Day 16 - No Easter!

When we left New Zealand there were lots of Easter displays and Easter eggs, chocolate rabbits, chocolate chickens and hot cross buns, but in Korea there is no Easter! No Easter eggs, no chocolate rabbits, no chocolate chickens and no hot cross buns. I am sad. I was looking forward to chocolate, LOTS of chocolate. My favourite chocolate is milk. Lindt Lindor is my favourite type. Here in Korea they are having spring festivals, blossom festivals and strawberry festivals, but no chocolate festivals. This makes me sad. I like strawberries though, and we have been eating those.

Day 15 - I Need More Hats

On Saturday after visiting the palace we went shopping in Seoul.

We walked to an area called Insadong which is a shopping district where they have lots of antique shops, souvenir shops and food stalls. It was packed with people trying to buy things. We walked around for hours, but we didn't buy very much. We had lunch at a restaurant and we ordered bulgogi (shredded beef with a delicious sauce) with mushrooms, tofu, and kimchi. The bulgogi was very nice.

Afterwards we went to a cafe to get a drink and on the way we passed a McDonalds with about twenty police officers outside it - we were not sure what was happening but we decided to leave quickly. So we took the subway to the bus station where we went shopping at the underground mall. I bought a hat and some more socks.I have decided to start a hat collection.

My hats and socks

Shopping in Insadong

A food shop

 

Day 14 - The Singing Stairs Of Seoul

On Saturday we went to Seoul. We went on a deluxe bus with a big comfortable reclining seat, a footrest, seatbelts and a TV. It took 90 minutes to get there, and it only cost 4400 won (about $4.40 and $9 for adults). The first thing we did in Seoul was buy Dunkin' Donuts. Then we went to the subway and the stairs to get there were actually a piano! They lit up and played notes when you stood on them. We visited the Gyeongbokgung palace which is the main palace in Seoul. It was built in 1395. Most of the buildings were wooden with painted green decorations and curved roofs. The palace grounds were very big and our feet got very hot and tired walking around. On the tour the guide spoke English and explained what all the buildings were. It was very interesting and it was not too crowded. There was a monument to the twelve creatures of  the Chinese calender and I got a photo next to my year (the sheep or goat). There were also two museums about the palace.

On the deluxe bus.

The singing stairs.

The palace.

The throne.

The year of the sheep/goat.

Day 11 - Cheongju, "a beautiful metropolis of green environment"

Today I will tell you about the city of Cheongju (청주, "chuhng-joo").
It's about a two hour drive south east of Seoul and is about twice the population of Christchurch. It's in the middle of the country and has lots of trees and gardens like Christchurch.The city flower is the white magnolia and these are coming out now - we have one of these outside our window. The city tree is a Zelkova tree which is native to Korea, Japan and China and is sometimes made into a bonsai. The city bird is a magpie - the ones here have shiny blue feathers.The mascots of Cheongju are called Jamodori. They are little white creatures with different coloured hats.

Day 10 - Lunch at CBNU

Most days for lunch we go to a cafeteria for the staff and students of Chungbuk University.

We have to walk there and it's quite hilly - it takes about 10 minutes and we walk past the library and the students union building. 

When we get there you have to buy a ticket and line up for food. We take a tray, spoon, chopsticks and a bowl. Then we grab some rice and put it in the bowl. After that you take some of the dishes - there are usually about six dishes. One is always kimchi, about three vegetable dishes, often one  meat or fish dish and a fruit (apple or orange or tomato). Finally you grab a bowl of soup and then you sit down at a big table with other people and eat it. We often go with the other astronomy students and postdocs (someone who has just finished studying and who has a job doing astronomy research). 

Often some of the dishes are very spicy.

Day 9 - The Smallest Bed

Today I will tell you about where I live. We live in two apartments in the international faculty building at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju. All the buildings have numbers on them and names in Korean characters that light up blue and white at night. There are lots of trees around campus, and most of them don't have leaves on them at the moment. It is cold at night (-5 degrees last night) but is nice and sunny during the day. Close to our apartment are tennis courts and a basketball court. I sleep in a small bed next to the sink, every one else sleeps in double beds. We eat our meals in Mum and Dad's room. Our apartment is on the edge of campus so we can easily walk to the shops and to the restaurants.

Day 8 - Jikji Journey

On Sunday we went to the Early Printing Museum (청주고인쇄박물관). That is where the first metal printing press in the world and Jikji (the first book made with the first metal printing press in the world)  was made. We watched an interesting movie about Jikji which was in English. We saw lots of exhibits about making paper, wooden printing presses and metal printing presses. But I got bored because the exhibits were in Korean.  There were lots of models showing how the paper and the metal type were made and how the books were printed and bound. One good thing is that the museum was free. Next door to the museum was the Heungdeoksa historic temple where the Jikji was printed. There is a bronze bell and a Buddha statue in the temple.

Day 7 - Market Day

Two days ago on Saturday morning we took a taxi to the Korean Yookguri market (육거리시장) in the Cheongju town centre. We saw fish, squid, octopus, seaweed, twisted doughnuts, a squishy coloured rice ball with a nutty sauce in the centre, hats, clothes, SOCKS, chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas, PIGS HEADS and kimchi.

I bought a Korea hat, some socks and a cute black puppy (not really). Leah bought a hand bag and some socks. We also bought strawberries, twisted doughnuts and some coloured rice ball things.

There were tons of socks! There were thousands of pairs and they were 1000 to 1500 won each pair.

My favourite part was buying my hat because i have a hat collection. The worst part was the smell because all of the strange foods that smell different making a horrible smell.

Day 4 - Not Quite New York...

We strolled out of Chungbuk university to see the bright lights of Chungdae (the student restaurant, bar and nightlife part of the city). We walked past several street stalls selling food but we needed a restaurant. So we looked around the narrow streets trying to find a restaurant that had an English menu or pictures of their food. We choose a small, modern restaurant that sold stone pots and bibimbaps (very hot bowls filled with rice, with meat and vegetables on top). It was yummy.
After dinner we wandered around the narrow streets for a while looking at the flashing bright lights.
We saw bars, restaurants, video game playing centres, electronic shops and sock shops. We bought socks because we read online the socks in Korea are good.

Day 3 - What? Heated Vending Machines

At  the entrance to the office building we are in, there are three vending machines.
On the first day we bought a honey drink each, and when they came out they were HOT!!!
Some vending machines sell hot drinks and others sell cold. Make sure you check to see if they are hot or cold. Today we had some creamy milk soda drinks which were cold and YUMMY.
The drinks cost between 500 and 1000 won.

Day 2 - Tasty But Spicy

There are lots of weird foods here like kimchi (spicy).

The food here is quite nice, but it's spicy so be ready for the spicy food here.

For dinner I have only had BBQ pork with lots of vegetables.

You are supposed to take some lettuce and then take some pork and dip it in the sauce. After that put the pork in the lettuce and finally wrap it up and eat it.

I also had some spicy noodles, a weird bean thing, mini waffles, peperos and spicy baby octopus tentacle.

Day 1 - The Journey Begins...

Today I arrived in Korea after a long time on a plane. Thankfully we got here on time, because we were almost delayed because of cyclones.
To get here we had to go on multiple flights that were very long.
We flew to Auckland which was 1.5 hours long and then we flew to Tokyo which was 12 hours long. After that we flew to Seoul which was 2 hours long and finally a 2 hour drive to Cheongju. A good thing was that I got a hamburger pillow when we went to the shops to buy things.
However, there is a bad thing. There is no TV!