Chopsticks Times 6: KOREA

Korea her we come! I traveled with Regan to Korea with her taekwondo team. I had a great time. We had to travel in matching tops ;)

It's time to board!

After 4 hours, we arrived in Seoul, Korea!

It wasn't at all what I had in my mind for Korea. It seemed so flat. I pictured tons of mountains and cities throughout (which we saw later)

The buildings in Seoul all seemed very "boxy" Literally every building we say had the same box feeling and sharp lines. We hopped on the bus from the airport to drive to headquarters...

5.5 HRS later, we arrived! Headquarters is in Muju County and is literally on top of a mountain.

We had a very nice room with TWO bathrooms!

After traveling all day, they had a practice at 9:30 at night so that they would be ready for the competition the next morning.

The line for breakfast was crazy long! I've never really pictured rice and kimchi for breakfast, but they did serve a bowl of milk, too, so that was nice.

I only took a picture of the sign because I thought it explained it so well...pure genius. It dries your umbrellas just like the air jets in bathrooms....no more dripping umbrellas or crazy plastic bags to put them in.

These are the 3 mascots of headquarters. In case you are wondering why such an old looking guy... to be a 9th degree black belt, you must be over 65 years old and you can only get it in Korea. Regan is a 2nd degree black belt...you can do it! ;)

The check-in building and dormitories

walking down to the competition venue

Still walking...the building in the picture is the Museum, the arena was a little bit further past it.

This is her team (well half of them are from her center and the other half from a partner center in another town)

We made it!!

The money was messing me up...I felt so strange paying 2 THOUSAND for water and getting a 500 hundred coin back as change. I literally had no idea how much I was spending half the time. Thankfully, the prices were fair :)

We LOVED that Korea LOVES cold cold COLD drinks! They freeze their waters before they sell them.

Lunch break! Walking back up to the cafeteria....lets just say we got at least 20,000 steps a day (mostly on an incline)

Cai Ming Zhen and Regan

Regan and her friend with 3 of the members from the Korean Army Taekwondo Demonstration group. They were a lot of fun to watch. The guy on the left was steadying himself with Regan's arm because he was standing on his tiptoes so that he didn't look so much shorter than her.

She's about to be called to perform. She was so nervous, especially since she was competing with a pulled hamstring. She so wanted to be 100% better, but those things take a crazy long time to heal completely.

2nd place!!!!!!!

This is their center's team. He Wan Rong, Regan, Cai Ming Zhen, Wang Yang, He Jun De

the cafeteria

Korean Army Taekwondo Demonstration Team

check out the height!

Her 2 favorite countries :)

This was breakfast!!

We saw a rainbow :)

Here's a model of Headquarters (Taekwondowon) They own all the land pictured

So this moth/butterfly was REALLY BIG, but looking at the picture now, I think it looks a little small.

This is some Korean Robot/transformer and apparently he was awarded a 4th degree black belt??

World of Taekwondo

Dippin Dot Ice cream

They took us to a bug museum...the entire time we thought of Katherine. She would have loved it.

Regan's new favorite butterfly

Now THAT is a HUGE beetle/cockroach!!!

We were the only two that went through the plant part of the center because everyone else said it's too hot...they missed out.

Lunch

This soup was really good....oh! And Korean chopsticks are flat...who knew.

cold noodles...not my favorite

random things at the store...

Butter Caramel and Mayo Cheese?? I'll pass.

A tram will take you to the very top of Headquarters

felt like we were back in Tennessee :)

Regan, the Korean masters, and her coach

some boys from the Korean team

Having a little fun with the photos :)

Hmmm, again. No thanks.

I was really hoping to find a little caffeine on the third day....early morning, full days, and late nights were starting to catch up to me. I decided that Pepsi Strong is way better than Pepsi. I'm not a huge Pepsi fan because I think it's too sweet, but I liked this one.

Grasshoppers everywhere!

The coach bought snacks and 3 pizzas to celebrate how well the team did! The party started at 9:00 at night.

Regan and I got up early the next morning to walk the grounds. The training area was pretty awesome!!

For practicing balance and kicks while going from one to the other, alone or fighting with someone else.

Doing the routines from an elevated platform...you have to be precise or you will fall off!

WE still aren't sure what these were for, but Regan now has a special pin and another medal from closing ceremonies. They only gave out three. It was presented in Korean and I don't think the English translation was quite right, but it's ok. Pretty cool stuff.

Tourism Day...Chicken Lunch (Yes, we are all eating on the floor)

The Korean master came with us and he got tired of how we were getting the meat off and came around and torn the bird apart...haha

One of the most ingenious ideas ever! Huge blocks of ice every few feet on the sidewalks to help cool you down

The team decided that everyone needed to dress up...I agreed...who doesn't like to get a fun picture made, right? I had no idea that they intended (and we did) walk around town wearing these outfits! How am I supposed to souvenir shop in this dress??? :)

in front of some ancient palace

There were churches all over...this was a cathedral near the walking street where we were.

These two ladies were so sweet. We bought a couple things from their shop.

Regan is trying to see how long it takes to leave her finger impressions in the ice.

It's good to cool your face down, too. :) I love the look of the girl in the top left corner...she thought it was hilarious that we were not afraid of the cold.

The team drove swan boats around a lake.

Dinner...don't ask what anything is...I have no idea...it was tons of food. Most of it was delicious.

eggplant

tasted just like American meatloaf

A special tea to end the meal. It didn't taste bad, but I am pretty certain that this is what triggered my killer migraine. It smelled like I was drinking essential oils...I couldn't place all the smells of it.

Regan fell in live with this suitcase.

Not the best picture, but we were on a bus heading back to the airport. This is the statue entering the town of Muju.

The rest stop had a Dunkin Donuts.

We bought a small thing of munchkin...not nearly as sweet as the States, but very good!

Once we got to the airport, we were ready for lunch. Regan was so excited that they had a Taco Bell!! It's been one of her favorites since she was itty bitty. It was a little different from the "normal" but such a nice treat after a week of Korean camp food :)