Making the Most of Korean Festivals in 2012

The Eobang or Fishers' Festival on Gwangan Beach, Busan

The arrival of spring on the Korean peninsula marks a new season and a wonderful opportunity to try new and exciting things! This year, I suggest that you attend one of the hundreds of festivals taking place in Korea. I've been living and working in Korea for over two years now, and I never tire of the unique and interesting festivals and cultural activities that this beautiful little country has to offer. Even though I've attended my fair share of festivals, I still keep my eyes peeled for new ones that will entertain and introduce me to new aspects of Korea's scenery, life, and culture. Here are a few of my tips for enjoying yourself on the festival circuit this year.


1) Do something that's out of your comfort zone
Whether you are Korean or foreign, a resident of the area or just visiting, ask yourself, "When will I have the opportunity to try this again?" The answer may be, "Never!" in which case you should give that activity your best shot. Who knows? You just may like it. This is how I came to try barehanded fishing and eel-trapping, and to discover that I was good at both activities!

Korean boys trying out  널뛰기 (Nol Ttwigi), a traditional seesaw game
for Chuseok activities at Gyeongbukgong Palace, Seoul

Ice-fishing might not be for everyone,
but you won't know until you try!

2) Eat the local food, and try something unusual
Every time I attend a festival, I reserve my change and small bills exclusively for sampling the tasty local treats that are offered. It doesn't matter what it is, I've just got to try it! Every area in the country is known for a prized cuisine, and that's the one that you should spend your money on. It's easy to find the local specialty, since it's usually located in the tent, stand, or booth with the long line of hungry-looking Koreans in front of it! Without experimenting at festival food tents,  I never would have discovered the deliciousness that is barbecued eel, fried ginger, or bokbunja, a kind of black raspberry wine.

계란빵 (Gye-ran Bbang) or egg bread, a tasty winter treat

Barbecued squid, served hot off the grill in the summer

Tasty grilled fish, caught fresh at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival

Makkeolli, beer and Bokbunja wine, flavoured with black raspberries

3) Celebrate each of the four seasons with vigour!
Korea is lucky enough to have four seasons, and with each change of season comes new rituals, rites, activities, and treats to eat! I've seen nine changes of season so far, and I still feel like I have some catching up to do. Each season I discover something to learn about, something new to try, or something tasty to eat. Open your mind, your heart, and your belly - learning, loving, and eating are on the agenda in 2012!

Summer fun at the Haeundae Sand Festival, Busan

Autumn discovery during the Chuseok holiday at Bulguksa,
a temple in Gyeongju

Welcoming Spring at the Eobang or Fishers' Festival in Busan

A boy enjoying his traditional ice sleigh at the Dongjangkun Festival
in Baekwon Valley, Gangwon-do

 4) Talk to the Locals
I've never attended a festival in Korea where I haven't met a kind Korean with something interesting to say. If you're foreign, the stresses of living in or visiting a foreign country, can make it difficult to make local friends sometimes. Koreans especially are a very busy, hard-working people with a social code that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. At a festival or event, it's a different story. People have come from all over the country to relax and have a good time, and they are in a much more social mood. Whenever I've attended festivals, Koreans have offered assistance, translation, recommendations, and sometimes they just want to share a plain old chat. Their kindness makes you feel welcome, and by talking to them you may make a friend or learn something new! Talking to locals  provides a wonderful chance to share something about your culture, and to learn more about the Land of Morning Calm and her fascinating inhabitants.

Making friends at the Hwacheon Ice Festival, Gangwon-do

Military men enjoying their day off at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival

I met these lovely women competing at the Geoje Penguin Swim Festival

5) Take photos, take time, take it in
Even if you ignore my first four tips for festival fun, then heed this last snippet of advice. Take your time, take everything in, and, if you can, take photos - lots of 'em.  Take pictures of the sights, the scenery, the food, and most importantly, the people. Like I said before, when will you ever see this sight or meet these people again? Enjoy the moment while it lasts.

The Seoul Lantern Festival, celebrating Buddha's Birthday

Andong Mask Festival

The Busan International Fireworks Festival

I hope you've found my tips helpful, and I sincerely hope that everyone makes it out to a festival or two this year. Big or small, near or far, Korea's festivals are frequent, fun, and unforgettable.

An Icy Adventure at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

South's Korea's northernmost province Gangwon-do is home to the city of Hwacheon and one of winter's most exciting events: The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, or Mountain Trout Festival.

I traveled with a our group to reach Hwacheon. Arriving, we saw that the festival "grounds" weren't really on ground at all, rather the festival takes place on a long stretch of the Hwacheoncheon, "cheon" meaning "stream." Exiting the bus, we could see hundreds of people already engaging in the festivities. The most popular activities are traditional ice fishing and barehanded ice fishing. 

