Seoul 2011

This weekend was a whirl wind of awesome. Nick, Campbell and I left for Seoul on Saturday morning. The KTX was a ton of fun and relaxing. When we got to Seoul we managed to find our way to our hostel Fully Guest House. It was a great hostel the bed were good, short (perfect for me but not so good if you're tall) and korean style hard. We then found SUBWAY! I was so excited and Campbell had never had it before.

After we went to two palaces. They were fantastic. The structures were often remade because of fire and or the Japanese occupation. We ran around and met a lot of people from all over the place. That night we tried to find Mexican food...found it....they were closed. We were not impressed. Got mediocre Italian instead. We decided to just go home and get an early start. We wound up talking until about 2:30am.

The next morning we woke up and got going at the reasonable hour of 10. We found the market we wanted to go to and then FINALLY got Mexican food for lunch. It wasn't as spicy as I would have liked but it was good enough. We also did a bit of shopping at the big stores, well Nick did, Sorry Korea I'm not a size 8. We got over to the train station with plenty of time...especially since Campbell got the time wrong by about an hour and a half. Luckily it was later and not earlier. So we ran around the shopping center at the train station and got coffee. All in all, it was a great trip one that I would like to repeat in the future.

MOVIE

out with Nick.

in daegu

strange

This is double eyelid tape. It's designed to give asian women eye folds. So strange.

This weekend so far has been fantastic. First Nick, Robert, Su Hyun and Taewoo (two amazing Korean friends, who're getting married!) went to the Persimum festival. Su Hyun and Taewoo actually ran a half marathon and did great! Su Hyun came in eighth for women. While the festival was pretty lame we still had a good time walking around being ridiculous. The real fun happened
afterwards.

WE WENT TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE!

Seriously. Taewoo drove us to his grandmother's house for some amazing Ramon and persimums. His grandmother was one of the coolest people ever. We got to help her with making Samjang 쌈장, The picture shows a big brick of red stuff. This is a bean paste of sorts. After making the brick you wrap it up with straw then hang the brick up. You can see them hanging behind Taewoo's head. Gran was really nice and showed us how to do it. She needed help hanging them up so that's what we did. After the bricks hang for

about two months the next step begins but I have no idea what that is. In the end it looks like this.

Korean awesomness

This morning I went to Korean class and had a great time. On my way to work I decided to stop at EMart. I got the items I needed and went on my way. It wasn't until I went to buy a snack that I realized that I forgot my wallet at EMart. Freaking out I super power walked back to the store. On my way there I got a call from a well spoken Korean saying EMart had my wallet. I was so gratefull that they found it. My cashier saw me, smiled and pointed to the information desk. Only in korea. I've heard of people loosing wallets in taxis, buses, subway and cafes. All of them were returned. I've never been so happy to find my wallet.

More Videos

OK Youtube is being weird but i'll try to upload these anyway.

This is my adventure with Rachel!

Beast at Asia Song Festival

Asia Song Festival

The 2011 Asia Song festival was amazing. We got free tickets online and since it was at Daegu Stadium it was wicked easy to get to, being all of ten minutes from the house. It was a great concert and we got to see some very famous bands from many countries. The most famous of whom where:

§ South Korea - Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Lee Seung Gi, Beast

§ Japan - Perfume, AAA

§ Taiwan - Peter Ho

§ Hong Kong - Leo Ku

§ China - Bibi Chow

§ Thailand - Tata Young

§ Best New Asian Artist - South Korea: Miss A,

§ Asia Influential Artists - South Korea: U-KISS, G.NA

I got to see most of these though it started to rain and we got out of there quick. My students are going to have SO many questions and they will be asking if I have any gifts for them. Sorry guys, no trinkets for you (they were expensive!). Below are some images from the concert. You should go to youtube.com to look up the bands!

Who has the best mom?

This kid. A pumpkin, Altoids, gum and pine needle sachet. The perfect fall gift.

Korean Adventures

I have been seriously slacking in the blog department and I apologize. So here’s a post to update you on my adventures. First off work is going fine. I’m finally getting used to this style of teaching and my students are getting into a routine with my teaching. I got observed THREE times over the past few weeks though to prepare for Open Classes. My reviews were all fine, though I haven’t gotten my last one back yet. Open Classes are when parents and family are allowed to come in and watch you teach. It’s going to be fun, scary and frustrating. I can’t wait to get it over with.

Two of our teachers are leaving at the end of the month and we will be getting new teachers, or at least new to Siji. I know one teacher will be from Moonkkang. Nick and I have gone on some pretty cool adventures through the city as well. We went to a beautiful park and wound up climbing a short mountain. This was all fun and games, it being about 8pm. The path was lit with lamps so hiking wasn’t an issue until we decided to follow a trail towards the sound of music. No lamps. “We can do this!” Ten seconds later I had downloaded a “flashlight” onto my smart phone. Nick and I managed to get down without mishap.

Rachel came to visit as well. It was great to have her here and we explored SO much! We went to the markets and ate way too much food. Rachel and I also went on an adventure tour to YeongCheon. It was great fun though we felt a little exploited. Let me explain the trip was super cheap but we were followed around everywhere by camera men and videographers. I think they were using us for promotional materials though we weren't told. We still had a good time but it was a little annoying to be constantly watched.

