Boys' High School, Train to Gyeongju and Anapchi Pond

 Tuesday, June 27

Today was another busy day!  We traveled south by high-speed train to the city of Gyeongju.  We had some delicious lunch at the train station on arrival.  Max and I were zipped off with half of the group who wanted bulgogi stew for lunch and Kurt landed in a completely different restaurant with the other half of the group who wanted a Japanese-style pork cutlet and noodles for lunch.  

Next we traveled to a local boys' high school for a few hours of entertainment.  A class of about 25 students had planned a program and some treats for us.  They were juniors in high school, but here they are called "second graders" because there are only three grades in high school.  (The first graders are sophomores and the third graders are seniors.).  Sean and Max were team captains for a game of charades. This gave the high school boys a great chance to practice their english and we got to laugh as Max and Sean tried to act out words like 'giraffe' and 'marathon' for the teams to guess.  In Korea, students attend school from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm.  Getting into college is very competitive!  So, being able to host our group was a fun break for them (although there were a few quieter boys in the back studying their text books).  We ended the event by sharing a gift of some American hats, t-shirts, and candies with the students.

From there we stopped in a local shopping area where we could try on hanbok (traditional Korean dress) and get our photos taken.  One of the local shop owners got a laugh out of a few of the guys (Kurt included) because the Hanbok store hadn't bothered to give them Korean pants to put on over their shorts so they looked like they were walking the streets of Korea without any pants on.  

Dinner tonight was amazing!  We were brought to a restaurant that had pots built into each table.  They made a dish called, dak galbi, which consisted of chicken, cabbage, sweet potatoes, green onions, and rice cakes in a delicious sauce.  We watched as they made the stir fry style dish before our eyes.  It was served with lettuce leaves and sesame leaves so you could eat it like a wrap.  They also served an ice cold soup that was like a pickled kimchi broth.  It was perfect for the hot day and made my tummy happy!

After checking into our new hotel for the night, we took an optional trip to a place called Anapchi pond (also called Wolji pond).  It was a gorgeous lantern lit landscape that despite the small crowds of people felt so peaceful.  Max and Kurt stayed with the tour guide while I wandered more slowly and took some photos... that may have been why it felt so peaceful.  

Dede