Andong Mask Dance Festival

     Saturday we had our first statistics mid-term. We haven't gotten our grades back yet, but we think/hope it went fairly well.  This Wednesday we have our mid-term for our Management class, which seems like it's going to be challenging. It will consist of 5 essays only. She says it may take us the full 3 hours of class to finish... and it covers 8 chapters!! (wish us luck).

     On Sunday we made a last-minute choice to go to the Andong Mask Dance Festival. We took the train 2 and a half hours south-east to Andong with our good friends Dayle and Hee Kyung.         This is our 3rd straight year at this festival; it's one of our favorites. Dancers from all over the world come to this small Korean town to dance their traditional dances. Yesterday we got to watch Thailand, Korea, and Russia. In between shows we walked around the large festival grounds, and tried free samples of treats, beer, and even got to try our hand at calligraphy! After the last performance, we taxied into town and had a wonderful dinner of fried pork and gimchi (quite tasty). We didn't get back to Wonju until 10pm; our one day weekend flew right by!!

Last week H's middle school had mid-terms. The kids went home at 1pm to study for the next day, and the teacher's had sports day: we played kickball & dodgeball. 

Our car battery died, & a nice man in a tiny delivery truck was nice enough to jump us. (Right after I flashed them with the camera, sparks flew when he connected the wrong ends....oops).

Last weekend we had to write our group paper; Chomps wanted to be part of the action, too!

Hee Kyung, Dayle, B & H boarding the train to Andong.

A masked dancer from Thailand.

Two Thai dancers getting the audience involved.

Russian dancers.

They brought their legs over their locked arms!

Russia's Finale!

A Full Day

Yesterday (Saturday) we woke up at 6am so that we could catch the 7 o'clock bus to Seoul. We had a meeting with members of our group since we have a big presentation this Wednesday. After that, we had stats class. At 12 we went to lunch with some new friends that we've met at uni, and were back on campus for our 1:30 organization class. Class finished at 4, and we caught the 4:40 bus back to Wonju, only to arrive to a downpour. We got home drenched, relaxed for a few hours, and then went to Beer Plus where we were hosting trivia night for some of the foreigners in our town. There are several new teachers now so we were able to meet some fun new people, and of course enjoyed trivia.
Today our plan is to write our parts for the big paper and organize a powerpoint presentation for Wed. This project is a big chunk of our final grade, so we need to do excellent work on it.
H's school has mid-terms this week so she only has classes Wed and Fri. Hopefully she'll be able to get a lot of work done. B's school is preparing for mid-terms, so he'll play a review game with them.

A great turnout for trivia: about 20 people came (one booth wouldn't fit in the pic).

The other night I was reading for class when I got up to get something. I came back 2 minutes later to find Chomps had stolen my seat.

How we go to school

Our commute to our school in Seoul takes roughly two hours. We take a taxi to the bus terminal in Wonju, and ride the bus for 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on traffic).

After arriving at the bus terminal in Seoul, we walk about 5 minutes to the subway station

We cross the street to enter into the subway station, where we then swipe our pre-paid subway cards on the turnstile and go to the tracks.

We wait for the train and everyone to get off so that we can hop on, and ride it for 15 or 30 minutes, depending on the bus terminal that we arrive at.

When we arrive at our stop, Sejong University, we swipe our cards again to let us leave the turnstile. Cost: $1.

Our school has a very unique front gate; traditional Korean style wooden gate.(The sign says, "Sejong University")

We take classes on the 4th floor of this new building. (The blue sign on the right side states that our uni is among only 4 in Korea to have an MBA program that is internationally approved.

