tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33622875090027665602024-02-19T12:15:32.448+09:00Korea ChroniclesWelcome to the Korea Chronicles! This is where I'll be posting on a (hopefully) regular basis to keep the folks at home updated on my adventures in South Korea. I'll try to post pictures and videos here as well (or I'll at least post links to them). Feel free to forward the link to my blog to anyone who might be interested in keeping tabs on me.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-21910470147810936412010-04-27T09:25:00.002+09:002010-04-27T10:11:13.753+09:00Wrapping Up and Signing OffMy last weekend in Korea was lovely...I had a sinus infection and a couple other little ailments, but I wanted to say goodbye to Angie and Mike so I made the journey to Busan anyway. We visited a temple on the coast, and then we went to Gwanali Beach and played around for a few hours. It was a really laid back weekend, and I got to hang out with some of my favorite Koreans as well. Mike's older brother Gareth was visiting from Wales and his Korean friends from Daegu were visiting so there was a big group of us mulling about enjoying the slower parts of Korean life...<br />Anyway, my last week was fairly busy with farewell outings and with wrapping things up so I could be ready to leave. Monday I went to the hospital to investigate my sinus infection (turns out one side of my face was full of stuff...not cool). Mac (my coworker) left the same day I did, so he had a going away party on Tuesday, my goodbye outing was Wednesday, Thursday was a night in to pack and such, and Friday was another night out. Angie, Mike, and Gareth came up to Daegu to say goodbye and to take me to the airport, so I didn't sleep before the big flight. I had a great last night; I enjoyed my last five pints of Hite and/or Cass, I learned how to play darts and discovered that I'm either decent or have spectacular beginner's luck, and I got to hang out with some really cool people. And I made it to the airport on time for my flight. I even had time for a cup of tea before I had to head through security.<br />I left from Daegu, headed up to Seoul, flew to Tokyo, then it was the long haul to Washington, D.C., and from there I had one last flight to Portland where my parents and best friend picked me up. I actually didn't mind the small flights; it's the 15 hour flight from Tokyo to DC that's killer. And somehow I ended up between two people again. Awesome.<br />It's nice to be home, but there are definitely things I miss about Korea. So far jet lag has not been kind to me. I'm exhausted within a couple hours of waking up, and 7pm is starting to seem like an acceptable bedtime. It's all I can do just to sort through the mail on my desk. And apparently it makes me ridiculously emotional. I cried at dinner for no apparent reason on Sunday. Crazy. Anyway, I've already begun my job search here in Maine, but if prospects are looking dismal at the end of the summer I may consider heading back to Korea. I was actually starting to love it by the time I had to go. Who knows what the future holds? But for now, I'm happy to be home :)Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-63129432855803225422010-04-15T01:46:00.014+09:002010-04-15T02:06:27.408+09:00Gone to Where the Lava Flows...Jeju!I was determined to visit Jeju Island before I left Korea, and now I can finally check it off my list. It was an exhausting weekend, but Jeju was well worth visiting. In case you’ve never heard of Jeju, it’s a large island off the southern coast of South Korea with a sub-tropical climate, volcano craters, lava tubes, palm trees, etc. Pretty sweet. <br />Our flight left Gimpo Airport in Seoul early on Saturday morning so Angie and I had to take a train to Seoul Station after work on Friday night. We cheaped out and took the slow train so it took 4.5 hours to get to Seoul. We then had to take a 30 minute cab ride to the airport, where we proceeded to wait for 3 hours until our group met and headed for the boarding gate. Our group consisted of 20 expatriates, hailing from the US, England, Ireland, and South Africa. Needless to say, neither the train that stops every 15 minutes, nor the wooden airport benches were conducive to sleeping so we pulled an all-nighter before our trip. The flight only took an hour, but I did get a little cat nap in before the long day. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vDmDNCFUjMfpHAH9Aa4aTc3KJVomAlvZMcOiqYHdqwW0o9JurUQPew6t8kFnLv-flEhMYcKUrjQ7z_kEN1QDKc_ASg6NSOR4ndz8MbutNqY2ScPsJ4JZgO9wcAqGKH0d3361ee9oMtc/s1600/25264_694980521359_5811899_39031077_4369047_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vDmDNCFUjMfpHAH9Aa4aTc3KJVomAlvZMcOiqYHdqwW0o9JurUQPew6t8kFnLv-flEhMYcKUrjQ7z_kEN1QDKc_ASg6NSOR4ndz8MbutNqY2ScPsJ4JZgO9wcAqGKH0d3361ee9oMtc/s320/25264_694980521359_5811899_39031077_4369047_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460036342995222690" /></a><br />Our first stop was for food. We had fish, and if you know me you know I’m not a huge fan of seafood so I was pretty sure I was going to starve for the weekend. It literally looked like someone chopped a mackerel into 4 pieces and threw it into a stew with halved potatoes and other veggies. Angie finally convinced me to try it, and much to my surprise, it was actually not bad. Good enough to eat, anyway. Also, please allow me to toot my own horn a bit here and mention that I’m so skilled with chopsticks now that I can peel the skin off a fish and separate fish bones from meat. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkzWXhVZh5JNyU_Boy4IgWszcT5ejXPZ6UyfJX0340vW_Vwftcld7nsrpbyDk3S2AeNyuWcRRGwhKiwc1kxfX8wX1Jqx9N6QeaOaPIt9fuKqfyIkdAXGF7l_UexLIiNhQDiOcinQnnYA/s1600/lunch+day+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkzWXhVZh5JNyU_Boy4IgWszcT5ejXPZ6UyfJX0340vW_Vwftcld7nsrpbyDk3S2AeNyuWcRRGwhKiwc1kxfX8wX1Jqx9N6QeaOaPIt9fuKqfyIkdAXGF7l_UexLIiNhQDiOcinQnnYA/s320/lunch+day+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460036490274975586" /></a><br />Our group headed to Bird Island after lunch. I didn’t see any birds, but we did hear some (Angie tried to call them out of hiding, but no such luck). It did have lots of cool lava rock formations, though, as well as some nice vegetation and views of other islands. After a walk around the island we hopped on a ferry which took us on a tour around a couple other islands. Angie gets wicked motion sick on ferries, so she spent the whole ride trying not to hurl. A few of the islands had these huge caves that the Japanese blasted to hide weapons and equipment in during WWII. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK1h5pr_ruBpSEpT3hWGmUiz1x6E8B_rBWr2UZF0gPOsl4Ja8omr65ErO4A13LR9lZL-5HhpZ2nykWeg_u2wm5lsUslkCD7lePwBJr9s4AvZqetaudnK5HtxyXsDPMHpDIhG_Dc8A6FA/s1600/IMG_3615.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK1h5pr_ruBpSEpT3hWGmUiz1x6E8B_rBWr2UZF0gPOsl4Ja8omr65ErO4A13LR9lZL-5HhpZ2nykWeg_u2wm5lsUslkCD7lePwBJr9s4AvZqetaudnK5HtxyXsDPMHpDIhG_Dc8A6FA/s320/IMG_3615.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460036774279661378" /></a><br />We had a bit of free time so we visited the Jeju International Convention Center, which is not terribly exciting in and of itself, but it was surrounded by huge fields covered in rape flowers (actually rapeseed flowers, but Koreans have no qualms about calling them rape flowers). It was a nice little photo op, and we were all appreciative of the chance to frolic and stretch our legs a bit. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzVczjJz8J98ifh3NrOPspJDtJJ3X6H7Bnhc2ELrOYg4ku8UwCSAM_T8MSBrYnZ_svcpqtKqVShUtcOId_396fR5NkRv1AN84EWYLcnaWKCSglI618P8AY6s3wrqNwzjellJjGuxf_Gg/s1600/25264_694980112179_5811899_39031033_6459089_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzVczjJz8J98ifh3NrOPspJDtJJ3X6H7Bnhc2ELrOYg4ku8UwCSAM_T8MSBrYnZ_svcpqtKqVShUtcOId_396fR5NkRv1AN84EWYLcnaWKCSglI618P8AY6s3wrqNwzjellJjGuxf_Gg/s320/25264_694980112179_5811899_39031033_6459089_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460036980106283154" /></a><br />Next up was the O’Sulloc green tea farm. I never knew exactly how green tea grew, and even now that I’ve seen enough waist high green tea hedges to last me for the rest of my life, I still wouldn’t be able to identify one. It looks exactly like all the other green leafy hedges I’ve ever seen. There could be green tea growing in my neighbor’s yard for all I know. And in leaf form, it tastes just like any other leaf. Just so you know. While I was standing amongst the rows of hedges I felt like I should be filming a Lipton commercial so I made my own little video on my camera.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxvrLWXtkGzrCtMqMzbITlDQJAfbwratSdWi_GF58nPTq23oHrPXmMeae7d3d1mMw13_lajn8gbFschr4I2LA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />I’m pretty sure there is nothing Korean about our next destination, but it was fun nonetheless. We went to Jeju Circus World to take in a Chinese Acrobatic and Motorbike show. Crazy. I’ve never seen so many ridiculously flexible and graceful women. I would most certainly kill myself attempting even the simplest of their stunts, but then again I am one of the world’s clumsiest people. At the age of six my gymnastics instructor told me I should probably pursue another sport. And then, they had SIX small motorcycles in one big steel hamster ball, all going around in intersecting circles. I was so tense it was hard to actually enjoy the performance. It was insane. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2D3U3rfsXtzk8GKe3dQxIn5lblFqYj1-EZE-NgWrhIvEogLu4SoNY966aRZ918tADBuAHa64dod_Xtpkd4tO7_1htXZhm_8pV6442nj-r1EYkowjxRsJYXdWVZjVij9p8valfI4C4aU/s1600/IMG_3687.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2D3U3rfsXtzk8GKe3dQxIn5lblFqYj1-EZE-NgWrhIvEogLu4SoNY966aRZ918tADBuAHa64dod_Xtpkd4tO7_1htXZhm_8pV6442nj-r1EYkowjxRsJYXdWVZjVij9p8valfI4C4aU/s320/IMG_3687.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037234617572514" /></a><br />After the show we had dinner (dried fish that I didn’t eat), and headed to our pension (like a self-service hotel). Unfortunately, it was Korean style sleeping, and this time our “mats” were no more than thinly quilted blankets. The good thing was that I was tired enough to sleep anywhere at that point so I fell asleep quickly. The bad thing was that the ondol (floor heat) was turned WAAAAY up so I woke up sweating bullets in the middle of the night. Bad thing #2 was that I woke up stiff and achey and with a pounding headache due to the fact that I slept on the wooden floor all night. Good thing #2 was that we had cool roommates: three girls who teach in Seoul and are all from the US (Meaghan from MD, Dana from NY, and Natalie from MN). <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHUUkNrfnJeiwLmL5rr3LiDwSubpa_QZeJbKfyscafkfRP1u59y-fGXt2GThSs-J-lz4Ha3iBKbjLRAM_dDqe_369dMPJJ0l52gFIHzM3GSxmTLC3GSVfX5e7SGNfFwQE1_jkp8kNcB4/s1600/23471_522861729516_77500056_31062748_3058346_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHUUkNrfnJeiwLmL5rr3LiDwSubpa_QZeJbKfyscafkfRP1u59y-fGXt2GThSs-J-lz4Ha3iBKbjLRAM_dDqe_369dMPJJ0l52gFIHzM3GSxmTLC3GSVfX5e7SGNfFwQE1_jkp8kNcB4/s320/23471_522861729516_77500056_31062748_3058346_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037428058717778" /></a><br />After breakfast at the pension we headed to Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak), a beautiful volcanic crater with a great view of Jeju. It was a little rainy and quite windy, but we hiked the 20 minutes up the steps carved out of volcanic rock, and it was well worth the effort (despite the strain on my lungs; somehow I managed to relapse into my nasty cold right before the trip). <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwNl-Ti7G8fuedpFFhrzhix-6lahUK-E6Qtw6Kj3eLQAD-3vn1N3bxtKv4y3ZrUrm4vhRKWzZIif-xTkdil1yHreHg0FkVDk4OwPwzsURZGpq7oWrew1xN_3aAd0pKoZc43po_xcz6KI/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwNl-Ti7G8fuedpFFhrzhix-6lahUK-E6Qtw6Kj3eLQAD-3vn1N3bxtKv4y3ZrUrm4vhRKWzZIif-xTkdil1yHreHg0FkVDk4OwPwzsURZGpq7oWrew1xN_3aAd0pKoZc43po_xcz6KI/s320/IMG_3711.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037697956659234" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHp_l6vlVUT-29AAjROoE_zi4ejl34IcQgRId27sNTqcewaMxBYyHorhznrTmAYHA2mIhx6yDpzT__5ykPrBK52pJiDyKwvUHVJA3NDYbAEBglOgketIj3R1mWdFfEgM61w03IO_8d8M/s1600/crater.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHp_l6vlVUT-29AAjROoE_zi4ejl34IcQgRId27sNTqcewaMxBYyHorhznrTmAYHA2mIhx6yDpzT__5ykPrBK52pJiDyKwvUHVJA3NDYbAEBglOgketIj3R1mWdFfEgM61w03IO_8d8M/s320/crater.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037691763698354" /></a><br />Lunch was the famous Jeju black pork BBQ. Sooo delicious. Our table decided to be a little adventurous with our food so we threw a couple side dishes into the wok to add a bit of extra flavor (not that it didn't have enough already). We added a couple dishes of garlic and a couple dishes of kimchi (that made it significantly spicier), and I wasn't sure it was possible, but it was even more delicious afterward. We also had makali with lunch (Korean rice wine). So good! (Here's a pic of lunch and a makali toast with new friends!) <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5F-NTsuKbKUtL0s33Wtn7P1bCo0FJXlwOjyf-vF9cJDoSRYFs2v7pXOa3wfH1Du_vHm9mgAcHTvGNZpuMDOnh8xEbHLKJ9w1iL6lG-thoROnoOekqsg_Rqa2SJHVM5NFrI6zPja9Hng/s1600/23471_522861884206_77500056_31062778_5900269_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5F-NTsuKbKUtL0s33Wtn7P1bCo0FJXlwOjyf-vF9cJDoSRYFs2v7pXOa3wfH1Du_vHm9mgAcHTvGNZpuMDOnh8xEbHLKJ9w1iL6lG-thoROnoOekqsg_Rqa2SJHVM5NFrI6zPja9Hng/s320/23471_522861884206_77500056_31062778_5900269_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460040295130805042" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xsau1mbC47CjKGCztTaMBiYS0VGoLBdp9KbhK2h3A6NHl8uf-9QCZTVeMIPNT51guL7Jt3jkGMvemw0_na5BDUiMtM1Ke9Ghp1gsaj3k5OTGKOuMtKX668mEJpRPVaKDbl4JjAAjZqo/s1600/25264_694980840719_5811899_39031096_2324406_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xsau1mbC47CjKGCztTaMBiYS0VGoLBdp9KbhK2h3A6NHl8uf-9QCZTVeMIPNT51guL7Jt3jkGMvemw0_na5BDUiMtM1Ke9Ghp1gsaj3k5OTGKOuMtKX668mEJpRPVaKDbl4JjAAjZqo/s320/25264_694980840719_5811899_39031096_2324406_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460040288394001234" /></a><br />Fortunately, our next stop was indoors so we were able to wait out the icky weather. We went to a Trick Art Museum, which was a great way to kill an hour on a rainy day. It had lots of the famous works of art with slight alterations to turn them into optical illusions, as well as plenty of other lesser known pieces that were perhaps more fun to interact with. We took loads of pictures, but unfortunately mine are of mediocre quality because my flash is broken so I had to use a camera setting that was not entirely appropriate for my surroundings. