Bangkok

We've made it to Thailand! There were no problems and we met up with Min at the airport. We're really enjoying it here; there's lots to see and do. Everything is cheap here, so that's kinda fun, too. The coolest thing I (H) bought was a fresh fruit smoothy for about 70 cents. We've seen many historical sites as well, including an Ancient city that was mostly destroyed by the Burmese army a few hundred years ago.
Tonight is New Year's Eve so we'll have to ring in the new year in Bangkok! It will be hard to go back to the cold weather; it's been in the upper 80's-low 90's here all week.
Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!!!

Flight Info

This is our last night at our place for a few nights! We leave Tongyeong tomorrow evening, when we begin our journey to Thailand! We'll leave here on a 7:30pm bus for Busan. We plan on crashing at a cheap motel near the bus terminal. Then on Thursday morn, i.e. 6am, we'll catch a taxi to take us to the airport. Our flight flies out at 8:30am on 12-28. We are flying Thai Airways, flight TG 651 from Busan to Bangkok. Our expected arrival time is 12:20pm Thai time (2 hours behind Korea time).
Our return flight is scheduled to leave from Bangkok on Jan 2, at 11:50am. We get into Korea at 18:45. This is flight TG 654 (Thai Airways).
We are anxious and excited to get the show on the road! The local weather on Xmas and today was unseasonably warm, mid 50's and sunny. They say that tomorrow it's gonna drop way down and keep dropping for the rest of the week. That's all we know for now. If we don't get a chance to post before January, Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Unexpected Test

Tonight at Taekwondo we were surprised to learn that we would be testing for the 6th chapter this evening. We had about 15 minutes to practice, and then we did our test with the other students watching. Normally all the students participate together, but since we won't be there to take the test on its normal date, we had to go alone. We have an Xmas party for H's work the night of the test, so our instructor was nice and let us test early. We think we did well, and hopefully the next time we go to class we will be red belts!
This week has really gone by slowly, but tomorrow's Friday! Saturday will be a busy day since we will both be participating in holiday programs. It doesn't seem like the Christmas season this year, as there is no snow and we're away from family. It really snuck up on us!

Change of Plans!

On Saturday, we visited Tongdosa, one of the three most important temples in Korea. It's said to hold important relics from Buddha. We took a bus from Tongyeong to Unyang, which was 2.5 hours long. Then we caught a city bus to the temple, which was about a 3o minute ride. The weather was brisk but we were dressed accordingly and had no problems. It even tried snowing once we got to the temple, but gave up quickly and the sun peaked out not long after that. We had a nice time and enjoyed the fresh air.
The ride home was less than desirable, as we ended up on a wrong bus and took an extra hour to get home. But, one bump in our transportation plan in 5 months isn't too bad, so no complaints here.
We're getting excited for our Thailand trip. We just learned today that we will be staying longer than originally planned! Instead of a rushed 3 days, we will have a solid 5 days in the Bangkok area. We now leave the morning of Dec. 28th, and get to Thailand at 12.20pm (no time change necessary). Our flight home doesn't leave until Jan. 2 at noon! We are so pumped, and are now researching more attractions to visit! B has found an ancient city that he's pumped about. I'm looking forward to seeing my friend the most! The warm weather won't be bad, either.
Both of our schools have Holiday programs on Saturday afternoon. We then have Sunday and Christmas Monday off; we may try to take in one more Korean temple in 2006! Hopefully everyone is doing well, we miss you.

Holidays

We bought a small white Christmas tree! It came furnished with cute lights and a few ornaments. The two kids are Jane and Sue, sisters who are also H's students.
Today (12-14), I had a party with one of adult classes. We went to a noray-bong, AKA karaoke room. They are very popular here and are everywhere. The woman on the left, Sandra, just opened one, so we went to wish her well and sing a few ballads.

Brown Belts

We passed our test last Thursday, and are now brown belts! This is exciting; we are moving right along. Our instructor told us that we will be testing for the black belt in March. I guess there are 4,000 students who meet together, and all test for the black belt. We have been learning "chapters", and we are on the 6th chapter now. There are 8 in total. When we get to the test, there will be a panel of judges, and 10 students are in a group together. The judges decide which chapter we must perform; they can choose any chapter between 4 and 8. Our instructor said they almost always choose 8, as it's the most difficult to do! After we perform that, we must do a sparring portion. Girls spar with girls, and boys with boys. You spar with someone who is the same height as you. According to our instructor, we only have to spar for 20 seconds! However, if you don't do any moves, you must begin again. So, basically, we have to go out kicking for 20 seconds. The test is 80% our chapter performance, and 20% our sparring ability.
Both our schools are doing holiday shows on December 23rd, and everyone is busy getting ready for them. It should be cute, however B's school has a lot planned. His may turn into a 2-day show! The temps are steadily falling, but the sun is usually out in the morning and afternoon.

