Adventures in Dangjin

Chuseok is the Korean word for Thanksgiving. It is usually in September and this one happened to fall on a Monday. The weekend for most usually consists of visiting relatives and eating delicious food. For me it was no different but I took a side trip in Dangjin. I arrived at Sangwon's house and both his parents greeted me. Before I got there, he told me they don't speak English so I was prepared to practice my Korean. I think my introductions went over well and Sangwon's sister, Juyeon came out and introduced herself in English. That was nice. We talked a little and his mother asked if I was hungry which I always usually am. In Korea, I seem to have a two stomachs. I never refuse food so his mother gave me some pizza, and then apples. After eating, Sangwon and I sat in front of the TV and watched some show. We were both very tired so we crashed about 30 minutes later.

The next morning I wokeup to the smell of "achim shiksa" or breakfast. There was a great assortment of dishes including rice, some kind of meat, eggs, soup, which is delicious and fruit. I think that is what I was missing in America, lol. Anyways, after breakfast we got dressed and Sangwon, Juyeon and I all headed out to Hwanghae Bay. We first we looked out at the bay.

I noticed there were several people fishing. Juyeon told me a story that a friend had been fishing one day and they caught a fish but a bird bit the line so they caught the bird instead. It was a funny story. Could you imagine catching a pelican instead of a fish.


Anyways, after looking out into the bay we walked around a bit and stopped at a nearby amusement park and played some games. First we played Home Run Derby, and then Shooting. After some sharp shooting by all three of us we went out on the bay's pier. It was nice and windy, very different from Daegu. There was a Korean Battleship that is a museum now for tourists. We ate then ate lunch at a seafood restaurant right on the bay. Sangwon said it was really good and his father knew the owner so I could trust that the food was high quality. Sure enough the food was delicious. We had a special bibimbap which is rice with vegetables and seafood all mixed together. We also had shrimp which was great.

After eating we went to a traditional Korean castle, Haemi-eup Seong. A huge fortress with a beautiful park inside with people flying kites, wrestling in traditional style and much more. We walked through the park and it was such a nice day. We decided to check out the wrestling which was interesting. It seemed like sumo wrestling but not quite the same. It was the same rules but it looked different.

We also stopped in a shrine full of traditional Korean armor for king and queen, commander of army. Afterward we tried Archery which was cool. It turns out Juyeon had good aim better than me or Sangwon, lol. We also found a place where we could try on traditional Korean clothing, like warrior clothing. It was interesting. We even add swords to complete the outfit. Juyeon was a queen and we were commanding officers in the army.

After seeing the castle we went to a temple that was secluded from the public. It took about 45 minutes to reach on foot. It seemed further and further as we climbed up rocks and paths to get there. It was neat though when we reached the top. It was different because of the sounds of nature were peaceful and everything was calm. It was a nice change of pace from the busy Korea I'm used to. One unique thing about the temple was that some of the shrines were built from actual trees.

After seeing the temple we headed back and ate some dinner and then had a nice sleep for the night. We were all tired from the day. We did a lot of walking. It was fun though. And so ends day 2 of my vacation. The next day would be a new adventure in Incheon.