Jinju

On October 5th, 1592, the invading Japanese army attacked Jinju Fortress with 30,000 soldiers.  General Kim Si-Min was set to defend the fortress with an army totaling only 3,800 people.  Of these 3,800, many were civilians.  After six days of combat, Jinju Fortress remained under Korean control and the Japanese army was forced to retreat.  The battle was recorded as "The Great Victory in Jinju" and it is one of the most important battles of the Imjin War.

Each year, Jinju holds a lantern festival in commemoration of this victory.  The river, along with the confines of the fortress walls, are adorned with lanterns of all shapes and sizes.  Wobbly footbridges span the river's surface and for 1,000 won, festival goers are able to (slowly) cross the water for a closeup look at some of the lanterns.

Jinju Fortress sprawls the rivers edge and winds its way up into the hills.  After the sun set, we made our way inside.  I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

The river 

paper cranes

topical

the original John Wayne

the first joke ever told

this guy took all of my money

Kim Si-Min

some guy who followed us around

On the other side of the river was a bamboo forest where it must have been mating season.

At least the tigers were on their best behavior.  

Chuseok in Gwangju

Five weeks into the semester and we are afforded a long weekend on the account of Korean Thanksgiving, or Chuseok as it's properly called.  While there are some similarities between American Thanksgiving and Chuseok, (them being family time and LOTS of food), there were no pilgrims or Indians or 25 pound stuffed turkeys with pumpkin pie chasers.  That's not to say that there weren't plenty of other delicious eats to be had.

Proof

This spread was first offered as a tribute to the family's ancestors before being prepared and passed around the table.  

I guess I forgot to mention that we were staying with Caroline's friend, Yuri, and her family so let me back up.   

Our wonderful hosts

That's Yuri (on the right) and her boyfriend Jun-Yeong (on the left, duh).  Jun-Yeong drove us around all weekend and I felt bad for not being able to say much to him, (he spoke very little English and I speak VERY little Korean), but we were able to share a nice moment over a plate of chicken when he recited every position on the baseball field in perfect English.  Jun-Yeong is a fan of the Kia Tigers and later that night they defeated the Lotte Giants and advanced to a playoff game.  

After eating (way more) than our fill on Sunday, we ventured out into the country on Monday afternoon.  Our first stop was Damyang where we strolled through a bamboo forest.

All of that hiking burned right through the massive amounts of calories we had consumed a day earlier, but lucky for us there were dozens of noodle shops along the river on the outside of the forest.  This particular region is known for its guksu, which is a type of buckwheat noodle.  I ordered the spicy noodles and was not at all disappointed.

cold, spicy and delicious

Satiated, we made our way further out into the countryside where we hiked around an old garden from the Silla Kingdom.