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRHB4bNXU7cVer15IlUjpk1iF6831r_lIf4L89YE2ipejACvraunCEEyr7zmTi0yXCl1VSMGtlc7I5Wnro8jHLuolTvV18JDe0-2ohgL3L-wNJd2M922Yr3gJzePmKaQzjKflZwaqwO48/s1600/25264_694981120159_5811899_39031115_2877008_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRHB4bNXU7cVer15IlUjpk1iF6831r_lIf4L89YE2ipejACvraunCEEyr7zmTi0yXCl1VSMGtlc7I5Wnro8jHLuolTvV18JDe0-2ohgL3L-wNJd2M922Yr3gJzePmKaQzjKflZwaqwO48/s320/25264_694981120159_5811899_39031115_2877008_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037989770067186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5ZN07ojatibwb_ozArs3Y-bgN9uyKFP_blqzdLo8CiKjy-JQu7ILrEQYC4tZ-od25YIbFkho8tsPqznqo2PNcn7nJrIKEBwTOV6JFf2Ph8SVG8gx1gSQPoeddIbqdXp98oNxd6CzvLU/s1600/25264_694981185029_5811899_39031120_1194712_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5ZN07ojatibwb_ozArs3Y-bgN9uyKFP_blqzdLo8CiKjy-JQu7ILrEQYC4tZ-od25YIbFkho8tsPqznqo2PNcn7nJrIKEBwTOV6JFf2Ph8SVG8gx1gSQPoeddIbqdXp98oNxd6CzvLU/s320/25264_694981185029_5811899_39031120_1194712_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460037985599608434" /></a><br />After the museum we headed to the Manjunggul Lava Tube, which is the largest in the world (not the longest, though it is 1 km in length). This is probably the coolest thing we saw that weekend…I’ve never seen volcanic anything before, so lava formations were super cool. I saw lava benches, lava stalactites, lava flows, lava toes, lava columns, you name it. It was dark, damp, cold, and uneven…everything a lava tube should be. The acoustics were great in the huge cavernous areas, too. Angie busted out her vocal trumpet and I made up little lava songs…it was a good time. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gT33SqygbHHiCsPo-3MsXvOkXZwWP5oVPuPAZMJl2xemuDgommXqVNz78-GOHcYQeSQWEXx6OhM04qnEW6HwijI6IZ23cBwSFmnZRMB6g2_EGJjgh8_6qqgp-0HcsaKB4EW8DXjTKko/s1600/25264_694981504389_5811899_39031138_2299002_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3gT33SqygbHHiCsPo-3MsXvOkXZwWP5oVPuPAZMJl2xemuDgommXqVNz78-GOHcYQeSQWEXx6OhM04qnEW6HwijI6IZ23cBwSFmnZRMB6g2_EGJjgh8_6qqgp-0HcsaKB4EW8DXjTKko/s320/25264_694981504389_5811899_39031138_2299002_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460038293425627282" /></a><br />The penultimate destination was a hedge maze, which we successfully navigated with the help of our Seoulite friends, and then we treated ourselves to Jeju cactus ice cream as a reward for making it out alive (as if that isn’t enough of a reward). Fortunately, cactus ice cream comes without the little prickly parts ;) (This is Dana and me, about to enter the hedge maze.) <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguE7OvJiolbdJLqr5COeldQUy93Z1wRNVYLYYNm-UAMVZFzO_XcTs6MqCD1HqbL6ZjEhR_wb6IT2vTZKkaRtL6unc3WpwdVTSsetj4tMd3nWVvfbMc-JeJgf9Rkc8yyVCrfHmik8ktBfY/s1600/maze+(2).JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguE7OvJiolbdJLqr5COeldQUy93Z1wRNVYLYYNm-UAMVZFzO_XcTs6MqCD1HqbL6ZjEhR_wb6IT2vTZKkaRtL6unc3WpwdVTSsetj4tMd3nWVvfbMc-JeJgf9Rkc8yyVCrfHmik8ktBfY/s320/maze+(2).JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460038636391968514" /></a><br />Our last stop was Love Land. It is a large indoor/outdoor art gallery full of erotic sculptures, statues, clay figurines, etc. It was hilarious and more than a little bit ironic. Korea is a super conservative country, so for this place to even exist inside Korea’s boundaries is kind of amazing. Second, the reactions of the Korean people were hysterical. Most of the guests were over 60 years old, and there were old women giggling like little girls and old men posing with statues like adolescent boys. Most of the pictures are too lewd, crude, or suggestive to post on a public forum, so I’ll stick to one of the more mild photos. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYnlybSa0tHXF-VdAFJjrtRukRn9wCq4TtdyH83-bLBVL-8WqlSu02g7JE8NiPRCqHEWcppjIRiKndO_zTtkIxmLzXBX_mUovbFxgSjaKzYjzCH8KHfoQhCyjNo7Jioilv9HVtQhl3iE/s1600/IMG_3792.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYnlybSa0tHXF-VdAFJjrtRukRn9wCq4TtdyH83-bLBVL-8WqlSu02g7JE8NiPRCqHEWcppjIRiKndO_zTtkIxmLzXBX_mUovbFxgSjaKzYjzCH8KHfoQhCyjNo7Jioilv9HVtQhl3iE/s320/IMG_3792.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460039043431627266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2ZBal6jbAb9pLd-iv7yS-G8ggyBYS4f2-t6U-XWjvLjnx3W5ms5I1kI5cXhAUJZKf3wCb6yW6_GRl6Y3F0-RwF4dSBH16-EclnJvdgMNKnpCKwaHSSYzq_ly4h1z0bPD4DFJWyJ0ckM/s1600/25264_694982088219_5811899_39031177_2755374_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2ZBal6jbAb9pLd-iv7yS-G8ggyBYS4f2-t6U-XWjvLjnx3W5ms5I1kI5cXhAUJZKf3wCb6yW6_GRl6Y3F0-RwF4dSBH16-EclnJvdgMNKnpCKwaHSSYzq_ly4h1z0bPD4DFJWyJ0ckM/s320/25264_694982088219_5811899_39031177_2755374_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460039030752123298" /></a><br />We did a little bit of souvenir shopping and returned to the Jeju airport for the flight home. Our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes for some reason, but we landed in Seoul around 10pm without incident. Angie and I had to book it to the train station to catch the last train out of Seoul, and unfortunately between the delayed flight and an argument with a cab driver (tried to charge us 40,000 won for a 20,000 won cab ride…we won), we missed the fast train (under 2 hours instead of the 4.5 hours on the slow train). But we did manage to catch the last train out of Seoul so we didn’t have to stay the night. I made it home around 3am, unpacked, and threw myself into bed.<br /><br />I think I’m visiting Angie in Busan this coming weekend so I can say goodbye (this will be my last weekend in Korea). Nine days from now I’ll be on a plane headed back home!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-53627669412178130522010-04-04T21:47:00.009+09:002010-04-04T22:42:09.106+09:00Village People & Woobang LandI guess I'm living a "live for the weekends" type of existence over here. Weekends are when I get to do fun exploratory stuff. Weekdays are for teaching and skyping. Saturday Hee Jung took Ted and me to Andong (a much smaller city located about 1.5 hours outside of Daegu by car). Our destination was the traditional Hahoe Village. People still live in the village and live the village life, and they've open it up to allow others to see how they go about daily life. This was one of my favorite adventures in Korea by far. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwavR3dRXxNZII8cfFuAqMc9M7isJNadCDS62_k1sv8gYdMzIEDU6gS-c2vt1noNU86ggWRx5VEoP0zQJfTriA2SFI1QXWWd0n03UGsljJ0xDAa8ORu_tBAsass51r97KWwI5l2zmKKQ/s1600/IMG_3469.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwavR3dRXxNZII8cfFuAqMc9M7isJNadCDS62_k1sv8gYdMzIEDU6gS-c2vt1noNU86ggWRx5VEoP0zQJfTriA2SFI1QXWWd0n03UGsljJ0xDAa8ORu_tBAsass51r97KWwI5l2zmKKQ/s320/IMG_3469.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456272835714700386" border="0"></a> There were rice paddies galore, we saw the tools they use for husking rice, almost all of the buildings are made of stone with a rice husk roof, and they have this gigantic ancient tree still living in the heart of the village. It's so old that it's considered sacred, and people write wishes on small slips of paper and tie them to the perimeter of the tree (or on small tree branches) for luck. And yes, I made a wish and tied mine amongst the others. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt_-REfelz1vEWfhpvBiJ1zPejStfYFbR4X3s8RBACoD1urH9f2H2Yr_ioGdzNIejUrrVHHHD_YFWec7NfRynMM4Mhy9SugY9BGstWvY2UDLfyXRJ9pVZtmQfaT7CcAgkTjFZDE6NNZs/s1600/IMG_3486.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt_-REfelz1vEWfhpvBiJ1zPejStfYFbR4X3s8RBACoD1urH9f2H2Yr_ioGdzNIejUrrVHHHD_YFWec7NfRynMM4Mhy9SugY9BGstWvY2UDLfyXRJ9pVZtmQfaT7CcAgkTjFZDE6NNZs/s320/IMG_3486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456271171511269106" border="0"></a><br />We also got to see a traditional masked performance with traditional Korean drumming and this funky little horn thing. It was pretty entertaining even though I couldn't understand the dialogue. There was enough acting that I was able to get the gist of the story. The masks that they use are famous all over Korea, but they originated in this small village. The village is located in the little nest created by the river bend, so they've got this beautiful view of the river and the cliffs on the opposite side, and if you turn around they've got a beautiful view of the mountains. They definitely picked a good spot. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxF40kfkugfaZWYLEeKpJ7GHHK-2tICwbBhqap3n1J3mIwglRXDeBSzZW9gnUAg4V8zDnZFBuE9ZQ6XLr4PJFB9tGJlPgY_xsyp6o5rpEAtQ2hd7r0X2tglq3Ny-FOaYpwMh7ylxEVD0/s1600/IMG_3508.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxF40kfkugfaZWYLEeKpJ7GHHK-2tICwbBhqap3n1J3mIwglRXDeBSzZW9gnUAg4V8zDnZFBuE9ZQ6XLr4PJFB9tGJlPgY_xsyp6o5rpEAtQ2hd7r0X2tglq3Ny-FOaYpwMh7ylxEVD0/s320/IMG_3508.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456272465963153794" border="0"></a><br /><br />Sunday Ted accompanied me to Woobang Land so I could jump from the Woobang Tower. It's the tallest tower in Asia at 202 meters, and I jumped from 123 meters up (the 77th floor). Let me say that although that sounds impressive, it wasn't as thrilling as I was hoping it would be. It's not quite bungee jumping; it's more like base jumping on a wire. It was still cool, but I'll have to wait until I'm stateside to do any real bungee jumping. Koreans aren't really into "extreme" sports so that's about as daring as they get. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDP6vS2M2QxS_38KkQg6eaqC6T1oNR9_AmgrTVUej5bGgtq_NQgKlqNdHCmP3SBKW3beMCjYY9jKA-3v5smcc18nhxaoMIWJFe_Cwn33bAklOXrqD6wiaoc-uwyT5Iky3V53lzld2KZ8g/s1600/IMG_3515.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDP6vS2M2QxS_38KkQg6eaqC6T1oNR9_AmgrTVUej5bGgtq_NQgKlqNdHCmP3SBKW3beMCjYY9jKA-3v5smcc18nhxaoMIWJFe_Cwn33bAklOXrqD6wiaoc-uwyT5Iky3V53lzld2KZ8g/s320/IMG_3515.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456274050449179362" border="0"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMgNfd3yec_yCjhKGENvZF8a2pTtD2ykd9R5v7IQUTXYV73NFts-lERkVoPOdtjtBg_lSFqWuraNV7M82NCRxplWdYnAB8P2wg7cnNJ2Gm29ovQBPAX77G2HtQw8hnxgf6WiRHeOiRJI/s1600/jaime+%282%29.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMgNfd3yec_yCjhKGENvZF8a2pTtD2ykd9R5v7IQUTXYV73NFts-lERkVoPOdtjtBg_lSFqWuraNV7M82NCRxplWdYnAB8P2wg7cnNJ2Gm29ovQBPAX77G2HtQw8hnxgf6WiRHeOiRJI/s320/jaime+%282%29.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456274040061386450" border="0"></a> The view from the observation deck of the tower was absolutely astounding. I knew Daegu was big, but I never imagined it was THAT big. The tower gives you a 360 degree view of the city, and it's literally city for as far as you car see. There's a little tiny bit of mountain tops in the distance, but it's city for miles and miles. Incredible. This particular photo includes a view of my neighborhood. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmT4Z6XxmAdwaZBNwF49mvJy35OpSdf9LmvknqL93s9nOqMEQKG2TRvpEqOYxjQEHoDheCEa3tKr9T66tGaThyphenhyphen2m6szyzxYkCyyPJ8ha0rjfbXsJqYazKpRUb-S3kBjXG-MbKogkDw8o/s1600/IMG_3521.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmT4Z6XxmAdwaZBNwF49mvJy35OpSdf9LmvknqL93s9nOqMEQKG2TRvpEqOYxjQEHoDheCEa3tKr9T66tGaThyphenhyphen2m6szyzxYkCyyPJ8ha0rjfbXsJqYazKpRUb-S3kBjXG-MbKogkDw8o/s320/IMG_3521.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456275703497992850" /></a><br />On the way out we went through the amusement park, and we got to see this ridiculous performance. We just so happened to arrive just as they were beginning the Korean pirate rendition of Riverdance. I LOVE Riverdance so of course I recorded a bit of it to share with my Irish kin back home.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzSnOPQGsBclFu_KRT6P15ETNu9MT-HjR3APzJPtlAOw4Z1kTPKKaHVXAHiQMK7HBPbMqOJIbnEbDhoBOHalQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe> <br />Next weekend I'm headed to Jeju Island with Angie, so I'll be sure to take lots of photos and post to the blog as soon as I've recovered from the long exhausting weekend. I even purchased an additional larger SD card for my camera so there's no chance of me running out of room for pictures.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-53752201915447312942010-04-01T22:45:00.004+09:002010-04-01T23:26:36.707+09:00Donghwasa and a Wild Goose ChaseLast weekend was pretty low key. I contracted a lovely case of the common cold, which has allowed me to suffer nearly all of its possible symptoms (sore throat, congestion, headache, runny nose, post-nasal drip, loss of voice, and cough). This one's a champ for sure. I also cut my forehead on the ceiling of the bus...I was stepping up to one of the seats in the back, and at that very moment the bus lurched forward, causing me to bash my head on the ceiling. Other than these instances of slight misfortune, it was a decent weekend. Ted, Hee Jung, and I went to Donghwasa Temple in the Palgonsan Natural Park. It's essentially just a huge temple campus. Pretty neat to see though. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4X16chE2GJN0M7vYo8MhAO9ASvurK87BiKgu1ahq9m6kw_t11isrczaGuGwSAo0u3YZgs3xMT04jJBcPIM_0PlMkxyGZeDdeEGPG49he_bElVGUux0nzOhpMPJPWADAEDOxAH6ReLU0/s1600/IMG_3407.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4X16chE2GJN0M7vYo8MhAO9ASvurK87BiKgu1ahq9m6kw_t11isrczaGuGwSAo0u3YZgs3xMT04jJBcPIM_0PlMkxyGZeDdeEGPG49he_bElVGUux0nzOhpMPJPWADAEDOxAH6ReLU0/s320/IMG_3407.