about the food.) We went into another room of the church and loaded our plates up. Apparently I had sliced squid..? I prefer fried, but it was okay. The soup was amazing and I got complimented on my use of chopsticks 5 times! Mark me down for two accomplishments this week! Turns out, Hyungyoung teaches English to the little kids at 1:10, so she tells me to stay there and wait. More awkwardness. While we ate, two high school boys joined us and we all talked with the help of translation from Hyungyoung. They knew some English, but not enough for us to be left alone for who knows how long. Luckily, music saved the day. Since they sat down they kept making jokes that one of the boys was a famous guitarist. The boys played drums and guitar in the church band, so one of them told the other to play me a song. After a few of us started cheering him on, he went and got his guitar and a couple more friends. He starts strumming and all of a sudden, I start singing the song! What!! He was playing Jason Maraz I'm Yours! English!!! It was so awesome! So we all sing the song together and when it's over he tells me that Jason Maraz is very popular over here. Who knew?! He also told me that he didn't like Korean pop music, only American music! From there, he played, more Jason Maraz, a little Maroon 5, some k-pop and even an acoustic version of Gangnam Style! He was a very talented boy! Leave it up to the American in the room to get us all in trouble though! I got my camera out to start recording him playing 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5 because that's my favorite song by them and everyone starting going 'Ohhhhhhh!!' and laughing and clapping really loud. The next thing you know, a Korean lady in the next room pokes her head in and says a lot of things in Korean and everyone is silent. About 30 seconds later, Hyungyoung says we were being too loud and we had to go upstairs. Oops.. Luckily, she also said that everyone at church really liked me and that any time I stay in Gunsan for the weekend, I'm welcome to go to church with her. It was a really good day and I'm glad I got to meet all of those nice people! I know I've said it a 100 times, but Koreans are so welcoming and nice!

Stay tuned for a Seoul adventure! Have a good week America! Love you all!

-Kyla