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!