Korean Thanksgiving & the Aftermath

Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) has come and gone already! The dates change every year as it is dependent upon the full moon cycle, and this year it was early. Starting Friday, Sept 12th we didn't have school; H went back the following Tues and B stayed home til Wed. There is a lot of variability between even the middle schools in our city: some friends had 5 days like B, and some only had the 3 day weekend.
We spent our holiday catching up on homework for 2 days. It was nice to stay home and just get some stuff done. Then on Sunday, the actual day of Chuseok, our friend Amy turned 25 so the foreigners had a big party at a river resort outside of town. There were about 15 of us and we all brought a dish to share. The theme was, "I can't believe you wore that to my party" so B wore and under-sized shirt and I dressed in mis-matching clothing like an old Korean lady (ajumma). We brought the game Catch Phrase, which the Aussies, Kiwis and Brits had never played, and it was a blast!
We're into our 3rd week of graduate courses at Sejong Uni, and our only major complaint is that it has been a major pain getting into Seoul on time. Just when we think we have a routine down, something comes up and throws a wrench in our timing. This Tuesday the aftermath of Chuseok made it so that one bus terminal was running 2 hours behind on tix, but luckily the other one had enough seats and we made it to Seoul. We have yet to have a smooth travel experience, so we're hoping that comes soon.
Our classes are progressing quickly. We already have a business stats mid-term on the 23rd, and an Organization of Mgmt. group paper and project due on the 27th. Needless to say, most of time is devoted to homework and reading.
Time for school again!!

Some friends and the food at the party.

Some of the guys playing cops and robbers as part of the photo competition that we had.

Chomps, the ever-curious cat.

1st Day of School & Band Festival

On Friday night we went to the Wonju Marching Band Festival; a show that attracts military marching bands from all over the world. We got fairly good seats and watched the opening show; got to see bands from Korea, USA, Canada, and Thailand (they had the best performance). The MC was a well-known actress, and some special guests included 2 Korean Olympic Medalists. To end the show, a Korean girls pop group came and sang 3 of their most famous songs. It was a good night!
Yesterday we got up super early (5am) and headed off to our 1st day of graduate school in Seoul. We picked up our books from the bookstore on-campus and were happy to learn that each book was only $35!!
In class, we met a lot of nice people (some used to live in our city) and made it through our 1st day of classes. This term we'll be taking Quantitative Business Analysis (stats) and Mgmt of Organization. We end this term in November, and then we'll be taking 2 different classes that will end in January. It's going to be a lot of work, but it'll be worth it in the end.
In the evening we went to the Seoul Film Festival, where we had won 2 free tickets from an internet contest. We watched a French film called "Rivals" which was decent. At least the tix were free!
This week we've got a 4-day work week, as it's Korean Thanksgiving already! We wanted to go
to Japan but we were mis-quoted and the tix are too spendy. So, we'll most likely hang out in Wonju and relax.

All of the bands performing Friday night joined in on the opening ceremony.

The Thai High School Marching band was amazing; they passed the flags thru the audience seconds after this shot was taken.

Chomps loves his new toy; our friend helped us order from the internet.

Getting into Rhythm

This is our first full week back at school, and so far things are going well. B's main co-teacher was transferred to a different school (as is customary in public schools) so he now has a temporary new co until a permanent replacement is found. Otherwise, things are the same at our schools. Same grades, same classes, and so on. There are 17 new teachers in our city, and one of them works in H's school (but in the high school section) but the others we have yet to meet.
Last weekend was fairly hot so on Saturday we took the bike to Gan-hyon river resort and had a lazy day on the water. Some friends came overto our place in the evening and we had a games night, which was a lot of fun!

This Saturday we have a busy day: We start grad school in the morning, we'll meet some friends for dinner, and then we're going to a film festival in the evening (H won 2 free passes on an internet contest). We're getting anxious to start Sejong and see what it's all about! We'll keep you posted.

Chomps is adapting well and getting cozy already. Our friends seem to like him, too

H reading on the river (taken pre-college group of 25 showing up).

Gan-hyun resort is 25 minutes from our house, a nice little retreat! ($2 admission charge)

A Few Snapshots

Basically a picture from everyday of our wonderful vacation.

Duluth Harbor, where we welcomed 3 old-time ships.

Fireworks show the next night in honor of the ships.

The middle sized ship setting off.

Up the North shore of MN, on Lake Superior.

The biggest ship (as seen from our day boat cruise).

High school friends Amanda (w/ daughter Lexi) and Anna

Good friends Tanya and John at Valleyfair.

B and I went to "America's Largest Water Park" Noah's Ark in WI.

Camping and river tubing with Todd and Manda.

Pool day with Mom, Gramma, and Emma.

Meeting up with HS friend Beth; had been 7 years since our last meeting!

Best friend and new mom Emily with husband Trent, new Gramma Tammy & lil Kaegan.

Mom's pup Hank with cute neighbor boy Dalton "Hi Header" (I love lil kid talk)

Long time pal Jvonne came to lunch with us right b4 our plane flew out for Korea!

