Jeonju Hanok Village

Even as an adult, I love a good field trip. Although all of us were stressed to the nines with the looming lesson demo, EPIK took us out on a little excursion to Jeonju Hanok Village. The village was about a 25 minute drive from campus, and the drive itself showcased the many mountains that surround the area. This village is home to over 800 hundred traditional Korean homes known as Hanok.

Once at the village, the first stop was to see the Gyeonggijeon compound. This building, built in 1410, is where the original portrait Lee Seonggae is enshrined. The architecture is stunning and showcases the long standing history of Korea. From the turquoise blue molding to the sloped roofs, the buildings are absolutely magnificent. The compound itself is home to a beautiful garden bursting with Crepe Myrtle and Bonsai trees. The tranquility of the compound may have been (definitely was if we're being honest) broken by the 250 foreigners descending upon it, but that did not take away from the overall impact I felt within the area. After all, I love a good historic site.

Portrait of Lee Seonggae

Gyeonngijeon compound

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to explore the city. I stopped by Starbucks to see how different it was compared to the US. Newsflash, the food offered looks so much tastier and the drink flavors are so unique, at least from my perspective. I ended up buying an Earl Gray Vanilla Tea latte, and it was quite tasty. It was no chai, but that's a hard bar to pass anyways. I also bought a chocolate pie from PNB, which has been open for business since 1951. The ladies were so nice and even gave me a free sample. Score!

The city itself is stunning. There are hints of history comfortably sandwiched in-between modern stores and neighborhoods. A nice mixture of old and new. I also got to check something off my bucket list. I saw a hanbok in person. Well, I actually saw dozens. I, unfortunately, did not try any on seeing as how I was an absolute melted blob. Between the heat, humidity, and sun exposure I was absolutely done for. I did, finally, invest in a hand held fan, and it might just be the best purchase of this adventure thus far. Back to the hanbok topic on hand, I will rent one and take pictures, just on a day where I don't resemble a melting snowman.

Pungnammun Gate

Prada besties

Back on campus, we got to partake in a craft lesson where we decorated fans and learned Korean calligraphy. After much practice, I spelled the word happiness on my fan. I quite like to think my fan turned out pretty even though I had no real direction in mind; often times I've found that makes the best outcome anyways.

Happiness spelled in Hangul

By the end of the day, I only got a little bit sunburnt and sweat maybe 5 pounds of my body weight off. A win in my experience.