Weekend Photos

Friday night at our place: L-R Anna, Alice, Lauren, Arnie, Jeff, B, and Roxy.



Heather with the birthday girl: her mom is B's director and her dad is our TKD instructor. Brandon with his medal after finishing the 5K.
Michelle's wedding. It's common to take large family photos, and then friends pose with the couple.

Busy Weekend!

Our weekend started Friday night with a party at our house. In all there were 10 people; mostly co-workers. B did meet a fellow foreigner from Indiana, and he also came. We had pizza, snacks, beer, fruit soju, and Jenga! Our last guest left about 3am! Saturday we walked to town and bought a present for B's director's daughter (her father is our TKD instructor). It was her 1st birthday party, one of the biggest birthdays celebrated in Korea (the other is the 60th bday). This was our 1st such party, and it was a good experience. The food was plentiful and tasty, and the festivities were interesting.
This morning we awoke early and headed to our 5K race. This was a first for both of us, and it was a very good time. It was a bit chilly today, but once we got going we were sweating. This marathon is a big deal, and a famous Korean actor even started the morning with an appearance. We didn't win the race, but we weren't dead last either! It took us exactly 35 minutes to run 3.1 miles. For not practicing at all, this is a decent time for us! After the race, we booked it home, showered, and changed into our "dress up" clothes yet again. One of my co-workers got married at 2pm, and we were able to see the ceremony. It was our second Korean wedding, and it was enjoyable.
One sidenote: 2 American guys introduced themselves to us. They are in the Army and stationed in Daegu. One of them, Marty, informed us that he was from Sioux Falls, SD! Wow, what a small world! He's been in Korea for 2.5 years and really likes it here. He's upset since he's being transfered in a few months. Well, I asked him how he did, and it turns out that he won the 10K!! That was pretty cool. I'm sure there was an award show, but we didn't have time to watch it.

A Wonderful Day in Tongyeong

Yesterday Brandon and I met up with our friends Arnie and Roxy. We started the day by renting two tandem bikes; we rode them down the boardwalk along the water. The view was amazing and the sun was shining so it was a great time. We stopped at a place along the path and had a nice lunch, too. After we returned the bikes, we drove to a Buddhist temple on Mireuksan (the mountain we climbed a few months ago). It was very peaceful there, and also beautiful. Next we headed to Gala Park, which overlooks many of the islands of Tongyeong. The view was incredible! We then headed back into town where we met up with our friend Alice. We all ate a light dinner and walked around window shopping.
Luckily we did all of our outdoor adventures yesterday; today it's rainy and cold. We have plenty of housework to do around here, so we won't get bored!
Also, it's official: We are going to Thailand at the end of December! We will be visiting my friend Min, who studied in the USA for a year when I was in high school. It's quite warm in Thailand, in the 80's, so that will be a plus also! We will be there for 4 days, but don't have any of the other details worked out yet! It will surely be a great Christmas present though!

A view from the bike trail that we took.

Arnie, Brandon, Roxy and Heather! We rode tandem bikes and had a picnic along the boardwalk.

Jinju

On Saturday, we visited Jinju, a town of about 350,000 people. It's about an hour from Tongyeong. We had been to this city one previous time for the Lamp Festival, but everything was crowded at that time and we didn't get to take it in. Yesterday it was pretty much deserted, and quite peaceful. The castle and its grounds are on a hill overlooking the city on one side, and the river on the other. The trees were beautifully colored and it was a great experience. There is also a huge history museum, but once we saw the size of it up close, we knew that we would not have time to conquer all of it in an hour. So, we firugre that we will be back in the future to walk through that.
Today we are going to get some grocery shopping done, and just relax a bit. It's hard to believe that we've been here 4 months already; time is really flying by!

1) B and H b y the big bell inside the Castle Park-Jinju.
2) Entrance to the Castle.
3) H and B down on the river bank.

TKD Festival

Last weekend we watched the Tongyeong Taekwondo Festival. Students from 15 or so TKD schools competed individually all day long. The youngest kids were about 6 or 7, and the oldest were high school students. There were many spectators, as TKD is a native Korean sport. We snapped a few photos in the process!
In the first photo you can see many floral arrangements. Whenever there is a grand-opening or a big event, friends and family bring flowers and/or plants to show support. The whole stage was lined with them!

