I have been a terrible blogger — forgive me, blogosphere! Between shouting at the World Cup in bars around Jeonju, and changes at school, I have barely had time to think, much less write.
This past weekend Radio Star — the bar where we have watched the majority of World Cup games — put on an outdoor festival called Riverstock. Since the festivities promised included art, live music and foreign food, Evan and I could not pass up the fun.
After a cab ride and a sweltering walk along the Samcheon River in an area of Jeonju we hadn’t seen, we arrived at the celebration.
We didn’t arrive to the festival until after 3 PM, so naturally we headed straight for the food. They had tacos (YES) so I went straight there, while Ev picked up some lumpia and other Filipino food to share.
Oh. My. Tortilla. The taco was scrumptious, with a fajita-like mixture of peppers, onions and chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese all rolled up in a handmade flour tortilla. It was delicious — chewy and crunchy all at the same time. The tortilla was so good that I am inspired to make my own here in the next coming weeks. I figure, what’s the worst thing that can happen?
After we filled our bellies, we wandered around looking at the different booths. People were selling everything from art and little crafts to clothing and handmade treats. A couple of expats teamed up with some local kids to play a pick-up game of soccer in anticipation for Korea’s big game that night.
Local bands provided great background music for the event. They rocked out on the stage, including one we saw at Radio Star between World Cup matches that favored Jack White songs. This band is pretty bad ass.
After wandering a bit, Smiley introduced me to a local chef from Italy who just happened to make his own ricotta. And sell it at the festival. With foccacia. And a tomato basil mixture. I could have died happy after tasting those three things together. So delicious. I scarfed it down.
As it happened, the crowd was a great mix of foreigners and locals. Aside from bumping into expats I’ve met before, we also were introduced to a lot of cool people we hadn’t met yet. One in particular, an artist named Nate, was a really cool guy. He had artwork on display that caught our attention.
Nate, from London, told us that he got the amazing texture with his art by making his own paper. The pieces on display were amazing — all inspired by Korea and different areas of Asia where he had traveled. We got to talking, and he said that while back at home he’d sell his work for 200 pounds apiece, here he sold them for 200,000 W (roughly $180)! Such a steal for his talent. This picture doesn’t even begin to do the work justice.
Evan and I got his email addy, and we’re going to set up a time to go over to his place and check out more of his Korea-inspired pieces. 200,000 W is a bargain for these pieces, and we’ve been looking for something special to take home and remind us of the time we spent here.e