Seomjin-gang in Gurye

We visited Persimmon Village or Damurak Village in Gurye and before we headed home, we dropped by to the Seomjin River which is just across the Village. Unlike the Seomjin River in Hadong, this Seomjin Gang in Gurye has also wonder view of the mountain, the sky and the river. There are even people go fishing which I think the perfect place for a picnic in summer for the whole family.

Look at the view of the river. Isn't it wonderful? My hubby told me to come back here in Spring and set our tent. What a nice idea!

The river became more beautiful with the colorful leaves in the mountain.

I think it's a fun place to play in the water for kids.

The river reminds me of my childhood when there were not many gadgets to use and most kids enjoy playing with the nature like splashing in the water with friends, climbing up trees, playing sports games under the sun, etc.

Persimmons Village in Gurye

My hubby searched on the net and Damurak Village caught his attention and we were not disappointed of what we've seen. I don't know where it got its name but I think the village is more popular with Persimmons Village than Damurak Maeul because of the Persimmon trees planted all over the village. Damurak Village is located in Jeollanamdo Province Gurye-geun Gurye-eup Gyesan-li Yugok.

Before you reach the village, there are lots of street vendors selling persimmons. I was amazed of what I've seen because the side road is full of persimmon trees.

It amazed me more when we reached our destination because the village is surrounded by persimmon trees. We walked for more than an hour and from the entrance of the village until we gave up walking, the trees were all around us. The view of the persimmons are breathtaking. The persimmons are in both side of the street so I don't know which way I look. If on the left or right because everything are persimmons.

There are some people harvesting persimmons.

They are all persimmon trees down there.

Persimmons are fruits in autumn so going to Persimmon Village is also like visiting the falling leaves. It's like two birds in one stone, huh? Persimmons plantation and colorful leaves in one!

The village is not yet famous but I think a few years later, it will be very famous for its persimmons. Look at this mountain! It will be a persimmon plantation soon. They planted lots of persimmons in the mountain. I can't wait to see that again.

It will be one of the best places in Korea specially for a picnic. There's also this place for dabbling in the water for children in the summer.

We are now on the way to the parking lot. We didn't realize how far we've gone. The village is mountainous but it doesn't make you tired because of the wonderful site of the persimmons. We kept walking and didn't realize the time. We can still go far but we were afraid to reach the dark.

There aren't so many houses in the village and there are even big houses. The place is like the walking course in Jeju Island but instead of Tangerines in Jeju, they are Persimmons in Damurak Village.

There are also persimmons factory in the village.

Seomjin River in Hadong

It's now autumn in Korea and it's getting cold everyday. My hubby has been waiting for this season because he can eat his favorite; the seafoods! My hubby loves seafoods but he doesn't want to eat it in the summer. And now that it's fall, we went to Namhae to eat seafoods. We went back to the restaurant that we've been to, to eat Rawfish in Cold Water.

On our way home, we decided to go to Seomjin Kang (Seomjin-gang) or Seomjin River which literally means "toad ferry". It is believed that 1590s during the Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, a swarm of toads blocked the Japanese army from crossing the Seomjin into Northern Jeolla.

Seomjin-gang drains southeastern Jeollabuk-do as well as eastern Jeollanam-do and western Gyeongsannam-do provinces, and flows into the Korea Strait. The river rises from Palgongsan and flows for 212.3 km. before it reaches its final destination to Gwangyang Bay.

Our navigation brought us to Hadong County. Here's the map of Tourists sites in Hadong-gun.

The river doesn't have much water. It's dry maybe because it didn't rain for a long time. I want to go back there again in the summer.

I think there are many people swimming in the summer because there are tubes near the benches.

Eventhough we couldn't enjoy the river, there's a trekking course that takes 4km to Seobon Park. We are planning to go back there and go trekking. I can't wait!

Here's the trekking course.

There's also a bridge to cross the river.

I think there's also a temple across the river on top of this mountain. I couldn't see it well but my hubby said it seems like a temple specially when we heard a sound of the bell.

I found Pearls in the Shells

We visited my hubby's aunt and luckily there was a festival in her town and aunt ran a pojangmacha (a covered cart bar or a movable bar on a covered cart in which liquor and some simple side dishes are served).



