I just got back from a weekend of fun and frolicking with Bianca and Janaki in Daejeon, a nearby big city. It’s one of the largest in the country, numbering maybe 2 million or more, and is located in my province, Cheongchungnamdo, only 2 hours away from Hongsan by bus. We went there for primarily one reason…to go to the ginseng festival in Gumsan, reputed to be the biggest ginseng expo in the world. I have been wanting to visit for a while, but have been busy most weekends with other obligations. Ginseng is a really big deal here in health-obsessed Korea and my province is actually one of the best places to grow it in the world due to the climate and terrain.
Anyway, Bianca and I headed out Saturday morning to Daejeon to meet Kyoung He Sam, check into our motel, and then meet Janaki, but were met with several setbacks. However, Bianca’s luckiness managed to work its charm every time, and the weekend went relatively smoothly. First, we didn’t get onto the right bus and it didn’t stop in Keryeong, where we were supposed to meet Kyoung He Sam. She called us just as we were entering Daejeon and realizing our mistake and demanded to talk to the bus driver on my phone. I obediently handed my phone over, and while an entire silent busful of people listened to what a stupid foreigner I was, the bus driver told her where we were and told us to get out. I had my doubts about the whole situation, since I couldn’t understand a word of the convo, but these proved unfounded because Kyoung He Sam pulled up ten minutes later and took us to our snazzy hotel. It was soooo nice! It was an army hotel for men in the army and their families, but her husband is a colonel or something so we got to stay there as “family.” It was pretty rad and a definite step up from our usual hole-in-the-wall. However, Kyoung He Sam left us right away to return to her family, so we were left without a map or any directions on where to go next. After a couple wrong turns (ie, going to the bus station and realizing a bus didn’t go to Daejeon), we found a city bus to take us and felt very proud of our ability to navigate the country by ourselves.
From here on out, the day was smooth sailin. We met Janaki and headed south to Gumsan right away. Within minutes of stepping off the bus, some man started talking to us and offered to be our guide. He gave his name as Francis and explained he was studying English in the Philippines (where it is less expensive) and wanted to practice while he was home visiting family. We were happy to have him around, though it was a little awkward at first, and through him learned quite a bit about ginseng. Turns out his grandfather used to grow the stuff as well. We enjoyed ginseng for lunch, found out about all possible uses of ginseng (tea, candy, chocolate, liquor, raw, etc.), watched a series of presentations on ginseng’s history in Korea and the myths surrounding it, made ginseng potpourri (where we were the token American advertising photo op), and in general had a good time. One of my favorite parts was the garden walk, which featured cucumbers that must have been at least four feet long! As the day was winding down, an older man who volunteered at the festival started talking to us and helped us find the FREE shuttle bus to Daejeon—sweet! He was really nice. He used to be an elementary school principal and was excited to find that I worked at an elementary school. He took down my name and my school’s name, for some bizarre reason…I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to call my principal! We got off at Lotte Department store, hoping to catch a movie, but the one English movie wasn’t playing that day. We then headed back toward our hotel, grabbed some Pizza Hut, and watched some Pirates while drinkin a bit o soju. The game was drink when Johnny Depp does something awesome, so you can guess what kind of shape we were in….
On Sunday, we checked out and headed back to Lotte for a bakery breakfast. Janaki left us shortly afterward, but Bianca and I stuck around and saw Lady in the Water, which was a slightly bizarre movie about this strange albino girl. It was nice to have something in English, though! Then we went to Costco, where I agonized over gifts and spent a lot of money, and afterwards parted ways. We finally found a friggin city map at the train station…next time we’ll actually know where we’re going and what is here! On the way to Buyeo, a nice girl sat next to me and asked to practice her English with me, so we made awkward conversation for an hour and a half. I can’t remember her name now, though. I finally made it back around 7 and bought some bananas for my family at a fruit vendor’s place with the help of a few of my students I found hanging around. Now I am tired and soooooooooo not ready to teach a full day tomorrow!