Halloween 2010

Last year we were able to have a Halloween party at our apt... this year, we're all in different places and it makes me sad.

Also, I'm not able to participate this year due to being really sick from something the doctors keep saying "isn't serious."

Happy Halloween yall

Andong Mask Festival

On the weekend of Oct 3rd, soon after my China trip, I was able to go to the Andong Mask Festival! Andong is one of the oldest cities in South Korea, and is seen as the cultural center of all the old traditions.

The most famous of the Korean masks, the Ha-hwae-tal

Andong is also famous for it's jim-dalk! (Or stewed marinated chicken with noodles and veggies)

Soooooooooooo yummy!

We were also able to make the traditional masks that we saw in the performances!

This is the traditional woman's mask, the gak-shi-tal.

Hong-sung's is the traditional man's mask

The kids were doing a performance of the Korean mask dance

Then we saw the real one later on!

All the performers were men, as per tradition.

They also had village totems up with people writing and tying their wishes to the strings around them

Our wishes

Hong-sung and I had a great time at the Andong Mask Festival and I was so grateful to have such a great tour guide!

Our haunted hotel in China

Late flight into Beijing. Angry taxi driver kicked us out because he didn't know where the hotel was... and then we were forced back into the taxi by the airport taxi guy who insisted the driver could find it.

Anyway, we finally get there and find that the hotel is empty, creepy, and haunted.

This is our story:

Beijing, China

The best thing about Beijing was sleeping on the Great Wall. With a bunch of foreign English teachers (like us), from Korea (like us), mostly from Daegu (like us).

What're the chances, right??? haha

The second best thing was the Summer Palace. It is HUGE. We didn't know how huge it was until we got there and realized that we weren't even going to cover half in the few hours we had. We hardly covered a quarter! And they have a map... but they don't have any signs, so you just kinda hafta guess where you are all the time. haha. I thought the most amazing thing was that it was all built for one woman. She had it practically all to herself. THAT was an amazing thought. If I had a "garden palace" that size... wow. Jeeeeeeeeaaaaalous!

The third great thing was the shopping. Beijing's markets are fantastic! You really can find "name brand" stuff there for less than $10. Bargaining was an absolute must, and usually it

worked out pretty well.

The best thing I got was a warm Abercrombie jacket for $15!

The Forbidden City was also pretty amazing. It had a lot of things to see on the side, so it was possible to get lost in it! A lot of areas looked the same too, with maybe one or two defining features. I think I was expecting it to be a little more "forbidding," but I'll take what I can get from one of the most historical sites in the East.

Beijing was not my favorite, but it was definitely different enough to warrant going.