"When you're on a holiday..."

What an incredible weekend we had in Buan!

After such a rough time last week, I felt as though I was never really going to let this work. I was very afraid I was never going to let this be the adventure I was needing (and wanting) it to be. I have realized, while I miss everyone at home so dearly, missing them will not make my time here any easier. I need to enjoy my time, and the life that I am living here! (Sorry, you wouldn't believe how much thought I put into everything here. I am hoping to not stay this way long. Too much thinking often leads to too much worrying. Something I really have got to avoid!) 

What a great start that got off to with a nice weekend in Buan! 

The great thing about my time in Korea is that I already have so much life planned here. The  country is small and travel is so easy. We started off well this week with a trip about an hour south to visit my friend, Justin! 


The weekend started off easy when Brittney came to Gunsan from Jeonju Friday night! Kyla, Emilee, and I went over to pick her up and we waited for Laura to get out of her hweshik. (I know I say this all the time, but I have no idea where I would be without these beautiful ladies! I have made some incredible friendships here, especially with my UCO girls. I cannot wait to spend the next five months with them!) After we met up with her, we headed to a Kyla choice, the Butterfly Beer Garden. (The major draw here being fruit-flavored Soju!) 

We went down and also noticed they had NACHOS on the menu! I am not the biggest Mexican food fan in the room, but once you are without it for six months, you realize you love anything and everything reminding you of home. 

Pineapple Soju! Delicious! 

Korean Nachos. Yeah, so good. 

After that, Brittney and I headed back to my house so we could wake up early the next day to head to Buan! 

We get off at Buan the next day and immediately run to our friend Justin! He lives in Buan and is our new host for the weekend. (Lucky him, he got to host five beautiful ladies!)

We got to Justin's apartment (which we also have termed as the MacDaddy Pad) and dropped off our things. We then headed to what we knew would be a fun time, the Monkey Training School! It sounds silly, because it is. Basically it is a giant zoo filled with nothing but monkeys! Cool right? Wrong. Well, not wrong... I wouldn't know. We were able to make it to The Monkey School only to find that is was closed! Lucky for us, there was a temple right down the road! (Haha! It was definitely 5km away. Which is a nice three or so miles. So, not only am I sad about the monkeys, I am now hiking. My only thought? Hannah Kostelecky would be so proud.)

Of course, we run into an awesome tree to climb and a small lake to play in! (It was a good about 70 degrees here so we got to do so much!) I climbed my first tree ever! 

We then got to the top of the mountain where we ran into the most beautiful place, the Gaeamsa Temple! 

After the Temple, we hiked back down to the bus stop for Buan and had a night filled with pizza, friends, and card games. It was an awesome way to relax after such a long day! 

Today (Sunday) we woke up on the nice heated floor that you see above! It was so fun sleeping over with four of my best girl friends here (and with our great friend Justin as well! Poor guy!)

We woke up and Justin and Laura immediately got started on pancakes. PANCAKES! This is one of those things I have definitely decided that I take for granted. Breakfast is the best meal of the day. I might demand to eat it for every meal for a while when I get back. :) What's for breakfast in Korea? Usually soup and rice. Yep. Like I said. Appreciate your American breakfast! 

After breakfast, we decided to head to another great Buan landmark, the Saemangeum Seawall! 

I know what you are thinking.. what in the world is a seawall? That's what we all thought too.  Basically, the Korean government has implemented this plan to create a new city for industry and residential areas. Pretty neat actually. Anyway, I just wanted to go see it because it is a giant wall that goes completely over the Yellow Sea. I got to walk out into the middle of the Yellow Sea today! How cool is that?!

We then headed back to Buan after some nice bus scheduling complications and left Justin's to come home.

I am so thankful for an awesome weekend and I cannot wait to see what this week has in store! Can't wait to keep you all posted! 

Kiyana in Korea