Yesterday was the medical testing and everything went well. We met up for an instructional meeting which actually took longer than it took for me to get through the testing. We had to pee in a paper cup and then pour it in a tube which of course we were thrilled about. The was a girl in the bathroom with us making sure we didn't swap samples or anything. When she saw my sample she said, "wow it's not very yellow, you must drink a lot of water." I decided to be flattered rather than embarrassed and weird-ed out. Then we went into a room for most of the other testing. One woman measured your height and weight. The next tested your eyesight. Amy from Australia went before me. The woman was asking her a question and pantomiming but Amy didn't understand. Without knowing any Korean I was still able to tell that the woman wanted to know if Amy wore contacts. All that pantomiming with my Mexican grandparents came in useful. Can I say I'm bilingual now? English and Mime?
A woman looked at our teeth, a guy asked if we have had any diseases or conditions, and another woman measured our blood pressure. Then it was my favorite part. The blood sample. I brought my little bear that Bobby gave we with to squeeze. It actually hurt less than the last time I had blood drawn but it was still painful. The woman kept asking if I was okay and I told her yes. I didn't cry or have to sit down afterward so I call that a success. The last part of the tests was an x-ray. I don't think the men had to, but the women had to change into a robe and remove their bra and shirt. We did get to do this in the restroom luckily. In the bus outdoors was the x-ray. Yes, we had to walk outside through the cold with just the robe on and it had snowed that morning. You had to stand in front of the x-ray as close as you could. The man kept pushing me forward against it harder and was telling me to stay there. I am well endowed so I kept bouncing back off and he didn't understand why I couldn't stay there. I'm sorry I can squish myself better.
After we were done with all the tests we were given a juice box and a chocolate granola bar. I loved the English on the juice box.
I did laundry and found that it's pretty cheap but the dryer doesn't completely dry the clothes so next time I won't bother. Most people went to Seoul after the tests were done.
I spent the afternoon doing laundry and resting. At 6pm, Jenny, Becky, Justina and I met up to go to a bathhouse and spa. We paid 6,000 won ($6) and were given two little towels and a set of what seemed like pjs. We took off our shoes and put them in a little locker and kept the key. The key also fit a big locker farther in for our clothes. In the locker room there were lots of naked women so we didn't know if we were supposed to put the pjs on. We finally decided we would put them on and see what we were supposed to do. A woman directed us upstairs where there were computers for video games and lots of 10 boys.
There was another set of stairs going farther up, but luckily I read enough hangul to recognize it said 'men'. Instead, we went to the left and found the saunas. There were several different ones in different sizes. There was also a little convenience store, a sleeping room and a TV/laying down area. We went into the Loess Sauna. The ceiling was lined with charred wood and the walls were all adobe like. It was very hot and not a steam, but it felt very nice. We were there for about 10 minutes. We really wanted to find the baths but hadn't seen them. I decided that the baths probably weren't co-ed so they must be only connected to the girls locker room. I was right.We changed into.... well nothing. The bathing room has seven pools, showers, scrubbing areas , a wet sauna and a salt room. The baths are warm (36C), wormwood (42C), hot(38C), aroma(36C), cool and another hot. The wet sauna was 38-40C depending on when you went in and the salt room said it was 80C so we didn't venture in there (although lots of Koreans did). Anytime the four of us got in a tub, the Koreans who were already there waited a few minutes and then got out. We were there for a long time trying most of the pools and the wet sauna. When we finished we changed back into our street clothes.
Jenny bought a really cute shirt (I pointed it out as my favorite and she agreed). We took a taxi back to the university and picked up Lindsey, Kat, Amy (Kat's roommate from Australia), Teresa and Hines. Hines is in our group and Kat's friend (though they were more by the end of the night). We wanted to go to a barbecue and a noraebong (karaoke). We ended up not finding a noraebong, or having enough time, so we'll go to that next week. We had a great time at the barbecue. We had lots of food and learned that if you cook it till it is perfect and crispy, the lady will throw it away.
Most of us tried Soju or Korean beer. I had one shot of Soju. It's not bad. Jenny and Justina had two shots. I learned that Jenny is very loud when she drinks and Justina plays with her egg soup and can't sit up without me propping her up. I was sitting between the two. Hines speaks some Korean and has learned some of the culture so he helped us. He showed us a game with the Soju lid. You twist part of it so it sticks out and people take turns flicking it. Whoever flicks it off had to do the last shot. I thought it would come off for me both times I had it but Amy was the winner (or loser). Everyone was pretty sober for the walk home, for which I was thankful. I might have been able to give a piggyback, but not with my legs still sore from taekwondo.
Here you can almost tell how tall the statues(Sachunwangmun) are; about twice our height.
Below are some of the buildings in the main part. The one on the left is the bell pavilion.
This is the turtle drinking fountain. One of the TaLK scholars said that the turtle symbolizes longevity. I guess that means this is the fountain of youth. Jenny and I both decided our thighs hurt less after drinking the water.
Above is a building called Jinhedang which Justina is standing in front. The characters are mostly Chinese and she was able to understand some. We did stuff in this building later. Above and to the right is the main Buddha hall. Hines and Matt are on the top and Becky at the bottom. To the left is the roof carvings from one of the buildings and to the right is one of the monks.
Here is one of the rooms, the -ecture Hall (what the brochure called it) where you can pray. There is a large Buddha on the alter and lots of little ones along the walls. The ceiling was covered in paper lotus blossoms with people's names hanging from them. The table and cushion are where the monk prays with his gourd bell.
Here are Meju which are boiled, crushed soybeans that are used in different Korean condiments that were hanging from some of the roofs and more roof carvings.
Here is a beautiful door that leads... somewhere. And Jenny going to prayer.
We saw this little shrine of balanced stones and coins.
Samseongguk for worshiping the three spirits: seven stars, mountain spirit and solitary holy spirit.
The artwork from the inside and outside walls of the building.
Learning how a Buddhist prays. 108 prostrations.We did 10 and I already hurt.
I liked the Bi-Bim-Bap.
I don't know why my face looks weird.
This is the Sukjoyaksayeoreipsang standing statue (No I did not just type random letters).
The last five statues are all national treasures as are these two pictures. A copy of this gong is at the Korean museum.
We got to string our own prayer bead bracelets. You are not supposed to tie the knot of your own but tie someone else's.
The main reason they were so friendly is because they had already drunk this much Soju when we got there. After we joined in, they brought out more drinks. We each had to drink a sip and when they told us to drink more most of us pretended. The two African Americans got the most attention. Brittany, in the pink coat, was deemed a boy and she and Vanetta were lovers and a beautiful couple. Vanetta's hair was sniffed because it is different from Asian hair. Because she was dragged everywhere, most of her beer ended up on her not in her. When one man tried to tell a woman that Brittany was in fact a girl, the woman patted her down and decided she was still a boy. Brittany had cut her hair for this trip to Korea because last time they sniffed her hair. She decided that was better than being groped.
Eunice just got back from visiting with her dad. I don't have anything to add.
Tomorrow is back to lectures.
Goodnight,
Lisa
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