Bae-Na-Chi 배나치, Lexington, KY (2026)

10/17/2024

Our Korean visitors will be arriving in Kentucky exactly one month from today. Many folks in Kentucky have been looking forward to their visit, especially those of us who participated in the BaeNaChi Korea trip last October. I’d like to briefly tell you about our Korean guests in this post. This is a multi-talented, cross-generational group of family and friends who live in Sunchang and other regions in Korea. They are coming to KY as the goodwill ambassadors of Korean food culture and art tradition as well as friendship.

Mr. Jae Eun Kim is a 72-year-old farmer with over 50 years of experience growing peppers, soybeans, and rice. He represents Korean farmers on this visit. Ms. Chun Ja Yoo is a master chef of traditional Korean food who won many prestigious awards throughout her career as a chef. Mr. Hyung Ju Park is a farmer, talented crafter, and food business developer who dreams of creating his global fermented food business in Kentucky. Dr. Keum Suk Park is a renowned Korean paper craft artist with over 30 years of experience. She is one of the top-notch Korean experts on “Hanji” (traditional Korean mulberry paper) craft.

We also have a group of teens (ages 12-16) participating in this visit. The inclusion of these teen students in the visiting group was a nice surprise to me and a great opportunity to practice develop a program for a cross-generational group. Si Woo is a high school freshman who enjoys tap dancing. Seong Hyeon is an 8th grader who likes sports. Min Su is a 7th grader and a talented musician. Seung Ho and Yoon Ho are 6th graders. They are twins and want to show off their Taekwondo skills to Kentucky friends.

As the chaperons of these students, three adults will accompany them. Sr. Kang Ock Rosa is the director of a multicultural youth center in Sunchang. She also represents a local education coalition in Sunchang, the group our KY team met during the Sunchang visit last October and discussed global collaboration possibilities with. Mr. D**g Jim Kim is the uncle of the twin boys in this group. He is a mechanical engineer who enjoys farm work in his spare time. Ms. Ha Young Ryu is the younger sister of our master chef Chun Ja. She speaks English and works as a free-lance global food event coordinator.

You will be hearing soon from me and our local partner organizations about the events and activities that will be happening during their visit. Please come out when you can and say hello to our guests from Korea. They are visiting us to strengthen the existing connections and to build new relationships for mutual growth in many ways. Let’s give them a warm welcome and great KY hospitality.

10/03/2024

Last October, a group representing Kentucky and Virginia agriculture and rural heritage made an epic trip to South Korea. Our itinerary included a 3-day visit to a rural village in Sunchang, a town known for its Gochujang industry. Next month, 12 folks from the village we visited last year are coming to Kentucky in an exchange visit. BaeNachi has been preparing a 13-day program to welcome them with the help from many of our local supporters and partner organizations. I will introduce soon our Korean visitors as well as our amazing local partners. Lots of exciting cross-cultural food and art events around Kentucky during their visit. Stay tuned!

05/20/2024

Last October, a group from Kentucky and Virginia made a trip to South Korea as the goodwill ambassadors of KY and VA agriculture and rural heritage. The highlight of the trip was the 3-day visit to a rural village in Sunchang, Jeollabukdo. This November, a group from the Sunchang village is coming to Kentucky for an exchange visit. Sunchang is known for its traditional Korean fermented food industry, especially Gochujang. Our visitors are farmers, local food producers, and cultural heritage advocates.

As the first step of preparation for their visit, I am creating a small cross-cultural connection project and could use your help. “Hello Sunchang!” will be a series of short videos featuring questions from KY and answers from our Sunchang friends. This will be an opportunity for Kentucky to learn about Sunchang, its cultural heritage including its famous Gochujang, Kimchi, and other fermented Korean foods. It will also help our Sunchang friends to introduce themselves and practice their English as they will give their answers in English. Most of all, it will make them feel welcomed.

You can simply record yourself with your questions (along with a short self-introduction) and send me your video. If you want to submit your questions in writing, that’s acceptable as well. I will put together a video with your questions and their answers. Please DM me for more info.

01/25/2024

BaeNaChi Korea Trip 2024

2024 will be the year to run a few pilot programs to test some of the key BaeNaChi social agritourism concepts and the connections that grew out of the BaeNaChi Korea Trip 2023. In November, our friends from Sunchang will be visiting Kentucky to kick off our Kimchi event. There could be a couple of other inbound programs this summer with Eastern KY as the main stage. And I have decided to make another trip to South Korea this year as well. We will be traveling to "Gangwondo" in May. While details are still being worked out, I'd like to share some basic info early on to give enough time to those interested in going.

