Hiking & B-day Party

On Friday evening we met with most of the EPIK teachers for a group dinner; close to 30 turned up and it was a fun night.

Saturday morn B and 3 guy friends decided they would climb the 1300 meter mountain. It took them all day, so I had lunch with my Korean friend and then afterward went to her nephew's 1st birthday party. Korean 1st b-day parties differ from Western ones, as there is a big to-do with fun activities.

When people arrive, they guess what object the child will pick IE-pencil=scholar, $=wealth, a microphone=entertainer, and so on. When the baby selects one of the items, whoever guessed correctly gets their name put in a raffle. Three names were drawn, and those guests are brought up to the front of the room and given a nice gift.

Everyone enjoys a wonderful buffet, and then sings the baby the B-day song. Of course, everyone brings either money or gifts. When they get ready to leave, the guests are wished well by the family and given rice cakes and, in this case, some dishes with a "happy birthday" theme on them.

My Australian friend Amy and I were the only westerners at the fiesta, and when asked who had come the farthest to be at the event, we were almost ushered on stage to collect the $10 being given away. Luckily, the mother's cousin had come from south-west Korea, so he got the cash instead!

Dayle, Nick and Heath at the top of Chiaksan!

The family blowing out the candle!

Me with the fam: my friend Kyung-eun & her younger brother (holding their nephew), their older sister in the Korean dress along with her 6-year old daughter Hyo-Een.

Buddha's B-day & Teacher's Day

May 12th was Buddha's birthday, so we had the day off. A few days earlier was visited 2 temples, one of them very famous in Korea. So for the big day we just relaxed at home.
Yesterday both of our schools had Sports Day for the kids, so all day the kids played games and such. They enjoyed soccer, basketball, dogdeball, arm-wrestling, the Limbo, 3-legged race, and we ended with a relay race. It was a fun day.
Today (the 15th) is Teacher's Day in Korea. Traditionally this has been a time to honor your teacher, but these days it's getting out of hand as parents feel obligated to send gifts for each of their childrens' teachers. So, both our schools decided to give us the day off. This eliminates any stressful situations for everyone. We feel lucky as not all of our teacher-friends to have the day off. We plan on grabbing some lunch with our friend, work out at the gym, and then tonight H has Korean class (wonder what I should bring for MY teacher...)

Next week will be the 1st full week of school for both of us since April, so it'll be tough getting back into the swing of things again. No more holidays for us til summer vacation in July.

Bong-Jeon Temple near Andong.

At the famous Boo-Seok Temple near Youngju.

This temple has a beautiful view, and people come to see the sunset here.

Showing Family Around

This past week we welcomed our 3rd round of 2008 visitors-Crystal & Christopher (B's mom & brother). On Saturday morn they did the DMZ tour, and got a peak into the mysterious North Korea. On Sunday we all made our way into Seoul where we enjoyed the Lotus Lantern Parade. Monday we stopped by Wonju just long enough to drop off our stuff, and headed to the East coast city of Sokcho-famous for its beautiful Seorak National Park. We took a nice hike up to some waterfalls ad even took a cable car ride to the summit of one of the peaks. The view was amazing!

Thursday and today H had to work so B and fam hung out around Wonju, taking in what there was to see and even watched a movie at the cinema.

Tomorrow we're planning on visiting a folk village and a famous temple, and Sunday morn it'll be time to say goodbye already. We're lucky to have had such wonderful experiences with our friends and family so far in '08!!

South Korean soldiers at the DMZ.

Magnuson's in Seoul.

Chris enjoying himself at Seorak Natl Park.

Lovely shot of the temple within the Natl Park.

Showing Friends Around

On April 18th Heather's friend from Middle School, Tanya, and her boyfriend John, came for a visit. We started off the weekend in Suwon, walking around an historic fortress that was built around the city hundreds of years ago. The weather felt like summer, with temps in the 80's. On Sunday we headed to Seoul where we explored the city a bit and then took in a show called "Jump." It's a non-verbal action-comedy with lots of Taekwondo moves. We all had a blast with that!

Monday T and J came to my school and got to experience school life for a typical Korean middle-schooler. Everyone was so impressed by their height and they enjoyed the new settings.

Wednesday and Thursday they explored Wonju solo as neither of us could get off work. They wandered around the market and tried some Korean snacks along the way.