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455174401790578994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUVk3Vs2yvL9wTVGRQ5CwOOFDHY8r7wE76IS7EnPxdRGox5GH0Y8znc_sjgLhJFiXguD8Hf7aoE1adO2flqVCHjHnyDYK4m4560P8Z9WL7rtVw4_C9_iwKziDRT4jFeu5rPqh6hykpXI/s1600/IMG_3432.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTUVk3Vs2yvL9wTVGRQ5CwOOFDHY8r7wE76IS7EnPxdRGox5GH0Y8znc_sjgLhJFiXguD8Hf7aoE1adO2flqVCHjHnyDYK4m4560P8Z9WL7rtVw4_C9_iwKziDRT4jFeu5rPqh6hykpXI/s320/IMG_3432.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455174394777178722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uXbmF0EtoPO-Zydpqsqc95VOFdWDeMYqXQabtgWZ-VTX9-xX5RlFZxww0AkocOGq55F_1clZBHHaFyuqe1ERUOtx1tVV579TRydFSGgb22GPI5nzdBv8IJt7d9Qsn57b25DxMhEJPN0/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uXbmF0EtoPO-Zydpqsqc95VOFdWDeMYqXQabtgWZ-VTX9-xX5RlFZxww0AkocOGq55F_1clZBHHaFyuqe1ERUOtx1tVV579TRydFSGgb22GPI5nzdBv8IJt7d9Qsn57b25DxMhEJPN0/s320/IMG_3422.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455174391979476114" /></a> And we took a cable car ride to one of the mountain peaks. It's pretty scenic, even on a hazy day. We also ate lunch near the mountain. I had duck for the first time. Not bad, actually. <br />Sunday Ted and I went searching for some shrine that Ted found in a Daegu tourist guide book. I didn't really have any sort of invested interest in said shrine; it was more of an excuse to get out of the apartment. Long story short, we couldn't find the darn shrine because it's not very popular, the map sucked, and no one knew where it was. So we went for a walk in the woods instead. Purely by happenstance, we chose to exit the woods a different way than we entered because the trail appeared to head in the direction of the road we needed to get back to. And lo and behold, what should appear before us but the one and only shrine we had given up looking for. It was tiny, run down, unimpressive, locked, and surrounded by a rather impoverished looking little community. Thus, I took no photos. But at least we found it, and Ted was able to check it off his list. The Daegu guidebook has served us well in the past; I was rather surprised they saw fit to include this shrine as one of the tourist attractions worthy of a visit. Oh well. <br />Sunday evening, our Korean friend Jake took us out to his favorite restaurant on the mountain. It was pretty cool...each dining party gets their own private little hut, and when you're ready to order you just pick up the phone in the hut and place your order. Someone from the main house comes and delivers your food to you. It's pretty neat. Ok, that's all for now. I'll write again soon.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-43950374731798989862010-03-25T23:04:00.006+09:002010-03-25T23:34:03.864+09:00No Jaeshi For These Kiddos!A couple weeks ago was White Day in Korea. Apparently this is the day that girls give candy and sweets to boys (sort of the opposite of Valentine's Day). Ted got treats galore, and a few kids even broke with tradition to give me treats. Of course, the boys who gave me candy tried to do it as secretly as possible so their friends wouldn't make fun of them, but they almost always failed to go unnoticed by someone, who then brought it to the attention of the whole class. It almost makes the gesture even more sweet because they know they'll be ridiculed.<br />I wanted to have some visual evidence of my time at MoonKkang, so I brought my camera in and took some photos of my favorite classes. Some kids loved the camera and tried to steal all the limelight, but other kids shied away from the focus and attention (you'll notice a couple of those). Here's Jack (one of my favorite I3's), and Eric, who doesn't want anyone, including himself, to be captured on camera. He kept trying to ruin my pictures of other kids by flailing his arms around, jumping in front of the camera, or covering the kid with his coat. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QY8RCfsN__ERkV95qHptJV58t7ziBeM7cSTQiJ0-bFIzWZkZDav3TsmJL06GveZ_6sskV9wYuYYRHWfUcYH-X6gEhVugzUSIfFatU6vLHKWLPahGZZR7Wq4-BLWlCgcuzpfngJUEpFQ/s1600/IMG_3386.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QY8RCfsN__ERkV95qHptJV58t7ziBeM7cSTQiJ0-bFIzWZkZDav3TsmJL06GveZ_6sskV9wYuYYRHWfUcYH-X6gEhVugzUSIfFatU6vLHKWLPahGZZR7Wq4-BLWlCgcuzpfngJUEpFQ/s320/IMG_3386.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452574684223991810" /></a> Then there is Jordan. This kid is absolutely wonderful. He's really bright and well behaved, and he always erases my whiteboard after every class. Such a sweetheart. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FMsaNYjktTrn4jXlo2KCMxmDASm0ut5vfyM3LnvJRHpUtGjbclkMBr3uj0MrrvlXRcM6ytQ7Ss0zdhiLoYC9SJx-Gluu8F9Ul0w861CuPwLYiDcMCEIPiV0Y2wGIC-2j8Xwcxr6W-RQ/s1600/IMG_3390.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3FMsaNYjktTrn4jXlo2KCMxmDASm0ut5vfyM3LnvJRHpUtGjbclkMBr3uj0MrrvlXRcM6ytQ7Ss0zdhiLoYC9SJx-Gluu8F9Ul0w861CuPwLYiDcMCEIPiV0Y2wGIC-2j8Xwcxr6W-RQ/s320/IMG_3390.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452575037279623330" /></a> I have a group of I4's that are so smart, so full of energy, and just overall a lot of fun. Naturally, they've become one of my favorite classes (even though teachers aren't really supposed to choose favorites). I'm really bummed that my twin boys (you'll see them) are leveling up. It's good for them...they're brilliant and very competitive; they deserve to move up. But they're such great kids that I hate to lose them (they're leveling out of my class). So anyway, here's the group. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OJ4wCIyiwkk6UetbMB56Jd5rf7WiG3fUYTVkR1jY2VGvxdrxOwn6Evs_-rD_G1TBod_NAFTjuarSi-bR7gSfSBMgYPwRAK2GDD4RSOVX05ItFmpn6nCs8mAKjDcKkibtBNgGNwlXpfs/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OJ4wCIyiwkk6UetbMB56Jd5rf7WiG3fUYTVkR1jY2VGvxdrxOwn6Evs_-rD_G1TBod_NAFTjuarSi-bR7gSfSBMgYPwRAK2GDD4RSOVX05ItFmpn6nCs8mAKjDcKkibtBNgGNwlXpfs/s320/IMG_3378.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452576269648188306" /></a> Also, I took a couple pictures of my desk space. The way the system works is a little different than American schools. I don't have a classroom. I teach in six different classrooms every day. The kids come in for two classes, and they stay in the same room. My partner teacher and I take turns teaching our group of kids. Then when the two classes are over, those kids leave and a new rotation of older kids comes in for the next two classes. Then my partner teacher and I take turns teaching them in different rooms. And then we repeat the process one more time during the night. So in between each class we have a break, and the teachers all return to the teacher's office while the kids stay in the class (or leave to go home while new kids come in). That is where my desk is (not in the classroom), so that's why it's facing a window. Anyway, here it is: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-jFNUB9-5E-P2T64PCeuMcvWx0L0hKwQZJvJHPyUbYzDreidNT4_EexTRz-LW4BIsXSPAH0MWtqCE7Zjg82I5ozXA9LPyy63IUwv_KVgrhZhAojr40kENpzejS8P1iCpeuhOE9AA44Q/s1600/IMG_3375.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-jFNUB9-5E-P2T64PCeuMcvWx0L0hKwQZJvJHPyUbYzDreidNT4_EexTRz-LW4BIsXSPAH0MWtqCE7Zjg82I5ozXA9LPyy63IUwv_KVgrhZhAojr40kENpzejS8P1iCpeuhOE9AA44Q/s320/IMG_3375.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452577484976928626" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcM6hmFcWza6BUElA9ioMThPr1Eg-D3ecdWG8c5v-19KjubXNd9XkW7b-s21rKRGhlq03PE0NpKOnNx0cLnJVwdgZkFPza_svWguTQoY6Zx3h79Sr0USmEW9n1TmLdqE6tbUTJolpPvNU/s1600/IMG_3370.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcM6hmFcWza6BUElA9ioMThPr1Eg-D3ecdWG8c5v-19KjubXNd9XkW7b-s21rKRGhlq03PE0NpKOnNx0cLnJVwdgZkFPza_svWguTQoY6Zx3h79Sr0USmEW9n1TmLdqE6tbUTJolpPvNU/s320/IMG_3370.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452577474101838738" /></a><br />That's it for school-related stuff, but I do have a little story I wanted to share. Last weekend it was positively beautiful here. It was at least 70 degrees outside. I dressed lightly before I left my house, but by the time I made it to Home Plus I was sweating enough to warrant removing my long sleeve shirt. I had a tank top on underneath the long sleeve shirt, and it was a modest tank top so I didn't think it would be a big deal. It's considered sleazy to wear anything that shows cleavage in Korea (even though they wear their shorts as short as possible), but my tank top covered me very well so I wasn't concerned. But everywhere I went Koreans were staring at me (more so than usual). Apparently they either thought I was crazy for wearing so little (they were all still wearing winter coats), or they were appalled at my bare arms, or a little of both (I tend to believe this is more the case). Regardless, it was ridiculous how much extra attention my bare arms gained. And the stares weren't nice looks either...they were more like glares. C'est la vie. I wasn't about to sweat to death to pacify a bunch of grumpy old women (they took the most issue with my exposed arms). Anyway, that is all. I'll write again after the weekend.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-48246123049276187682010-03-21T20:13:00.003+09:002010-03-21T20:28:06.522+09:00Bring on the Bull!This weekend was the big bull fighting festival in Cheongdo, (a little city about 30 mins from Daegu). Angie came up to accompany me to the festival, and even though we initially had a little difficulty finding it, we finally made it to the stadium. Fortunately, it was a relatively inexpensive little adventure. The train only cost 5,000 won for a round trip (less than five bucks), entrance to the stadium was 5,000 won, and the bus to get back was only 1,100 won. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the bus station on the way to the stadium (it looked nothing like a normal bus stop), so we had to take a cab, and the driver took advantage of the fact that we were obviously not from the area. He took us the longest way possible and charged us 13,000 won. Jerk.<br />Anyway, the festival itself was pretty cool. It was packed, there were all kinds of vendors and entertainers, and there were as many foreigners there as I've ever seen in Korea (with the exception of the MoonKkang foreign teacher Christmas party, perhaps). They had these two human statues outside the stadium, and they were quite convincing. One of them was a bit playful though, and he'd move unexpectedly to freak out people who posed for pictures next to them. Of course, I was no exception. Angie and I stood between them while a Korean took our picture, and the playful statue decided to pull my hair. Cute. And here's a picture of the inside of the stadium, as well. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbo9LrjEcueyxDGmD1hpVlj-pwAHQ3PFmyh5FaqjZoNItIKnTsjRF_5nIK9-xS3-hdiGFAmaFwOGEMeQ-P9aZFj5Wg1aSAO068sluEsvRHD69lrUbahL6mdDQ6rZRamN_WYHDCck7tbw/s1600-h/IMG_3343.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbo9LrjEcueyxDGmD1hpVlj-pwAHQ3PFmyh5FaqjZoNItIKnTsjRF_5nIK9-xS3-hdiGFAmaFwOGEMeQ-P9aZFj5Wg1aSAO068sluEsvRHD69lrUbahL6mdDQ6rZRamN_WYHDCck7tbw/s320/IMG_3343.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451046447007254226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wenXiCcRKTNZJJ4mBcrVR0TZkRvfMMPM1m-N6tpg3EG6mkww12_4l0mwjlKU5g9alK395H3q1pJEUSyc3Vg3FRmikbKvKjvhP9hE6HIq52r9ncIWAJlmzAoPvMRDpmB4Eu26sh1xzF8/s1600-h/IMG_3341.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wenXiCcRKTNZJJ4mBcrVR0TZkRvfMMPM1m-N6tpg3EG6mkww12_4l0mwjlKU5g9alK395H3q1pJEUSyc3Vg3FRmikbKvKjvhP9hE6HIq52r9ncIWAJlmzAoPvMRDpmB4Eu26sh1xzF8/s320/IMG_3341.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451046432005648770" /></a> Watching bull fighting is a bit like watching baseball. You go, chat with the people next to you, vendors walk around trying to sell you beer and snacks, and there's something in the middle to entertain you while you socialize. I found it to be much more interesting to watch if I chose a bull to root for before the fight began. I was almost always wrong, but it made in interesting anyway. Here's a little snippet of what I saw while I was there: <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxeGtLu7aD3dm4MGzBFDiVsTGx4niXREQ2d8M4ZmA5X2CmSpSQSSZqfLMjYP3ymV1Bdw4gZM-3zGg7SZDOp3A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-78405482674315188352010-03-14T20:58:00.010+09:002010-03-14T21:31:56.917+09:00Art, Religion, and SakeSo first of all, I wanted to add a couple pictures from last week's visit to the Busan Museum of Modern Art. And my haircut. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qQJzdvs76zFSy61jEgHXz5UyCJ0Z77dTyCYUV0KqvQiTggVEiRXRhdLBI5d5IlxXvdCeg_5UVOUK5-HA52I8YNIfF06uhhNBt6jjUDuam9q91doVTiLvu9X_jh0qbFGCWIu0xOS3jRA/s1600-h/IMG_3258.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qQJzdvs76zFSy61jEgHXz5UyCJ0Z77dTyCYUV0KqvQiTggVEiRXRhdLBI5d5IlxXvdCeg_5UVOUK5-HA52I8YNIfF06uhhNBt6jjUDuam9q91doVTiLvu9X_jh0qbFGCWIu0xOS3jRA/s320/IMG_3258.