Friday

The festival was huge! There was the festival grounds, with the lay out of the park that the couple first met in, a museum of paintings illustrating the story, and actors in traditional dress, dressed up as all of the characters in the story. All this plus street fair of shopping, on three or four streets worth of space. It was massive. If I had been less tired, I might have shopped more, but I know we will have plenty of opportunities to shop. The children at the festival, about ages 8-16, so excited and fascinated by us. They speak to us in English-Hi, Hello, It's nice to meet you, Where are you from?. It's strange for us, because you can feel like you're on exhibit. Lunch was a spicy soup made with ground up mudfish. Lots of spice in the food, but usually there are a few side dishes that are less spicy. Soup and rice are present at every meal, as well as the kimchee, other vegetables, and other tasty things. Always too much food. We bought some 5 flavor berries from a street vendor--they told us after we can buy them in a store, but it's more fun to buy them on the street. The berries are dried, and you soak them in water for 10 hours to flavor the water. We got to try the tea, and it was soooo good, which is why we bought the berries. I'm looking forward to making the berry water at home. We tried red bean cakes, and bread with sesame and sugar at the festival's street fair. I did not try the caterpillar or the snail, was not feeling quite that adventurous. The parents of our tour guide for the day own a shop of ancient pottery. We got to see examples of 200-800 year old pottery, and the different glazes that the Korean potters were able to createWe had spicy soup with greens for dinner. The greens go on the table in a big basket, and you add them to the soup, cook them for a few minutes, then eat them and add more greens.