Ice fishers, hard at work

My friends and I decided to give ice fishing a try, and after receiving our poles we then sought out a fishing hole in the special foreigners' fishing area and settled in for some good, chilly fun. We let the line out until it touched the bottom and alternated pulling the fishing line at slow or quick speeds, as instructed. We spent more than a few minutes peering into the fishing hole to make sure that there were fish, and indeed there were. We just weren't catching any. Across the way, in the Koreans' fishing area, we could see what successful fishing looked like, as Koreans young and old (and serious!) caught their lunch.

My model for fishing success!

I worked hard, checking for fish, but my line still came up empty  :(

Following our failed attempt at ice-fishing, two of us decided to join the bare-handed fishing competition for foreigners. We suited up in some orange festival shirts and shorts before walking barefoot to the basin. At -15°C, we were feeling frozen before we even jumped in the water! 

Ooooh, it's chilly!

We were given just five minutes in the water, and believe me, you wouldn't want to stay any longer! We could catch a limit of three fish each. For my first minute, I was cold and miserable, but a little boy on the sidelines looked at me and whispered, "Fighting," a Korean expression meaning, "You can do it." I smiled and then, along with his family, they cheered for me, "Fighting!" After that, I managed to trap my three trout, making sure to show my cheerleaders each one.

How to Catch a Trout Barehanded
1) Grab the fish, 2) Wrestle it out of the water,
3) Stuff it it your shirt, and 4) Pose! You've done it!

I caught my trout just in time, and after a hot dip in the tub and a towel-off, we took my catch to the barbecues for the next step: Eating! Nothing washes down victory quite like buttered trout, soju, and beer!

Tasty trout, sun, and soju: A perfect festival day

Refreshed, warmed, and re-energized we dedicated the rest of our day to festival fun. You could choose from a myriad of activities, including ice sledding, go-karts, ATV rides, bumper cars, ice soccer, trampolines, and a snow maze. We opted for sledding and and ATV ride, and both were wild fun!

Fun on ice with an ATV

Tired but happy, my friends are I made one last dash through the snow maze before heading back to our hotel, our heads swimming with our day's icy adventures.

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival takes places annually for the month of January. Activities range from 3,000 to 15,000 won and include coupons for use at the festival. Hwacheon is accessible by bus from Seoul and Changwon, and the festival is open from 9 AM until 6 PM. Refreshments are available on site, as are fishing outfits and equipment. Its well worth the trip, and it is one of my favourite festivals to date.

Bokbunja & Black Raspberry Festival!

I took an Adventure Korea tour to see the Black Raspberry Festival in Geochang. Activities included picking berries & drinking the berry wine, touring the festival grounds (including live eel catching), a dance party, and shellfish collecting.

Basically, the 45 foreigners provided live  entertainment for the small town of Geochang for the entire weekend. We were followed everywhere by Koreans and their cameras. An amusing weekend, indeed.

After a 3-hour bus ride from Seoul, we landed in Geochang. We began the day by enjoying some traditional Korean games and sampling the local black raspberries, one of Geochang's best-known exports.

Playing a traditional Korean game,
throwing upright arrows into kimchi pots

Laura enjoys some hand-picked
black raspberries in the greenhouse

Next, we took a covered tractor ride and sipped on some delightful black raspberry smoothies! We watched the passing rice fields and mountains in comfort and awe.

Tractor ride

Black raspberry smoothies and a covered trolley ride - nice way to beat the heat!

Worker in the rice fields

After our refreshments, we took another short drive to a nearby temple. We strolled through the woods, on a cool footpath beside the river, and we could see the locals busy farming and fishing.

Ladies looking for fresh water shellfish and seaweed to sell or eat

Me, touring the temple grounds

After a nice visit, we finally made our way to the festival grounds. First, we had the eel-catching competition for foreigners. Any interested contestants were told to enter a large inflatable pool filled with black-raspberry-coloured water. When ready, the organizers emptied bags of live eels into the tub! We had to catch the eels with our bare hands, and any we caught, we could eat. it took me about 10 minutes, but I caught one!

Me, actually jumping for joy after catching a live eel with my bare hands!

With some tasty eel in our tummies, we toured the rest of the grounds, snacking and photo-snapping. We tried the variety of black-raspberry-themed drinks and snacks, including bokbunja, a famous Korean black raspberry wine.

Deep-fried ginseng root. Delish!

Bokbunja, with a twist: soju cocktail, makkeoli, beer, and wine, all made with bokbunja

Exhausted and happy, we made our way to the hotel. That evening, our tour group was treated to a free bokbunja wine and dance party, and all the locals were out to celebrate, too!

Free bokbunja? Don't mind if I do!