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448458812514649922" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJLIMsnbj0-jSaOZY4segTidv1KifyE0WU1A8aBS4JJwyWl4-rOaUYEpzb_KhmauyKLnGPkfOgTwtz8YmUD3SLeTUvNDqR9ic4S01s_u6Ipqpp0FATLkuAiJlga3K9avx505OVYz2auY/s1600-h/26167_684946344929_5811899_38716195_2352168_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJLIMsnbj0-jSaOZY4segTidv1KifyE0WU1A8aBS4JJwyWl4-rOaUYEpzb_KhmauyKLnGPkfOgTwtz8YmUD3SLeTUvNDqR9ic4S01s_u6Ipqpp0FATLkuAiJlga3K9avx505OVYz2auY/s320/26167_684946344929_5811899_38716195_2352168_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448458808136431042" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5WjN74N3BSwJG2Zyx4MjPSjy47CMyH5q-zkto19tyEtM9RSOoAHJkBPOelYGQWpIOtJGyKLMJXhf-Gg-d8HlrFvQBS9-OXnRVT_s9TkbrVTnd7S2VKrb2PGBJTeWHj8d6FF0pGhPZrKg/s1600-h/26167_684945925769_5811899_38716179_6115679_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5WjN74N3BSwJG2Zyx4MjPSjy47CMyH5q-zkto19tyEtM9RSOoAHJkBPOelYGQWpIOtJGyKLMJXhf-Gg-d8HlrFvQBS9-OXnRVT_s9TkbrVTnd7S2VKrb2PGBJTeWHj8d6FF0pGhPZrKg/s320/26167_684945925769_5811899_38716179_6115679_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448458803776049218" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJpBh6M0ONYAMtElXR3mgmqPg6INx_OWhM7Q23LipYZbF32kx1SktFwfn5FpSixaXxFZPyA6V643U0GO1KM8Ln4Yd_qfJRTx0QnkeHmZESog3Z7QYJoc0XAulyMRD8DRYXwW6tGAj71o/s1600-h/26167_684945915789_5811899_38716178_2537593_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJpBh6M0ONYAMtElXR3mgmqPg6INx_OWhM7Q23LipYZbF32kx1SktFwfn5FpSixaXxFZPyA6V643U0GO1KM8Ln4Yd_qfJRTx0QnkeHmZESog3Z7QYJoc0XAulyMRD8DRYXwW6tGAj71o/s320/26167_684945915789_5811899_38716178_2537593_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448458797711510722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvd49go7I5QvjvneHXlPvaLkW9LNj6G0Ra5EI5nM_6nWzkE3lPHGu05x_s8JI2iJ4GrNNTC8yS8u1zJtRu6ejaphFaoJ0KIAKqqzr9pbe6IEmounHfC0IEmhqMKvixSvNyNuAuS4591k/s1600-h/26167_684945182259_5811899_38716149_6057893_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvd49go7I5QvjvneHXlPvaLkW9LNj6G0Ra5EI5nM_6nWzkE3lPHGu05x_s8JI2iJ4GrNNTC8yS8u1zJtRu6ejaphFaoJ0KIAKqqzr9pbe6IEmounHfC0IEmhqMKvixSvNyNuAuS4591k/s320/26167_684945182259_5811899_38716149_6057893_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448458787592890434" /></a><br />There, now for this weekend. Ted and I visited a number of sites of religious significance around the city. I don't think we planned to make it a religion themed adventure day, but it just so happened that all the things we were interested in seeing were connected somehow to various types of spirituality. Our first stop was a park in downtown Daegu. It had a temple, a number of stone shrine pillar type things, and lots of trees. I took a zillion pictures that I'm rather fond of, but here are just a few: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyT7rBR4IxFakSozIG6pAk2RZhO7NYFu3Jyj3lA9TOLju4kzYywGy_fim3e-nZUDDJQ06-ImDnL7vSqnSTVnDBvee1-J6y0bRnIKNGPQy276CygBzNXFvjdEksVh8hF9iVjJsBGmnkjuc/s1600-h/IMG_3269.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyT7rBR4IxFakSozIG6pAk2RZhO7NYFu3Jyj3lA9TOLju4kzYywGy_fim3e-nZUDDJQ06-ImDnL7vSqnSTVnDBvee1-J6y0bRnIKNGPQy276CygBzNXFvjdEksVh8hF9iVjJsBGmnkjuc/s320/IMG_3269.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448460427895242802" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJDdw_RZZ9aTG8q3-4PZdNd5i3meMjBf9n_SdXZwctsxcATShnzZLqfTGmROpbcRtK7QAyQySRGF2mcLv_-uv7wchfdfUPKInBJqisdlR3m6wjG8iV4wieOeDvNPHyEr_adDsx-e21Qk/s1600-h/IMG_3279.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRJDdw_RZZ9aTG8q3-4PZdNd5i3meMjBf9n_SdXZwctsxcATShnzZLqfTGmROpbcRtK7QAyQySRGF2mcLv_-uv7wchfdfUPKInBJqisdlR3m6wjG8iV4wieOeDvNPHyEr_adDsx-e21Qk/s320/IMG_3279.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448460398525543298" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGv1IHcP2ZyaxiYpbpAgLF6jHEivh0XkQxfKnuHATs-0fzmGMLujLJmoi5CmS5SiQjb4TCxjukxM-qLuKrjawQCjObd9Gpdmb5weq-KzieEKvhLrPfMzPSRbSPP5B24ngp_XcguTTFJ8/s1600-h/IMG_3266.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGv1IHcP2ZyaxiYpbpAgLF6jHEivh0XkQxfKnuHATs-0fzmGMLujLJmoi5CmS5SiQjb4TCxjukxM-qLuKrjawQCjObd9Gpdmb5weq-KzieEKvhLrPfMzPSRbSPP5B24ngp_XcguTTFJ8/s320/IMG_3266.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448460391661336866" /></a><br />We also saw a guy walking around the park in his white hospital gown, IV in tow. I really wanted to take a picture, but I couldn't manage to get one without being blatantly obvious and rude. Ted got a picture, but he hasn't sent it to me yet, and I'm too impatient to wait for it, so I'll post it later.<br />Anyway, our next stop was the Catholic Martyr's Shrine. Apparently, Korea only has one Catholic saint, and this shrine was dedicated to him. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBT4rL5_MOc5h1lbJmj0WaKAzin6O-r7aX4zdDwE5zG5HyZnp74hbTKeq7IpPMZXkt-Xb8y6bPXzBSDMgfy2ysHaYMYrNRHVFUtgTUqRiYoItE5NPSpBXl8fiyBISrow3s6i1ehyphenhyphenXRyc/s1600-h/IMG_3288.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBT4rL5_MOc5h1lbJmj0WaKAzin6O-r7aX4zdDwE5zG5HyZnp74hbTKeq7IpPMZXkt-Xb8y6bPXzBSDMgfy2ysHaYMYrNRHVFUtgTUqRiYoItE5NPSpBXl8fiyBISrow3s6i1ehyphenhyphenXRyc/s320/IMG_3288.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448461691408314514" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqGo7XARI-6FXqETey1-S8QV2FCjiXvlLcl4r7r9Z43afTPXqyZq-76l-_TOtTRzeNxApuo_Eu9F-dAyuUaARJo2t4UPmHo9mqqBuD7mR-BLDz9XwItMMOSvidjl2Y18p0_zSl0yzP5k/s1600-h/IMG_3287.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqGo7XARI-6FXqETey1-S8QV2FCjiXvlLcl4r7r9Z43afTPXqyZq-76l-_TOtTRzeNxApuo_Eu9F-dAyuUaARJo2t4UPmHo9mqqBuD7mR-BLDz9XwItMMOSvidjl2Y18p0_zSl0yzP5k/s320/IMG_3287.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448461677759067554" /></a> This is a little display inside the shrine museum that shows the type of torture the Korean saint endured. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGWf64flTzZskFJnTLFoMpMHbsA0oILpdrd1fxXuY_OZ0UD__Uor8-Pnn0Slm7aH7SPGrTX8CbSmrNe4hwCw8gO8jSpxoGKHTQ9hecPahWe0vGMnKbWgnoA2Noa4QPFRdIA-ERGXJm9s/s1600-h/IMG_3293.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGWf64flTzZskFJnTLFoMpMHbsA0oILpdrd1fxXuY_OZ0UD__Uor8-Pnn0Slm7aH7SPGrTX8CbSmrNe4hwCw8gO8jSpxoGKHTQ9hecPahWe0vGMnKbWgnoA2Noa4QPFRdIA-ERGXJm9s/s320/IMG_3293.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448462110009080162" /></a> And these are pictures from the top of the shrine: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGd_xYVlVeX0zUE_4zT5agvwiv9H_DtXxyB4YkqRx7iWQZk_jsIaYcpXFbmkDOe8CGDZx_dOXu8nkVI6uYX1XmhH20EklfVoq32nHNO1Gg6WBRo4zTr8vN18_txqlrPjrUyPJNqhMews/s1600-h/IMG_3304.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGd_xYVlVeX0zUE_4zT5agvwiv9H_DtXxyB4YkqRx7iWQZk_jsIaYcpXFbmkDOe8CGDZx_dOXu8nkVI6uYX1XmhH20EklfVoq32nHNO1Gg6WBRo4zTr8vN18_txqlrPjrUyPJNqhMews/s320/IMG_3304.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448462616397466866" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fZ_Cxq82wOmCdl_weNw3JRq2Ekqs-Ttk2JYgFfzDMDGXKbl18BRSLTZP8gcYSgRiBOrCp5p0JV2KQ-wTm6F7pc0ib8b8BjqoaaGHHdC0Zf10GQZA7gOvLVetEKK_1MKvUg4bxvGW1F4/s1600-h/IMG_3303.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fZ_Cxq82wOmCdl_weNw3JRq2Ekqs-Ttk2JYgFfzDMDGXKbl18BRSLTZP8gcYSgRiBOrCp5p0JV2KQ-wTm6F7pc0ib8b8BjqoaaGHHdC0Zf10GQZA7gOvLVetEKK_1MKvUg4bxvGW1F4/s320/IMG_3303.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448462605456190306" /></a><br />Our next visit was to a Confucian Academy. They still hold lectures in the lecture hall, and it is often used as a venue for various ceremonies and weddings. It's a place where people can come to learn about/appreciate/worship Confucius and the other sages for their great wisdom. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyXsDAspncPAoSBR3kpVXAKq-5Qq2b-L1iJqBEYhZygfLADlmc5d3al2uuYZJExZD4x5wKe2N73ekJkaneMdftSyR54DurH2PMSXkQjToN2k1aqCUSuummmsUd65rsokhIBkxGdu6g_Q/s1600-h/IMG_3320.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyXsDAspncPAoSBR3kpVXAKq-5Qq2b-L1iJqBEYhZygfLADlmc5d3al2uuYZJExZD4x5wKe2N73ekJkaneMdftSyR54DurH2PMSXkQjToN2k1aqCUSuummmsUd65rsokhIBkxGdu6g_Q/s320/IMG_3320.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448463619979441890" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdwi5mNw6qF1O4YPDpF0grmd1VTOv-BkfqngOzWVU6S4jaihGmEs_xuI8Cy416wHO8Uvqd9lzw18HxGXf_RvLXb4KW1y2EyH1o1U6wf2qEgcJt9zYKC8bdBm-KJST-BNPWPAQ42bvedA/s1600-h/IMG_3319.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEdwi5mNw6qF1O4YPDpF0grmd1VTOv-BkfqngOzWVU6S4jaihGmEs_xuI8Cy416wHO8Uvqd9lzw18HxGXf_RvLXb4KW1y2EyH1o1U6wf2qEgcJt9zYKC8bdBm-KJST-BNPWPAQ42bvedA/s320/IMG_3319.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448463610387198674" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUyIiLlEDVMZ2Zcx2as8KsDNBU4uM0_jlFXCPs979CuhE3yp0mtBxcc0Qj_CLCoZXrEqEdZ-Eekv6Hk1LhZ6pIrrfFfw45-zxNdb_5Ayav1esA055wY-1gzBbAl9GesavgrTWYvRlQwc/s1600-h/IMG_3313.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUyIiLlEDVMZ2Zcx2as8KsDNBU4uM0_jlFXCPs979CuhE3yp0mtBxcc0Qj_CLCoZXrEqEdZ-Eekv6Hk1LhZ6pIrrfFfw45-zxNdb_5Ayav1esA055wY-1gzBbAl9GesavgrTWYvRlQwc/s320/IMG_3313.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448463597093072898" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOPk3502paLEmg1Fx6lP96w1K5OAwwn5iavfmclpndOqbEUWtFUMDzmLq1LIo8XhArnyj636GDecD2kkBWhNO2z35hKjdbJPJoxGsjP_jv0iE8jfg04v5QzuTaEYsB5sQNxJ0WM6gKgk/s1600-h/IMG_3309.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOPk3502paLEmg1Fx6lP96w1K5OAwwn5iavfmclpndOqbEUWtFUMDzmLq1LIo8XhArnyj636GDecD2kkBWhNO2z35hKjdbJPJoxGsjP_jv0iE8jfg04v5QzuTaEYsB5sQNxJ0WM6gKgk/s320/IMG_3309.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448463585864720866" /></a><br />The last stop was Satgat-bawi (bawi means rock). This rock used to be a very popular place for people to come to pray for luck, health, happiness, etc. Also, barren women used to come to the rock to pray for fertility. I'm not sure how the rock grants that particular wish, but perhaps that's the reason people don't go there much anymore. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j-hTrzQ8Fl-EJUdgiNeKYYQ0C2E7Q8EnysY-_ZXb5UeXg8Hnf0pcTh3JZrqNNvrlehUnv4g1zL2f4jBfw2mICAOKF_5MNYiq_k3DiM4qNrLXmhha6afxi6UdBTK1fcq54WPixO6-POg/s1600-h/IMG_3325.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_j-hTrzQ8Fl-EJUdgiNeKYYQ0C2E7Q8EnysY-_ZXb5UeXg8Hnf0pcTh3JZrqNNvrlehUnv4g1zL2f4jBfw2mICAOKF_5MNYiq_k3DiM4qNrLXmhha6afxi6UdBTK1fcq54WPixO6-POg/s320/IMG_3325.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448464652554394546" /></a><br />We hit up The Holy Grill for dinner again (ooh, the Mac & Cheese), and we met up with a new Korean friend named Jake. Jake invited a couple of his Korean friends, Erica and Ta Hee, so now I have three new Korean friends. They took Ted and me out for sake at a Japanese style restaurant. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_iaNj_h_wAdngc4bfhWL2bPRNNkb5fBbrXSrXKRTC3Yq8ULA6HpDDfuTbq3_37EdcmjvGIlzxAezt_s-CU_oScM3hEURxDfb1p1YrQYYst06OpfmZ1hfbai8ZYBnjCs8Dx2yzndoQic/s1600-h/IMG_3328.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_iaNj_h_wAdngc4bfhWL2bPRNNkb5fBbrXSrXKRTC3Yq8ULA6HpDDfuTbq3_37EdcmjvGIlzxAezt_s-CU_oScM3hEURxDfb1p1YrQYYst06OpfmZ1hfbai8ZYBnjCs8Dx2yzndoQic/s320/IMG_3328.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448465287056906114" /></a><br />We're planning a trip with them to Cheongdo in the near future to watch bullfighting, and as it turns out Erica is a bit of a thrill-seeker as well so she's going to help me look into bungee jumping and paragliding. It figures that I'd start making friends AFTER I decided to leave, but at least I'll have some people to keep me company during my last few weeks. 40 days left!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-25814437319470876102010-03-12T01:30:00.002+09:002010-03-12T01:54:20.847+09:00Home Sweet HomeSo I haven't written in a couple weeks, and I promise there is a reason. Reason #1 is this: Two weekends ago I was supposed to go to Busan to visit Angie, but I was still recovering from my disgusting bout of food poisoning, and I had allowed myself to sink into a black hole of homesickness and misery. I literally spent the entire weekend in my bed crying. It's pathetic, I know. It's not that there aren't some great things about Korea. Korea really is a lovely place, and I'm glad I made the trip. However, I think my mom said it best when she commented, "You've got the wanderlust, but you're just not meant to live there." It's true. Mostly I'm just really lonely. My coworkers are all "keep to yourself" kind of people, and the only friends I've got live in Busan. I spend every night on Skype because it's the only connection I've got to home, and I sleep until it's time to go to work because it's easier than dealing with being alone all the time. I enjoy a little bit of alone time...I think it's healthy. But to be alone all the time is depressing. If I've learned anything from this experience it's that I love to travel but I'm not meant to be away from home, family, and friends for an extended period of time. I think I'll stick to traveling on short vacations from here on out. So yes, I'm cutting out and heading home early. I gave it a shot, I learned some things about myself, and now I'm ready to come home. Home is where your heart is, and my heart is back in Maine, so that's where I need to be. Since I made the decision to come home I can't tell you how much better I feel. It's such a huge relief to know that I'll be back at home in 43 days (but who's counting...)! So April 23rd is my last day of work, and I fly out of Daegu on April 24th. I'll be home in time for dinner, too (through the miracle of traveling backwards in time)!<br />Reason #2 is that I went to Busan last weekend to visit Angie. It was cold/rainy/windy/crappy here this past weekend so we didn't do a ton of wandering. We hit up the Busan Museum of Art (which is free on Saturdays, not like it would have made a huge difference to pay the 700 won entry fee...the monetary equivalence in USD is about 70 cents...America seems to be the only place in the world that charges an arm and a leg to view art). There were a lot of really neat exhibits, some of which were noticeably Asian, thematically and artistically speaking. We also went out bar hopping for a friend's birthday, and on Sunday we spent several hours at a really posh salon where they make you fancy coffee drinks and serve you waffles with chocolate and whipped cream (both are complementary, even if you're not paying for a service). Angie and Shannon got their hair dyed, and I had mine cut.<br />So, you're all up to speed. I'll try to keep posting regularly as we have a few adventures planned before I head out, but I can't wait to see you all again soon!