Team Korea March 2009
Our weekend in Korea was wonderful. I traveled there with 10 other quilters and we did our share to stimulate the world economy. As a group we purchased 1550 yards of fabric. I think the Korean head lines will read something like this today....

The Korean Won took an unexpected turn upward this weekend. Economists are baffled as to the sudden rise in spending.....

Arriving in Korea

Team Korea waiting to load the shuttle bus....having fun with the bus keepers!

We checked into our hotel and did not waste any time getting to the first market.

It was very cold because the wind was blowing very hard but the sun was shining!!! According to Lori...we have had 30 straight days of rain in Shanghai....Ahhhh....you would think we were back in Vancouver!

I loved this display of long colorful socks!

We found a Starbucks....(named "the mother ship" by my clever friend Lois) and warmed our hands and our stomachs. Then more shopping....

Korea is famous for their beautiful cel-a-don (not sure of the spelling) pottery. And...wow......it was fabulous! Too bad it weighs so much....hmmmm.....pottery or fabric?

After the market we enjoyed a traditional Korean dinner....

We ordered the "point and shoot" method as the menu was only in Korean....thank goodness for pictures! Our meal was delicious....several people said it reminded them of "Sunday dinner". I agreed!


We had three burners and three woks that cooked our food at the table. There was a combination of beef, clear noodles, and many vegetables in the wok...all of that was in a fabulous broth.

Our waitress let the wok boil and then cut the vegetables into smaller pieces with a pair of scissors. Then we used a ladle to spoon this into our rice bowl. It was sooooo good!

Saturday Morning

The next morning relatives of the owner of the fabric shop picked us up at the hotel and drove us to his warehouse location. We met several Americans there from a military base that is close to the warehouse.

Thelma having some fun!

Lori with her prospective "stash".

Kandy making her choices....

Fabric, fabric, everywhere there's fabric!

Finished with our shopping......and a photo opportunity with our host Mr. Kang.

From the warehouse we traveled back to Seoul and shopped at another market where Mr. Kang has a smaller shop. More shopping commenced and fabric, notions, thread, charms, patterns, and beads were purchased.

Then back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner.

Just as we returned to the hotel a wedding party was arriving. Their dresses were sooooo beautiful. We think this was the bride and her mother. Such beautiful women.

A display of our fabric purchases. This is just 3/11 th of the amazing display!

We had dinner at the Outback Steak House (a rare treat for us to eat at a familiar restaurant) and it felt as though we had been transported back to the US for just a couple of hours.

It was fun to see some of the American food chains....they even had a Quiznos Sub place! AND.....they have a Costco. We are all a bit envious!

Maybe our next trip will be a "weekend for Costco".

My personal "stash" from the weekend....I can't wait to play with it!