Gangwondo is a province in northeastern South Korea. It is bounded to the east by East Sea and to the north by North Korea. If you can picture the Appalachian Mountains with an ocean view, that’s a pretty accurate image of Gangwondo, our destination for the BaeNachi Korea trip 2024. It will be an exploratory trip and a pilot of our new program: BaeNaChi Kitchen, which is designed as a global volunteer tourism program for chefs, foodies, and anyone passionate about food topics. Please see the concept poster below for various descriptions of this program. The BaeNachi Gangwondo trip features the following activities:

• Cooking lessons from Korean Grandmas in rural villages
• Cross-cultural cooking camp with a local youth group
• Old mining town visit (Korean coal mining heritage)
• Fun ocean activities (fishing, snorkeling, etc.)
• Foraging and agroforestry festival

This year’s Korea trip also includes a community kitchen program in Seoul, in collaboration with a nonprofit providing social services and community support to the Korean ethnic minority families in the Seoul area.

01/05/2024

Korea Trip 2023 Day 12: Departure

Friday, October 20. No special stories to share for our departure day (Below is my pick of our best group photos). After spending a slow morning doing what each of us wanted and needed to do before leaving Korea, we headed to the Incheon airport around noon. It was finally time to go home to our families. All good things must come to an end. It was one heck of a trip. As the curator of this trip, I would always remember my first official BaeNaChi travel program and this fun bunch of folks who went on a wild ride with me: Valerie Ison Horn, Louise Murtaugh, Leandra Forman, Adam Michel, Kelsey Cloonan, Yoko Nogami, Timothy Breeding, Eric King, James Stapleton, Tommy Anderson, Tonya Harper, Angie Hatton, Ellie Mullins, Dave Close, Ryan Quarles, and Rick Montgomery. Without your support and love, this trip would have never happened. THANK YOU!!!

켄터키/버지니아팀의 2023 한국여행 스토리를 마무리하며 이번 저희팀의 방문에 도움 주신 많은 한국 친구들에게 감사의 인사 드립니다. 서울 치유농업 국제 심포지엄을 주관해주시고 또 여행 내내 저희팀과 함께 움직여주신 한재춘 박사님 그리고 사단법인 팜뜨락 소속 봉사자분들. 저희 뮤직팀에 합류해 이번 여행의 격을 한껏 높여주신 박희진 Genie Park 선생님과 남동현 David D**g Hyun Nam목사님. 순창방문을 성공적으로 이끌어주신 박형주 Hyeong Ju Park 대표님과 유춘자 선생님 이하 여러 마을분들. 평택 방문을 도와주신 전대경 박사님과 정영란 선생님. 순천 국제농업박람회와의 첫 연결을 도와주신 최협 교수님, 허민 교수님, 문제학 교수님. 국제농업박람회에 저희 팀을 공식 초청해주시고 환영해주신 전남농업기술원 (윤상희 차장) 과 코끼리 협동조합 (서채희 매니저). 완주 국립원예특작과학원 방문을 도와주신 김광진 박사님, 제주의 말 구조보호센터에서 멋진 경험을 하게 해 주신 김남훈 선생님과 센터식구들, 저희를 위한 저녁만찬을 마련해주신 제주시장님, 공항픽업과 라이더를 도와주신 고창록 이사장님, 유채민 선생님, 그리고 이원석 박사님. 그 외 여러가지로 도움주신 많은 분들께 (국제 슬로푸드 한국협회 김종덕 회장님과 장현예 상임이사님, 사단법인 프래밀리 정종원 목사님과 김성은 사무국장, 친구 이혜숙, 친구 임성태/최재은 부부) 깊이 감사드립니다. 여러분들의 도움이 없었더라면 이번 여행은 가능하지 않았을 것입니다. 그리고 서울지역, 순창, 제주에서 각각 저희의 이동을 맡아주신 다섯분의 버스기사님들께도 감사의 인사 전합니다.

01/04/2024

Korea Trip 2023 Day 11: Seoul (Urban Farm, Han River)

Friday, October 19. Our last day in Korea. We were so blessed with good weather during our Korea trip. The only day we got some rain was this day. Although we had to cancel our visit to a smart farm in the morning due to the weather, we were able to proceed with the rest of the activities planned for the day. Our main activity that day was visiting Leah’s urban farm, where we had the farm party on the first day of our Korea trip. Since our morning schedule got cancelled, we went there early and ended up doing some additional fun activities.

