Bamboo Festival [back post]

Panorama of the festival grounds

    My co-teacher A Jin and I were in the bus on our way to school. We often talk in the bus all the way there and all the way back -- unless sleepiness silences us. For the first few months, even though I usually disliked the commute from Gwangju to my school, I looked forward to Fridays because of those conversations.

On this day, we were chatting as usual when I mentioned that on Saturday there would be a festival that I was interested in going to. I asked if she was free that day, and she said yes. So before the ride was over, we had decided to go to the festival together.

 We met at the bus terminal the next morning. The bamboo festival is held in Damyang, which is not far out of Gwangju. It took around an hour to get there. We strolled around the grounds together, conversing easily, and I even bought a couple things to bring home as gifts. Around noon we stopped at a lovely shaded bench and shared a simple picnic lunch. Throughout the day, I kept running into people I knew, all fellow TaLK scholars. It was fun to see them there.

Bamboo forest (and A Jin)

We also hiked through the bamboo forest for which the area is famous. It was a pleasant hike, though the trails were crowded thanks to the festival. The forest is beautiful, and so peaceful.

It was a great day. I so enjoyed spending time with A Jin without having to think about classes at all.

On the bus on the way home, I saw three more TaLK scholars, all Kiwis. I talked with them nearly the whole way back. They asked if I knew any good restaurant nearby in Gwangju.  In another moment of spontaneity quite uncharacteristic for me, I decided to eat dinner with them in downtown Gwangju. They were excited when I mentioned First Nepal, Gwangju's one and only Indian/Nepali restaurant. So we went there, sans A Jin (who had other plans that evening). The Kiwi TaLK scholars didn't live in Gwangju, in fact, they weren't even from the same province, so I slipped into the role of host, leading them around my city.

We arrived downtown with no trouble... But to my embarrassment, we had to wander around for a while, because I couldn't find the restaurant! Just before giving up, and as I was calling a friend of mine to ask for directions, we found it. I was relieved, and we were all happy to finally order some food. I think that once they had sampled the food, I was forgiven for leading them all over downtown. I enjoyed the food, but I think I got even more enjoyment out of seeing how much my dinner companions savored their food. They were great company.

It was a well-spent Saturday indeed.

A Jin and I in the bamboo forest