Hahoe Village

Despite all the nice things you just finished reading about my friends, the morning following the birthday festivities, I woke up to rays of sunlight burning through my window and I immediately cursed Rob's name.

I was supposed to be up at 6:00 in order to meet up with Tankia, Megan, and Kelleen at the bus terminal at 7:00 and catch the 7:30 bus to Andong, which is four hours away. A text message from Tankia told me that they'd thankfully boarded the bus without me, so at least I only ruined my own day plans.

We were supposed the visit the Hahoe Folk Village, which is known for its traditional homes and scenic views. I'd been wanting to check it out for quite some time now, and I wasn't going to let a late start stop me. I was determined to leave my apartment that day, so I did some inquiring and found out that I could still catch the 11:10 express bus to Andong, which would arrive in three hours as opposed to four, and still arrive with five hours before the last bus back to Ulsan. I made myself decent, hurled my camera into my backpack, and ventured out.

I got to the bus stop just in time to grab some Lotteria for breakfast (imagine a poor man's McDonalds) and hopped onto the bus. It wasn't the ideal breakfast, but I was starving and craving grease after a booze-filled evening. I barely chewed my food. Thank goodness, too, because just as I took the last bite of my burger, the driver informed me that eating was not encouraged on the bus. (At least that's what I think he said.) I nodded apologetically, and as soon as his back was turned, I gulped down my drink.

With a fresh coat of grease lining my belly, I then turned to my faithful Kindle and my headphones for company for the three-hour trip. (One is never alone with either of these companions at hand.)

About halfway through the trip, the woman to my left tapped me on the shoulder and asked me where I was from. This has become a regular routine here in Korea, so I gladly told her I was from Canada and was happy to find she as also an English teacher and spoke more or less fluent English. (Though, of course, in typical Korean fashion, she insisted that her English was deplorable.) Her name was Ichunhwa (or something along those lines) and we immediately hit it off, chatting about everything from family to travel, life in Korea, teaching, and even crazy sixth graders. She even invited me to teach at the summer camp at her school later this year, though I sadly had to decline her offer. Her company made the second half of the trip fly by.

When we arrived at the Andong bus terminal, she was nice enough to point me towards the bus that would take me to Hahoe Village before heading off towards her mother's house.

Once on the bus, it was time to play the "When Do I Get Off?" game. Thankfully, I asked the right person (after three unsuccessful tries) and found out that this pretty girl and her friends were also going to the village (along with pretty much everybody else on the bus).

After disembarking, one of the girls and I struck up a conversation, and it turned out that she and her fiance are moving to Toronto in July! Minhee, the one going to Toronto, plans on teaching Early Childhood Education, while Crystal is hopping over to a much warmer climate in California, and Su Jeong is staying put in Seoul. The three girls were traveling together to celebrate having just recently graduated.

I had lost my three lovely companions by sleeping in late, but I ended up finding three equally lovely companions for the afternoon. I ended up telling Minhee all about Toronto (the food, the music, the frigid Winter, etc.) Though I left out Rob Ford; I didn't want to taint her impression of Toronto before she even got there.

The afternoon could not have worked out better, considering how it started out. We walked around snapping picture after picture of this scenic little place, though they admittedly snapped twice as many as I did because as Minhee joked, "We're girls; we can't help it." Indeed, there were many Korean V's flashed.

I stood in front of a lot of doors that afternoon.

I can never resist a funky looking tree.

So...many...selfies...

I'd take these three ladies over Bradley Cooper and Ellen any day.

Their silliness was rather infectious, and I couldn't help but join in on the fun--especially when we found this awesome little playground, complete with the biggest swing I've ever seen and a rather precarious see-saw. Minhee and I also came out victorious in a battle of ring toss (1-0, thanks entirely to Minhee's mad ring toss skills.)

This was after we had jumped off, barely escaping with our teeth in place.

I kept thinking of Doris asking for an "underdoggy" as I swung back and forth.

We continued on to a souvenir shop, where I purchased this little guy, who I've dubbed Mr. Kim. (Honestly, what else was I going to call him?)

 Although I was very tempted to buy this guy instead. The pricetag and the thought of having that look at me everyday was enough to convince me otherwise.

??

Bird feeder

My understanding is these are meant to be given as a wedding gift...?

She lacks disciprine...

A smiling duel to the death.

This also happened for some reason. Yes, this is the life we all dream of, apparently: To have two beautiful Korean women scratching you at your beck and call. 

 From there, we came to a gorgeous panoramic view of a small body of water that separated us from a grand cliff that offered what I can only imagine would have been a spectacular view of the village. If we had more time, we could've crossed the river by boat and hiked the 1.5 hours up the cliff, but unfortunately time just wasn't on our side. The view from where we were was fine enough, though. Nice enough for some (failed) attempts at jumping photo shots.

The best of four or five takes.

As we walked on, immersed in our conversation, we almost missed this beautiful view just to our right.

Finally, we found a nice little hut to sit in and the girls were nice enough to share some baked goods they'd purchased earlier at a famous bakery in Andong, Mammoth. My favourite was some sort of cream cheese concoction, but they were all delicious.

One more for the road.

We boarded the bus heading back to the bus terminal and we got there at 5:00 on the dot, meaning I apparently had 2 hours to kill before my bus ride. The girls had to get back on another bus to get to some bridge they wanted to see elsewhere in Andong, so I tagged along, figuring I could spend some more time with my new friends before having to say goodbye, and I could explore a bit of downtown Andong before making my way back to the terminal.

I got back to the terminal with about 20 minutes to spare and was wandering around mindlessly, minding my own business, when suddenly somebody almost tripped me! I turned around (with what was apparently a very apologetic look on my face, despite the fact that I had almost been tripped--silly Canadian!) and was very surprised to see Megan standing in front of me and grinning from ear to ear!

Reunited at last, the girls and I shared stories about the afternoon, and I was very happy to hear that they'd enjoyed themselves despite my screw up. All's well that ends well. In fact, had it not been for Tankia's company on the bus, the following post would never have even happened!

If you're curious about Hahoe Folk Village, click here for a quick introduction on the place. (Sadly, I didn't get to try the soju or the chicken or visit the mask museum. However, seeing how there are apparently caves to explore in Andong, I predict a foresee another visit in the near future.)