Leah and her team of volunteers were busy setting up a brunch table for us when we arrived there. From ham and egg sandwiches to kimbap and kimchi, the food they had prepared was far better than any fancy brunch restaurant menu. Leah also gave us a presentation of her urban agriculture projects she had been involved with for the past several years, which was impressive to say the least. After brunch, Leah and her team gave us a natural fabric (scarf) dyeing lesson. Around the time we got done with the fabric dyeing, a group of Korean seniors arrived for our main activity of the day. These were the elderly folks from two of the local adult daycare centers. All of them with mild cognitive impairment. We were invited to their weekly healing agriculture program that had been taking place at Leah’s farm since March 2023. It was a pilot program funded by the Korean government.

I had asked Leah to collaborate with me to do a special class with the seniors in her program because I wanted to check out the potential of a BaeNaChi program involving the elderly, especially those with dementia. We chose to do a cooking class together. With Leandra leading the class with Timothy assisting her, the seniors learned how to make Gochujang cookies along with a garden salad with freshly harvested ingredients from the farm. They did amazingly well! Our team sat with the seniors at their tables during the class, helping them follow the instructions. It was magical to witness how the seniors interacted with our folks. Language barriers didn’t seem to matter at all. Sharing their stories, teaching simple Korean words and learning some English words, laughing together, and sampling the foods they made together. When they had to leave, saying goodbye was difficult for everyone, lots of hugs and some tears. The experience was very inspiring and healing.

We also did a quick MOU signing ceremony between BaeNaChi and Leah’s nonprofit for a cross-cultural community garden program connecting Kentucky and South Korea. A Kentucky garden is going to be created at her farm, and we will make a Korea garden in Kentucky. We received lots of Korean vegetable seeds as a gift to start our garden program. Kentucky vegetable seeds will be shipped to Korea soon.

After the fun time at the farm, we rushed to catch the Han River ferry cruise, which was a special surprise gift I had prepared for our team. Rated as one of the top tours to do in Seoul, the cruise is perfect to enjoy awesome views of Han River and its many tourist attractions along the courses. It was a beautiful way to wrap up our last evening in South Korea.

01/04/2024

Korea Trip 2023 Day 10: Seoul (temple, palace, market)

Wednesday, October 18. It was our Korean culture experience day. The weather was perfect for the outdoor activities we had planned for the day. We left our hotel early in the morning for a cooking class at Sangbulsa, a small Buddhist temple in Hanam City near Seoul. Although it wasn’t a full temple stay program, spending a few hours at a Buddhist temple was still a powerful healing experience. Upon our arrival, we were given a quick tour of the temple. The abbess led us to the main building of the temple so we could have a chance to pay our respects to Buddha. We also did a compassion and healing mantra by repeating after the abbess.

For our cooking class, we were escorted to the temple kitchen facility for the cooking class. We learned to make a few different Korean temple food dishes in four small groups. Then it was time for sampling! Much of the food we sampled (more like a meal) had been prepared in advance to accommodate our tight schedule that day. The main dish was lotus leaf rice, which is steamed sticky rice mixed with jujube, pinenuts, and chestnuts wrapped in lotus leaf. The special temple lunch included Kimbap, fermented bean paste soup with mallow, rice cakes, fruits, and teas! While it was brief, the Sangbulsa visit gave us an opportunity to get a taste of Korean temple stay programs.

After the temple visit, we rushed back to Seoul for our afternoon activity. Our destination was Gyeongbokgung, the biggest ancient royal palace in Seoul. Like many tourists visiting Korea, we wanted the fun experience of wearing the hanbok (traditional Korean costume) around a traditional Korean palace. We also wanted to catch the changing of the guard, the ceremony that takes place only on Wednesdays. After changing into Hanbok at a rental place nearby, we walked to the palace. There were so many people. Lots of them walling around in Hanbok. The guard changing ceremony was fabulous! Although the crowd was a bit too much to enjoy the palace, it was still a fun experience.

Our last stop for the day was Insadong, which was near the palace. Insadong is a popular neighborhood in the heart of Seoul, where both locals and tourists visit to experience traditional culture of Korea. Its streets and narrow back alleys are lined with art galleries, wooden tea houses, restaurants, cafes, and small shops selling arts and crafts. Some of us went shopping for some souvenirs and gifts items. Others went on a food adventure. Insadong visit was a great way to wrap up our Korean culture experience day.

01/03/2024

Korea Trip 2023 Day 8 & 9: Jeju!

