B-ball

   Last Friday a big group of us went to watch the pro basketball team in our city. It turns out that they don't usually get a group of 18 foreigners to fill the seats, so they treated us to a number of goodies. Some of us got free water bottles; one of us got a signed ball, and we all got a slice of pizza from Domino's. We cheered our team on to an easy victory. After the game, we headed to the Pub to wish our friend Hank a safe trip back to Canada. B and I left early since we had to get up for our 1st class of the new term on Saturday.

  We started our Business Ethics course at 10 on Saturday; our professor is a fellow Minnesotan (and our travel agent's husband). The class has gotten off to a good start and promises to be interesting. We take this one Mondays and Saturdays. Our 2nd class will be Marketing Mgmt., but that one won't start until Dec. 9th. When it does start, we will take it 3-4 times a week for 4 weeks. It will be the most intense class we've ever done. 

 After class on Saturday we went to Costco, where we loaded up on some fun foreign foods. Back in Wonju, we went to our friend Sean's 25th b-day party. We ended up staying out until the wee hours of the night, so on Sunday we took it easy.

  This week is flying by, and on Friday we'll attend a wine and cheese party at our friend Emma's house. Then, after class on Saturday, we'll head back to Wonju to partake in a Thanksgiving dinner with some fellow ex-pat's.  We really wish we could celebrate back home with our families. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! 

Cheering the Wonju team to victory.

One of the 2 foreigners on the team: Reggie Okosa. His guard wanted him to keep walking but he stopped to sign a few more autographs for the kids instead.

Fun Weekend

On Friday night we had some friends over to play Catch Phrase (my fave board game of all time). I made some fruit soju and everyone had a good time. Then on Saturday we went into Seoul to meet up with some of our Sejong classmates. In all about 40 past and presents students turned up. We enjoyed chatting with our friends; we hadn't seen most of them in over a month. Today we did a bit of shopping in Seoul before coming back home and had a relaxing evening. 

One of our classes starts this Saturday already; it's our business ethics class and the professor is a fellow Minnesotan whose wife is our travel agent. Our other class, Marketing Mgmt, doesn't start until December, and will be an intensive, 4-week class. For now we're enjoying our last 5 days of relaxing time at home. 

Enjoying our break

We're half-way through our 3-week break from grad school, and have been making the most out of it. On Tues night there was another Promy Basketball game (we were the winners). On Friday, H's rural school took yearbook pictures (in Korea they only get yearbooks when they're graduating from that school) so it was fun to partake in some of the photos! After school, Amy and Heath came over as the girls got all dolled up for a 70's themed birthday party for one of our friends. Amy did my hair/makeup, and I even had a dress to wear! The night was really a blast.

Saturday 7 girls went to Emma's house for a full day of Pride and Prejudice viewing. The BBC version lasts 6 hours, so our whole day was spent watching and chatting. It was interesting; the 6 that stayed the whole time were from different countries: Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and the US. We finished the night at a nice Korean restaurant. The boys, meanwhile, enjoyed a game night of their own.

Today we may just relax at home with Chomps. This Thursday there's a national test for students; B's been told he doesn't need to come to school that day while H is still waiting for word!

9th graders at H's rural school (17 in the whole class).

The leaves are at peak color right now!

Amy & I after she made me beautimous!! 

The girls all dolled up for 70's theme party.

Halloween

Happy (late) Halloween & Happy Election Day to everyone. Halloween was fun for H- her rural school kids dressed up and went trick-or-treating at the school. That evening B and I and a few friends dressed up in costumes and went to watch the Dongbu Promy basketball game (the pro team in our city). We were the winners AND we found out that our mugs were featured on ESPN a few times! We're stars now  ;)

 We're really enjoying our 3 week break from grad school. We get to come home every night after work and just hang out. Chomps seems to be enjoying the extra company, also. We'll start back up for term 2 on November 22nd, but for now we're enjoying our down time.

Today H's school has their PE test; so the students have to do the mile run, push-ups, sit-ups, sit and reach, the 50 meter run, and long jump. The kids aren't looking forward to it at all. Nothing else happening here at the moment. Hope everyone is enjoying their fall and doing well.

8th graders all dressed up for Halloween!

Nick, Dayle, H, B and Heath at the basketball game.

My co-teacher's kids came to trick-or-treat and stayed to play with Chomps.

Chomps curled up a lil ball.

