Seolnal 설날 2011 (Part II)

Oh wow, I guess it's time to finish this post...three weeks later.

Our second day in Gwangju mostly consisted of the consumption of exquisite Korean dishes.  Seriously, we feasted every three hours.  These traditional meals were like Michelin Star quality - absolutely incredible.

We began the morning by enjoying a traditional breakfast with Jonghan's immediate family.  His mother prepared rice cake soup (tteokguk).  This soup is a mandatory meal for every Lunar New Year.  It is believed that if you eat a bowl of this soup you will grow a year older.  The oval shaped rice cakes in the soup symbolize coins, or wealth, for the new year.

Shortly after breakfast we headed to a relative's home for a Seolnal traditional ceremony and lunch.  Minutes after we arrived, the ceremony began.  Jonghan's 88-year-old grandmother was to be honored by all of the attendees with a bow and a New Year's greeting.  As a token of appreciation, the elder blesses those who bow with a gift, usually money.   Her children bowed deeply and their children followed.  And we were included in that group!  Chris and I felt so honored to take part in this tradition.

The youngest children wore their hanboks and endlessly entertained the crowd.

After lunch we all gathered around for a yutnori tournament.  Yutnori is a simple traditional game played every New Year.  The game is easy to learn, as the board is very comparable to Sorry!.  We'd love to explain the game but let's be honest, no one does it better than Wiki :)  See here if you're interested in the rules.

The foreigners won the tournament!!  6,000 won richer! (Looks like that soup is already paying off ;)

Later that afternoon we visited the traditional houses of the Confucian School (Hyanggyo).  The school was built in the 14th century and has since become a national attraction.  We love the rich history that is found in every corner of Korea.  

Life long friends

The next morning Jonghan's family took us on a scenic drive through the mountains of Naejangsan National Park.  We didn't have any hiking gear but we were able to stop and follow a paved road up to one of the two temples located in the park.  The views were beautiful and I can only imagine how gorgeous the area is come fall.

Jonghan's gracious family

It was a three day long double date!  We loved it :)

The contrast between the white snow and the brightly painted temples is stunning.

Look at those tall lovers.

We then stopped to fill up on a huge lunch before the long drive home.  The traffic was going to be horrific with so many out of towners returning to Seoul so we wanted to get an early start.  It was another delicious meal shared with our host family, but we have to be honest, it probably wasn't the best idea to feast right after the a long and winding drive through the mountain roads.   I was already feeling a little car sick and with my belly stuffed, the stop and go drive home was too much to bear.  I tossed my cookies in the car and Chris lost it the second we got home.  Motion sickness is the worst.

Too bad I lost it all, this Korean style meatloaf (tteokgalbi) is one our absolute favorite meals here!

Rice served in a bamboo branch from the bamboo forest in Gwangju.

Despite the long drives, the trip was unforgettable!  We are so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with Jonghan and his loving family.  We feel so fortunate to have been a part of the special celebration and the memories made will forever be some of our favorite times in Korea.

We hope to see as much of Korea as possible in the coming months before our departure.  Last weekend we took another road trip to the southern area of this great peninsula.  Maybe in three weeks we'll post about it :)