Friday B and I got the day off, so we went back to Seoul for more exploring. We checked out the COEX Mall, a temple in the middle of the city, and Namdaemun Market. It just so happened that the Wonju pro basketball team was playing their final playoff game in Seoul, so we scored tix to that and were able to cheer our team onto a Championship victory!

On Saturday we took a scenic train ride from our city to the east coast, and got the see not only the mountains but also the East Sea. It was a relaxing day for everyone. We ended T and J's final night in Korea at the Norae-bang (singing room).

Everyone had a wonderful time and it's hard to believe how fast the time flew by. We're grateful that our friends came to visit us! Now it's time to prepare for Crystal (b's mom) and Christopher (b's brother), who will arrive this Friday!!

In Suwon at the World-renowned fortress.

Our first Korean meal together:barbecued pork ribs.

Pals visiting a Buddhist temple in down-town Seoul.

We met up with our Canadian friend and visited the beach in Gangneung together.

Gangneung (강릉)

Yesterday we ventured to the east coast to Gangneung to enjoy a cherry blossom festival. It was only and hour and a half bus ride away; some friends from Wonju went with and in total there were 10 of us! We walked around the man-made lake that was lined with the trees, and then went down to the beach (the East Sea). The weather was a bit chilly down by the water, but it was a fun time and many beautiful blossoms. We ended up eating dinner and having a beer with some fellow EPIKs from various cities in our province, so it was a good time.Today we took our car to the shop as there was no brake fluid in it, and it turns out we needed a new brake cylinder. Luckily the shop near our home was open (since it's Sunday) and they were able to get the part and put in on in an hour! Sometimes the level of efficiency tops that in the States. It cost us a total of $40 WOW! Now we're busy cleaning our place and getting ready for our guests (Tanya and John will be here on the 18th, and B's mom and bro will be here on May 2nd).

Pictures coming soon!

Last weekend we went to a huge gathering of foreigners in the northern city of Chuncheon. Some of the EPIK teachers had organized a pub crawl and advertised it to the whole province. We went Saturday night and had a good time meeting lots of new people and playing bar games.
Tuesday was a great day, with temps reaching the 70s! the flowers have started to bloom, and the colors are just amazing!
Today was Election Day here so we got the day off. It was a rainy day, so we spent it at H's co-teacher's house making cookies and cupcakes, and watching Korean Basketball Playoffs on their TV (we don't get cable). Our team was the regular season champion, so we're hoping they follow that up by winning the playoffs also!
Not sure yet what this weekend will bring. Hopefully we'll have sunny weather so we can venture out and enjoy the spring colors!


Taking a break from cupcakes to joke around!

Spring Rain

Since the last post, clouds and rain have set in dropping the temperature and keeping us indoors. It's still in the 50s during the day time but without sunshine it feels pretty cool. Luckily we've met enough people that we like to spend time with so we meet for drinks and meals with Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, Koreans, Americans, Brits and a Canadian here and there. It's pretty interesting learning about how other people live around the world and finding similarities to life in the Midwest. This weekend all we've got lined up is to visit the gym, grocery shop and meet for fried chicken and beer with some other teachers. Next weekend we're going an hour north to Chuncheon for a pub crawl, there are 40 people signed up to attend it so were excited to see the looks on the Koreans when they see a mob of foreigners walking down the street!

Spring Weather

This past weekend we took advantage of the warm, spring weather with a short trip on our new motorcycle. (In December we bought a 250cc bike off a guy who was heading back to England). This was our 1st official ride, and we took it out to B's old country school. It was a nice ride and the bike ran like a charm. We then met our American friend for lunch at a pasta shop, and chatted with him for a bit.
Sunday we headed to the pro basketball game with some old and new friends. There were 12 of us foreigners, sitting two rows away from the court, so we may have gotten our mugs splashed on TV a few times. After that we had dinner with a new couple just in from Australia.
B's busy training for his 2nd degree blackbelt at Taekwondo, which he'll test for in May. H is getting to the gym 5 days a week and enjoys working out!!
We're looking forward to the "official" spring, as there will be several festivals taking place. We look forward to showing our friends and family around the fun festivals!