Monday & Tuesday, October 16 & 17. The main activity for our second day in Jeju was visiting a horse rescue and sanctuary place in a reserved wild forest. Although there were so many amazing experiences we should and could have during our short time in Jeju, I took the liberty of including the horse sanctuary visit in our itinerary. I first learned about this place from a Korean TV program a couple of years and was so moved by their mission and operation, which inspired me to envision a unique global healing agriculture program (equine assisted therapy) connecting Jeju and Kentucky, especially Appalachia.

Before the horse sanctuary visit, we wanted to spend a little time on a beach in the morning. Jeju has so many beautiful beaches all around the island. We picked Hyupjae as it was close to the horse sanctuary. On our way to the beach, we stopped by a cute brunch café with an amazing ocean front view. The food was great, and the view was breathtaking! The Hyupjae beach was even more beautiful. Touching the sand and the emerald green waters was the best form of relaxation for us Kentucky folks who live far away from the ocean.

When we arrived at the horse sanctuary, Mr. Nam-hoon Kim and his small crew greeted us. I had been communicating with Mr. Kim for months prior to the trip to plan our visit there. He was the person behind the wonderful horse rescue program at the sanctuary. He rescues the abandoned and neglected horses, especially former racehorses in slaughter pipelines. He takes care of them in a natural environment. The horses would roam free and remain in the forest but come out when he calls them at feeding times. We were able to witness the majestic moment of his beautiful horses galloping down from the hills up in the mountain as he was calling them by shouting the name of the alpha mare of the herd. We got to touch them and even ride on their back a little bit! The moments we spent interacting with those horses and feeling their warmth were priceless.

After the special healing time with the horses, Mr. Kim took us on a little hike to get to his secret space in the forest, where he had prepared for our mini cross-cultural concert. I had told him about our Appalachian music team. Being a music lover himself, he loved the idea of our special cultural exchange through music. The concert was lovely and soul healing. Led by our Cowan team, we also enjoyed square dancing together.

Thanks to Mr. Kim’s effort, our team was invited to a fancy dinner buffet in Jeju City that evening, which was hosted by the Jeju City mayor to welcome us. We shared with the mayor some future global collaboration ideas between Kentucky and Jeju. We also learned that Mr. Kim’s nephew is a member of a famous K-Pop group. We got to talk to the young singer on the phone briefly and invited him to Kentucky for a K-pop concert in the near future, which may actually happen this year.

On Tuesday, we were returning to Seoul in the afternoon. To maximize our enjoyment on our last day in Jeju, we decided to split up in a few small groups to do what each group prefers. My group opted to go for the Jeju Folk Village. Although we did not have enough time to fully enjoy all it had to offer, it was a great place to see a recreation of the traditional culture and history of Jeju Island. After the group activities, we gathered at a black pork BBQ restaurant near the airport for our last meal in Jeju. Black pig is a unique breed of pig from Jeju Island. We couldn’t leave Jeju without tasting the most famous Jeju food. And it did not disappoint us!

It was 6 pm when we arrived at the Kimpo airport in Seoul. Our bus picked us up and took us to our hotel in the middle of the glitzy Kangnam district. After checking in, we went out to explore the area and finally got to try the famous Korean (fried) chicken & beer.

01/01/2024

Korea Trip 2023 Day 7: Jangseong, Kwangju, Jeju

Sunday, October 15. It was the day we were leaving Sunchang and flying to Jeju. Our Korea trip itinerary till that point had been jam-packed with important and exciting events and activities and very little time for rest in between. While feeling sad about leaving Sunchang, we looked forward to our time in Jeju for much-needed relaxation and healing.

On the way to Kwangju to catch our flight to Jeju, our bus driver took us to a famous Buddhist temple in a nearby town. Mr. Park and a few other Sunchang folks accompanied us there. Located in the Naejang Mountain National Park, Baekyang Temple in Jangseong is known especially for its vibrant fall colors. Although we were a bit too early to see the colorful transformation of the tree leaves, the visit was still truly a healing and beautiful experience. We were greeted by the abbot of the temple. Some of us got a chance to write their wishes on traditional clay roof tile. As we were leaving the temple after a brief visit, it was finally time to say goodbye to our Sunchang friends. With lots of hugs and some tears, we bid farewell in the hopes of seeing each other again in 2024.

When we arrived in Kwangju, there was still about an hour to spare before the check-in for our Jeju flight. Our bus driver knew the area well and was quick to find us a cute little bakery near the airport. We were able to enjoy yummy brunch with a variety of fresh baked pastry and goods. The check-in at the Kwangju airport went smoothly, and we were on a short flight (a little over one hour) to Jeju Island.

