All 64 of us ETAs, plus 4 orientation coordinators, plus one RA, left early on Friday morning and arrived at our hotel by lunchtime. We received a nice welcome. The whole trip was sponsored by the Fulbright Korea program and most of the office people were there, including Mrs. Shim, the executive director. We are supposed to do our utmost to impress her, which is sometimes a bit challenging given our incomplete knowledge of Korean language and culture.
We ate a truly amazing, Korean-style lunch that day. There were long rows of low tables set up that were covered with all kinds of tasty side dishes (see picture to left). Four people sat at each section and shared about 20-25 side dishes and a large bowl of spicy mushroom soup. We each had our own rice (rice is a staple of every meal here). Needless to say, I ate well. I even tried all of the side dishes (except the meat ones, which were weird things like squid or anchovies or crab or bony fish), which is unusual for me since I am not usually an adventurous eater. It was delicious!
After lunch, we had some free time. I found my room, which I shared with three other girls, unpacked, and walked around town for a while. It is very small, but I can see how it would be lively with a few more tourists. I took a lot of pictures of the park and this neat bridge that shot sprays of water over your head as you walked.
My friend Jill and I decided to walk around and look at the straw hats on sale here, and with Bianca decided on a style that folded up into a perfect triangle. We were pretty excited.
Later that afternoon, we all attended a Buddhist lecture given by a Korea National University professor. It was pretty interesting and sparked my interest in learning more about Korean buddhism while I am here. I am hoping to be placed with a Buddhist family, but we'll see.
After the lecture, we walked to a nearby temple, looked around, and observed the evening service. Immediately following that excursion, we had yet another delicious meal of a variety of side dishes, rice, and soup (though not quite as good as lunch, unfortunately). It's going to be hard to go back to cafeteria food three times a day after this pampering!