Today is what I understand to be the most important day of Chuseok (Korea's Thanksgiving holiday). Originally I was supposed to join the missionaries in my ward for dinner at our bishop's house. Sadly, bishop's wife is ill so dinner was cancelled.
I still met up with the four sister missionaries downtown. For those unfamiliar with LDS missionary schedules, once a week, they have "pday," or preparation day where they have some time to write letters, send emails to friends and family, shop, etc. Missionaries cannot do anything like go see a movie even on pday. ANYWAY. Mondays are pday here so I got to eat lunch and do some shopping with the sisters! I've been downtown several times but they introduced me to a number of new things.
First thing we did was get some dak galbi for lunch (one of my favorite meals!) But now thanks to the sisters, I know I can order CHEESE to be mixed in. This is fabulous (and fattening) news.
We struggled with the 5 person selfie...so we tried a different angle
...eh close enough!
Sister Wagner started crying because she accidentally rubbed her eyes after eating our spicy meal haha
I don't remember what this is called but it's just caramelized brown sugar that a street vendor was making. He uses a cookie cutter to make a shape on the treat. If you can cut out the shape perfectly using a toothpick, you get another one for free. Sadly Sister Lee was unsuccessful. But she shared a little piece of the one she paid for. It kind of tastes like toasted marshmallow.
They're so cute, right? The other Sister Lee (doing the peace sign) goes home in two weeks!
Next we did "sticker pictures." It's a photo booth that makes your eyes super big and then you can slap on tons of cutesy graphics before printing them haha. Sister Naatjes pointed out the saying on this one and we thought it was hilarious: "Some times are good, some times are just okay, and some times are really bad, but no two times are the same."
"Even in depression, girls can be more beautiful."
Pondering Korean wisdom.
Our finished products!
Shopping!
Outrageous Korean accessories
BINGSOO. It's a traditional Korean dessert. It's shaved ice with various toppings. The bottom one is bean powder, the other one is berries. Both were sooo delicious. The little cups are filled with condensed milk. You eat off the top part of the bingsoo a little bit and then you drizzle on the condensed milk. Ugh. So good.
This break has been pretty chill for me--nothing overly exciting. But I don't regret my decision not to go on a big trip. Tomorrow I will have an opportunity to see a new city anyway: Damyang! More fun stories to come!
Music I listened to while writing this post: Weezer
