Gangwon POE Orientation, Day 1

All of the Gangwon-destined folk took a 5-hour bus ride to Gangwon on Wednesday morning. Before going to our hotel, our POE guys took us to one of the biggest farmer's market in Gangwon. It took up several blocks, with people selling all kinds of produce, seafood, tools (more like weapons), and clothing.

Oh, the smells of this place. You gotta love it.

Um, check this out!

I didn't figure out what this is...maybe just a zucchini with severe acne?

My hand kept getting in the way of these pictures...I was trying to be discreet. But I love all the old women, preparing and packaging their merchandise.

I don't remember what this guy was cutting up...some kind of animal?

Anyone need a Korean knife? Actually, there's always the possibility it was made in China.

Hyunjin Tourist Hotel in Donghae

It was a really nice hotel...and  yet, I slept on the floor. #Asian

A real bathtub!! A rarity in Korea.

Dinner

This dish is called Samgyetang. It supposedly has a lot of health benefits (as does most Korean food). It's an entire chicken, stuffed with rice and dates and boiled. You have to dig around the bones floating in your soup to find the edible parts. And it's really bland, so you have to add a lot of salt. Good, not great.

After dinner, a group of us walked ten minutes to the beach. Unfortunately, military closes off the beach at night and patrols the area (because of our proximity to North Korea). So we just watched the waves for a bit from a distance. And then my friend, Azusena, and I went to a convenience store for ice cream, cookies, and soda...out of necessity. In Azusena's words, dinner just didn't make us feel happy inside. Haha.