Cheong-ju to Jeonju

South Korea (Republic of Korea) , is still technically at war with North Korea and 18 – 21 months of military service for men is compulsory. They can choose when to do this between the ages of 19 and 35. Shinyoung’s eldest nephew, M, elected to do military service while at university and on this day we witnessed the passing out ceremony marking the end of basic training. We drove to the Army Training Centre south of Nonsan and met up with Shiny’s sister and family and watched as 5-600 young men saluted marched, sang, and listened to an address from the Commander. He seemed to be remarkably supportive and recognised the difficulties which some might face (I used Google Translate to get the gist). The recruits were then met by families, some of whom (mothers mostly it seemed) rushed forward to greet their sons with bouquets of flowers. I saw one boy alone in the crowd. Not all families would have been able to travel to the centre of the country for a few hours for this. We spent a delightful afternoon with the family eating very well (for me bibimbap and pajeon), playing games and later doing Karaoke.

We then spent the next two nights in the Jeonju Hanok Village at Moryub : well appointed accommodation. When we arrived Eliot led a tea ceremony on which he had been recently tutored. Then we changed into traditional costume (Hanbok) for a photo shoot inside and in the courtyard of our Hanok. I was privileged to wear Shiny’s father’s Hanbok.