Fire in Seoul

About a week ago, a fire at an apt. in Seoul left an American teacher severely burned on over 60% of his body. There was only one exit in his apt, and it was blocked by the fire. Unfortunately, he did not have insurance thru his employer , and right now his family is struggling to pay his medical bills.
They've set up a trust fund in the States for any donations as they are attempting to get him transported to Cook County Burn Unit in Chicago (where the doctors have agreed to provide free medical care for him until he is recovered).
This could easily have been any of the foreigner teachers over here, so we're all rallying around this young guy who we've never met in the hopes that he'll be able to get back to the US for the treatment that he needs. If you want to donate, or simply leave a kind message for the family, here are the sites:

http://billkapoun.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8730028742





Bill Kapoun, an American teacher who was badly burned in a fire in Seoul on Sunday.

Tara's Visit

Our friend came to visit us for the second time in 9 months! She had a business trip in China, and since Beijing is so close to Seoul, she came over for 3 days. We hung out in Seoul for a day and a half, and took in an interesting "extreme dance comedy" show. We did a bit of shopping, and even saw David Beckham for a split second (he was in Seoul for a big soccer game).
On Friday we had a get-together at our place and drank some fruit soju and then introduced Tara to her 1st norae-bang (singing room). We had our own lil room and belted out songs for an hour and a half. The next day we woke up early and headed to the ski slopes. After skiing, we met up with our Korean friends Arnie and Jinnie who live near Seoul. The 5 of us had dinner and ice cream before they headed back. Then Tara and I headed to the "jim-jil-bang" which is a public bathhouse/spa. It was quite relaxing! This AM we put Tara on the airport bus and by now she's back in China ready to start her business trip.
In less than two months Tanya (H's high school friend) and John are coming to visit, and as soon as they leave, B's mom and brother are coming! We're going to be busy tour guides, and can't wait to see everyone! We're very grateful to have wonderful family and friends!!

Tara, B and I getting ready for a day of skiing at Phoenix Park.

Tara, Jinny, Arnie and us

Ski Bunnies

Our area is very mountainous, and there are several ski resorts around us (at least 4 within an hours' drive, and others a bit further away). In the past week, we've been skiiing 3 times! The first time, we had free lift tickets, so we only paid for ski rental. The past times, we've gotten a 30% lift discount so we've been saving a few bucks (15 each person each time). Phoenix Park seems to be the best in the area, and the past 2 times we've gone there. Our friend Vin has also come with (he's a boarding kind of guy).

Yesterday we were lucky as it had snowed the night before (at least 4 inches) so we had fresh snow on the slopes. It also snowed on and off throughout the day, so it was cool to ski with snow all around. We even progressed up to the intermediate hill, which was a bit freaky but something to be proud of tackling.
Today we're relaxing at home; tomorrow our friend Tara is coming for a visit! She has work in Beijing, which is only an hour and half by fligth away, so she's coming for 3 days! We'll show her a good time, and then it's back to school for us on Monday, the 3rd. We've basically been away from our school since the end of Dec, so it's going to be hard to get back into working again. We've had a great vacation, though, so we can't compain!

Our "new" car, a 1992 Hyundai Elantra.

B and I with our English pal Vin.

A few of the runs at Phoenix Park Ski Resort-they have close to 20 runs!

There was a ski competition on this course. It looked pretty cool!

Namdaemun, before and after

Seoul Day Trip

Yesterday we took the bus to Seoul for the day. On the way there, we got a call from the postman telling us that our box that we sent from Vietnam 6 weeks ago had arrived. We had feared it was gone for good.
We met up with an American graduate student who's at Sejong University, and also a professor at the school who's from MN. We met them both on our trip to China. The professor's wife is our travel agent. We chatted about the programs offered to foreigners at the uni, and B and I are now looking into getting our Master's degree while in Korea. That would mean we'd be here another 2.5 years, but to get our MA would be pretty nice. They also offer substantial discounts to foreigners, which is a big incentive why we'd like to get it now rather than in the States. If we get in, we'd begin classes Fall of 2008. But, nothing's for sure yet.
After our chat, we visited what's left of Namdaemun Gate, Korea's #1 Natl. Treasure. It's a 600 year old gate that had survived Korea's rough history of wars, only to be brought down by a vengeful arsonist on Monday night. The site is filled with mourners, some crying at such a terrible loss. They liken it to Americans losing the Statue of Liberty. It was a sad experience. We really loved that area, as the old gate was surrounded by new buildings. The area just doesn't look the same now.
For dinner, we met up with a friend that we met on the China trip. We had some tasty Korean food, and finished it off with ice cream. Then we caught the 9.30 bus back to Wonju. We're not sure what we'll do today, but it's pretty cold so we may just hang out, and go the gym at some point.

