My host family took me to Andong!
A map of Andong, located in eastern Korea.
Andong is an extremely historical town still rich with deep Korean traditions. There’s a large folk village with thatched houses, traditional markets, and a lot of important landmarks that date back hundreds and hundreds of years ago within the surrounding area. My super generous host family thought it would be great to spend a weekend in Andong!
Our road trip there largely consisted of discussions of different genres of music. My host brothers discovered that we both were very familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, so we played that for the majority of the trip. It was really nice being able to laugh and sing along to the same songs as my brothers. One in particular loves to sing super loudly, so we make a great match.
My host brother with the biggest plate of jjimdak I have ever seen in my life.
Jjimdak is one of my favorite Korean dishes. It’s steamed chicken with various veggies mixed with glass noodles. There are many different kinds of variations of this dish. Some restaurants serve it underneath a layer of melted cheese, and others add rice cakes. However the original dish is said to come from Andong during the Joseon era! So, our first meal in Andong was naturally some traditional Andong jjimdak!
That night we went to Weolyeonggyo bridge. Coincidentally, my brothers also discovered that I had Pokemon Go on my phone. They were originally going to sit the walk out but after discovering that they more they walked, the more Pokemon they could find, they gladly tagged along. And that’s the story of how I essentially lost my phone for the weekend except to take photos.
And speaking of photos, check these out!
Walking here was breathtaking. It felt like I had stepped into another world. The fog made the bridge just look like a mirage. The reflection of the lights in the water looked like an exact mirror image. It was so surreal!
My host parents jam packed the next day with tons of activities and different sites to see. Here are a few pictures!
We also sat down for a traditional Korean dinner with Andong sikhye! Sikhye is a sweet rice drink Koreans usually have after meals. Andong Sikhye is different because they mix gochujang, a pepper paste, with it. I had literally never tasted anything similar to it before.
Andong Sikhye
Traditional Mask Dance 
I got this lovely family portrait too!
My host family!
That night, my host family and I stayed in a Hanok, which is a traditional Korean house
My host family got me my own hanok for the night!
The next morning, we went on an early hike to a temple. It was completely serene and breathtaking. I’d really like to go back there in the future!
Afterwards, we went back to the hanok. It was like a bed and breakfast scenario, and the owner of the series of hanoks invited us into her home for a home-cooked breakfast!
Korea Teaches Christina 
What a nice weekend, with your host family!
Andong looks like a great place to visit, and meditate.
The photos of your host family, and you, are great!
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Enjoyed reading your post very much. Such beautiful photographs!
Andong sounds wonderful!
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My new phone takes incredible pictures, and I’m super happy with it! Thanks for reading! 🙂
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