ON THE ROAD KOREA

The three of us hit the road Saturday for a drive in the country. The rice fields as well as everything else is so green. Because of all of the rain and wind lately the river was pretty stirred up but still enticing to the eye with the waving rice plants meeting it at the shore. If it wasn't so humid here, the countryside would be perfect.
We had a great lunch at a country restaurant that had tables set up over the stream. It was great! The stream actually flowed underneath you. Food was good, too! Then we visited another Buddhist temple in the mountains. Each one is a bit different from the next, but all so beautiful with the colorful artwork. Bogwangjeon Sungnemsa was no exception. It was established in 1325 AC as a zen temple. It has since been rebuilt of course.
Later we stopped at a rice farm to buy rice. We recieved a tour by the manager. The rice is grown organically. Instead of insectocide they use snails to kill bugs. I thought that was interesting. We bought several bags of rice that we watched being filled from the machine. FRESH RICE!!

LUNCH NIGHTMARE

HORRORS!!! My friend and I went to lunch today at a restaurant we had eaten at before. They serve a beef bone soup that is very good. We pointed to the picture of the soup when we ordered. When it arrived it looked different. We tasted, and it was good. Tasted like pot roast.
However, it looked different so we asked the waiter in Korean what it was. He said, "dog". Oh my gosh. We started screaming, "no, we can't eat this!" Jodelle started gagging and almost threw up. People came running out of the kitchen to see why these crazy Americans were yelling. Appetites gone, we left the restaurant. They would not let us pay. It was horrible! We found out later, the restaurant had changed hands, and so had the menu.

FEELING FREE

Today I've been enjoying some great music of the 70's while working on my plant collection. It's very humid here--great for plants but I'm suffering. However, I don't use my air conditioning much. By the time I'm home in the evening, it's fairly cool. It's Saturday, and I'm really enjoying the day. I went down the neighborhood plant shop and bought a new potted plant to put outside my front door. Yes, you can do that here in an apartment building. There doesn't seem to be a big problem with theft. People grow vegetables in their yards with no fencing and still have vegetables to harvest. It's amazing to me. I walk by vegetable gardens all the time with amazing food for the taking. Also, people prop their front doors open in the apartment building to create better air flow. Can you image? Anybody could just walk in! I love it! Of course, the kids playing in the parking lots and running through the streets is wonderful too. These are wonderful things! For me, it's a sense of freedom that I haven't felt in such a long time.