Fall Leaves

   Yesterday we had class as usual in Seoul, but after class met up with a guy who gave us some of his used books. He's given us books before, so it was nice to chat with him for a bit (and now we have some really good reads waiting for us on our shelf). We're getting closer to our final exams; only one full week of classes left and then it's go-time on the 28th and 29th! We're looking forward to a tiny break in between this term and next (maybe 3 weeks).

  Today we took a break from studying and took the bike for a short ride into the country. The rice fields and leaves were so vibrant with colors; it was really nice to see. The temperature was just perfect, too, but we know the cold will be here soon.

  Nothing else too exciting going on right now, just staying busy with work and school. 

Hanging out next to some rice fields.

An elderly couple gathering their harvest.

Love the colorful leaves!!

Hot-Air Balloon Fest

  On Saturday we had our second statistics exam. It was a lot more difficult than the last one, but luckily we were allowed a "cheat sheet" so hopefully that helped us. After class we took a bus 2 hours south-east to Daejeon, Korea's 3rd-largest city. They were holding an International Hot Air Balloon Festival that we really wanted to see.

  We got into the city around 7pm, and after a bit of confusion, found the festival grounds. The balloons were set up right along the Gap River in the middle of the city, and it was quite impressive. We got dropped off on one side of the river, took some photos from afar, and then walked across the floating bridge to get an up-close view. They were lighting them up one by one, and in the dark it looked really cool.

  After awhile we got hungry and found this restaurant that over-looked the whole festival. The food was good and the view was great. We got back to the fest just in time to catch a few fireworks being set off.  A bit after 10 we started walking to find a hotel, but ended up jumping in a cab 45 mins later (we weren't in the 'hotel part' of town). Sunday morn we got up and headed back to the festival grounds, where they happened to be giving free balloon rides. We waited in line for 45 mins and took advantage of the short trek in the balloon (basically up 20ft and then back down again) but it was still really fun.

  There's a Costco in Daejeon, so we went there again to pick up a few things. We found cereal, bagels, and tortillas.

  This week we've got no tests for Uni, but in 2 weeks we have final exams for both classes. It's crazy how time flies.  Hope everyone is well :D

PS- I've posted 60 pics of our fall experiences on my facebook acct, so click here  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2073230&l=2f50b&id=184902869

 

Hot air balloons by night.

The beautiful daejeon Landscape.

In line for the big ride.

Up, up, and away!!

Foundation Day & Festivals

Friday, October 3rd was Korea's Foundation Day, so we didn't have class. We headed an hour and a half south-east to Chungju, where there was an Internatl Martial Arts Festival happening. There were 30 countries in this fairly small city to show off their native countries dances. We were able to see Brazil, Australia's Aboriginies, Korea's Taekyun, New Zealand and Kenya. It was really nice to see the traditional dress of all the countries. Our friend Amy came with us, and it was a really good time.

   Saturday morn we headed into Seoul for class, and when we finished at 4pm, we headed to the financial district to take in a Fireworks Show. It was a competition between Hong Kong and Korea, with each show lasting 25 minutes. There were tons of people, and it was a bit overwhelming. We went with Heath and Amy, and it was a good time. We all spent the night in Seoul and on Sunday morn we got up and went to Costco (similiar to Sam's Club) where we stocked up on Western food! We were happy to find the following foods: bacon, salami, sour cream, muffins, tortilla chips, American brand granola bars and crackers!!

   This week we're busy with classes; our final exams will be at the end of October for this term, so there are lots of things to get ready for. Luckily we'll get a 3 week break in between this term and next (we really need a break).

   This Saturday we have a statistics midterm, and after that we're going to head to Daejon (2 hours south east of Seoul) for a hot air balloon festival. It should be really cool, so stay posted for pics from that!! For now, enjoy some pics from last weekend:

Rice is almost ready to be harvested, and it has turned a bright green color.

This was our view on the way to Chungju.

Korean Martial Art Tae-kyun (similar to Taekwondo)

An aboriginal tribe from Australia.

This is in Seoul's financial district Yeoido (you can see that tall building to the left: that's the 63 Building, the tallest in korea).

Hong Kong did their show for 25 minutes, and Korea went right after.

The crowds of people were ridiculous: this is a major road that has been completely stopped due to pedestrians (and motorists) stopping and taking pics in the middle of the road.

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!