Last weekend was kind of crazy. Hyejeong (aka the wonderful girlfriend) was guilt-tripped into going up to Bucheon to help out with something at her Church on Saturday...which meant a 4hr drive there and 4.5hr drive back...on saturday...for another 4 hrs at church. That pretty much screwed any plans we had for saturday. It was good I went instead of moping around home as the scenery was good, the company was great..and Hyejeong started falling asleep on the drive home (to be fair...it was getting near midnight). So I got to drive! Yay!!
Come Sunday she picked me up around 9ish and we headed off to the small district of Namhae in Gyeongnam province. From Gwangju it was only about 1hr 45min so not too bad. And the scenery...very very nice!
The reason for going was the Battle of Noryang Festival held in the small (very small) village of Noryang which is pretty much on the shore next to the site of Yi SunSin's final battle in 1598.
We got there a few minutes before they officially started so, wrapped in our coats, we took a look around. There were a couple of Chamsuri (참수리) class patrol boats docked and they were letting people on board so I dragged Hyejeong over to have a look..
They are quite well armed with twin 30mm cannon in a turret in the bow
and 2x turrets, with 20mm vulcan cannon, aft.
They even let me sit in the forward turret! It was a tight squeeze though..
We also got a quick tour of the bridge and talked with some of the sailors.
The Chamsuri class are of particular interest to Hyejeong and me as one was sunk in 2002 while the soccer world cup was on. Wikipedia has more, but the basics are that Chamsuri 357 was intercepting a North Korean patrol boat that had crossed the Northern Limit Line (the debated border at sea between North and South Korea) when the North Korean boat opened fire on Chamsuri 357, killing the commanding officer and 5 others and sinking it. The battle was kept quiet by the Korean government, who wanted nothing to ruin the world cup and the crew were only recognised for their conduct last year..pretty shameful stuff.
Why is it of interest to us? History is my thing and this is something she can actually relate to as the world cup gives her a grounding point. Nice when that happens..
Anyway..back to the festival.
Pretty much the entire local fishing fleet was decked out in colours that represented the Korean, Chinese ('allied' with the Koreans) and Japanese fleets and they showed various formations that would have been used by the fleets in the battle, while the goings on were explained by a narrator backed with some music which sounded like it was from a movie..Hyejeong translated and then I corrected...I'm so nasty.
After that we went and looked at the replica turtle-ship which is permanently tied up at one end of the harbour..
It looks a bit fake but it (partially) satisfied me...its actually surprisingly roomy inside though I'm sure this would change with a crew of 50 or so..
Again, doing the silly foreigner thing..
Interestingly, I believe that the ceiling in these ships is higher than in a English Galley from the same period..I could even stand up in the sleeping quarters on the lower deck.
After Hyejeong pulled me away from the Turtle Ship we grabbed some lunch.
I don't know if I've said it before, but to me one of the great attractions of Korean food is the side dishes..
This was before the main dish had arrived! I've never eaten so much sea food..and so good! Cost was probably around the $100 mark for the 2 of us, but that isn't too bad considering what we were eating.
Oh, the crowning moment of the trip...Hyejeong let me drive home :) I really need a licence...
I don't know quite how to put this but this has been by far the best trip I've been on in Korea..I didn't realise how much I missed the sea and the countryside...it was comfortable enough that I feel I don't want to leave. This is the sort of place that could keep me in Korea.
Posts
Mayhem as wave after wave of students scrape together a bit of snow and attack the teacher (centre screen..)
This one got even bigger later...but its a nice shot of Subin, one of the two key creators. Incidentally, I homestayed with her family when I first moved to Damyang. She's a favourite.
Another...just so I can show you my co-teacher 
