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Hello all! A delightful day spent last Friday in Jeonju -- a city quite a distance south of Seoul. O-Jin (my Korean language tutor) and I traveled by train -- O-Jin kept me busy practicing my Korean most of the way there and back (two hours+ each way)!

A student in one of my classes, In-Ju, lives in Jeonju. So she and her very kind Mom met us at the train station, treated us to a wonderful lunch -- delicious bi-bim-bap and soft tofu (sun-du-bu) and soups and so many side dishes! At the end of the meal, we were served one of my favorite Korean beverages -- Su-jeongwha -- a concoction of pomegranate juice and cinnamon and other ingredients, often served with pine nuts floating on top.

After this meal, we went to a large historical traditional Korean homes area -- Hanok Maeul -- and then on to the Pan Asia Paper Museum (this was my original destination/goal for this adventure -- this paper museum - Hanji (traditional Korean handmade paper) is so beautiful here, and I have been captivated by so many of the beautiful new-to-me crafts that are created with hanji.

Here is a web link to see some photos of beautiful Korean Hanji http://www.korean-arts.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/search.htm

There are more photos in the "Jeonju!" folder in my photo gallery.

I have really enjoyed the wonderful array of fresh, fresh, fresh produce available here -- and so inexpensive!

Spinach (shi-geum-chi) is especially wonderful -- about 1/4 the price I was used to paying in the States.

Below is a photo of approximately $2.70 worth of assorted greens -- they come packaged this way -- organically grown -- from a coop service that delivers direct to my door.

Last week I enjoyed a long, busy day visiting with several students.

Nikita and Tracey met me in Insadong. We visited several art galleries and exhibitions (a photo exhibit was particularly impressive (Hyundai Gallery), ate lunch, had ice cream at Baskin Robbins, visited Seoul Selection Bookstore, window-shopped, and then met Mi-Yeon in Ssamziegil Mall.

Check out the gallery for more photos!

After I arrived back at Yeokgok, I met several other students! We chatted and enjoyed fresh fruit concoctions at the fruit cafe in Yeokgok, and then visited a local video store, where I was given the "scoop" on several DVDs they recommended I watch!

Maria Ku, a prior student in my classes in the USA, and also one of my wonderful tutors for learning Korean, has returned with her family to Korea! (photos below)

She invited me to her home for a delightful lunch of "deok-guk" (traditional lunar New Year's soup) and scrumptious bulgogi, along with other fancy things!

She gave me delicious orange-family fruit (I've forgotten the Korean name -- reminds me of tangelos from Florida, but they are different). See the photo below -- along with the delicious fruit from Jeju Island, you'll see gifts I received from another friend -- deok treats -- yummmmmm!

As many of you know, I love flowers! An interesting (to me) custom here is that for grand openings of "anything," very similar large sprays of flowers are delivered and left outside the new business (often remaining for weeks, no longer looking so fresh).

In busier areas, it is possible to RENT these by the hour!

Different flowers are used, but gerberas have been present in every one I've seen so far.

Wow! Last Tuesday, Ojin and I attended a showing of The Last Empress (Myeong-Seong Hwang Hu) at the Seoul Performing Arts Center.

A magnificent performance! There were over 600 changes of costumes during the show -- phenomenal!