Aunt served us some beef barbecue and shells. It was so yummy but that's not what I like the most about our visit to pojangmacha.







The shells are so big that there were pearls inside them.



Look what we've got in the shells. Wow! It's so amazing! It's my first time to see pearls in the shell. I feel like a mermaid on the ground while holding the pearls. They are small but I was so happy to have them. I kept looking at them while eating.



Unluckily, the one fell down and I couldn't find it anymore. That's really bad!

Live Well

It really feels great when you know where your hardwork are spent for. In my case, when I get my salary I always make sure that the hardwork that I've done for a month will go to useful things. So I always do things that can relieve me by doing or fixing something at home. It's so relieving that I got an idea in this concrete patio repair cracks so that I can know what to do next time. It is the answer just in case that I want to find the latest trends, renovation, repair or any problem that I have at home.

I'm also happy to see this concrete stamped overlay on youtube. Wow! It's so fulfiling to see the beautiful designs of Sundek, no wonder why lots of customers trust them. Americans are so lucky to have a respectable company like Sundek.

I can't wait to recommend this resurfacing concrete patio to my friend in Washington. She has mentioned that she wants her house to get remodel and she might be interested with it. There's a saying that there's no place like home so make them relaxing and comfortable. It's also wonderful if we can make them beautiful.

The National Foundation of Korea

It's another holiday today. Every October 3rd day of the year, Koreans celebrate the National Foundation Day or called "Gaecheonjol" in Korean language. It celebrates the creation of the Gojoseon (ancient Korea) which is founded by Dangun Wanggeom in the year 2333 BC. Gaecheon (or "Opening of Heaven") refers to 3 October B.C. 2457, the date when Hwanung (환웅) descended from heaven to live with mankind.

It is really surprising to have a day like this. Yesterday, when I told my students that we'll meet on Friday because today is a holiday, they were very happy. So, I asked them what day it is and why is it a holiday. Everyone was staring to each other because they know it's a holiday but they can't explain what kind of day it is. Then one of them answered, he said it's the foundation of Korea. Some students were shaking their heads. They seemed confused and couldn't believe him. Then I told them that he was right. I said it's the National Foundation of Korea.

Now I realized that it's true that children now will soon forget about their history. What I know is, Koreans value their history. Old generations like my father in law knows a lot about their past. So when I meet him, he always tells me about the people long time ago and he sometimes feels annoyed when he asked about my country's history and can't answer him. Who cares about the people and life long time ago? Well, I don't! I wasn't even interested in those famous history dramas like Daejanggeum, Jumong, etc. When I see someone wearing hanbok or warrior's clothes on TV, I change the channel immediately. They don't interest me. I think it's normal in my country to have people like me who are not interested in our past. But here in Korea, I guess oldies are worried about it that's why it became a topic on the TV program before.

Well, what is important now is, it's a holiday so it's time to take a rest again. How I love holidays. If you go outside, korean flags are hanging on every trees. I think it's just a normal holiday and no special celebration held.

Happy National Foundation of Korea!

Cheers to all Myeonorideul

Thanks God Chuseok is over! Today is the day when Myeonorideul or daughter-in-laws feel relieved because chuseok has passed after the long long day of Chuseok. On Chuseok day, lots of daughter-in-laws complain about the hard job they do on this special holiday. They have to prepare lots of food while the men in the family drink and make noise. I'm glad that in my hubby's family, nobody likes drinking except my brother in law and his wife so they drink together after hyeongnim does her work. But they don't drink much.

Anyway, we drove for many hours to get to my parents-in-laws house and this is the first time that they didn't do "jesa" or memorial ceremony so we were free from lots of work. We used to get up early in the morning to prepare for "jesa" and everyone must be ready to bow at 7:00a.m. but last Wednesday night, before we went to bed, my father in law said that we sleep as much as we want. And to those who don't want to have breakfast like us (me and my hubby) don't need to get up and help to prepare breakfast. Wow! Amazing!