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-16590802698890025942010-02-22T01:13:00.002+09:002010-02-22T01:47:09.961+09:00Thanks KoreaI've been trying to post something once a week or so, usually after my weekend activities so that there is something interesting for you all to read. However, this weekend I am less than impressed with this country so my post will be short. I went to Seomun Market yesterday with Ted; the market itself is rather impressive. It was huge, ridiculously crowded, and full of all kinds of people selling their wares. Unfortunately, we stumbled across the part of the market where they sell animals for eating. There were all kinds of dead pheasants, 4 or 5 large roosters in one small cage, huge rabbits (bigger than a cat), and several cages full of puppies and kittens. It kind of made me want to puke. We left the market after that, and we walked over to Dalseong Park where they have a zoo. I like zoos, but this one just made me want to cry. All of the animals looked mangy and skinny, and none of them had enough room to run around. The bear was the worst though...I've never seen a more unhappy looking bear. This is where the weekend gets really eventful: we left the park and walked home, I took a nap, and then we reconvened a couple hours later to get dinner. The Italian place we wanted to go to was closed so we went to the Italian place next door instead. I got pasta, Ted got pizza with potatoes on it, and within an hour after eating I felt terrible. I had a wicked fever, complete with chills and body aches, a massive throbbing headache, and I'll spare you the more disgusting details. I got absolutely no sleep, and I spent all of today in bed. I got up around 8pm to make myself some chicken noodle soup and to move over to my armchair so that I could get out of bed for a couple hours. I had Ted make a trip to the market down the street to get me some Coke to settle my stomach and some Gatorade to rehydrate. Apparently he felt kind of sick last night too, but he didn't have it nearly as bad as I do. So yeah, my weekend kind of sucked. I managed to make it through 22 years of my life without food poisoning, but Korea has successfully contaminated me within just two months. Well done.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-55577973612121018732010-02-15T20:16:00.008+09:002010-02-15T21:21:58.080+09:00Ski the EastThis weekend was a long one for us in Korea; we had Monday off to celebrate Lunar New Year. New Year's Day was technically on Sunday, but since it's a big holiday here we got the extra day off. Angie and I took advantage of the extra day to take a ski trip up north. We went about 4 hours directly north of Daegu, but east of Seoul. The mountain was called High1. We signed up through a trip organizer, so all we had to do was give our information, transfer money into his bank account, and all the plans were made for us. We got a bus trip there and back, 2 days of skiing and equipment rentals, dinner, one night in a hotel, and a snow suit rental for about 200,000 won (about $200). Not too shabby.<br /><br />We couldn't have asked for a better weekend. The weather was beautiful, conditions were perfect, the mountain was good size with plenty of challenging terrain, and it was rather sparsely populated because of the holiday. The view from the top was phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it back home. I tried to capture it on video for the folks at home, but honestly, the camera doesn't even do it justice. <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzjiZic-8x9UFWstc0C66xySLqtaRbtC3-kzixhhy57MbVJvKFeJCdsUbEABUbYNI7DLIw8wK0Z9A53rA6VzA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />For whatever reason, they seem to think that everyone wants to listen to Korean pop and ballad music while they ski, so they blast it all over the mountain from speakers on the side of the trail. I found myself dancing while Angie adjusted her bindings, and when she looked up she burst out laughing and announced that we had to record it. So here it is. Make sure you go pee before you watch it though...neither one of us can watch it without laughing, and we've seen it about 30 times now. <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxEPpc0CNZjhoiA7M4pxpsCB3DsJpnreBv9M66BRSACPisCpTAvqDiH4LP41gwUAbgDNdeT7yyhfb2zXiu-Xg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />There were a couple differences between the way things are done at ski resorts back home and the way they're done here. When they pack up their skis to go home, instead of just brushing the snow off, they blow it off with a high pressure air gun. They're quite meticulous. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5kar6LEwt454Nxx-O3hI4_4EVc_YScFWbtA3TNkwuGZMPEIr6Z_GTMmRWvchLGtEZAYt5sCtaqby0ZdDQH4jYj8MjXjYxGT8URJKPN1TGciNttLlNMsQx8x0by8WBtT6NfBeA9oBvt0/s1600-h/IMG_0963.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5kar6LEwt454Nxx-O3hI4_4EVc_YScFWbtA3TNkwuGZMPEIr6Z_GTMmRWvchLGtEZAYt5sCtaqby0ZdDQH4jYj8MjXjYxGT8URJKPN1TGciNttLlNMsQx8x0by8WBtT6NfBeA9oBvt0/s320/IMG_0963.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438441848494849698" /></a> When you get on the lift at home you just ski right up to it; here, they open a little gate which slides you onto a conveyor belt that delivers you to the lift. I felt like a package at UPS. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganfElfwn1zgBhherjm2_U3uU8GyXBYcm1CXBbb_CaYtwkoDlyVyntZuP8_hKiPp0iycdSJV7546OpDhDqgQGMhrnh1lebOum4Bbrjq2xwOna5yi1-gLaj8Bi42TKRld29I8adEPByCVs/s1600-h/IMG_0964.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganfElfwn1zgBhherjm2_U3uU8GyXBYcm1CXBbb_CaYtwkoDlyVyntZuP8_hKiPp0iycdSJV7546OpDhDqgQGMhrnh1lebOum4Bbrjq2xwOna5yi1-gLaj8Bi42TKRld29I8adEPByCVs/s320/IMG_0964.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438442318790357810" /></a> We also got to ride on a gondola (they don't have any left in Maine...Sugarloaf used to have them, but they got rid of them years ago). Here's a picture of one in case you've never seen one. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIz2JUG4RZPXjUxrJpFSSQn9No0ndhcLt7MA6q7Ag2E5wMqkStUmoEtMs6W7Uedxhcnd8sYtb_s1IWdMr2b-7I-pR7gnNPV5XWTpSobn2AbP1MmHOZFCq2VLSsfsNqG8IcCyTZ-Ohmvc/s1600-h/IMG_0975.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIz2JUG4RZPXjUxrJpFSSQn9No0ndhcLt7MA6q7Ag2E5wMqkStUmoEtMs6W7Uedxhcnd8sYtb_s1IWdMr2b-7I-pR7gnNPV5XWTpSobn2AbP1MmHOZFCq2VLSsfsNqG8IcCyTZ-Ohmvc/s320/IMG_0975.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438442938580214818" /></a> We took a ride down the mountain on a little monorail cart, too. It was a little scary at times because I thought it might tip over, but thankfully it safely delivered me to the bottom. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59pGJ93d1vzYFLexQzVWO7nnyx7QnnWB-8CE9EIDkn7gVBu4n5PyJYmyzn5TtGPUO2Hanxd2fKgK40hYW8NaeK6AlOc1dOFTXpiN2z67llirMnQmsqy40M0OXhOklQzJao9RZamPJYsQ/s1600-h/IMG_3228.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59pGJ93d1vzYFLexQzVWO7nnyx7QnnWB-8CE9EIDkn7gVBu4n5PyJYmyzn5TtGPUO2Hanxd2fKgK40hYW8NaeK6AlOc1dOFTXpiN2z67llirMnQmsqy40M0OXhOklQzJao9RZamPJYsQ/s320/IMG_3228.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438443593304939826" /></a> Last, here's a peek at a Korean-style hotel room. Yes, I slept on a thin mat on the floor, and my pillow was essentially a little bag of rice. Not the most comfortable night of sleep I've ever had, but I folded my mat in half and that made it a little more tolerable. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzBbiYcNi067bUQDaKZQnjtxWCOUMniVwyf6xvhnBcp67RPEmCxXsn5s2GHHpQO6WRslDafMMkqu98z4jP4eSrVAXLW5x2oypLzdGq0OIXpxavUvLgr3UNUYLHV-AezZHM6V_FkeXJ6E/s1600-h/IMG_3216.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzBbiYcNi067bUQDaKZQnjtxWCOUMniVwyf6xvhnBcp67RPEmCxXsn5s2GHHpQO6WRslDafMMkqu98z4jP4eSrVAXLW5x2oypLzdGq0OIXpxavUvLgr3UNUYLHV-AezZHM6V_FkeXJ6E/s320/IMG_3216.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438444248757240034" /></a>Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-70008087914634459552010-02-09T01:03:00.003+09:002010-02-09T01:33:49.311+09:00One Day in Shi-Nae (Downtown)I was resolved to spend another weekend alone, but then Angie decided to come to Daegu on a whim. She arrived Saturday morning, and we spent the day wandering around downtown Daegu with my coworker, Ted. We hit up the jewelry market where there are precious stones embedded in the street. We drifted through the army surplus section where a Korean man approached Angie and I to say "Hello. Shop here." We indulged him by browsing his wares for a brief moment before Ted came back and rescued us from the obligatory perusal. Probably the most interesting of the themed market areas was the foreign goods market. It was full of American wonders like Skippy peanut butter, Spaghetti-O's, Downy fabric softener, and Lancome mascara. I was in need of mascara so I inquired about the price. For a mere 24,000 won (about $24 USD) I could be the proud owner of a new tube of mascara. And if I wanted a lesser brand of mascara I could pay just 18,000 won. I think I'll wait until I go to E-Mart again so I can pay something more like 7,000 won. I did buy a beautiful traditional Korean-style dress, though. I will admit I paid too much for it, but I fell in love with it when I tried it on. I know it'll be a hit at home...no one else will have one like it, that's for sure. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4oOL0wqPHThTDyNku6LL7CSxw-oXAROQrrFUN84KVkT241UnFWhUbvvau2cEVbkGiVX-e4T7OpPreNnwOwK4ct_cMTVPdvPfmxcU9A0aYm34QwzeGYlXVc4_lcSDFhXz0WVJltNo7hs/s1600-h/IMG_3208.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 227px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR4oOL0wqPHThTDyNku6LL7CSxw-oXAROQrrFUN84KVkT241UnFWhUbvvau2cEVbkGiVX-e4T7OpPreNnwOwK4ct_cMTVPdvPfmxcU9A0aYm34QwzeGYlXVc4_lcSDFhXz0WVJltNo7hs/s320/IMG_3208.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435907036703627762" /></a><br />We also found the music market and putzed around there for a bit. Ted was looking for a keyboard so he could annoy me at odd hours of the day through the thin walls of our adjoining apartments. How sweet of him.<br /><br />For dinner we visited The Holy Grill, where we shared a plate of Four Skins (get your mind out of the gutter, it's potato skins with cheese and bacon), and I had the cheesiest, most delicious plate of Mac and Cheese ever to grace God's green earth. Nothing tastes like home like a plate of Mac and Cheese. <br /><br />We also found a guy selling bootlegged copies of DVDs that are still in theatres. I got New Moon, Avatar, and Angie got 500 Days of Summer. They were going to $5 a piece, but I got the guy to sell all three to us for $10. Thank you to my Bourret lineage for teaching me how to cut a deal. <br /><br />Ang and I came back to the apartment to watch our new copy of New Moon, and then we headed back downtown to experience the Daegu nightlife. We went to Club Frog, and even though we had no ID we were able to get in (my employer currently has my alien card, but it's common knowledge that I couldn't be in the country alone unless I was 18 so it wasn't really an issue). That was actually the first time that anyone has even asked for my ID since I've been here. Anyway, we got a drink and headed into the crowd of people. It's a big floor with a couple of balcony levels, but people were packed in like sardines. It was interesting to see because it's way different than clubs back home. Everyone faces forward to watch the dj, and people just sort of nod their heads and dance in place. The Korean girls are really good at rejecting guys. If a guy tries to dance with a girl, she turns around to check him out. If he meets her approval, she allows him to dance with her. If not, she simply says "anneyo" (no), and he moves on to find another girl. Also, the ladies room was full of girls smoking cigarettes. It's taboo for Korean women to smoke in public (it's synonymous with being easy), so they all smoke in the bathroom where no one can see them. It's definitely a different sort of atmosphere than at home, but it was kind of nice to know all the words to the songs, despite the fact that I'm in a country on the other side of the world where very few people speak my language. So yeah, I spent several hours shouting over the music and the throngs of Koreans so Angie could hear me when I spoke to her, and this is the result. My throat still hurts :( <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy0XFmmiFFvWpaIxzF4yQnOKLRXFIyFbSepPLClT_xXhtjqHW7_VVaBP_FKYdONPws2s1E1x3GM7La33vH0Sg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Oh, and this is from last weekend at Angie's. Pyxis was trying to sneak a bit of my sangria. No such luck though. Much too good for bunnies. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6XEqLCTLI9oxf_ia1uMtfpbmdjq6eIgWBrYWLGUSgrZDl4_JcUS5CO0af7SkU9CYElUiPFfOoCsXcfP0wrrt7_s0K5OO9I7d6odyrqNnhJX_wLSJqGODVlphEZGyZErT2C8T_079pSA/s1600-h/IMG_0916.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6XEqLCTLI9oxf_ia1uMtfpbmdjq6eIgWBrYWLGUSgrZDl4_JcUS5CO0af7SkU9CYElUiPFfOoCsXcfP0wrrt7_s0K5OO9I7d6odyrqNnhJX_wLSJqGODVlphEZGyZErT2C8T_079pSA/s320/IMG_0916.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435911602140295618" /></a>Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-39160882326659985112010-02-02T23:57:00.004+09:002010-02-03T00:21:06.577+09:00Say Hello to my Little FriendI couldn't help myself...I bought a bunny. I felt the need to have a little companion in my apartment, so I caved and bought a little baby dwarf rabbit. She has some little spots on her head that reminded me of a constellation so I named her after one...Pyxis. She's a bit mischievous, but she's mostly too cute for words. She's a bit rambunctious at times, but she also enjoys chillin' out in my lap. And she's a mooch. If I let her she would probably have consumed the corn dog and sangria I had at Angie's the other night. Pyxis was perfectly content to relax on my chest, until I had food, that is. She nearly hopped into my wine glass trying to get some. Much too good for bunnies. So without further ado, her she is. Friends, family, loved ones, and random internet nomads, meet Pyxis:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzex-MffWdv98XQfSJXK8zFVx2Fzt0xopJwhwOjuzVkA7qt_EY3ybRn6vC2jRTU_1DeZM9O9xyJlHGj5gXtuw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-81239281397096599842010-01-28T23:41:00.003+09:002010-01-29T00:11:49.630+09:00Life as an English Teacher in KoreaSo someone from home asked if they could publish a link to my blog in the Maine Education Association newsletter so that the student members could have a glimpse of what life as an English teacher in Korea is like, and it made me realize that I really haven't posted a heck of a lot about my job. I pretty much just talk about life in Korea. But yes, I do go to work 5 days a week.