Jeju is the South Korea’s biggest island. It is a semi tropical, volcanic island. The island is one of the rare places in the world with all three of the UNESCO designations: UNESCO World Heritge, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and UNECSO Global Geopark. We couldn’t pass the opportunity to experience this special place while we visited Korea. Once we arrived in Jeju, we rushed to our hotel to check in and change our clothes for our first activity in Jeju, diving with a group of “haenyeo”, female divers in Jeju. Planning for this special activity was a challenge. I had been communicating with the haenyeo group since the first day of my arrival in Korea to make the arrangement for our team. The diving activity scheduling was largely controlled by tides and currents. Although they gave me an ok for our diving activity that afternoon, it could easily be cancelled due to local weather change. Although it was quite windy and chilly, we were able to have the amazing experience in the Jeju Ocean!

Eleven from our team had signed up for the diving with haenyeo experience. They put on wetsuits and diving gears first. After a short orientation and pre-diving exercise, they finally jumped in the water with two experienced haenyeo ladies as their instructors. It was an awesome sight to see. All of them were having so much fun! Some caught conches and other shellfish, which were roasted for us to sample. We were also served conch risotto, which was the best I’ve ever tasted.

As our last stop for the day, we went to a famous local traditional outdoor market near our hotel in Jeju City. We got there just in time for its exciting night market featuring many unique food vendors. Some would show fancy dance moves with K-pop music while cooking and serving food. After filling our bellies with lots of delicious foods at the food market, we took a little time to walk around, checking out a variety of Jeju souvenirs and local produce, especially tangerines. It was a great wrap up of a such fun-filled day.

12/29/2023

Korea Trip 2023 Day 6: Sunchang (Second day)

Saturday, October 14. Our second day in Sunchang started with a meeting at Mr. Park’s farm with a group of local educators and government officials. The educators were the principals and directors of the local schools and community centers we had visit the previous day. We shared our thoughts and ideas on the future global collaboration projects connecting their community and the communities presented by our teams (Cowan Community Center, FoodChain, and Virgina Tech Extension Services). We listened to their concerns and suggestions. Through a candid and open conversation, we were able to come up with a couple of simple and easy action steps we could try.

At the end of the meeting, we gave the Commissioner a surprise birthday party. Although his real birthday was a few days later, we prepared a cake that day as it was his last day with us. He had to leave for Seoul that afternoon for his departure the next day. After sharing the birthday cake with everyone, our team presented the visitors with the gifts they had brought from home for our host village. A variety of gift items from Kentucky Department of Agriculture, FoodChain, and Virginia Tech Extension Services. The Cowan team prepared a suitcase full of unique craft gifts made by their Appalachian artisans, including a specially made quilt with the names of both communities (Sunchang and Cowan) embroidered. The local educator group received the gifts on behalf of their students.

After lunch, we got ready for our Kimchi and Gochujang making class. Mrs. Park is a highly experienced and skilled chef as well as a local Kimchi and Gochujang master with her own Gochujang business. With the help from several of her neighbors, she put together all the ingredients and showed us how to make authentic Korean Kimchi and Gochujang. What a special treat it was!

Once we wrapped up with the kimchi and Gochujang class, Mr. Park had us get ready for the welcome party that was happening that evening. He invited lots of people to this party to introduce us, including local traditional Korean music performers, a local community choir, and a renowned Korean chef who travels around the world promoting the art of Korean food culture. The dinner menu was five-color barley bibimbap, a special local cuisine! The meal preparation was an elaborate process led by the guest chef and his sous chef (Mrs. Park). All kinds of fresh local produce were prepared. A large amount of five-color (black, blue, white, purple, and yellow) barley was cooked in a huge traditional Korean cast iron pot. Leandra baked gochujang cookies for the party, which impressed even the guest chef!

While the meal preparation went on, the stage for all the music and dance performances was being set up. It was so much fun watching all the preparation work unfold. Although it got dark quickly and the temperatures dropped drastically by the time we were ready to eat, we bundled up and the party was in full swing. We sang, danced, and ate amazing food together. Chang (traditional Korean singing), Nongak (traditional Korean farmers music), square dance, and Appalachian Mountain music. It was a beautiful way to share each other’s cultural heritage. Wonderful global connections and new friendships were made.

Bae-Na-Chi 배나치

10/17/2024

10/03/2024

05/20/2024

01/25/2024

01/05/2024

01/04/2024

01/04/2024

01/03/2024

01/01/2024

12/29/2023

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