Only 47 weeks left

This week went by pretty fast. Thursday we had to take the bus to Busan at 6:30 in morn to go to the immigration office to handle some business. It's a two hour journey both ways so we had to leave early to be back in time for work at 3. It was in and out at customs so we walked through a huge open-air market and bought some souvenirs before taking the subway across town back to the bus station inside of a mall. We knew where we wanted to eat because as we had walked out of the station after arrival our first sight was KFC. Busan is a huge city but we felt fairly comfortable there because it reminded us of being in big European cities. We made it back in time and worked until 9:30.

Saturday we had the choice of going to Jinju with Brandon's school to ice skate or riding with one of his coworkers back to Busan for the day; she had to go to the hospital for some testing. We thought it was a good idea to go to Busan because we would have some free time while she was in the hospital and maybe a tour guide when she got out. Her appointment was at 11 but we had to leave town at 7 to make sure we beat the traffic jams. We got to Busan at 9 and we went to Jagalchi fish market to check out the atmosphere. We hunted down a good book store to get some English literature which there is none of in Tongyeong. We found some books and then proceeded to stumble upon Busan Tower and the park around it. We took the elevator to the top and had drinks in the cafe while checking out the scenery. And by "drinks in the cafe" I mean a juice glass of coke at one of the 20 tables crammed around the first deck. Close to the tower was the market we had been to on Thursday so we ventured back and scored some deals on clothes. Around 1:30 we called my colleague and she informed us that she had to stay for more tests and wouldn't be leaving until 7 or 8. We just hung out until meeting her at about 7.30pm. On the ride home, it began to rain, which is the first rain we've seen for a week. Umi wanted to take a shortcut, but it ended up taking 45 minutes longer, so we didn't get home until 11pm.
Sunday we awoke to the apartment to ourselves; our roommate just moved out. He was a smoker, and did so in his bedroom (which is the master bedroom), so we literally spent hours cleaning the room top to bottom. We then re-arranged the whole apartment. It was a lot of work, but we are quite happy with the new arrangement.
We're hoping that the rain will keep the area cooler now. The locals say that the temps should be dropping soon. That is something we are quite looking forward to :)

Busan Tower, views from the tower, and Jagalchi Fish Market

Has it been a week already?

So we haven't posted in a while but nothing too wildly exciting has happened since the festival we attended last weekend. We both had Tuesday off for the Korean Independence Day, but they don't really celebrate it like we do the 4th of July. This weekend we had plans to go hiking on Saturday and then to Geoje Island (Korea's 2nd largest island and only 45 minutes away) on Sunday but we had to cancel because of the approaching typhoon. Friday we ate dinner with Brandon's coworkers and some of the adult students who we had planned to spend the weekend with. The meal was great and the company better. We went to a Korean bar after the meal to have a few drinks. The bars are more like lounges than what we think of as a bar. Pool and karaoke have their own business establishments so all that's left is to do in a bar is sit, drink and chat.
Luckily for us, the typhoon missed our town and we only got a bit of wind and some rain. Now the weather is back to its usual sticky, hot humid times. This week will most likely fly by, as the other weeks have, and we are already making plans to go on a picnic in the mountains with Brandon's co-workers.

The men at the sword performance.
The Turtle Ship, this is what Admiral Yi sailed on.
H in front of one of the mimes.
Some dancers at the traditional dance.

Saturday Pictures

Statue of Admiral Shin Yi, the famous naval officer.
The archery competition, we had "backstage" access!
This is at the traditional Korean dance. (3 people are inside that dog!)
One of the performers.

