Field Trip!

So the day (Saturday) started out late again because sleeping in is a wonderful thing. Well that, and I didn't have anything to do until 12:30, when I had to leave to meet for a field trip. It was organized by the club that does and organizes things for the exchange students, and it was free, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to go. Personally, I was just excited to be going to see something else besides what is right around campus. In any case, we all met up, tried (and failed) to take a decent group picture, and then piled onto the subway. Dang, that thing was crowded. I felt kind of sorry to the people on the subway who were just trying to go about their Saturday, but were attacked by a swarm of loud foreigners. But you know, there was nothing I could really do about that.

We eventually, and somewhat chaotically, made it to our final destination, Bukchon Hanok Village. For those who don't know what this place is, because I didn't before I got to Korea, I'll give a quick introduction (with a bit of help from Wikipedia). It is a traditional Korean village that was home to important, higher-up people during the Joseon Dynasty, and it's located between a few of the palaces in Seoul. So we get there, and then the different groups head off to their activities. I chose to traditionally dye a handkerchief because, as my roommate pointed out, you get a souvenir that way. The dying itself was like sped up tie dying, minus any tying. Basically, you throw on some rubber gloves, toss the pre-printed handkerchief into the bowl of dye, squeeze it a few times, andddd you're good. Well, you stand there for a minute or two and let the color sink in after you take it out of the bowl, and then you rinse and dry it. It was really easy, but a cool experience nonetheless.

I stole this off of someone else's Facebook, but here are the handkerchiefs.

Afterwards, we were given some free time to explore the village, which to a few friends and me meant getting overly priced coffee at a really cute, two-story cafe within the village. I kind of regret not looking around a bit more, but I was really tired at the time and coffee sounded like a good idea.

A door.

A view from within the village, of the village (I think).

Everyone on the field trip then piled back onto the subway, now en route to a chicken restaurant. The group ended up splitting into at least two smaller groups to fit into different restaurants. All I know is that both had chicken, but our's was boneless. Therefore, our's was the best.

I got back to the dorm at some point, hoping to do homework. Let's just say that that didn't really happen. Talking to friends for hours is more fun anyways.