May 7th -13th

This week has been another pretty slow one since I didn't have any major traveling plans like I've had the past few weeks. My MMS meetings have been going good, I made plans with So-Ui to play badminton or ping pong during our next meeting and she also agreed to help me figure our my internet problem on my computer. Once again, my meetings with Sally went very well and this time we went to a little cafe that I think was called Zanzan. We also brought along Marie since they also have meetings together and this way she could do two in one. At the cafe, we got some cake, pancakes, and oreo milkshakes. Sally also agreed to help me with my computer and if So-Ui can't figure it out, she is going to bring me to a place in Wonju that might be able to help me. Even though I still have over a month left here, she also called my airlines and helped me to reserve the seat that I wanted so I wouldn't have to try and do it by myself. For our field trip this week, we went to a ceramics festival in Yeoju. A lot of people weren't too excited about this trip because we weren't exactly sure what to expect. When we got there, they had us go to one of the buildings and they had us make our own pottery...sort of. We thought that we were going to get to make our own ceramics, but it was mostly the masters doing it while we sat there and pretended to help. That was okay with me though, since I know if it was just me making it, it wouldn't have turned out very good. I ended up making a small bowl and I just have to wait about three weeks until they send it to me since they still have to glaze it. We also had the option of putting designs on what we made but I wanted mine to just be simple. While people were doing designs, I decided to move mine over to the table where all the ones that were finished were so mine wouldn't get damaged or smudged. Well, while I was setting it down, a woman approached me and started talking to me. This would have been fine, except that it was enough of a distraction that I ended up hitting my fingers on the side of my bowl, leaving two smudge marks. I didn't try to fix it because I didn't want to make it any worse. The lady that started talking to me was really nice though. Her name was Swin Yoon and she was an artist that had studied in France for a little while and is now working in Korea. After talking for a little bit, she said she had to get back to her stand, so I told her I would come check it out once I had a chance. Once everyone was done, we had some free time to check out the festival, so I went with Marisa and we walked around looking at all the stands (including Swin's). After our free time, we also had a tour of the Silleuksa Temple which was also there. It was a very nice place. They had lots of different colored lanterns hanging everywhere and they were also located right next to the Namhan river. Supposedly, this is the only riverside temple in Korea. After our tour was done, it was time for us to head back.