We went ATVing, Kayaking (which was silly) and horseback riding. Those were all really short things but they were really fun. We also met really cool people on the trip, Lauren , Rami and Seth. I actually met Seth on my way to Daegu from Incheon on my first day! It was hilarious to see him again and totally unexpected. We also got to see the fourth largest telescope in Korea. Numbers 1-3 are not for public use. We also made wine, which will take until January to be done. I’ve already filtered my wine and am waiting to bottle it. We also were a part of an Herb Tying contest. We had to tie ginseng into 300g (about .6 lbs) bundles. Rachel got Second place and I got third!! It was great fun, but I was glad to go home.

Las thing then I’m off to get lunch and get ready for work. I’ve started my Korean classes and I am also working with my Korean partner on Fridays. I’m finally getting a handle on reading…understanding is another thing!

Costco!

The land of Western Awesomeness.

Those silly western people building up, in Korea we dig down! Three floors to be exact.

Do you want door swag? It's a must have for this season.

Natural Chips that I have been told taste totally disgusting.

So much stuff!

I have found heaven! That's right now I can supply my addiction.

Unlike the rest of the photos this one needs some explaining. If you've ever been inside a big bulk store there's always a food court. Cheap, really bad for you food may be purchased there. If you buy a hotdog there are onion dispensers for toppings. You crank it and minced onion comes out. In Korea this is considered to be a "Side Dish." They load a HUGE amount of onion on their plates, add ketchup and mustard and mix. This is a tiny example.

My first Costco trip was successful but everything there is expensive. While they do have some cheese and random western items it's so expensive that I can't understand why the Koreans shop there. For me it's likely going to be a bi-monthly event. Next time you go to Sam's or Costco try out the onion side dish.......as long as you don't breath on anyone for a while.

HOW TO MAKE WINE

place in a cool dark place lid allowing air in stir everyday for ten days strain with clean white linen place it back in the plastic bottle wait three days until it settles after sealing in the glass bottel place it in the fridge wait three months!!!! enjoy

Blogger for the phone

Blogging from my new phone. I now have a cell phone and its a joy. I have internet and my world is complete. Rachel is coming this week and i cant wait to explore with her. I think Nick and i are going for a short hike tomorrow before work. At first i thought the hike was going to be long but its really not. Only about 30min to the top of the shorter mountain or hill.

Today i went to Bommeo to take my forst korean lesson. It was a lot of fun and then im also going to practice with Hey Jin from work.

This week has been crazy so far. Were changing our middle school classes to help them prepare for their midterms. So im teaching new material with grade/book specific students. This week cant end soon enough.

On a random note, ive lost weight here. My clothes fit better than they did before. Of course it helps that i only eat two meals a day thanks to my weird sleep schedule. Not to mention that i walk a ton each day just to get around.

Ill try to be better about updating more now that i have my phone. Though my posts will lack almost all punctuation. ★(*^▽^)v☆

Korea So Far

Wednesday

I get my internet on Wednesday! I'll be posting lots of stuff then!!!

It goes on...

The past few weeks have flown by! I’ve finally become accustomed to my classes and the routine of the day. I’m still working on trying to learn all my students’ names but I’m sure that will come with time. There are SO many students. I have six classes a day with 2-13 students (usually 13) so it makes it very hard to remember all of their names. I’m still waiting on my Alien Card and I can’t really do anything until I get it. It’s so frustrating but I know there’s nothing I can do about it.

I’ve been hanging out a lot with Nick, Robert and Jessica which has been very fun. We’ve gone out to eat a lot and it’s been nice to just relax. I also went to Ulsan last weekend for Eugene Festival (it’s a Moonkkang thing). It was great fun though the water was FREEZING. I like cold water but this was bitterly cold. So instead I played Ultimate and ran around the beach. From that I met a lot of really nice people one of whom invited me out to play Frisbee on Sunday.

I conquered the postal system here! I won’t go into too much detail here but I sent my cousin Katherine a birthday present. I was so good expect that I forgot to bring my own address with me. So I used my HR manager’s. I hope it gets there in one piece. I’ll be so unhappy if it’s broken!

Sunday was amazing. I had so much fun playing Frisbee. It really reminds me that I want to get back into a shape that doesn’t resemble a circle. I’m still bruised and cut up from the game though. I dove/slipped around a lot on the turf field but it was worth it in the end.

This weekend should prove to be entertaining. Saturday morning I’m going out with at least Nick, maybe a really cool girl named Melissa, to the market. Apparently there’s a Sock Ally. I’m super excited about running around the city more. Saturday night a bunch of people are going to the Rain concert (google Ninja Assassin for the main character, he’s also a singer). I’m going to most likely run around the city or maybe just have a quiet night in. Sunday there’s a body painting festival somewhere in the city though I haven’t figured out where and then there’s Frisbee as well. So many choices. I’ll try to be more timely from now on!

Enjoy!

To see these images in an album click here.

The Highway sign for Chilgok

Waiting for the bus

From now on it's country photos!

Walking around the man made pond thing.

Man made waterfall

More to come!