The weekend

Saturday we took a trip with Heather's director, Gavin, and a couple whose daughter is one of H's students. We traveled northeast to the Sea of Japan and stayed at a rather posh resort. We didn't arrive until 6pm and it was raining so we didn't get to swim or play golf but we had a good time eating bulgoge and drinking beer and soju (something like watered down gin). Sunday we packed up and headed to Gyeongju to tour Bulguksa, ancient Silla burial mounds and the national museum. Bulguksa was incredible to walk around and B was blessed by a Buddhist monk. The burial mounds were impressive as well, the kings and their treasures were enclosed in a wooden case and then it was covered with tons of stones, a foot of clay and then a yard of dirt. If anyone tried to enter the tomb from any direction other than from directly on top they would be crushed by falling stones. H's school has vacation through Wednesday but she's going to teach a class of housewives on Tuesday. B has Thurs and Fri off.

Weekend Photos

The 3 pictures are of the most famous temple in S. Korea- the Bulguksa. It is in the city of Geoung-ju, which is a famous city that has been around since the Silla Dynasty-(1500 years old!)
The beach photo was taken along the ocean, on our drive from our resort to Geoung-ju. It was quite hot so many people were cooling off in the water!

Fun Night

Last night my (H) director took us out for a nice meal after class. Brandon was able to come also, and there was fun had by all! The restaurant was so unique, and the food was just amazing. It seemed as if the food never stopped coming! There were about 12 of us, including all of the teachers from my school and other friends.
The fun did not stop when we got done eating...Eight of us went to a karaoke bar to sing some songs. This was a different kind of place, as each party gets their own private room. There were multiple tv screens, a large round couch and even a disco ball and flashing lights! Everyone sang at least one song, and many others sang several. We were there for about 2 hours when we decided we should be going. Brandon, Gavin (our roommate and fellow teacher), and I got a ride from Amy, a Korean teacher. Before taking us home she brought us to the beachside. We walked along the pier, saw some late-night fishermen, and enjoyed the atmosphere. We finally got home about 1am and were quite tired, but very content!
It seems that we will be going on a mini-vacation with my director and some other people this weekend. We are not entirely sure of the details, but are very used to going with the flow here. We will, I am certain, have great pictures and stories to share when we return. On Mon-Wed, I have vacation. On Thurs and Frid, Brandon will have vacation. This time our schedules do not mesh, but hopefully next vacation they will!

My Director took us out to a great restaurant after work! I am eating crab legs as an appetizer! (YUM YUM)
This is a unique restaurant we are told. They bring the meat to your table and you cook it! You can see the pots built into the tables for the coals.
This was our party last night! Most of them are school teachers at my school, but the lady and man closest to the front are parents of a student. The lady, Jennifer, is also in my adult class.
Yes, I am learning to use chopsticks!
Just another shot of the interior, the pipes are brought down when the meat comes so as to grab the smoke.

Busy street by downtown.
Some streets are very narrow when two cars are trying to go down at the same spot!

Beatiful picture of the boats.
Many restaurants require that you take off your shoes before entering. Then you sit on the floor to eat.

We ended up going out with Heather's co-workers tonight so I'll put on pictures in the morning.

My Side of the Story

I did turn 26 (in Korean years) on the 25th and I did eat chocolate cake with chopsticks (a picture was taken but I'm not sure when we'll get it). I work for a different school than Heather but I have to walk 40 minutes each way while Heather gets shuttled around. I like my school and on MWF I go to a shipyard 20 minutes outside of town to teach some of the workers. I work from 3:30 - 8:20 teaching kids and every night from 8:30 - 9:30 I teach an adult class. The adults always want me to go drinking with them (seems like a popular thing to do in Korea) so I'm sure I will once or twice or three times.... It sounds like our next two weekends may be full of adventure because the directors and some of the parents want to take us around the area (we'll be prepared with the camera this time). Tonight I'll take my camera to work and get some pictures of the city and my school. Check back in 10 hours!

Birthday Wishes

Today (the 25th) is Brandon's birthday. Although I told him I didn't have a gift for him, he was pleasantly surprised when he stopped by my work on my break and was treated to a present, a cake, and singing teachers ready to wish him a special day! My director, Mrs. Jung, bought him a very tasty cake, which was eaten with chopsticks :) I bought him a nice pair of leather sandals, as this is the "popular" thing for men to wear. It is quite hard to find a men's size bigger than 10 here!
I worked at the downtown school today, and all went well. I even have an adult class, which is so much different than the the younger kids. Tomorrow I will be downtown for the adult class, and then at the island school for the remainder of my day. I am told that since this week is a holiday week, the schedule is quite hectic and ever-changing. Starting next week, things will be more regular!
Brandon is always done at 9.30pm, and he is not yet home. All things are going well for us, and we are happy to learn that two couples that we know have recently gotten engaged! (Emily Schmidt and Trent Museus, Joelle Niggeler and Mitch Wyffels). CONGRATS friends!!!!

