Tongin Market, Jean Art Shop, and Food Week Korea

This weekend, I got to meet up with two friends that I met through IEP (Intensive English Program) at Western! Minji and Ji In came up from Cheongju by bus just to see me...I felt so special!!

We started off the day by heading to Tongin Market, which is a traditional market near Gyeongbokgung Palace (I'm starting to learn this area very well!). 

Within a few minutes of arriving at the market, I was stopped by a giggly group of girls. They explained that they were on a school picnic, and they had to complete some "missions" throughout the day. One of their missions was to take a picture with someone from another country, so they wanted to take a picture with me! Of course I said yes, and here we are!

They were so brave to come up to me and ask questions in English! This happened three more times with other groups of kids. One boy came up to me just after another group left, and, assuming I knew what he was going to ask, he just said "uhhh, picture?" Being the English teacher that I am, I made him ask me in a complete sentence, "Will you please take a picture with me?" The kids were so sweet, and I was happy to help them!

Ji In sent me this cute little comic that explains in cartoon form how Tongin Market works (it's the first market in the cartoon story). You can buy food, clothes, jewelry, and other items that you would expect to be able to buy at a market, but you can also participate in a "buffet-style" type meal. You pay about $5 for 10 gold coins, and then you can turn in those coins at participating food stalls for different foods. 

YOU GUYS LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL THIS FOOD IS. 

We each took a bunch of different things, and then we shared our food with each other (in true Korean style!). Korean people are very generous and love to share :)

Ji In and me, about to enjoy a meal from Tongin Market for the first time!

From there, we took off walking around the neighborhood. I think we were on the west side of Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds. The fall colors are so beautiful here!

We came across an art gallery with an open door and no admission fee, so we walked through it.

We decided to take the subway to Samseong-dong to visit COEX Mall, The subway was SO CROWDED!

COEX Mall was under some renovations, so a lot of the shops weren't open, but even better...Food Week Korea was happening at COEX! We registered and took to browsing for a while.

There were food demonstrations, food competitions, stalls with foods from different areas of Asia, and TONS of people! Most amazing of all were the sculptures and cakes made entirely of sugar.

Did you hear that? MADE ENTIRELY OF SUGAR.

Can we just talk about how long that must have taken??

These cakes were made entirely from rice and whipped cream.

And then there was the bread section. Heaven help me.

We saw so many new things, enjoyed some good drink samples, took tons of pictures, and overall thoroughly wore out Food Week Korea! We lucked out too, because today is the last day of the convention!

At the end of the day, Ji In and Minji gave me some very sweet gifts. The two of them got me a book called "Seoul Survivor: Living and Working in South Korea", and Ji In's mom sent a whole bag of cookies, mini pies, and sweet bean curd rolls that she made at the bakery that she manages. I was so surprised and felt so special...it felt like Christmas!!

I just have to say that I feel very lucky to have such sweet, caring, generous, and kind friends here in Korea. They are the reason that I came in the first place, and they have made me feel so welcome! 

Thank you, Minji and Ji In, for such a wonderful day! You are such sweet ladies, and I am proud to call you my friends.

I PROMISE to write about my job and the teaching I have been doing in my next post! Thanks for reading, everyone!