Fall Photos

1 & 2-Halloween w/ the kindergarten class.
3- B and H at the harb farm.

4 &5- At the park (name unknown)

Halloween & Fieldtrip

On the 31st, both of our schools celebrated Halloween. As the holiday is not normally celebrated in Korea, the schools were the only places partying. Some students dressed up, and there was candy to be had by all!
Saturday we took a fieldtrip with H's school; it was for the kindergartener's and their parents only. We had a two hour bus ride to a famous park, which was peaceful and beautiful. Next, we visited an herb farm. We were treated to an herb lunch, we made herbal soap, and even an herbal candle! It was really a beautiful place and the colorful leaves only added to the scene! There was a pond at the farm, and of course one of the students managed to fall in. Other than that, there were no problems and everyone had a nice time.
We had a rainstorm today, but after it quit the weather was quite comfortable. There are no big plans for us that we know of right now. TKD is still going well, and we are working on getting our brown belts soon!

A few classroom pics

H's kindergarten class:the girls singing a song for the class.
B's class: a little cutie.
H's favorite Tues/Thurs class. Notice that the boy on the right is picking his nose.
B's class: good work buddy!

Our teacher explaining something important.
Since we are one of the lowest belt colors, we stood toward the back.

Blue Belts

It's official: we passed our Taekwondo test and have moved up to the level of blue. The next section we are learning is a big step up in the difficulty area, so our next test should be interesting.
There's nothing exciting happening this week, although we are getting ready for Sunday as we will be attending a wedding. It will be an interesting event I am sure.
The weather is starting to get chilly; it seemed like it just changed overnight, but the cold is definitely on its way in.
Next week for Halloween our schools will be having little parties, so we are still searching for costumes. I will be sure to add pictures!

Chuseok Meaning

A few weeks ago Korea celebrated Chuseok, which is their Thanksgiving holiday. It differs from the American holiday in many ways. First, the big part of the holiday centers around giving thanks to ancestors who are thought to have provided the harvest for the year. Family members visit the graves of ancestors, providing food for the spirit to eat. This ceremony lasts as long as the family deems appropriate. Many of the ancestors are buried in the mountains, so families travel long distances sometimes just to reach the grave. When we were in Andong, we traveled on a fairly rural road in order to get to a famous shrine. We saw dozens of cars parked on the side of the road, and many people carrying large dishes and heading up the hills and mountains.
After the family has given thanks to their ancestors, they bring the uneaten food to a home and everyone partakes in eating a huge traditional meal. This is the same concept of Americans chowing on turkey and yams, but they have different foods. The preperation for the meal can be quite time consuming, and I have been told by all women here that many suffer from "Chuseok Syndrome." They dislike preparing for the holiday as it takes a lot of time. There are also many traditional Korean movies on TV, and many people relax and watch movies.
We have a friend who actually ate so much during Chuseok that she made herself sick and had to go to the hospital. The food is just so amazing that people eat as much as they can. I (H) had the opportunity to eat some leftovers at my director's house, and I can see how they overeat! The foods were quite tasty!

Lazy weekend

We're taking the weekend off to relax in peace and quiet. Nothing exciting from the last two or three days to report. The temperature only gets up to the mid-70s so it's almost too cold for shorts... almost. But since the sky is usually clear we get plenty of sunlight to keep warm. Did I mention it doesn't snow in Tongyeong? The rest of the country does get snow so we'll be able to see it at our leisure. Next week we'll test for blue belts in Taekwondo. That's all for now

B+H

Japan

On Tuesday morning we left for Japan and took a high-speed boat. Our trek lasted three hours, and the water was smooth as ever. Fukuoka, Japan was our destination, a city of 1.33 million people. We made it to the Korean Embassy, to take care of our visa issue, and from there we attemted to see the sites. We've been to many foreign towns, but this one was difficult for us to manuever. There were a few nice souls who offered help, but the layout of the city was not user-friendly, and after about 4 hours of walking and seeing little, we gave up and headed back to our hotel. We did manage to take in an amazing shrine, and the map claimed there were more out there, but they were out of our reach.
This morning we went back to the Embassy bright and early to fetch our visas. Then we had a bit of time to kill so we walked around a mall, got some lunch, and got back on The Beetle (our small ship). We made it back to Korea in just under 3 hours, and our bus from Busan to Tongyeong brought us back home. We've traveled quite a bit lately and we plan to lay low this weekend!

A Few Pictures from our Adventures!

The Lantern Festival at Jinju. That dragon spat real fire by the way!






This shot was in Andong. Seoul Shrine.











Seoul City Gate: We didn't know that we would stumble upon the changing of the guard ceremony! (They are to the right in the yellow garb!

