We started off the day with breakfast at their house, in Bongseong-dong. They gave us many presents, like plates, Gwangju guide books, and a DVD set. Very sweet, but we thought it would be challenging to pack 5 of each thing in our luggages!
On our way to the first stop, which ended up being a random garden in the mountains, we picked up our translator for the day. None of us really knew what was happening when this lady jumped in our van (rented for the day from the church) and started chatting with us. It ended up being nice to have a translator along with us, since my host dad and sister have limited English abilities. But wow, she was a talker!
At the garden, we heard a lot about Ying and Yang and Buddhism, and took many pictures, very Korean-esque. I'm not sure why we went there, but it was pretty and quiet, something that can be hard to find in Gwangju.
Our next stop was Damyang Bamboo Park, making it now 5 times that I've been there. It looks the same everyday- a lot of bamboo! We did get to visit a handicraft shop. The man specialized in making- get this- bamboo crafts! Woohoo! Actually, he was very talented and had many nice things for sale in his store. Our translator, Ms. Oh, surprised mom with a nice green flower pin, woven out of bamboo. Here's mom and dad, listening to Ms. Oh.
I was getting hungry at this point, but I declined a snack, thinking we were getting some bibimbap soon. Well, an hour and a half later, we made it to the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Gochang) to a barley festival.
Wait, what?!
Yes, a barley festival. I'm not sure why, but my host family thought it would be fun. That's one word to describe it!
After tasting the bibimbap, made with local barley, we started to take a relaxing walk through the barely fields. It quickly got interrupted by a group of young men from the TV channel, Arirang. They were interested in interviewing Dad and me about our feelings on the barley festival. We did two takes, then spent about 15 minutes casually walking through the fields of barley while they filmed. Between Ms. Oh, Mr. Mun, and Mom, we had so many pictures taken- I really felt like a star!
After we were done walking through the barley, it was Mom's turn to be interviewed. For hers, she put on some traditional Korean clothes at one of the vendor's stalls. She actually really liked it, so for the rest of the trip, we were on the hunt for anything as cute as this one:
We entertained ourselves for the rest of the afternoon by making naturally dyed handkerchiefs and rice cakes (ddeok), and getting free samples from vendors, like juice, lotion, soap, and face masks. By the time we were finished, we were all exhausted, but had made so many crazy memories with my host family!
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