The last couple of weeks I have been keeping myself very busy. This is partly to distract myself from the fact that Graham is not here, but also because I know I have so little time left in Korea that I want to see and do everything! Two weekends ago, a Korean friend of mine taught me how to make kimbap, so I can make it when I get home. This looks a little like sushi, but does not contain raw fish. You can vary the contents that you wrap inside the rice and seaweed paper, but we used egg, spam, tuna, mayonnaise, crab stick, carrot, cucumber, mushrooms and pickled radish. First we went shopping to buy all of the ingredients, so I took a few photos in the supermarket. It all seems so normal to me now, but I tried to remember how I felt when I first arrived and struggled to find recognisable food! There are so many strange looking things in packets, and I still don't know what most of them are, but I've learnt to just try things. There are also so many workers cooking up free food samples - now this is something I'm going to miss!

The same weekend was also a friend's birthday, so went out to dinner, ate ice cream cake (such a great idea) and went bowling. The bowling alley is pretty similar to home, but here you can bring in your own alcohol, etc. The only problem is if you have western sized feet. I was okay, as I could wear men's bowling shoes, but for 3 of the guys in our group nothing would fit (see photos).

On the Sunday I went on a trip to Gochang with some friends. Whilst there we visited the fortress, some Dolmens (pre-historic tombs) and then went for a drive on the beach. During the afternoon we had planned to visit a seawater sauna. I was really looking forward to this, and we had been assured that they would give us uniforms to wear, so we would not have to be naked. We separated into the male and female areas to change and were immediately greeted by lots of naked Korean women of all ages, shapes and sizes. They were just wandering around between the public baths, showers, sauna rooms, and in the general communal area. We quickly got changed and headed to meet the guys at our sauna room. The experience here was very relaxing, but after came the traumatic part. We walked to go back to the ladies section to change again and were stopped by a very small old Korean lady. She would not let us pass until we had given her our uniforms, thus got naked! Our Korean friend tried to talk to her, as did we, but she was having none of it. We were going to have to get naked and then walk through the public bathroom, take a communal shower, and then walk through the communal area to eventually get to our lockers. I'm not usually that bothered by nakedness, but here, being so different to everyone else, people like to stare. Westerners' bodies are different colours, different shapes, and have different hair colours, so we're quite a novelty! For some of our group this experience was quite traumatic. I'm pleased that I did it, as it is a very typical cultural experience in Korea, but I'm not sure how eager I would be to do it again.

Last weekend I took a trip to Jeonju, with some friends. Here, there is a traditional Hanok village, as well as the only proper Catholic Church I have seen in Korea. We spent the day wandering around the traditional buildings, looking in the small museums and royal portrait gallery, finishing off with a visit to the Catholic Church. The traditional dish here is hot bibimbap, which some of our group tried, and we were given about 20 side dishes between the 5 of us along with our lunches. It was a beautiful sunny day, so there were many Korean tourists around, but it was nice to see the place bustling. We tried some food from the various street sellers, as well as some makoli (a traditional alcoholic drink) which a very jolly man was eager for us to sample. I think he'd been drinking it all day at his stall!

On Sunday I stayed in Gwangju and visited the Folk museum and Art gallery. Ever since we arrived last February, Graham and I have spoken about taking a trip to these places, but never made it! I went with some friends, including 2 Koreans who helped us to understand some of the history. We then visited a trick art exhibition, where you can stand in the front of the paintings, so it looks like you are in them. This was fantastic, and just what we needed after non interactive museum and art gallery. We all had so much fun posing in the pictures, and took lots of photos!

That evening a group of us met for dinner at Ashley restaurant. I have eaten out a lot in this last couple of weeks, wanting to make sure that I spend time with all of my friends here and eat many of my favourite dishes before going back to the UK. Only 10 days to go now, and I think they're going to go by very fast.

Maggie x