The last few weeks have been a little quieter than usual for us, as Graham had laser eye surgery, so has been in recovery. The surgery went well, and he is recovering faster than the average person, so that is very good news. The weekend before his surgery we went to Naejangsan Mountain with some friends to do a hike, and see the autumn colours along with what seemed like everyone else in Korea! As there are only a few weeks when the colours are so beautiful, everyone wants to go at the same time, but it was nice to be the only foreigners there. We did a nice easy hike, as Graham had some back problems (due to doing a long bike ride on a bike too small for him) and then stopped for lunch before hiking back again. That evening we decided to try the Chinese Restaurant that is only a couple of minutes from our apartment. It is more of a delivery place, so we had not realised that it was a restaurant too, so had never been there before. The food was amazing, and we were gutted that after all this time of living here we had only just found it. I'm sure we shall make the most of it now though in our last few months here!

After Graham's eye surgery he spent a few days mostly inside, sitting in the dark, as his eyes were stinging and sore, and very sensitive to light. I therefore went on a staff night out, and also after being given a surprise day off went shopping with my friend to Art Street. This is something which I had read about before coming to Gwangju, but never found. As it was a Thursday, many of the shops were closed, but I still got a nice bohemian feel from the place and an idea of where it was for future reference! My friend also took me to one of her favourite cafes, called Coffee and Cat. Again, I knew these places existed, but I had never tried one. Upon entering the café you are given slippers to wear, a small set of rules and a menu. They only serve drinks, and you must purchase a drink (which is a little more expensive than regular cafes). But for the price of your drink you get to sit surrounded by cats, play with them, stroke them and photograph them. The atmosphere is friendly, and there are maybe 15 cats of all different varieties, and looking very well groomed and pampered.

On the next Saturday Graham was feeling much better, so we went downtown again and I took him to Art Street and Coffee and Cat, along with some other friends. Art Street was much livelier today, with many musicians playing outside and creative stalls set up down the street for both making things and selling them. After a long amble and visit to a very nice coffee shop we headed into downtown. One of our new friends had only just arrived in Korea, so we showed her around the best shopping places and then went to visit Coffee and Cat. The downtown area is very busy and quite complicated, as everything seems to look the same. Graham had been to a great Dak Galbi Restaurant many months earlier whilst I was at work, and since then he has never been able to find it again to take me. But, on Saturday we found it, so went back for dinner on Sunday with some friends. The galbi was great, but the best part is after you have eaten the galbi they fry rice in the pan in the left over sauce, and then mix mozzarella cheese in with it. It was amazing, and certainly lived up to everything Graham had been telling me about for the last few months!

This last weekend I went on a Temple Stay with 3 friends. Surprisingly Graham didn't want to go, so he stayed home and went to the foreigner Flea Market followed by a movie night with some friends. In the meantime my friends and I went to Ssangbongsa Temple. When we arrived we were given a uniform and a full guided tour of the temple site. Few foreigners go to this temple, as we could only go to this temple if we had a translator, and luckily one of my friends is Korean and was willing to do this. We were the only visitors there, and it was very peaceful. Only two monks live there, and after tea and learning how to bow properly we got to meet the head monk. We had tea with him and got to ask him questions. He was a very jolly man who seemed to have quite a sense of humour. I think he was almost as intrigued by us as we were of him, as we were a very mixed group of one Korean, one American, one Canadian and of course me, the Brit. He had many questions for us, and it was great to feel so welcomed by him and comfortable in his presence.

That evening before dinner we had to write down 100 wishes. This was much more difficult than I thought it would be, as I started being very general, but then realised I would never make 100, so had to get specific! At dinner the food was all vegetarian and from their own garden. Everything was very spicy, and we had been told that we had to eat everything that we took. We had a set of rules to follow including no speaking at the dinner table, or eye contact, but they relaxed the rules a little, which I was grateful about. At the end of the meal we had to clean our bowl with hot water and a piece of kimchi and then drink it, so there would be nothing left at all. This is so the bad souls who are being punished through starvation and have tiny throats will not choke on our left overs, as it is believed that this is what they eat. The food was okay, but not my usual choice, as most things were covered in red chilli paste, which I don't really like. After dinner we did some bowing to Buddha with the other monk, and then were given a sheet of paper with 250 characters (letters) on it. We had also been told to bring our 100 wishes. We were then given a marker pen and told to do a floor bow for every character, stopping to trace a character each time, whilst thinking about our 100 wishes and at the end decide which was the most important and write it on our sheet. We also had to do 3 extra bows to start, and 3 extra ones to finish. If we got tired we could stop and just talk to Buddha, but we were all determined to do it. So, 256 bows later I still thought my number one wish was the most important "Good Health" which is quite ironic, as today I am aching so much, and have very bruised knees and feet!

We had an early night at 9.45pm as we had to get up at 3.30am for more bowing! We all made it and after the bows had time for a short nap. Breakfast was at 6.30am, and was the same food as dinner, then time for another short nap before going on a 2 hour trek. The trek was beautiful, and not too difficult, and the temple dogs came with us. We then had coffee with the head monk before going to see a funeral style ceremony which he was conducting. They hold this ceremony 49 days after the person has died, as it takes that long for a person to be judged by the 7 judges. If they have made it this far they are judged by 3 more to see whether they will go to heaven or be reincarnated. Therefore the family come and bow and pray that the decision will be favourable. We just went to the first half hour of the 2 hour ceremony, and were told it would be polite and respectful to bow, but if we were too tired we could just sit. After 3 bows I was very grateful when my Korean friend stopped, and so we all did!

After an early lunch (same food) we did some painting. This was what I had been looking forward to doing, and this is one of the few temples where you can do this activity. We could choose to paint a roof tile, or a piece of wood, which they use at the ends of each of the roof sections. We all chose the wood, as trying to take roof tiles back to our countries would be costly and difficult! Another Korean friend of ours also came along to the temple to visit us, as he was intrigued about the temple stay. The painting was a very calming experience, and we were all pleased with the results. I'm pleased that I had this unique cultural experience, but I don't think I'll do one again - my knees couldn't take it!

Maggie