One Down...

Today was our first day of teaching. I was at the school on the island, and began at 2pm. I (H) started the day with young children, IE) 5-7, and progressed from there. I ended the evening with 14 year olds which, let's just say, are much better behaved than the 1st few classes! Tomorrow I will be at the downtown school and will have to learn many more new faces and names. All in all things will work out, but today was a bit overwhelming. I anxiuosly await the arrival of Brandon, as he left the apartment at 9am and will not get home until roughly 10pm....I have no horror stories to report, and the more I catch on the better it will be! Hopefully B will say the same!

The first four pictures were captured outside of our window! There is always something going on out there. This is a very busy port town. The large tan-colored building is a famous resort/condominium hotspot. Just around the corner is a beach and walking pier that we saw yesterday with Sammi. Finally, some of the money, with a US dollar for scale. As the money amount increases, so too does the size!

Great Day!

Today, Saturday, was an excellent day for us! We learned that Heather will be working between two schools, one on either side of town, that are owned by the same director. I was able to meet the director and see the second school. This one is on the island and I will either take a taxi or be picked up by another employee from the school. It turns out that this director, Sammi, is younger and showed us around town all day!
We started at a Chinese restaraunt that is owned by a famous Korean hairstylist. The four of us, (B, H, Sammi and her husband) were shown to a private area of the restaurant where we were served amazing food! We even used chopsticks. It turns out that Brandon is a natural but I didn't do too badly either! We spoke a lot with the couple and learned many new things.
Next they showed us their apartment, and it was great to see the inside of a "traditional" Korean home. It was quite lovely! We then visited the school on the island. It was very nice and should be great as we both start Monday (at different schools).
The couple proceeded to show us around Tongyeong, taking us to a beach, a temple, a park that overlooks many of Tongyeoung's 50 islands, and on many scenic roads. We even were treated to a popsicle dessert!
Brandon will meet his director tomorrow, and he is looking forward to it. We may turn in early tonight, as we are still adjusting a bit to the big time change!
We are sorry to regret that we have no photos to show of our amazing day, as we were unaware that we were going on a tour today. We will get them as soon as we can.

In town

Yesterday we voyaged into town to find food and supplies. We were able to communicate fairly well with the shop owners because most Koreans have had some English lessons in school. Fish markets are abundant. For lunch we bought some traditional, Korean, Ramen soup. We walked to our schools at 4pm and talked with our director and met some students. We learned that our roommate is only temporary and we will soon have this apartment to ourselves, as promised. Heather's director bought us a real Korean meal in a sit-on-the-floor restaurant. Unfortunately I'm (B) not a huge seafood fan but was able to mix and match well enough to fill-up. Things are starting to fall into place and we're thinking that this is going to be a very good experience. Updates later.

What we've seen so far

Smooth Flying

Well we are here in Tong-Yeong! Our director met us at the airport and we arrived at our apartment around 11:15pm. It appears we might be sharing the apartment with another guy but will find out more tomorrow. So far the only problem is that all of the signs are in Korean and we can't really understand what people are saying. Right now we don't know too much but by tomorrow night everything should start falling into place. Again, we are in South Korea! Thanks for all the well-wishing, Brandon and Heather Magnuson

Wednesday America, Thursday South Korea

Our flight leaves Wed. the 19th at 3:05pm from Minneapolis to Tokyo (NWA #19). 12 hours later we land on Thursday at 5:05pm local time and catch our connection to Busan at 6:15pm (NWA #29). Another two hours in the air and then we arrive at 8:30pm. The time difference is 14hrs ahead of Central Time. We appologize ahead of time for not being able to say good-bye to everyone but our time is stretched pretty thin. Please feel free to post replies on our blog or send us emails, we'll get our physical address out as soon as we know it.

Amanda, Heather and Emma. -The Heads-

The McCulley Family: Amanda, Heather, Emma,
Rodney, and Betsy.

Tara Schmidt, Heather, & Emily Schmidt (Heather's bestest friends).