Great Vacation

We have returned home from a most excellent holiday vacation. On Wed. we boarded a bus in Tongyeong at 7am. After over 6 hours on the bus, we arrived in Andong, an historic and 'cultural' town. We were able to see such countries as Poland, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Latvia, Mexico and India perform their traditional dances. Also, we saw the Hahoe Dance, famous in Korean history. The weather was sunny and warm, and B captured many great photos. We were even asked by some Koreans to be in the photos with them. At the festival, we were given balloons and traditional snacks by strangers.
Friday afternoon we boarded another bus and headed to Seoul. We thought the ride was a 3 hour ride, but it turned out being closer to 5 with the horrible traffic. We stayed in a hotel downtown, and really loved the great location. We took in two palaces, some city gates, and also a few parks with historic artifacts. Also, we enjoyed seeing the city. The first night, it was a ghost town, as many people were in their hometowns for the holiday. Last night, however, was a different story. There were people everywhere and there were many things to see.
Today we checked out some of the open-air markets, where souvenirs are everywhere. On our way to check out the south city gate, we were lucky enough to see the changing of the guard.
Tomorrow we work a full day and on Tuesday we leave bright and early for Japan. We will be back Wednesday night.

Jinju

Today we ventured to Jinju for a lantern and fireworks festival. We went with one of Heather's directors and some of her friends. The lanterns were more like parade floats, floating on the river in front of the castle. At night the lanterns were lit, the castle was covered in flood lights and then the fireworks came. It was really amazing but we have to take a 7am bus so you can't see the pictures just yet. Depending on the internet situation the rest of the week and our schedule we may get to putting some on but maybe not. Tomorrow we leave for Andong for a mask dance festival, Friday to Seoul for the weekend, Monday classes and then Tuesday to Japan. Busy, busy. We'll write when we can. B+H

The Entrance to the Geoje POW Camp.

The Pebble Beach in Geoje.

Brandon, Heather, and Arnie on the beach.

Arnie enjoying some raw fish at his father's restaurant. It's common to place meat/fish in the middle of lettuce, with various sauces.

Anticipation

This weekend we visited Goeje, a popular tourist island about 30 minutes from Tongyeong. We went with Brandon's buddy from work. Our day started with us visiting the POW Camp from the Korean War. The site was set up quite well and we learned and saw many interesting things. Next, we took a crazy ride down a windy road, to find a beautiful pebble beach! The plan was to board a small tour boat and head to another island. The problem was that when we got there, the wind was too strong and the coast guard restricted tour boats. So, we shot some pics and headed back to Tongyeong. Arnie's father owns a raw fish restaurant, so we were treated to our first raw fish eating experience. Heather enjoyed it much more than B, who ate approximately one bite before throwing in the towel! At least he tried it!
Today we met our friends Anna and Alice downtown Tongyeong and had some lunch. Then they found a place for Heather to get a haircut, as she was getting quite shaggy. She got a haircut, wash, blowdry, and style for 10bucks (tip included). Later we were invited to her director's home for a nice dinner. One of the students' fathers gave the teachers fresh shellfish as a Thanksgiving gift, and we ate them in a tasty stew.
Monday is the only day we have class for our first week in October, and our plans include going to Jinju for a lantern festival on Tues., the Andong Mask Festival Wed and Thurs, and Seoul Fri-Sun. We will inveitably have some great stories and pictures to share soon!
PS- Our first TKD test was Friday, but the teacher only told us, "good." We will find out in class on Monday!

Weekend #10

Saturday we tried to take a ship out to Maemuldo Island because it's the posterchild of all the islands in the area. After futily trying to get information online we jumped in a cab and went to the boat terminal. When we got there we ran into someone who happened to speak some English and took us up to the ticket counter to tell us the the coast guard decided the weather was too bad for passenger ships. Since this was our third attempt to take this trip it was a little disheartening but we consoled ourselves with Baskin Robbins and tour of a local temple here in town. Sunday Brandon called the ticket office and was able to wrestle an answer whether ships were going to the island: yes, in half an hour. We through our shit together and jumped in a cab. We made it on the ship and it's first call was at Hansando, the island we went to last time we couldn't go to Maemuldo ('do' is the suffix for 'island' ['sa'=temple {san= mountain}]). We killed an hour waiting for our boat to leave and then we headed for Maemuldo. It turns out our boat only drove around the island and did not actually stop. While we were quite jealous of the people walking on the island just seeing it was pretty incredible. One more week of class before our big vacation for Thanksgiving. Plans are still in the works because you have to beat information on schedules out of Koreans (mostly our directors). Until next time....

