Kimchi Making, Hanbok, and Markets, Oh My!

What a whirlwind the last few days have been here for our Seoul Global Navigators! Students here have really hit the ground running and immersed themselves right into Korean community these last few days. Here's what they've been up to:

Friday:

Students left the classroom for this past Thursday's Korean Language and Culture class and headed for Youngchen market with their Korean teacher Mia! Youngchen market is about 20 minutes away from our hotel and is home to a variety of traditional Korean snacks, meat, and seafood. Our Navigators were broken up into 5 teams and tasked with finding two specific types of dishes and ordering them in Korean. Afterwards, they needed to take a group video with their dishes to show their teacher that they were able to successfully able to order their team's dishes! Their teacher helped them out by giving them a guide of Korean phrases used for ordering food (written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet). We're so proud of our Navigators because all of our teams passed and successfully ordered their dishes! They celebrated by all eating the food they ordered for lunch. It was also many of the students' first times trying Korean market food. 

Later in the day, CIEE students gave back to the local community by making kimchi and donating it to a local senior citizen nursing home. Right next to Bukchon Hanok Village, students filled into a traditional style Hanok (traditional Korean house), washed their hands, and donned their aprons in preparation to make some kimchi! Their teacher provided them with all the ingredients laid out on their tables, ready to be assembled! After sealing their completed kimchi, we all took a 10 minute walk over to the nursing home and dropped off our sealed kimchi, bag by bag.

That night, we traveled to Gwangjang Market, which is at least quadruple the size of the market students went to earlier in the day! CIEE Navigators were treated to a delicious personalized food tour. Students were able to try foods that Gwangjang Market is known for, such as dumplings, kimbap, tteokbokki, and more! After having a great sampling of street food, the tour guides treated us to a great dinner at a small restaurant inside the market. We were treated to a variety of foods, such as bulgogi, bibimbap, and an assortment of side dishes. It was a great day for Korean food here in Seoul!

Saturday:

CIEE Navigators were up bright and early to catch the train on their first venture outside of Seoul! After meeting at 7:15 AM sharp, we went to Yongsan station to catch the KTX train to Jeonju, which is about 2 hours away by train. Jeonju is a large cultural center of Korea where there is a traditional folk village and many different cultural activities. We learned a traditional Korean dance and learned a "hansori" song, which is a traditional percussive song that involves drums. The teacher really put the group's rhythm skills to the test!

After working up quite a sweat, we all walked to a restaurant for lunch that is well known for its bibimbap and wonderful side dishes, such as quail eggs and spicy fish cakes. One two minute walk later, and students were able to accomplish something on many of their bucket lists: wearing hanbok! We all filed in to a hanbok rental shop where the group was able to choose what style of traditional Korean outfit they wanted to wear. At some historical sites in Korea, it's not uncommon to find multiple hanbok rental shops where Koreans and tourists alike rent a traditional outfit to wear around palaces. Even though it was quite a rainy day in Jeonju, that didn't stop students from taking photos in their beautiful hanbok outside! Unfortunately, it was soon time for our Jeonju trip to come to an end, and we took the KTX train back to Seoul that evening.

Sunday:

After an action-packed last few days, our Navigators got a much-needed break on Sunday. They were able to sleep-in and have a bit of free time in the area since we had no obligations until 3 PM. In the afternoon, students went to a cafe to celebrate their favorite K-groups and K-idols! They were treated to complimentary drinks and a small surprise dance concert by two of their Seoul Mates from Seoul Broadcasting High School. They were also gifted exclusive merchandise from their favorite groups, including calendars, cups, photo cards, and more! 

It was a wonderful way to end the weekend. It's hard to believe we only have 1 more week left in Seoul!