Korea: Round 3

We've arrived safe and sound in Korea, and will start our 3rd year of teaching tomorrow. This time we brought our cat Chomps back with us, and he did very well on the plane rides. We got to Incheon Airport at 10pm last night, and missed the last direct bus back to Wonju by 2 hours. Instead of dealing with the hassle of finding a hotel with our cat and luggage, we took a taxi from East Seoul to Wonju. The driver assured us he would make the trip in 1 hour flat, which he did, but at one point we were going 102mph (scary). We got to our apartment at 2am and it just felt good to be home. Today we did some "housekeeping" such as grocery shopping, getting our internet back up and running again, and actual housekeeping!
We're very grateful that we were able to see as many family and friends as we did, we really made our visit last. Now it's back to the grind of work and, in a week and half, school! We'll be starting graduate school on September 6th in Seoul. We'll have night classes Tues and Weds, and all day Saturday. We'll keep you updated with that. Thanks to all of you who went out of your way to see us, it really meant a lot to us. Love from H, B & even Chomps!

Loving Every Minute

It's hard to believe that our vacation is half-way over, but we are enjoying every minute and making it count. We started our vacation at B's mom's house in Eau Claire. A few days after that we took the shuttle bus to the Mall of America where my mom picked us up and took us to Duluth. Three old-time ships sailed into the harbor there, and we got to watch from a look-out park. The next night they had a fireworks show so we went to the same place to enjoy those. We also spent a day on the lake, fishing, swimming, kayaking, and even bird-watching! H's sister Emma had a softball tourney one day, so we cheered her on. We also took a harbor cruise and got a quick historical run-down of Duluth.
After a week in Duluth, we headed south for Brainerd where we stayed with H's grandparents. We saw some family and old friends, but didn't get to stay long as we met up with Tanya and John in the cities on Friday. They took us to a cool Mexican restaurant and we enjoyed a few drinks while watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. Saturday the four of us went to Valleyfair, the largest amusement park in Minnesota; fun was had by all! Sunday we headed back to Wisconsin where H's pal Tara came to visit. There was a also a small family barbeque so we got to see more family. In the evening we met up with Kurt and Brooke and were introduced to their 5-monht old baby Sophia. B, Kurt, and Justin had a night out at Water St. while the girls chatted away and watched the Olympics.
Tara left Monday AM for work and we had our 1st official relaxing day where we didn't leave the house at all. Now we're in the process of sorting our 900 photos from the last year in Korea and getting them into albums. So far our trip has been amazing, and we'll make sure to get the most of our final days in the US.

Bring on the fun....and food!

We're arrived safely in the USA. Our flight experience wasn't the greatest this time, probably the worst we've had so far. It started when we got to the airport and the woman at the ticket counter said, "you don't have an entry stamp to get back into Korea, go to Immigration." The line at immigration was at least 60 people deep, so I put on a puppy face and 4 minutes later a woman helped me and told me I could buy the re-entry stamp once I had gone thru security. So, B and I went thru and found the office. It took almost an hour to get the stamp, and we spent all the Korean Won that we had on us, and by the time we got to our gate, they were boarding. We did meet a guy in immigration who worked in the same small city that we worked last year (I thought he looked familiar). Then, in line for our Tokyo flight, we ran into some Canadian friends who we had met on our Chinese tour.
The ride from Korea to Tokyo was smooth, no problems. We even had individual TVs on the seat in front of us (we didn't really need it for the 2 hour flight though). Our layover in Japan was under 2 hours, so we just hung out there, but when we got on our plane, and settled in for our 11 hour flight, we realized quickly that our seats were in the last row of the plane....66! And, of course that's right by the bathrooms. So there were people coming and going the whole flight. To top it off, there was a young girl in front of us who kept opening the window shades to let the sun in. Not cool when you're trying to sleep!
Luckily we arrived in MN 30 minutes early and breezed thru customs. B's mom picked us up and we're now in Eau Claire WI at her house. We've already met up with B's grandma/pa Hohlfeld and cousin Tasha, and it was great to see them. Tomorrow we're headed to Duluth MN to see H's mom!!

