Jeonju Trip Pt. 1

Right before the Chuseok holiday weekend, IES Abroad Seoul took us on our first weekend field trip to Jeonju. It was a four hour road trip to the Jeonju Hanok Village, so we stopped by a rest stop, which is much cleaner and nicer than those in the United States. Once we got to our destination, we went straight to a hanbok rental store to try on Korean traditional clothes for the day. There were so many pretty colors and options. I spent so long deciding on the final hanbok I wore. Though the weather was still warm, the hanbok was very comfortable and I wasn’t as sweaty as I thought I would be.

After everyone was dressed, we walked around the village, taking pictures and listening to traditional music performers. During the short free time we were given, I was able to try mango bingsu! It’s very different from snow cones or Hawaiian shave ice. The bingsu was more milky or creamy and very refreshing.

Our tour guide, Sunny, then took us to a spot that overlooks the entire Hanok Village before we went to see the Jaman Mural Village. The walls and buildings were so colorful and the art was so pretty. Since it was hot outside, I grabbed a quick drink at a retro-styled cafe, which had a lot of American-styled decor from various movies. 

The day ended with free time to check out the Hanok Village again. Jeonju is famous for their choco pies, so I decided to buy a few to snack on. The pies were so yummy, and I really recommend eating them if you get to visit Jeonju!! They are very different from the packaged ones you can find in an H-Mart or other local Korean grocery store. Because of how busy the day was, everyone returned early to our accommodations for the weekend and we bonded over fun games and deep questions. 

This is only the first part of the trip so check out the second part in another post, and stay tuned for more videos of my adventures abroad!!