<br />Tomorrow marks the end of the first four week series that I have completed as a MoonKkang teacher. I picked up the last two weeks of the previous series in December, but I just finished my own complete series. I got a list of all my new classes for the month of February, and fortunately I was able to keep all of the same classes. I will lose a few students though because they will be leveling up to the next class. I'll also gain a few new students who have leveled into my classes. I also just finished my first round of progress reports. I have 12 different classes with an average of 12 students in each class, so that's approximately 144 progress reports. I have to grade each student in four different areas: participation, comprehension, fluency, and accuracy. Fortunately, I only have to do them every two months because I take turns with my Korean partner teacher, Young Kyung.<br />I also recently got an email from one of the foreign managers at MK. She only recently discovered that I have a degree in Secondary Education, thus qualifying me for a higher rate of pay. So I'll be paid the correct amount for future months, and I'll get back-pay on the last two months. Sweet deal.<br />I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but it keeps escaping me when I actually sit down at the computer. Koreans are crazy about rock-paper-scissors (it's rock-scissors-paper here). The kids use it to decide everything. Adults even use it to resolve issues with their kids and with other adults. I once heard my coworkers joking that President Lee Myung Bak probably uses it to settle disputes with North Korea. Rock-scissors-paper is the thing to do here. <br />I had a piece of coffee flavored gum today. Really bizarre.<br />And the big news is....(drum roll please).....I CAN NOW READ AND WRITE IN KOREAN! I sat down on Sunday and studied the Korean alphabet, and now I can actually read the signs! Unfortunately, knowing Korean is a two-fold thing: you have to be able to read the script AND know the Korean words. So even though I can read the language I don't always know the Korean word that it spells. I'm still working on building my vocabulary of Korean words, but at least I can finally read the words I do know (as well as the ones I don't). <br />I'm headed to Busan again this weekend...I'll write again when I come home.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-38799628749965665552010-01-24T20:49:00.002+09:002010-01-24T21:12:47.872+09:00Roaming SoloThis weekend was another lesson in how to live alone in the city. I didn't really do anything too exciting, but I did get some things done that I've been meaning to do for a while. Saturday I went to the Chilseong Furniture Market with Ted (one of my coworkers) because he wanted a loveseat and he knows even less Korean than I do. Believe it or not, I actually proved to be useful as a translator. I did some grocery shopping at HomePlus, had dinner at Maya (an Indian restaurant), and hopped on a bus in an attempt to head downtown. The bus that I got on was supposed to make a stop an Banwoldang, which is the subway exit closest to downtown. However, the bus route is a big circle, and I didn't realize two things: #1. The bus was making its last circuit for the night, and #2. The bus had already been at Banwoldang and was completing the rest of the loop. It wouldn't have been an issue if I hadn't hopped on the last bus; it would have made it to Banwoldang eventually. So lo and behold, I am the last one on the bus when it stops on the outskirts of the city and the guy tells me to get off and find a taxi. I start walking towards the lights of the city, trying to find a taxi, hoping I have enough cash on me to cover the ride back. Five minutes later, the bus shows up and pulls over. The guy tells me to get on...he's going to take me back into the city, thank goodness. Once there, I hop off again and find a taxi to take me downtown. I would have used the subway, but the subway stops at 11:30pm so taxis are my only option. I made it downtown, and I discovered how to navigate from the main street to the couple places I've heard about (Communes, Club Frog, etc.). But I was looking for a specific theatre in which to watch Avatar. I wanted to watch it in 3D, so I had to find the IMAX. I walked around for a while looking for it, and eventually I just gave up. Right at that very moment I found the Lotte Cinema and decided to watch Avatar there instead. I bought my ticket, and it turns out Lotte was playing it in 3D, as well. Score! I had to wait 2 hours for my movie to start though so I went to Communes (a foreigners bar) and hung out for a while. I've been told that if you sit there long enough you're bound to meet someone cool. Apparently I either didn't look approachable or I didn't sit there long enough. Oh well. I got to listen to a decent Korean cover band do a few Weezer songs. I went back to the theatre for 2:25am, was one of three people watching the movie, and left at 5:05am when the movie ended. The movie was awesome, by the way...the only issue was that there were Korean subtitles so when the characters spoke in the alien humanoid language, the subtitles were still in Korean. Fortunately most of the dialogue was in English, but I think I'll have to watch it again when I come home so I can get the full effect. <br />Sunday I slept until 2pm or so (didn't get to bed until 6am), and made myself some Korean pancakes for breakfast. Very tasty, but very difficult to make. I think I'll stick to having someone else make them for me. I ventured out early Sunday evening to try to find a gym. I walked around for a few hours and found nothing. I even walked around on the Kyungpook National University campus right across the street from me. I also tried to rent a movie at two different places near my house, and because they couldn't speak English and I can't speak Korean we were at an impasse and I went home empty-handed. I looked up KNU when I got home, and it turns out I did find the fitness facility on campus, it was just closed. Now I just need to figure out if they'll let me go there even though I'm not a student. Keep your fingers crossed!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-55720056637155359012010-01-18T02:47:00.005+09:002010-01-18T04:00:29.453+09:00Chillaxin' on the CoastThis weekend I went to visit Angie in Busan again. In the subway station we heard a ruckus coming from down the corridor so we turned around to investigate. What we heard was a crowd of people gathered around a group of men doing a traditional song and dance. Check it out: <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw7rjlghkN9DitDYhgEmXbI8eaGVNhtXgiqhJe-bPedjLLEPAQv7pt7d6YdX-igBEq-sFIy0gqd16Uo-mDhRA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />We headed down to Nampo-dong again because Angie had ordered a pair of boots in one of the underground subway shops so we did a bit of shopping while we were there. We had shabu shabu for dinner (thinly sliced beef cooked in boiling broth with veggies and noodles), and hit the hay at 10pm (both of us were running on 3 hours of sleep from the night before).<br />Due to our exhaustion and lack of sleep on Friday, we both slept until 1pm Sunday afternoon. She slept the entire time. I had trouble falling asleep, despite how tired I was, so I only slept for about 11 hours...which was nothing compared to Angie's 15 hours. We headed to E-Mart for groceries and saw the cutest little puppies I've ever seen. Somehow the Koreans have miniaturized breeds of dogs that are quite large back home (Australian shepherds, collies, etc.) and the puppies were tiny. I seriously considered getting a dog to keep me company and help me ward off the homesickness I've been feeling lately, but Angie informed me that apparently we're not allowed to have dogs or cats in our apartments. Oh well. It's probably best anyway since I would have to give the dog to Angie when I leave.<br />Sunday afternoon we went to the Haeundae Beach Aquarium. It was really quite relaxing just to watch all the exotic sea creatures floating around. Everything under the water seems to move in slow motion. The jellyfish don't have an agenda...they just glide around in aimless circles in their tank. It was a nice change of pace from being outside in the city where everything is bustling and busy. My favorite sea creature by far was the weedy sea dragon. So beautiful! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3djrkQmVw0mVrFWttEdLhRyQHPhgszEgGbmUeIIaMtjrUQox-T4M5GWF664BwzT07NwvLVqEk9UL6oEdmS2QTCsg24LplRsu6YJO_99S0IUJMTthCIUxb9LqpLGz2sTgKXqJfRlt1f0/s1600-h/IMG_3137.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3djrkQmVw0mVrFWttEdLhRyQHPhgszEgGbmUeIIaMtjrUQox-T4M5GWF664BwzT07NwvLVqEk9UL6oEdmS2QTCsg24LplRsu6YJO_99S0IUJMTthCIUxb9LqpLGz2sTgKXqJfRlt1f0/s320/IMG_3137.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427784982639240354" /></a><br />After the aquarium it was galbi for dinner, and then I was homeward bound. This time I made it home without incident. No missed trains, no snow, and no almost being late for school. Thank goodness.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-53548806647563840372010-01-10T20:25:00.008+09:002010-01-10T20:46:53.481+09:00Outside the CityThis weekend Angie and I stayed in our respective cities and did our own thing. I made a trip to Costco (like BJ's or Sam's Club on steroids) on Saturday, but Sunday was the exciting part of my weekend. I went hiking at Mt. Palgongsan National Park with three of my coworkers, Hannah, Ted, and Hee Jeong. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HJbwsNKwhW-WYSdN0F6eyAf7mvGRU_Cbvsu8GCoVEUi_borxhBNO1SNNxL6MG-Tj8OMELvs7zc51hU60S7mVHjf4Ok7UsQW53tztuPr_2McecQHsffpUG3IQ4Iyy7NzaIAyK90itq6I/s1600-h/IMG_3038.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HJbwsNKwhW-WYSdN0F6eyAf7mvGRU_Cbvsu8GCoVEUi_borxhBNO1SNNxL6MG-Tj8OMELvs7zc51hU60S7mVHjf4Ok7UsQW53tztuPr_2McecQHsffpUG3IQ4Iyy7NzaIAyK90itq6I/s320/IMG_3038.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425071488414296866" /></a> We were a little ways into our hike when we came across a Buddhist temple on the mountain. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tPjhHhztNuChMyNkygV2Dw-J0B2ig4jRS66MBC6HNjNvUXCPjoEj9HTqnQG34ehSDRMjfIox3SJs03cBlYLOhbugSgu4vQYmJTw9QxaIRX-qmRHBCebKfWJ64dxHKjIZTByh4Fdau6I/s1600-h/IMG_3043.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tPjhHhztNuChMyNkygV2Dw-J0B2ig4jRS66MBC6HNjNvUXCPjoEj9HTqnQG34ehSDRMjfIox3SJs03cBlYLOhbugSgu4vQYmJTw9QxaIRX-qmRHBCebKfWJ64dxHKjIZTByh4Fdau6I/s320/IMG_3043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425072761743363938" /></a> Someone we passed on the way up informed us that they were serving free lunch at the temple, so we stopped in for some traditional Korean fare. After a very tasty lunch we were instructed to head to the prayer room to pray three times to the Buddha inside of us. It was a little awkward at first because we weren't entirely sure how to proceed, but we figured it out, and I think our efforts were appreciated. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgR2dDjmVVVdpfpx6-GJqC3jNKze4-fBATBHXwVr5o0tY7Jh12gy4WhClSgiiR62MrQjHHbXZmlA6wg9g5uBI9yykh95lbMdbZj_R6dxTc1rYa2xzzCwI0R8K8VtKXp88ltBpqWFGN-Q/s1600-h/IMG_3044.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgR2dDjmVVVdpfpx6-GJqC3jNKze4-fBATBHXwVr5o0tY7Jh12gy4WhClSgiiR62MrQjHHbXZmlA6wg9g5uBI9yykh95lbMdbZj_R6dxTc1rYa2xzzCwI0R8K8VtKXp88ltBpqWFGN-Q/s320/IMG_3044.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425072489900657506" /></a> We left the temple and proceeded up the mountain. It was a bit chilly, but the exertion was enough to keep us quite toasty. We stopped at the top of the ridge to have some hot tea and snacks, and then we went on our merry way. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoxYgz_gjpR6ljt2ZUDnCaUnrtV_jJPpnra_gA0tlHsGNPSSuOarXzeFs95a-3n1Jb_xtcQO-owvYOL4IJ2bE49qx_h3U6Yf4q5tPEGYalcyuMZC9CE8lQ5kKKE93ZuaO4d8g60XltdA/s1600-h/IMG_3064.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoxYgz_gjpR6ljt2ZUDnCaUnrtV_jJPpnra_gA0tlHsGNPSSuOarXzeFs95a-3n1Jb_xtcQO-owvYOL4IJ2bE49qx_h3U6Yf4q5tPEGYalcyuMZC9CE8lQ5kKKE93ZuaO4d8g60XltdA/s320/IMG_3064.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425073581904961842" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWF4LwzFvRgcoQ9fsq84NV7TcfmxhTD1gdhcuKdrY7uQL0PHYYIanFHsXcekc7gG4pX4px-8Vr6Jqf6C0L-lmdTivcYMMSIGVNzYMlss2JngrA7AFnfNgZglL102vTgjVx1X7B_Ll840k/s1600-h/IMG_3062.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWF4LwzFvRgcoQ9fsq84NV7TcfmxhTD1gdhcuKdrY7uQL0PHYYIanFHsXcekc7gG4pX4px-8Vr6Jqf6C0L-lmdTivcYMMSIGVNzYMlss2JngrA7AFnfNgZglL102vTgjVx1X7B_Ll840k/s320/IMG_3062.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425073566785760242" /></a> Once we got to the bottom we were nowhere near a place to pick up the bus so we just had to start walking. We stuck out our thumbs hoping someone would give the four of us a lift to the bus stop, and fortunately a very kind man in a van gave us a lift to the bus stop. However, on the way down Hee Jeong spotted a traditional Korean tea shop and suggested we pop in before catching the bus back to the city. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjUO2jJJjRaD8IBK_VjXWwNQIkA3Utc9AhANe_9q8KtmgBHy-9njEWQ6mfvyjbPWzWLmBi1okMSNabKHGACPPd3to9NZxxFLQTZWyyK9nTj8OgAjMfXhe0dIP2ENE6tRK6jSvns0F2UU/s1600-h/IMG_3071.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjUO2jJJjRaD8IBK_VjXWwNQIkA3Utc9AhANe_9q8KtmgBHy-9njEWQ6mfvyjbPWzWLmBi1okMSNabKHGACPPd3to9NZxxFLQTZWyyK9nTj8OgAjMfXhe0dIP2ENE6tRK6jSvns0F2UU/s320/IMG_3071.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425075526821529074" /></a> We were the only guests so we had the exclusive attention of the hostess, and she explained in detail about each of the teas we tried to Hee Jeong, who then translated for us. We tried three different types of green tea, all made with the very first leaves harvested that season. Those leaves are the smallest and have the softest taste. Apparently the temperature of the water is very important when brewing tea, especially green tea. The hotter the water, the more bitter the tea. We then tried a yummy Japanese green tea latte, made with green tea powder. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e4ZLdcntfTzXvJlEbGAheR8f5M7xBvHYbf2mu3VdxP8tbU7SfH1rI7YGuW6eqHInuqOr8SDhJb262OXvomPGsnkGP92U7scYrWjN8XBpJCMTmfW0nrALfvmgm4kBXZqRX-DHVueg7Xw/s1600-h/IMG_3072.