Chungyeolsa Temple
Gifts to Admiral Yi Sun Sin from the Chinese Emperor
The famous "turtle ship" used to defeat the Japanese

a dry fountain

Crossing between Maemuldo and Samaemuldo

Maemuldo

Foiled plans

We had meant to go to Busan again this weekend but yesterday we learned another typhoon was coming and the heavy rain all night verified the insinuation. This morning the rain had quit but Heather was sick again so we stayed in Tongyeong. Sunday the rain is supposed to return so this weekend is awash (pun intended). Winter is coming so we're running out of time do some things yet this year and we're already booked for a few of the coming weekends. When the Koreans have their Thanksgiving celebrations we'll be spending a long weekend in Andong for the International Mask Dance Festival (www.maskdance.com). We also need to make a visa run to Japan very soon. At the end of the month we'll both test for our second belt in Taekwondo, yellow.

Our week is halfway done! We are planning on going to Busan this weekend. Our friend Anna has offered to show us around the city and introduce us to some of her friends. Also, we will be able to spend the night with some of her relatives. We hope that our plans don't fall through, as we are very excited to tour Busan with an experienced Korean guide!
TKD is going well for us, and we have learned the 1st chapter. This means we have learned the 1st routine. Everything must be executed with precision so we are still perfecting our moves. We have a very good teacher who helps us out a lot.
The weather has turned quite chilly all of a sudden. The natives tell us it is unseasonably cool, and we do not know when it will warm up. We don't mind the cool air, as it is a nice change from the terrible humidity. We are doing well here and really appreciate the notes from everyone. It gets a bit lonely from time to time but the internet is a great tool to help with that! All for now!

Brandon & Heather: Hosts

Tonight we had our first dinner party at our apartment. Our guests were the other teachers at Brandon's school, who we happened to drink with until 1am last night. Brandon made spaghetti, hard boiled eggs (a Korean staple), garlic bread (we couldn't find garlic salt so he mixed garlic powder and salt [nobody has an oven in their house so they don't sell the frozen garlic bread]). One of our guests was running late so we had to keep reheating the spaghetti in the pan but it went over without a hitch. Tomorrow's agenda is still up in the air but we would like to take a ferry out amongst the islands in the area.

Taekwondo

H and B are now officialy students of Taekwondo (TKD). The husband of Brandon's boss is a 6th degree black belt who happens to own a TKD school. Because of our hook-up we're getting free lessons. He's really nice so we're not too threatened by the language barrier (his wife is an english teacher but he knows very little). We've both got uniforms so now we need to earn a belt that isn't white like the uniform.

Sunday

We had planned on taking a ferry out to Maemul-do Island to enjoy the natural seascape but our info was slightly skewed in that we could take a ferry out there but there wouldn't be a return trip until tomorrow. We opted not to sleep on the beach this time and went to Hansan-do Island instead. Hansan-do is much closer (30mins. compared to 90) and it was also a scenic excursion. This island is famous as the headquarters of the army that defeated the Japanese all those years ago. On the island we visited a shrine to the Admiral and the old fortress he had built. After returning to Tongyeong we took a cab to the local history museum and were treated to an english tour. Across the road was a building remaining from the cities original fortifications so we checked that out as well. Our tour guide for the day was one of Brandon's coworkers, Anna. It's back to school for us tomorrow but it seems like next weekend is lining up to be very interesting...

Mireuksan

Saturday we awoke at 6.30AM in order to get a jump start on climbing the tallest mountain in Tongyeong! It's called Mireuksan (san means mountain) and it's about 20 minutes by bus from our apartment. We met one of B's students there, who was nice enough to show us the good trails. It took us about an hour to climb to the top, and it was a vigorous workout, to say the least! The view, of course, was spectacular, as our pictures can prove! It was amazing in that we were able to witness a hawk hovering and swooping in on its prey. It was even a unique experience for Katherine, the native. On our way down the mountain, we stopped to see a small temple. They were having a little worship time and the music was interesting to listen to.
We also ran into 5 fellow foreign teachers on the summit. They are all teaching in Tongyeong, and invited us to hang out with them sometime. The group seems to be very close and interact a lot with one another.
Our plan for tomorrow, Sunday, was to go to Geoje island with two of our friends, but we have just learned that the plans have fallen through. We are becoming accustomed to doing things at the last minute, but that doesn't necessarily mean we enjoy not knowing our plans right away.
The temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, but today it is quite hot again. After our morning exercise we are pretty tired and will relax around our apartment tonight. We are enjoying the peaceful apartment and are grateful for everything!