The next day at around 9:00 a.m., I heard someone doing the dishes but I didn't get up. When everything was done, I woke up and went to the bathroom but my father in law was in the living room watching TV and he said I can sleep more. I didn't see anyone in the living except him, so I guessed everyone was still asleep so I went back to bed again and woke up at five before noon. I was too shy because I saw everyone in the living room and when they saw me, some of them headed to the kitchen and prepared for lunch so I helped them. We had beef barbecue for lunch.

After lunch, we had dessert in the living while watching tv and when the sun started to go down, my father in law invited us to go to Namsan Hanok Village and went home for dinner. Actually, he wanted to dine out but we went to some restaurants and they were closed so we just went home and had beef and rice soup for dinner. While having desserts, my hubby told my father in law that we had to go home because our dog was left alone at home. He's afraid that my dog will make noise and disturb our neighbors. My father in law didn't allow us at first but my hubby insisted him so finally before they went to bed, he allowed us to leave. And now we are now home safe. Thanks God!

As I watch the news, the traffic is bumper to bumper because people are now going home. The traffic is not as heavy as few years ago because the roads were developed a lot but still there's a traffic jam and I'm glad that we never had traffic on Chuseok or any special holiday because we are on the opposite direction.

To all Myeonoris out there, cheers! You guys did a good job! Once again, you made Chuseok very special because of your hard works.

Next Week is Chuseok

Next week is Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving Day. Today, I went to the supermarket and there are lots of people buying some gifts and groceries to prepare for chuseok. On this day, most myeonori or daugher in laws are busy preparing food while men are playing card games or drinking. Children are so lucky on these because it is like the celebration of Christmas to some countries, children eat lots of food and receive presents from oldies.

And because next week is Chuseok, we are going to my in-laws house which takes 4 hours drive. There's always "Jesa" or Memorial Ceremony in my father in law's house during Chuseok and Seollal so we are always busy on that day. My "hyeongnim" or sister in law (hubby's brother's wife) always does most of the work and I just assist her. Of course my mother in law is the food taster.

Sometimes, because of my hubby's work, we can't go there earlier. We are supposed to go there the day before the occasion because it's the time to prepare some "Jeon" or fried dishes and "namul-namul" sprouts dishes and different kinds of side dishes. But my hubby can't drive during the day because he's a night owl so he is asleep during the day. But this time because of long holiday, we are going there on time but I heard that this year, we are not going to prepare for Jesa which is really great specially for my hyeongnim.

My hubby doesn't like this kind of occasions because he doesn't drink so he feels bored so he said we'll just go there and take a walk around my father in law's neighborhood. And that's more exciting, I think!

Disappointed of the Coupon

I saw an advertisement in front of my door about the promotion that the supermarket has which is just located in front of my apartment building. It's a big supermarket selling everything. It has a big bookstore, coffee shops, spa, appliances, jewelry shops, clothes shops, grocery products, etc. The promotion is only for those who live in our building. I'm a regular customer of the supermarket because I feel comfortable buying there because I can everything I need and want.

In the advertisement, if you buy at least $30, you can get two cups of coffee at Kenya Coffee shop which is also located inside the supermarket. Last night, I went shopping and bought around $50 but I forgot to exchange my receipt for coupons. I just thought that I can just show the receipt to the coffee shop but it's too late when I found out that I have to exchange to receipt into coupon to receive the coffee. Too bad that it also listed that we can exchange the receipt the day that we bought the products but it was already close when I knew about it.

Oh well, my hubby cheered me up. He said that I can still use it when I get the grocery next week because the promotion is until next week. I always go shopping once a week for our whole week food I guess I have to go shopping earlier for our next living.

Let's go to the Courthouse

I always want to learn how to drive and get my own license but I don't have enough time yet but soon I will get my own if my husband will allow me. I don't know anything about driving specially license but after reading about the defensive driving information library, I learned a lot of things and it encouraged me more to get my license so I can drive soon.

You may also want to know more about driving and to start with, here are the links on Where to find courhouse addresses. They are almost everywhere so it's easy to find them in your area.

There are lots of courthouses around the world but if you are living in California, you will absolutely need this California Court List for your easy preference.

I will absolutely recommend this List of CA Courthouses to my friend in California who has just bought a new car for her own safety.