An Engagement in Gyeongju

Front Page News - Chase and I are engaged and will be tying the knot in 2011! 

Before I begin the fairy tale, I will admit that I am missing him very much these days. I am in quite a routine now, get up, go to work, grab dinner, head home, try to sleep, wake up and repeat. I'm antsy for something more and I've realized that my 'something more' is in grad school at PSU. I don't want the next four months to go by too quickly because I truly love Korea, but I can't help wishing my true love were in Korea.

Back to the story! For his first weekend in Korea, we traveled by train to Gyeongju. May 21st was a national holiday in Korea celebrating Buddha's Birthday. Unfortunately, it rained the entire weekend, but it was still nice to have a long weekend away from Incheon & Seoul. We didn't take the high-speed KTX, we took another train, which was actually a bit nicer (in my opinion). At 11am on Buddha's Birthday, Seoul Station was insanely packed but we fought our way through the crowds and arrived in our extremely comfortable seats!

Chase (in Woninjae) preparing for the voyage ahead!

The calf cushions were KEY for a restful journey.

En route to Gyeongju

Gyeongju is a cultural mecca, although I'll be honest here, we didn't see any of the tourist sites. I'll be in Korea for another 4 1/2 months so maybe I'll head back there. We did, however, have the most AMAZING barley bread. The smell is intoxicating and the small pancake-like bread is sometimes layered with red bean paste (my favorite).

En route to Gyeongju

 Speaking of Korean foods, Chase wasn't having it. To his credit, he tried for the first couple days, but just couldn't do it. Korean ingredients and flavors are very unique and most take some getting used to. I think if a person knows they will be here for a year, eventually they begin to enjoy the flavors, but if you're going to be here for a week or two, then after the first initial bites to 'try them'... western options seem a better choice. In fact, there are many teachers here (and native Koreans) who don't eat very many traditional Korean foods.

 Chase- confused and jet-lagged

The view from our 'resort' ... this was the weather the entire weekend!

 We stayed at NewCastle. I highly recommend this pension for visitors to Gyeongju. It's a little pricey and not right in the center of town, but wonderful for spending a relaxing weekend away from everything. 

Korean BBQ at NewCastle Pension (the proposal meal!)