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e4ZLdcntfTzXvJlEbGAheR8f5M7xBvHYbf2mu3VdxP8tbU7SfH1rI7YGuW6eqHInuqOr8SDhJb262OXvomPGsnkGP92U7scYrWjN8XBpJCMTmfW0nrALfvmgm4kBXZqRX-DHVueg7Xw/s320/IMG_3072.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425075210519688642" /></a> It looks a little funky, but it had a very smooth, sweet taste. Next was a Chinese jasmine tea which was also quite good. The whole time we were drinking her tea the hostess was feeding us crackers and bagels with mulberry jam (excellent, by the way) and chocolate to bring out certain flavors in the tea. By the time we left I was warm, happy, and quite full. It was nice to spend some time outside of the city in the fresh, cold air, and I also got to see a bit of traditional Korean culture. Not a bad way to spend the weekend.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-84266636074156969982010-01-05T00:41:00.007+09:002010-01-05T00:51:15.657+09:00Beautiful BusanThis weekend I journeyed to the far off land of Busan, South Korea. Actually, it’s not that far off…it’s about an hour by train. Saturday morning I boarded the southbound train that dropped me off at Gupo Station about an hour later. I peeked out the window a bit on the way down, and the Korean countryside really isn’t anything to write home about right now (ironic, because that’s exactly what I’m doing). It’s rather barren and dead-looking. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnckshVIy9xFjeXI-8CQcVcb4DOvBFjBhDMCsrjfr2l2vehDTSodW39C3Sod2WkeTzbYWVyXhwW9aR4szchZ2YktpnIO-NQw1GQjDwtrEJzxBgGSqx8C4Dw0A3MP5hrxRjetKz82U4Rw/s1600-h/IMG_2987.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRnckshVIy9xFjeXI-8CQcVcb4DOvBFjBhDMCsrjfr2l2vehDTSodW39C3Sod2WkeTzbYWVyXhwW9aR4szchZ2YktpnIO-NQw1GQjDwtrEJzxBgGSqx8C4Dw0A3MP5hrxRjetKz82U4Rw/s320/IMG_2987.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422910727543085842" /></a> Angie was there at the station waiting to pick me up. As soon as I left the station, I saw this man in a suit standing with his eyes closed and his head pressed against a tree. Angie and I positioned ourselves so that it looked like I was taking a picture of her, and I managed to capture this tree-hugger in action. There certainly are some strange people out there. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1qGrKYQmaPlXyS51ocATiSNZGfZMb1yFX5QDLIPL6GaHWD7cMxNsTV_q0h5SPLmN9gWUYpR-RrBip9n0jKbl4UjpqCZOiBnUQhHOY7f8SITT_XcrAdRalQKmg9UtbtGsWlCnkRuNt5M/s1600-h/IMG_2988.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1qGrKYQmaPlXyS51ocATiSNZGfZMb1yFX5QDLIPL6GaHWD7cMxNsTV_q0h5SPLmN9gWUYpR-RrBip9n0jKbl4UjpqCZOiBnUQhHOY7f8SITT_XcrAdRalQKmg9UtbtGsWlCnkRuNt5M/s320/IMG_2988.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422910942334990834" /></a><br /><br />Angie and I hopped on the subway, and then we had a 40 minute ride back to her neighborhood. Her friend Shannon called on our way back and asked if we wanted to go to the salon with her. Angie has been thinking of going red, so we went with her to a very posh Korean salon. They put our coats and purses in a locker, served us cocoa and cappuccinos, and set me up with a laptop and the internet while I waited for Ang and Shannon. They even had the fanciest toilet I’ve ever seen. It had a heated seat, as well as a variety of buttons that did things I didn’t dare to try.<br /> <br />After the salon we did a bit of shopping in an underground mall at one of the subway stops, and then set out to find something to eat. We ended up eating at a little Korean restaurant and enjoying some very tasty “Sam-gep-sal.” It’s like Korean bacon, but it’s thicker and more fatty. However, I was still quite hungry after dinner so I bought some mandu (dumplings) at a street stand, and even though they were cold they were still quite delicious.<br /> <br />We then headed back to Shannon’s, tried on our new stuff, and headed out to a western style bar called Star Face. A very friendly, very drunk Korean man offered us a large glass of Hite, and a very androgynous looking Korean woman insisted on buying us shots of tequila. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrZO0ZgVBDPyYB3TnA1zAKJ_Buv_ibhNzha8WWwOBIzeJlnjbAEVCiC1Be1Xcal5byBpNnog_RXUqc3MA_3L1YqQHR_XcIGFgKl3w9cAGSDYd_NAoIcYx17h_jr4AWNYQmFOKTM5ACtc/s1600-h/IMG_2992.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrZO0ZgVBDPyYB3TnA1zAKJ_Buv_ibhNzha8WWwOBIzeJlnjbAEVCiC1Be1Xcal5byBpNnog_RXUqc3MA_3L1YqQHR_XcIGFgKl3w9cAGSDYd_NAoIcYx17h_jr4AWNYQmFOKTM5ACtc/s320/IMG_2992.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422911210210850290" /></a> The laid back bar turned into a little dance party, and after joining the dancing Koreans for a little bit we headed out in search of a bigger, better dance club. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one that charged less than 15,000 won to get in, so we made an early morning pit stop at Haeundae Beach so I could touch the Yellow Sea, and then we went home and went to bed instead. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUSd2uD70BqF8YZQEnfHKbAiBIAGZfvGlKkypWqMTAp5Xr-HwOvhAjY_A2vq5zuC-5bBzJ2je_O0LvPNryG3sFCCg6Ao9-FtOg4_1ZZlmwmCfE9FAGs1LnqboUYydFepNJVaomVTrCyU/s1600-h/IMG_2997.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUSd2uD70BqF8YZQEnfHKbAiBIAGZfvGlKkypWqMTAp5Xr-HwOvhAjY_A2vq5zuC-5bBzJ2je_O0LvPNryG3sFCCg6Ao9-FtOg4_1ZZlmwmCfE9FAGs1LnqboUYydFepNJVaomVTrCyU/s320/IMG_2997.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422911378271708194" /></a><br /><br />Sunday was a busy day. We didn’t get to bed until 4am so we didn’t wake up until 1pm. At that point the day was already half over so we had to get up and get out butts moving. Our first stop was Haeundae Beach so I could see it during the day. It was packed, even during the winter, and a couple of guys apparently though it was warm enough to be out playing Frisbee in their little bathing suits. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8freRAcqg_HiJz5cOm-8w9u5dANZ9lK8VlfrJGwHz3ZVO6LUTIlRPuJiRPZArIJivcqHGiZfyRM-sqEu3MqcI8LawORba5ceIU9-HX-rzTJlcyQvQ1LW9W_y-yVqqjyc2f8iC5DDcIHE/s1600-h/IMG_3013.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8freRAcqg_HiJz5cOm-8w9u5dANZ9lK8VlfrJGwHz3ZVO6LUTIlRPuJiRPZArIJivcqHGiZfyRM-sqEu3MqcI8LawORba5ceIU9-HX-rzTJlcyQvQ1LW9W_y-yVqqjyc2f8iC5DDcIHE/s320/IMG_3013.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422911852493715474" /></a> Weird. It’s quite beautiful though, and it’s neat to see the city right on the edge of the beach. It’s something you don’t really see at home. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNUNaz8zT0YTRFYj3I8_EpUkbZPyemjJMkqVx5y1G4REC7Mtt8SYHr98rzYB8yMle17P5xThuXtxrt5q9KGkFTpCm_B7pw-W8KPL8ayZRBWCNE5qrHFVZgUQhiuJcZUlGkT_qqcVNH6Y/s1600-h/IMG_3016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilNUNaz8zT0YTRFYj3I8_EpUkbZPyemjJMkqVx5y1G4REC7Mtt8SYHr98rzYB8yMle17P5xThuXtxrt5q9KGkFTpCm_B7pw-W8KPL8ayZRBWCNE5qrHFVZgUQhiuJcZUlGkT_qqcVNH6Y/s320/IMG_3016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422912345051395586" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xsGiyfd9DgkbVkKiyl8KmOsPWIatOhPrQmWmJX7h4LhtwJ4V7d6nJjvZpbpsIc8QUexeCm7S12gKeJ-4wyf5QCQ6Vzc0LSIHWEhVNMXGzcPY0J6JKerXgxQwylL2QbNpbUoL0AEEoJ4/s1600-h/IMG_3011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xsGiyfd9DgkbVkKiyl8KmOsPWIatOhPrQmWmJX7h4LhtwJ4V7d6nJjvZpbpsIc8QUexeCm7S12gKeJ-4wyf5QCQ6Vzc0LSIHWEhVNMXGzcPY0J6JKerXgxQwylL2QbNpbUoL0AEEoJ4/s320/IMG_3011.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422912335430832594" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEYq5gb2nwbb5M0cHN3QTnXrXRlm38BMgl4-c9b69ylRogOyxQtVXdT2yPb8RcKU3fTgOHkkVu2isAhX7hZJPUSjt3ufknyUFQeCVGGs22UUvj4LyUfaB0pB0KRFOJaTgpRD3clskZWI/s1600-h/IMG_3010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwEYq5gb2nwbb5M0cHN3QTnXrXRlm38BMgl4-c9b69ylRogOyxQtVXdT2yPb8RcKU3fTgOHkkVu2isAhX7hZJPUSjt3ufknyUFQeCVGGs22UUvj4LyUfaB0pB0KRFOJaTgpRD3clskZWI/s320/IMG_3010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422912330011033330" /></a><br /><br />After the beach we headed to Nampo-dong, a little shopping district in Busan. We had “Gam-ja-tong” for dinner…it’s a potato soup with some weeds and huge meat-covered ox backbones in it. It comes to your table in a large steaming bowl, and then you keep it bubbling on the gas burner in the middle of your table. It looks disgusting, especially when you’re done eating because all you’re left with is the carnage. Despite the way it looks, it was actually rather delicious and quite filling. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvTIpMFOM3oGAgsOtxNIrKHS86NDdBgrDAqeyTs4Ag0hCJAkvvllg0Nvm4cQesEAijsPPbjCopm7DmZjFJoZVaNbZ8oteZQvfx6mM2loM8G23eO0BbyJWAfpgnU3UHaUlgpnomTqYl98/s1600-h/20980_667603400329_5811899_38261571_5970048_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvTIpMFOM3oGAgsOtxNIrKHS86NDdBgrDAqeyTs4Ag0hCJAkvvllg0Nvm4cQesEAijsPPbjCopm7DmZjFJoZVaNbZ8oteZQvfx6mM2loM8G23eO0BbyJWAfpgnU3UHaUlgpnomTqYl98/s320/20980_667603400329_5811899_38261571_5970048_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422912634745787986" /></a> We also got little tiny dried silvery fish that Angie said tasted like fish jerky (I can’t eat that stuff), and some dried fish meat that was fried. I tried it and promptly spit it out. I simply can’t eat fish if it tastes like fish. <br /><br />While we were at the restaurant there was a huge party of older Koreans at the table next to us. When they left they came over to our table and said “Ya-bu-da, mi-an-ham-nida,” which means, “beautiful, I’m sorry.” I’m assuming they were apologizing for being so loud, but that’s not the point. The point is that I understood what she said! That was probably the best part of my weekend because it gave me hope that I can actually learn the language. Go me!<br /><br />Angie and I headed home around 8:30pm because we were just so tired. We watched Pride and Prejudice and hit the hay. I headed out Monday morning around 9:30am. Of course I missed the train I wanted to take by 7 minutes so I had to wait half an hour for the next one. I did fall asleep on the train, and when I woke up it was snowing. Real snow, not just the occasional flake we’ve been getting. My first thought was, “Shit. I slept through my stop. Now I’m somewhere near Seoul where it’s cold enough to get this much snow. I’m going to be late for school.” But then I looked at the time on the screen and realized that I had not actually missed my stop, it was just snowing in Daegu. I took a cab home, and it was ridiculously expensive for the actual distance we covered. They get this much snow so infrequently that no one knows how to drive in it. They all go about 10 mph, which is a huge difference from their usual pace.<br /> <br />But I made it home safely, and now it’s back to work for another week. We start a new curriculum this week, so hopefully the transition will go smoothly.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-84223446486917126482010-01-02T01:14:00.002+09:002010-01-02T01:26:48.811+09:00The Ringing of the GongHappy New Year, or as they say in Korean, "Say-hay-bok-mani-ba-du-say-yo" (and of course that is nowhere near the correct way to spell it, but it's phonetic at least)! A friend invited me to join him and his friends downtown for the Ringing of the Bell ceremony. Of course it was packed (probably not quite like Times Square, but pretty close), and naturally it was the coldest night we've had in a while. My friend searched all over the city for a bottle of decent champagne, so at least we welcomed the new year in style. Although, it may not have been that classy as we were drinking it out of the bottle. No fluted glasses, I'm afraid. At the ceremony there was some traditional drumming, some singing (a Korean version of "I Can Hear The Bells" from Hairspray), and some dancing little girls in matching dresses sans mittens. Then at the stroke of midnight, the ringing of the bell began. The name is a smidge deceiving, though. The bell was more like a gong. They rang the gong 31 times (once for each day in December, I believe), and that was followed by a spectacular fireworks display from the roof of the building behind us. Well done, Daegu. We lit some sparklers, and then we headed down to Communes, a popular foreigners bar. It's usually a very laid back, low key kind of place, but last night it was packed. I had a wee glass of Bailey's, chatted with some other MK teachers, met some new people, and shipped myself home and off to bed. Not a bad way to spend New Year's Eve in a foreign country, if I do say so myself. Best wishes to everyone at home for health and happiness in the new year!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-46311649745051322892009-12-29T02:39:00.003+09:002009-12-29T02:46:11.421+09:00City Noises...I’m really enjoying the experience of living in a city, but at times I find myself missing how quiet and clean it is at home. For example, I am often awoken by dogs barking, cats howling, and this lovely ruckus: <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzHw7jkz9WXqcHJfw43zqIxZelO8sfYAw0S2LSPXAGu2Ob36LmHeFQr1c6Ppl1Y5wQ32Z-9lAQ1FPcr3OChyw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-38650150561514490282009-12-29T02:23:00.004+09:002009-12-29T02:37:46.141+09:00Weekend GallivantingAngie and I spent yet another wonderful weekend in Daegu…we went to a Christmas party, bonded with some Koreans over a game of Ra (or “La” as they call it), went to a bar with a bunch of English guys and gals, and on Sunday we gave my room a makeover. And after Angie left I went to Nanta (a Korean version of Stomp, but with kitchen appliances and utensils) with another MoonKkang teacher in the area. Not a bad weekend.<br /><br />The Christmas party consisted of about 70 MK teachers, lots of pitchers of Hite, several tables of American holiday food (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, etc.), and a crazy game of Bad Santa (Chinese Auction or Yankee Swap for those at home). At one point in the game I had a bottle of Bailey’s, but it was stolen from me…twice…and I ended up with a bottle of South African shiraz. Still not bad. Angie and I shared a pitcher of soju mixed with cranberry juice. Angie likes to say that soju tastes like rubbing alcohol if you drink it straight, but when mixed with juice it’s quite pleasant. A few hours into the party we were both feeling a little sleepy and homesick so we went home and cried in each other’s arms. No, I’m kidding about that part, but we did have a bit of an emotional moment. It’s tougher than I thought it would be to be away from home for the holidays (but it was wonderful to see the Bourret’s on the 26th…you made my day!). <br /><br />Saturday was a day of gallivanting and exploration. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgPrhk4CGi5buNP2J_mFLCRgHTtEdl4Wa8gdVcf0_T_-GM7Tyrka1JN-fDh2LfB6e4Uoz4jB1imWUtdx79uCzfCF0nZgjiRD5FdmzTSlJyevyntJWiT-CiS_HjzoRjeoyod9JOve-Tu8/s1600-h/IMG_2969.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgPrhk4CGi5buNP2J_mFLCRgHTtEdl4Wa8gdVcf0_T_-GM7Tyrka1JN-fDh2LfB6e4Uoz4jB1imWUtdx79uCzfCF0nZgjiRD5FdmzTSlJyevyntJWiT-CiS_HjzoRjeoyod9JOve-Tu8/s320/IMG_2969.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420342489261244946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGf0-UHt2RLQfxM7nXO3XwNiYUtEoRIGu7TJfNPgNw97MuHRhZOS4spUl5vYj6KN3uVan66YkazYlHFv2jLpKlqOq2a-vl4AHn4BNDgshmFpqxnZlMHqSMT_y076G7Qa7bcR7z_hkAfs/s1600-h/IMG_2957.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQGf0-UHt2RLQfxM7nXO3XwNiYUtEoRIGu7TJfNPgNw97MuHRhZOS4spUl5vYj6KN3uVan66YkazYlHFv2jLpKlqOq2a-vl4AHn4BNDgshmFpqxnZlMHqSMT_y076G7Qa7bcR7z_hkAfs/s320/IMG_2957.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420342478714239762" /></a> We putzed around my neighborhood, did a little shopping, and later met up with a friend who introduced us to his Korean friends. We traveled to the University district on the other side of Daegu to meet up with Mike (Angie’s coworker from Busan) and his friends Sun Mi, Minnie, Moon, Myung Go, Dice, and Sun Mi’s boyfriend (whose name I’ve forgotten). We played a couple intense games of Ra (Koreans are VERY competitive), <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswTNmRWAI6HEioOUQU8J6vboG034jnscF2c58V4QTuCEixa3pz-Z59I4K_SFXbVKR28deopAHb3iZOF9fYLiqWKrRqVhsT1wnmFiCrV8b8SRdHfCaZ01Tmpmil7XRyD7sqnTI8Nij0WM/s1600-h/IMG_2971.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswTNmRWAI6HEioOUQU8J6vboG034jnscF2c58V4QTuCEixa3pz-Z59I4K_SFXbVKR28deopAHb3iZOF9fYLiqWKrRqVhsT1wnmFiCrV8b8SRdHfCaZ01Tmpmil7XRyD7sqnTI8Nij0WM/s320/IMG_2971.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420341486094983746" /></a> and then the Korean girls had to go because of their curfew (most Korean girls live with their parents until they get married, and most Korean girls have a curfew when they live with their parents) so we headed downtown to meet some of Mike’s British friends. The people were friendly, but the cigarette smoke was a bit too much to handle so Angie and I headed home after staying for the appropriate amount of time. And I successfully navigated us back to my place in a taxi (the drivers generally only speak Korean). San-gyeok dong, day-do shi jong, ga juseyo. It means, “Please take me to the San-gyeok neighborhood near the Dae Do market.” Over the course of the weekend I also learned the words for right, left, straight, beautiful, go away, come here, and see you next time. Not too shabby, eh?<br /><br />Sunday we slept in late, decorated my room a bit with some decals I got at E-Mart, and then Angie had to go home to Busan. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tRLqLRNoGue4Up1PRf3AwMSWk7CjaPP3acawXofFiri13dkNJHQZk2bYWJqRWuaEprY72GbEfOC_wVBKr9fjFUMgPtD0WJJI6DVcC4rtTd7mjjyO8RHmzuODUDUE3O7Iqu_J7RfH_PM/s1600-h/IMG_2982.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tRLqLRNoGue4Up1PRf3AwMSWk7CjaPP3acawXofFiri13dkNJHQZk2bYWJqRWuaEprY72GbEfOC_wVBKr9fjFUMgPtD0WJJI6DVcC4rtTd7mjjyO8RHmzuODUDUE3O7Iqu_J7RfH_PM/s320/IMG_2982.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420341995139604722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAcoLBfTnDNA7KQyoGsl7NQ13PQo6ODF54XmXRaoSDINc-CMfL8Tn498tF5X-Pr6w77sa2ftku2oX9Ibw0qRknFclarZoDlVXngQDJweekm23Jx6KXwNJCeSalOF0V6Cox4WEntRJqVE/s1600-h/IMG_2976.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAcoLBfTnDNA7KQyoGsl7NQ13PQo6ODF54XmXRaoSDINc-CMfL8Tn498tF5X-Pr6w77sa2ftku2oX9Ibw0qRknFclarZoDlVXngQDJweekm23Jx6KXwNJCeSalOF0V6Cox4WEntRJqVE/s320/IMG_2976.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420341989972937442" /></a> I met up with a friend to see Nanta, a Korean musical performance that’s quite a bit like Stomp back home. The difference is that this particular performance is done entirely with kitchen utensils and appliances. The storyline is about 3 chefs that have to prepare 6 wedding feasts in one hour, and they have to do it with the manager’s nephew screwing around in the kitchen. Quite amusing. There is very little conversation, but the music and dancing was wonderful, and there was also a comedic element to some of the performance. Overall, it was well worth seeing.<br /> <br />And next weekend I head down to Busan to see Angie’s city, and of course I’ll be sure to let everyone know how it goes.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-44197925059604900822009-12-26T14:32:00.002+09:002009-12-26T14:37:14.288+09:00Christmas adventures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefFwfGAiYHIylLIaq-Kmf9qtVpURJo5nvMmMbmbv32x-9paykmG2JvDi8GcXT_-ECS0mbjv4bO4kERPKrfh2ftYxiNSm-AK_AyX7RlsgdCIqEXkrJQCozj2OFtxqV4zJ5rQY82UQOkU8/s1600-h/IMG_2951.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefFwfGAiYHIylLIaq-Kmf9qtVpURJo5nvMmMbmbv32x-9paykmG2JvDi8GcXT_-ECS0mbjv4bO4kERPKrfh2ftYxiNSm-AK_AyX7RlsgdCIqEXkrJQCozj2OFtxqV4zJ5rQY82UQOkU8/s320/IMG_2951.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419414045998369522" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjnu6QA3Mszoj1vUtA2ctvhAfKSRpttgqqmKCIyVyZle51cYOtHbqHu9Ghgja4SqXe6R7z0cq_5Uu0NeO9NKpIK_xvjztw-zXA3mZINDdZPgpRYWfBE8rOWc0c9Yh44rI-M_0Afz9DK0/s1600-h/IMG_2950.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjnu6QA3Mszoj1vUtA2ctvhAfKSRpttgqqmKCIyVyZle51cYOtHbqHu9Ghgja4SqXe6R7z0cq_5Uu0NeO9NKpIK_xvjztw-zXA3mZINDdZPgpRYWfBE8rOWc0c9Yh44rI-M_0Afz9DK0/s320/IMG_2950.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419414037618482162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_QWoBJFfkwY7kOTTCQ4Kpwx8vScxz7RpgJyiF5nmHUW5IppEQyY_lmKz2bu5z4XegYSqbo7wBBK7DXklnqgBHtPs6sSwP3JsSFbktZ9vkeJ7ErHFFpYO8j9CgTw5R7dq1ZUPSZXAYcs/s1600-h/IMG_2948.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_QWoBJFfkwY7kOTTCQ4Kpwx8vScxz7RpgJyiF5nmHUW5IppEQyY_lmKz2bu5z4XegYSqbo7wBBK7DXklnqgBHtPs6sSwP3JsSFbktZ9vkeJ7ErHFFpYO8j9CgTw5R7dq1ZUPSZXAYcs/s320/IMG_2948.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419414034570685682" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qnuhpXzwg58aU2om2PvSJR9ua6wI79IbADnxbnlYucvwblpqEhHfIFkW3pqUMfYqYAPfUiGcVqkBm04gTnLSPsrQXdxPm0nKAql2Dc3n3wgUQfRp9IgmOrG3oHGGrF9Va27Zlh4hTPY/s1600-h/IMG_2952.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qnuhpXzwg58aU2om2PvSJR9ua6wI79IbADnxbnlYucvwblpqEhHfIFkW3pqUMfYqYAPfUiGcVqkBm04gTnLSPsrQXdxPm0nKAql2Dc3n3wgUQfRp9IgmOrG3oHGGrF9Va27Zlh4hTPY/s320/IMG_2952.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419414022778496898" /></a><br /><br />I went to the MK Christmas party yesterday, and these are pictures I took on the way there. The first is at Chilseong Market, the second is a bunny on a leash at the market, the third is the view from the middle of the river, and the fourth is the only Christmas tree I've seen...and it was in the subway.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-86285266893328772602009-12-25T10:59:00.002+09:002009-12-25T11:36:44.073+09:00Christmas in KoreaI'm not going to lie, I'm not really in the Christmas spirit this year. There is no snow, nothing is decorated (i.e. no trees and no lights), and my family and friends are thousands of miles away; it feels like any other day, except that I don't have to teach tonight. It's really weird to "hear" (via Facebook) everyone back home talking about Christmas. Christmas just isn't big here so it's hard to feel festive and get excited about a holiday that's barely noticed. Oh well. The big holidays here are Chuseok (like Thanksgiving) and Children's Day. The women dread Chuseok because they have to slave away all day, and the men love it because they get to do nothing (again, like Thanksgiving). Children's Day is in May, and the kids get the day off from school and people give them little gifts. So yeah, Merry Christmas to everyone back home...I really miss you and wish I was there to spend the holidays with you.<br /><br />Some little tidbits about Koreans: <br />They go to the beach to sit under an umbrella...they DO NOT want to get a tan, even though their skin would tan quite easily, because they want to look white. They think white skin in beautiful, so the whiter the better. <br />Similarly, they think black people are funny/odd/strange/dirty. They can't believe that the Americans chose a black man to be their president. They have the "Why on earth would they do that?" kind of attitude about it.<br />There is no sound for "z" in the Korean alphabet, so Koreans use "j" for English words that start with "z." So the age old joke among ESL teachers here is about the Jews. If you ask kids if they want to go to the zoo, or if they like the zoo, they say, "No Teacher, I hate joos (Jews), they are dirty!" Kind of funny. <br />I saw man in his 50's riding a bicycle while wearing a business suit. Kind of an interesting little spectacle.<br /><br />I did go grocery shopping finally so I have some of the basics. I was a little bummed that I had to pay almost six bucks for a jar of peanut butter, but PB is a necessity in Jaime Land. I almost bought some stuff to make my apartment look a little more like someone actually lives here. Day 2 & 3 of teaching were more enjoyable than the first day because the material was far more interesting and I'm getting to know my kids a little better. And I successfully navigated my way to Daegu Station to pick Angie up when she got off the train last night. It was about half an hour walking briskly from my place to the station and about 40 minutes at a more leisurely pace. <br /><br />So yes, Ang is up for the long weekend, and we'll be heading to the MoonKkang Christmas party this evening. The rest of the weekend is up in the air, but we'll probably do a bit of exploring in my neighborhood and around downtown Daegu. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas...I'll be missing you!!!Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-56360426054307044752009-12-22T23:53:00.002+09:002009-12-23T00:09:00.652+09:00Official BeginningToday was the day I officially settled in to life in SK. I moved from my temporary apartment to my permanent residence in San-gyeok dong (dong means something similar to neighborhood). My apartment is a bit smaller, but it's warmer and more cozy. My bed is also a smidge softer, but still not enough to be comfortable. I'm working on getting some kind of foam to put over the mattress. I'll post pics of the new apartment soon. This also means I have a new neighborhood to explore. I'll tackle that task within the next few days or so, hopefully. Somehow I have to find a place to do some grocery shopping, too. I've just been getting odds and ends to tide me over, but now that I'm in my new place I need to eat real food.<br /><br />I did order take out today from a restaurant near my school. It was challenging because the menu was in Korean, and there were no pictures. I just ordered bulgogi because I tasted it once before and knew that I liked it. The woman tried to talk to me while I was sitting there waiting for my food, and fortunately Kyung Tae taught me how to say "I don't understand" last night. She was persistent though, and all I was able to do was smile, shake my head, and repeat. I can't wait to take Korean lessons so I can stop feeling like such a lazy foreigner.<br /><br />School wasn't too bad, all things considered. Most classes seemed to respond well to me. I showed them pictures of my family and friends, and every single class, no exceptions, oooh-ed and aaah-ed over how "handsome" my brother is. And not just the girls, either. It was quite amusing. One girl said my dad looks friendly. Every single class picked out the one Asian student on my "American" softball team and called me out on it. "Teacher, Korean?" "No, she is Chinese." "Oh, but not American..." Anyway, I had one class with only four students, and they're middle school age so they're a bit less interested in participating. That class was a bit painful, but we managed. My last class today was all girls except for one poor boy who somehow got stuck in that class. They were a lot of fun because they were very interested in engaging me and each other. It was a nice way to end the evening. Tomorrow is a shorter day, thank goodness. Only one day and I'm already pooped.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-57283289839799177232009-12-22T23:50:00.002+09:002009-12-22T23:52:01.176+09:00Address CorrectionIn my address for sending mail, it's "Sam-bu-vill 305ho", not 303. And it should be 305 in the Korean part too.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3362287509002766560.post-82860219434633009742009-12-22T08:24:00.002+09:002009-12-22T08:28:58.277+09:00Address<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMKP8OBrUSO57ef3iTX52Bj5lY_g02-H45xENgPmJhuPf2SiYgcHkFDYN_CDJLZcYDaRVJF80HGFhNW1i2AanBGxnE3Cx3XHx-8xXbUT53KiwiR6SFndOKpzyQDAigfeiNhpg4YMXVwg/s1600-h/IMG_2933.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMKP8OBrUSO57ef3iTX52Bj5lY_g02-H45xENgPmJhuPf2SiYgcHkFDYN_CDJLZcYDaRVJF80HGFhNW1i2AanBGxnE3Cx3XHx-8xXbUT53KiwiR6SFndOKpzyQDAigfeiNhpg4YMXVwg/s320/IMG_2933.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417834706057797218" /></a><br />So here are my addresses...I think if you click on the picture it will open up a bit bigger, and then you should just be able to print it out and slap on the appropriate address. The Korean script doesn't seem to be able to make it through my email (it comes out as little arrows) so we'll try this instead. And if you want the mail to make it here in less than 3 months, definitely make sure you use the Korean script.Jaimehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13178142942926318235noreply@blogger.com0