A Trip to the Countryside!

Most of my time in Korea has been spent in a city environment.  However, there are many parks near by and mountains are not too far away.  I don't see much countryside or farm land other than when riding to another big city.  The country of Korea is 70% mountains and much of the rest is city.
There is not much room for flat wooded land like my home area.  I haven't seen much flat land area covered with forests.  I am noticing that if there are not mountains nor buildings, the area is almost entirely used up as farmland.  This area is considered "country."  Numerous Koreans have confirmed my observation as true.  It makes sense that if your country is 70% mountain, you have to use the land you are given for the necessary purposes.  Therefore, this is what the countryside looks like.  It looked similar to the Michigan countryside in the winter, minus the mountains of course!

Here is a church I visited out in the country.  It had a small, friendly, welcoming congregation.

We had lunch Korean style, on the floor, at short tables, like coffee tables at home.  We had delicious food and then I noticed many of the Korean elderly ladies beginning to sit down to rest together.  I sat down for a bit with them.

Here is the view from the church porch.  It was a warm, winter day, with spring not too faraway.  

Here is a high school, middle school, and elementary school combined (I think it was all of those grade levels.  It was at least two of the three.)  Can you read the sign on the school?  It reads, "We make outstanding Korea."

During our trip we had to stop at a jimjilbang!  This place was beautiful and out in the country. There is a water park for use in the summer.  Here is an example of the bracelet you get when you walk in the door.  The key part on the end can be scanned for food, drinks, toiletries, and other items.

The key is then placed into the locker like shown.  You use this locker for your shoes while you are in the jimjilbang.  You have another locker with the same number and key to place your other items.

 The facility was very large.  This hallway connects the bathhouse are to the hot rooms, lounge area and snack bar.

 This is the lounge area with snack bar.  Here you can also receive massages.  I felt like I was at a vacation resort.  It was very fancy.

 This wood burning fireplace was located in the lounge area just next to the hot rooms.

 Here are some of the hot rooms.  The one on the right has infrared lighting to fight against diseases. The other room is warm for resting.

 The room below is very hot!  You should only sit in this room for the recommended amount, which is like 5-10 minutes.  You begin to sweat so much, removing toxins from the body.  The picture above is people resting after they spent time in this jimjilbang.

After the trip the jimjilbang, we went back to the house at which we were staying.  My friend who owns this house is a great cook.  She is very interested in healthy alternatives in diet.  She made these doughnuts out of wheat.  They were very good!

She grows organic vegetables as well.  She made seasoned potato wedges.  We had a rare kind of potato that is purplish in color.  They are filled with antioxidants for fighting cancer and are good for reducing blood pressure. They tasted very good, even though it really took me by surprise to see them purple!

All in all, the trip brought me a little closer to home.  Being in a country environment was more similar to home than the city in which I now live.  I had a great time visiting the countryside!