Jeon Ju (전주) October 24-26

At Ewha Woman's University, there is a break for midterms just like finals.  Midterms were from October 22-26 and I didn't have any midterms during that period.  Thus, my roommate, Ai and my friend Yuka and I took the free Visit Korea bus to Jeon Ju which is 3 hours away from Seoul. 

Free Bus!

The bus gave us free candy - ginseng candy - it was nasty!

We arrived at around 11am in JeonJu and we first went to our Guesthouse and settled down.

Then we walked around Hanbok Village because it was the last day of Bibimbap.  Mary Howard, my Delta Gamma sister, receieved the Fulbright scholarship to teach English at JeonJu.  She met up with us and we walked around the village.  First we went to a bamboo forest!  It was so cool!

Then we saw a demostration of a traditional Korean wedding ceremony.

Then we had bibimbap at the best restaurant in JeonJu (the city is famous for bibimbap).

They were 10,000 won but it was so good!

Afterwards we walked around the downtown area.  We went to Chinatown and the Street of Youth.  Then we relaxed at the Gaeska which is a resting area.

Entrance to Chinatown but once we entered...there was nothing Chinese about it!

Street of Youth - lots of shopping and young people.

We were relaxing!

By then, we were all tired so we said Goodbye to Mary and headed back to our Guesthouse for a nap.  When we woke up at 8pm, we decided to go out for dinner.  However, most of the restaurants were already closed...which was such a big surprise.  We had dinner at a place that served Makolei (Korean rice wine) and they served seafood as well.  I didn't enjoy it.



The next day, we each pay our host father 10,000 won and he played tour guide and drove us around in his car.  First we drove to a cliff so we can get a good birdeye's view of Jeon Ju.

I love the traditional houses!!

Then we drove to Jinan where they are famous for their ginseng.  We sampled a lot of different types of ginseng and I ended up buying some for my grandfather :)

We also drove to a bridge to look at more beautiful scenery.

With Host Dad

Then we went to a temple and it was so beautiful.

Afterwards, we went to eat Korean BBQ and said goodbye to our host dad.  By that time it was around 5pm.  It was very cold so we didn't do much that night (there wasn't anything to do anyway).

On Tuesday, we started our money by making Hanji (Korean paper).  We went to a Hanji place which was righ tnext door to the guesthouse.  We were making a jewlery box!

While the box was drying, we went out to the Hanbok Village to use our free money (they gave it to us because we're foreigners!).  We walked around the village, took pictures and had coffee at a cafe.  It was a nice and chillaxing afternoon.  Then we took the bus at 5 at headed back to Seoul.

fun game!

so much fun!

free money!

It was such a nice and relaxing 3 day vacation.  I really love Jeon Ju.  I love the traditional houses and the beautiful scenery.  It's definitely a nice place to live after you retire but for young people - ehhh I don't think so!

Asia Song Festival - October 23, 2010

The G20 Summit takes place in Seoul this year and coincidentally so does the Asia Song Festival.  Thus, this year's Asia Song Festival collaborated with G20 Seoul Summit.  How?  I'm not sure but the theme song, Let's Go has to do with unity and stuff.

Anyways, so the concert gives out free tickets to foreigners at different days.  Luckily, I got my free ticket on the first round so I got VIP tickets.  I went with Lisa, Sheila and Brittany because we were all sitting at the same section.  We had to exchange our electronic ticket for the real ticket at 12pm so we decided to leave Ewha at 8am so that we'll be first to switch our tickets then first to grab the best seats in our section.

We arrived at Seoul Olympic Stadium and it was so disorganized.  Nothing was set up yet and nobody knew what was going on.  But Sheila and I entertained ourselves with Mr. Shiny Blue Pants Guy because of his outfit and his huge ego.

After exchanging our tickets (we were done at 12:45ish), we went to line up at the gate for our section.  While we were doing that, Sheila and I made signs:

He was suppose to be the guest speaker but in the program I saw that he wasn't going to speak so I made the sign :)

That says, "Rain Oppa, Your wife is here"

They also gave our free CDs of the theme song, glow sticks and program.   Also, for 1000 won you can get a blanket and the proceeds went to UNICEF!

blanket!

program, CD and glow sticks!

Finally the show started!  The opening acts were Teenpop, Rainbow and another group:

Rainbow

Teentop

Then the real show began!

Hosts

4 Minute - Korea - debuted in 2009 and is a 5 girls dance pop music group.  The group's name encompasses both the meaning that they would win hearts in 4 minutes as well as do their best 'for a minute'.  They won the Asia Influential Artist Award.

Bie the Star - Thailand - Known as the Rain of Thailand, he is active both as a singer and actor.  I think he was very cool but I didn't like him b/c he tried to act like my husband.

2AM - Korea - Ballad group of 4 men and the name means putting feelings into songs at 2am, when we are the most full of emotions.  They are amazing.

Jane Zhang - China - In 2005, she earned 3rd place at the "Super Girl Contest" held in China and debuted her album in 2006.  She also debuted in America on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009.  She has an amazing voice and has really good English.

Joe Cheng

Joe Cheng - Taiwan - Taiwan's popular singer, model, MC, and actor - he is a versatile entertainer.  He is so amazing, most definitely my new love.

He didn't show up :(  But he spke in Korean!!

AKB48 - Japan - As an idol group formed in 2005, it debuted in 2006 and has around 40 girls.  The number of members fluctuates and they are at times active in units of A,K, and B.

Kara - Korea - It is an idol group of 5 women.  KARA is a group of cute and bright girls visually, but their music and voice show maturity and strength.

Michael Wong - Malaysia - He sang 'Fairy Tale'!  Everyone sang along..well there were a lot of Chinese/Taiwanese/Hong Kong/Singapore/Chinese speakers there!

Beast - Korea - A 6 boys dance group debuted in 2009.  They were awarded the Asia Influential Artist Award.

Rain - Korea - oh man the man of my life was totally rocking it on stage.  Man that boy is a God!  He can dance, sing, and act.  He has it all!  He was so so so so so so so sexy!!!!

Boa - Korea - Great performance

Everyone on stage for the final song - Let's Go

It was such a tiring day but so worth it!!!  I have more pictures on facebook!!!