Cheers! Laura and I enjoy some bokbunja at the local dance party

Bokbunja wine & dance party in the tent, tourists and locals welcome!

A lovely evening was passed and all too soon it was the next day. For our final leg of the journey, we made our way to some mudflats to do some shellfish-digging, in the traditional Korean way. We drove on a large tractor out to the flats, and were given rubber boots and baskets with which to do our dirty work. It was a fun day's effort, and we were sent home with our catch to enjoy at home.

Adventure Korea tour group snap at the shellfish-digging mudflats

All in all, a wonderful trip and an eye-opening experience. Yet another fun-filled weekend in the ROK!

(Author's note: This blog was posted December 27, 2011, but the trip took place June 12-13, 2010)

Greetings from Korea!

Greetings from Korea! I can't believe how fast time flies here.

Visiting my first palace in Seoul, March 2011

I moved my life overseas to work as an English teacher at a private academy or hagwon. The first few days were definitely rough. Looking back, I think those first few days seem just as strange now as they did then. It was kindergarten graduation time when I arrived. The grad ceremony was out of this world. The kids wore gold sequined outfits and did sexy little song & dance numbers that would seem inappropriate for 16-year-olds, let alone 6-year-olds! The children wore grad robes, gave speeches and their parents had professional photographs done. Every teacher and every student received at least 5 or 6 bouquets and a handful of presents. Everything was over the top! Of course, the foreign teachers were the only ones who thought the whole thing was bizarre  :)   I still can't believe that was only my second day here.

I've learned since that "over the top" is probably the best way to describe everything in Korea. If you're gonna do something here, you do it to the extreme. Need a toothbrush? Sorry, you can only buy them in packs of ten. Wanna go out and grab a beer? Sorry, there's no such thing as one beer here - only 10 or 20. Wanna go hiking? Then you better buy special boots, gloves, socks, pants, hats, hiking poles, face masks, sunglasses... What's that? The hike is only an hour long? No, that doesn't matter - because hiking is extreme! And so is Korea.

Jagalchi fish Market, Busan. May 2010.

Aside from over the top everything - studying, drinking, eating - I've found Korean attitude to be rather trying at times. Koreans push their way everywhere. They butt in line, talk loudly, stare, grope and ask rude questions. Delightful. I've definitely become more assertive here ("Move it, Grandma! I was here first!") and faster at doing just about everything solely to survive. 

In many ways, Korea is very homogeneous. The dialect and cultural customs are fairly consistent throughout the peninsula and non-Korean nationals make up only 3% of the total population. So I stand out, even in a huge city like Seoul. I only mind when people are rude, but usually people are very excited to see me. People actually stop me on the street and ask to take their picture with me. Children talk to me. Old men and women will run across the street just to say good evening. Once, a kid even gave me two hard-boiled eggs on the street before running away with his mom. I have to admit, it's pretty cool, even if it's a little weird.

Elections, Korean-style. June 2010.

And Korea is definitely weird. I've eaten more strange things here than I can count, including squid, octopus, caterpillar, pig fat, dried fish snacks and quail eggs. I actually caught a live eel with my hands at a festival and got to BBQ and eat it. It was delicious, if you're wondering. 

I've done lots of traveling, too. I got tipsy on black raspberry wine at a berry festival. I got painted green at a mud festival. I went to a famous park known for its hundreds of penis sculptures. I've hiked beautiful mountains and some not-so-beautiful ones. I've swam at some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. I took pictures in an abandoned carnival and walked around in a phenomenal cave. I visited Korea's largest fish market and had nightmares about the creepy things that I now know are living in the ocean (before they're caught for dinner, that is!). I've ridden a scooter through rice fields. I've bungee jumped! I even went to Thailand on vacation, and it was so phenomenal, it merits another email.

Giddy after my first bungee jump in Bundang, Gyeonggi-do. June 2010.

I've seen so many things. Elections. Holidays. Parades. World Cup came and went. I'm having the time of my life here. I'm a totally different person than I was just 6 months ago. I do things I would never have done in Canada. I hike, for goodness' sake! I miss Canada, and I miss my family and friends. I miss understanding what's going on around me and I miss doing simple tasks like buying a coffee with ease (Oh, what I'd give for some Timmie's!), but I can't imagine trading all that in right now. It feels like I've only been here a short time, but in reality, my time is winding down. It's insane. I am really happy here. I've met some of the best friends I've ever had. And I've formed tighter bonds with people I'd already known. Every weekend here is better than the last. Well, except for that one where I was really hungover  ;)

Going green at the Boryeong Mud festival. July 2010.

Chuseok in Seoul. September 2010.

I hope all is well for my friends back home. If I had another year, I still couldn't tell you all I've seen.

  

With some of my academy students, September 2010.

Take care.

Love,

Jessica