6 am in the Gwangju Business Center

Good morning everyone! It is 6am here, and I am sitting in the business center of a strangely fancy hotel. There are only 2 computers, so the plan is that I am going to go back to sleep in about 3 minutes, if not on this keyboard. I' m sure you will forgive the brevity of this entry.
Yesterday we drove 4 hours down to the southern end of the country. We started in Damyang, which is the bamboo capital of South Korea and perhaps Asia, and went to a museum, wove little bamboo baskets, and walked through a bamboo forest. There was a little bamboo handicraft stand near the forest, and this brings me to my current predicament. I realized that I have only spent the equivalent of $18 in the week and a half that I have been here, but I don't want to lose on the exchange rate on the way back for the rest of the money that I exchanged. So, I am now trying to encourage myself to stray from my normal financial mindset, and just purchase things that I know I will enjoy. Two nights ago, I bought a sweater without trying it on (it fits and looks good, no worries, plus I bargained down the price, a cultural tradition in Korea). At the bamboo stand, I purchased a little sushi rolling bamboo mat and a large bamboo sleeping mat. Now, I will have to figure out how to take this bamboo mat on the plane, as it is about 3 ft tall (perhaps diagonally in my suitcase? or can always pretend it is my purse or blanket!). I have also aquired a ridiculous amount of souveniers of various shapes and sizes that they have given us, or that my host family has given me, and might need to invest in a duffel bag before leaving. We all seem to have similar packing difficulties. One of my friends ended up with a large straw teepee statue from her host family, another purchased an exceptionally large rice farming hat, and another is trying to figure out how to get 2 bottles of wine from her host family through customs.
Anyway, no need to worry about that now! We are now in the beautiful city of Gwangu, having traveled through the countryside through high mountains and rice paddies as far as the eye can see, with the occasional traditional looking factory, which I shall, for lack of a better word, refer to as a ricery. We saw the Soweason (forgive my spelling) Garden, a traditional garden created as a peaceful getaway for stressed royalty during the Joseon dynasty, and today will be heading off to a temple.
One more funny story before I stop rambling and head back to bed. Yesterday for lunch we had bamboo rice with unidentified nuts and tofu. Certainly up my alley, not so for many others. They thought people were still hungry, so for dinner, we had a pizza hut buffet. Yep, we were the bus of American tourists who drove past quaint Korean restaurants and all hopped out in front of Pizza Hut. The one nice addition in Korea is that there is a yogurt buffet there too, which I thouroughly enjoyed.
Speaking of yogurt, I am going to go back to sleep before getting up to have breakfast and using the very spiffy looking fitness center. Good night!