Tongyeong

Yesterday we hung out in our city all day long! One of my (H) fellow teachers was able to come along too. It was so great because Lyn knew what was going on in the town, and we were able to catch some amazing things!
We started the day climbing the goon-ham sun (mountain) and were able to get an amazing view of Tongyeong. There was a memorial to the great captain Shin, the man who saved Korea from Japan back in the day. This town was one of the sites of the many battles that he won. On our way down the mountain, we stumbled upon an archery competition. Lyn was able to get us up close and personal to the athletes, and it was pretty cool to see. Apparently archery is quite popular here, and they are good at it, too!
After we came back down from the mountain, we were able to watch a traditional Korean dance. The story was about a man who had a mistress; the wife and the mistress fought to the death over the man, and the wife lost. So, the man and mistress were married after they attended the wife's funeral. The dancing and music were spectacular. Next Lyn and I were able to get on the "flyfish," which is similar to a banana boat, for a ride in the ocean. It was very fun and I was glad that we didn't fall off! The cool water felt so good as yesterday was another hot day here.
The next attraction we visited was a large Korean Navy ship. We were able to board the ship and have a tour as well. It was so impressive and the officers on board were very nice to us.
In the evening B and I went to the festivities alone. We were able to see a sword show, where men performed moves and fought with the swords. We were so close and it was amazing to see. There was a big concert that started around 8pm, but there were tons of people and we didn't have a good view. It was a pop music concert, and we decided that it would be best if we headed home instead of watching it.
We came across so many people who wanted to talk to us yesterday. One boy's mom asked if she could take a picture with us and her son. So many kids walk up to us and say, "HI," hoping that we will respond. When we do, they are so excited and giggle and smile. We are very fortunate that everyone is so nice to us!
This Tuesday is the Korean Independence Day, so we have the day off. We are not yet sure what we will do, but will keep you posted.

As the weekend approaches Tongyeong is getting ready to have a festival celebrating a large naval victory against the Japanese over 400 years ago that occurred near here. The city should be very packed because Koreans normally come here on the weekends to be by the water and now that there is a festival even more will come. There are supposed to be a lot of cool things like a reenactment, several traditional dances, an art expo, beer tent(!), and parades. The weekday posts will probably be fewer and far between because not too much really happens when we're at work. We are going to be getting some cell phones tomorrow, we don't have all the details on our plans but it seems like their rates are extremely cheap compared to US cell phone providers. They said flip-phones were popular three years ago now everyone has moved on to the kind that slide up. We'll post more when we know more. B+H

Sancheon

On Saturday Brandon and I were lucky enough to go to a new city. It's called Sancheon, and is about an hour from Tongyeoung. We went with three families, and b/t all the siblings and cousins, there were about 11 kids (not counting us of course). We started the day by the stream, where we camped out under a bridge and the adults cooked food while the kids swam. We then enjoyed a great meal. This is a common practice in the summer; families go to the stream and relax in the water and under the brigde for shade. So, after a few hours hanging out in the water, Brandon and I went with one of the fathers up to a temple. We learned that most temples in Korea are in the mountains, where it is natually beautiful and serene. This temple was very amazing, and we even saw some foreigners. It turns out that they were in the area to play a the International Percussion Festival taking place in Sancheon that evening. We knew that we were going, so we told them we would cheer for them!
After the temple, we visited the restaurant right by the stream and ate some delicious chicken. We then loaded up the gang and headed into town, where we arrived at the festival with an hour and a half to spare. There is a new bridge in this town, and according to B's travel book, it is "Korea's Golden Gate." A few of the adults walked with us on the bridge, and we were able to get some great shots. The sun was setting and the view was just amazing.
The concert started at 8pm. There were 13 countries participating in the event, and everyone did a great job. The various performances were all unique and very entertaining. We left at about 9.30pm, and headed for Tongyeoung. One of the children was celebrating, so at 11pm when we got back, we had a quick party for her. We had cake and "ice cream shakes." These consist of a scoop of vanilla ice cream, fruit chunks, crushed ice, and a bottom layer of red beans. We have never eaten beans with our dessert, so this was something new for us! We finally got home about 1am.
Today, Sunday, we plan to walk into town and pick up some groceries. We have had yet another great weekend!

Today was my last day of summer vacation from school. I spent most of it with Sammi, her husband Dean, their 2 children and 2 nieces. We first visited a town about 30 minutes away (Jinju) to go to the movie Garfield 2. We did not know that the whole thing was dubbed in Korean, so I just watched the actions. It was only 80 minutes long, and there were some funny parts. We then picked up Dean's sister, who is visiting from Busan. We were treated to a nice Korean restaurant that specializes in duck. The food was so great, and I was even able to bring the leftovers for Brandon. He will be pleasantly surprised!
Now Brandon will have 2 days off while I go to work. We will then go with Sammi and her friends camping. We are looking forward to it and will know more details on Friday! The weather has been quite hot, in the 90's and terrible humidity. The locals tell us it will only get hotter until about August 15, so we are not looking forward to that very much. Luckily there are tasty ice-cream treats for 50 cents at the store just down the road from our apartment!