A Party Like None Other

On Friday, Brandon celebrated his 26th Birthday. We had a tasty Chinese lunch with a friend and then in the evening met up with many of our friends for a big bash. The evening started off with a pork BBQ at one of our fave restaurants. Good thing we made reservations as there were 14 of us! Then we moved onto the tent bar, where we met up with hagwon teachers who finished work at 10pm. Our friend Megan, who works in Incheon (we met her last year on top of a mountain) even made it to Wonju! After a few hours at the tent, we moved onto U2, a western style bar and somehow we got talked into going to a dance club. It was a very interesting experience at least. To end the night, about 8 of us went to a karaoke room to sing it up. We ended out night when the sun came up. Two more of our pals are headed back to England and last night was our last time to see them, so we really made it count.

Today we're taking care of things at home as we have to leave our apt at 5.30am to catch the airport shuttle bus. Our flight leaves at 11am, and arrives in Tokyo at 1.30. Then at 3pm we'll be on the long flight back to MSP, putting us in the US 11am the 27th. Super exciting!!

The gang enjoying dinner.

Not looking a day over 24, I promise ;)

Taking up a good portion of the Tent Bar.

H, Alex, and B. He's from England but studied a year at UW-Eau Claire. Small world!

Korean BBQ & Congrats!

On Tuesday, to kick off our vacation, we went to my co-worker's house for a small BBQ. It was a great night to be outside, and since they have a house in a quiet neighborhood, it felt like a small getaway! Wednesday we took the bus an hour to Chuncheon, where we updated our alien registration information. Today, Thursday, is a rainy day, and has been raining constantly since about 6am. This may be our welcome to the 2008 monsoon season.
We heard very exciting news that my best friend Emily Museus and her husband Trent have welcomed a new baby boy into the world on July 23rd! 7lb, 10oz healthy baby boy. We're so happy for the family and can't wait to meet the lil guy!
Tomorrow is B's 26th birthday so we're having a party with some foreigners in town. On the agenda:a pork BBQ dinner, drinks at the tent bar, and maybe even some karaoke.
We leave Korea on Sunday the 27th at 11am for America, and arrive the 27th (American time) at 12.25pm, MSP. Can't wait to see everyone!

B, Yerrin, and her dad enjoying the BBQ.

Last Week of Classes

We've got one more day of classes, and are looking forward to our summer vacation! Korea is still suffering a heatwave, and the poor students are busy sweating (and not concentrating) all day long.

This week H prepared a karaoke-type lesson for the last class. Students could choose any song and sing to their classmates. Some students showed their dancing abilities as well. One class was awarded choco-pies as their class received the most stickers for speaking English this semester (200 actually). Tomorrow she'll do the same at her small rural school as well.

B has been entertaining his students with a Japanese animation (translated into English). He's got to go to school for a half-day on Monday, but it's only for a closing ceremony.

Today was also the last Korean language class for H. One member is heading back to England so we had a group photo. Granted, 3 students were absent as they will be traveling starting this weekend, but it was a good last class.

7th grade class 1-2. The class with the most stickers!!

A typical meal for us: meat mix with added veggies, spicy cucumbers, raw veggies, lettuce.

Korean language class members: Heath, Vin, Annie, Amy, H, Sonya, and our teacher.

School Day Trip

On Tuesday B's school began their 3-day exam period, which means that he has 3 half-days this week. To kick off the big event, all of his teachers gathered Tues. afternoon and headed 2 hours south-east to a town called Jung-seon. This place is 'famous' for its rail bikes. An extensive set of railroad tracks are in the area, and some are now being used for this fun, touristy thing. About 30 teachers ended up going on the trip.

After the rail bike, they headed to an old gold mine cave, and took a walking tour through that. Soon it was time for dinner, and B ate a spicy chicken stew type meal. All in all it was a good day for him.

Yesterday was my last extra high school class, and today is my last extra mother's class. All of the mothers want me to continue this class next semester, but I'll be way too busy with university. So, tonight after our class they're taking my co-teacher and I out for dinner. The menu is a surprise, but I'm sure it will be tasty.

This is the 2-seater rail bike (they're pushed together in this picture).

There were also 3-seater options, which all of the teachers rode. B was with a P.E. teacher and his Vice Principal.

This was inside the former gold-mine/cave.

Two weeks ago one of the English teachers had a house-warming party (he invited all 40 of the teachers over for dinner, and most of us came). This is my friend Gyung-un, me, and my co-teacher Jinny b4 the meal.