Since I've Been Gone - Part 3: Korea

After Hawaii, my next stop took me to South Korea to visit my dear friend, Caitlin, who is teaching English in Chuncheon.  Caitlin has been there for about a year and a half, and was a great tour guide of Chuncheon and all of South Korea!

Enjoying Rice Wine at Dinner

On my first day, I got to see where Caitlin had been teaching, meet her students and get to know the lovely ladies she has been teaching with for the past few months.  One of my favorite stories about her experience was when one of the students called her Cake Land because they couldn't quite pronounce her name -  I still laugh out loud whenever I think about this or one of the many other stories she shared with me.  I'm sure teachers from everywhere could share similar experiences!   

On Saturday, we headed to the annual Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival - I definitely wasn't at the beach anymore!  Thankfully, Caitlin had extra winter apparel for this southern girl, and after meeting up with Caitlin's friends, we were off.

Our day began with ice fishing, where we were given rods that looked like fly swatters and no bait for the hooks.  Not quite the fishing I remember from growing up.  

Fishing Rod? I'm not convinced...

I got off to a rough start; for the first freezing fifteen minutes I didn't have so much as a nibble come to my line.  As I watched Caitlin successfully catch, then squeal at, a river trout, I didn't think that fishing was going to be "my thing".  

One of the older Korean women, who was some sort of fish-whisperer, saw my disheartened face and took pity on me by taking my arm and dragging me along the ice to a "better" fishing hole.  Going along with her, but not quite convinced of the potential success rate given my subpar tools and attitude, she enthusiastically pointed to a new spot and muttered something in Korean.  I guess it was a curse on the fish who passed my baitless hook because my luck changed immediately.  

Before I knew it, I had pulled three very angry trout out of the small hole in the ice.  The woman watched me for a few minutes, fine tuning my wrist-flipping technique and occasionally grunting or nodding approvingly, then walked back to her spot and continued to catch the remaining trout in the river.  When we were leaving, she had no less than 30 flopping fish in her bucket! 

Once everyone from our group caught our limit of 3 fish each, we brought them to the tents set up on the shore nearby and the locals grilled them to perfection for us, topping them with spices and sauces - it was delicious!

Inside the Ice Sculpture Exhibit

After fishing and our snack, we had a traditional Korean lunch, and then went to the Festival's Ice Sculpture Exhibit.  Famous sights from around the world were perfectly recreated in enormous blocks of ice, from Petra to the Pyramids.  There was even an ice slide for visitors to ride down; watching the little kids go down in groups was absolutely adorable.  The entire exhibit was incredible; I can't imagine how long it took to put together!

Caitlin Ice Sledding at the Festival

Now, not to dwarf my excitement from successfully ice fishing earlier in the day (all thanks to my new Korean friend), but my favorite memory from the Festival occurred at the end of the day - hand fishing for trout in the ice cold water.  It sounded fun enough, and with Caitlin already having experienced this activity at last year's festival, I had an excited audience - so why not?! 

One may say that stripping out of your multiple thermal layers into shorts and a t-shirt, or walking around without shoes or socks in the snow, or jumping into ice cold water to catch a fish with your hand might qualify for pretty legitimate "why nots", but let's be honest, who really cares about all of those silly logical reasons when your friend says "it'll be fun"....?  Immediately, I was obviously on board.  

The following few minutes were undoubtedly the coldest I've ever experienced.  Surrounded by mostly Korean men who found this annual plunge into the river water of substantial excitement, we (two others from our group decided it would be great fun, too) were told to put our feet in the water to "get used to it" before we jumped in.  In hindsight, I don't think that a fully matured polar bear would be able to "get used" to this temperature, not to mention some obviously delusional and lost southern peach.  

Another tidbit for those of you reading: once you jump into the water, the only way you are allowed out is to catch a fish with your bare, frozen hands (or if you freeze to death...kidding, sort of...).  Sounds easy enough, right?  After catching little more than fish scales on my hands from two sneaky fish that narrowly escaped my grasp within the first minute in the water, I finally put my game face on.  Within a few more seconds, I had spotted, grasped, and actually caught a trout!  The picture below captures one of the proudest and most surprising moments of my life; it was a great feeling, but not as incredible as the sauna we got to relax in after the event!  

Later that night we met up with Caitlin's friends for a delicious Korean dinner and then headed out to the stereotypical Asian Saturday night -- karaoke.  Contrary to popular belief, I am not a talented rapper, nor am I Mariah Carey.  Who knew?!  The night was very fun and a great way to end such an authentically Korean day.

Saturday Night Dinner

Another one of the highlights of my time in Korea with Caitlin included a day trip to the Joint Security Area (JSA) and Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between North and South Korea.  Our day began with a trip and tour of the Korean Museum in Seoul, which gave us a better understanding (and great refresher to what I thought I knew) of the regional history.  The museum was beautifully laid out and was a perfect way to begin our day.  

From the museum in Seoul, we headed to Imjingak, which is located just outside the DMZ.  There we saw the moving Bridge of the Freedom before we continued on to the JSA.

The entire day was educational, emotional and eye-opening to the past and current events between North and South Korea, as well as the involvement of so many other international actors.  I'm very glad that we were able to make this tour happen while I was visiting.

Later that week, we spent a slightly overcast, but very fun day in Seoul touring the Royal Palace & Museum and shopping a bit.  We visited a street market, underground mall, and even a three story H&M - we were in heaven!  Since there aren't many Western restaurants in Chuncheon, we took advantage of the diverse cuisine offerings of the capitol city and had a delicious Italian dinner - don't judge us!  

In front of the Royal Palace in Seoul

It was another bittersweet goodbye for me as I packed up in Chuncheon, but catching up with Caitlin and seeing Korea through a local's eyes was the perfect beginning of my Asian adventures!  I can't wait until she comes and I get to play tour guide!