The "Birds Nest" the main stadium for the 2008 Olympics (that's the finished product)

Temple of Heaven; unique because it's round.

A parade at the Temple of Heaven.

Same parade.

First gate to the Forbidden City; Mao's huge portrait.

The Forbidden City gate by night.

The Great Wall of China: 3,000 in length!

A glorious view from the top!

B-Day Fun

I awoke on the 10th to find our apt. still had no hot water. As I didn't want to be stinky on my 24th, I walked down to the Korean Sauna and partook in a nice hot shower/bath combo. Of course I got a few pointed stares from the locals, but what was I to expect? (the only naked foreigner they've ever seen).
For lunch, we met with some good friends for duk-galbi, my fave Korean meal made up of pan fried chicken, rice noodles, cabbage, and other veggies. After lunch, we got some Baskin Robbins and chatted away. Next, we all headed to my house where we watched a movie, drank some of my home-made fruit soju, and had a nice time.
Today was my first day back at school, and our principal and PE teacher are retiring, so after school we had a huge dinner (54 people total). It's Korean custom to pore someone a drink, they drink it, and then they return the favor. I'm more popular than I thought as many teachers wanted to pore for me! It was a fun night, and I even hitched a ride with my principal and vice (tipsy with your bosses, it works in Korea).
We only teach this week and then we have 2 more weeks of "spring vacation." The new school year starts March 3rd, so we'll have all new kids and it should be fun. We've had a lot more vacation time this year at the public school, and that's one of the reasons we're talking about staying one more year at this job (nothing's for sure yet). Thanks for all the b-day wishes, they sure mean a lot when you're far from home.

China: Day by Day

Pre-Day 1 (Feb 5th)-Left Wonju in the evening for Seoul where we had to stay in a hotel so that we could make it to the airport on time.

Day 1 (Feb. 6th)- Awoke at 5am after a fitful nights' sleep and caught the shuttle bus. Arrived at the ICN airport with no passport or tickets and hoped our travel agent would show up (she did). Landed in Beijing around 11am and started our tour from there.
We had a group of about 20 people, mostly English teachers but also a Korean family (our travel agent's family. Her husband is a fellow Minnesotan who just happens to be a professor in Seoul, but more on that later).
The group ate a nice Chinese meal and then headed to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. The tour moved way too fast but we got the general idea and took some nice shots of the area. Next we went to a tea house where we had a demonstration and then they wanted us to buy their goods (govt regulated tour stop; all tours are required to visit). After no one bought any tea, we moved on to an acrobatics show, which was incredible! The things they can do were unbelievable. After dinner, we went to our hotel to get settled in. Being that it was Lunar New Years Eve, B and I hit the streets looking for some night shots/excitement. All the locals were in the streets lighting fireworks (some of which reminded us of bombs) and having a grand time. We retired to our hotel around 11.15pm.

Day 2: The Great Wall
We headed to the most famous spot for foreigners in China. About 8 people from our group climbed to the top, including us, but we also ended up holding up the bus. We didn't feel too bad after we realized we were being ushered to more govt sponsored tourist traps (we encounted six in all). After the Wall, we visited the most famous Ming Tomb, where a famous emperor is buried. He was responsible for building the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, and his tomb was huge! For dinner we had "Peking Duck" which is THE food of Beijing. It was quite tasty. Next to our restaurant was the new stadium for the 2008 Olympics, so we got to drive around that and snap some shots. It was cool to go to the area where the Olypmics will be.

Day 3: Temple of Heaven
This temple is special because it's round, and this is odd in China. Not only did we see the temple, but there was a big Spring Festival performance going on, so we got to watch that as well. It was outside, though, and the wind was SO cold that it must have been horrible carrying those flags for so long. Next we moved on to the Summer Palace, which was re-designed 200 years ago by a powerful empress so there are some very interesting things there. The only problem: the complex is huge, and there were thousands of tourists there. We lost track of our group and spent precious time searching for them. Thus, we weren't able to enjoy it as much as we hoped. After dinner we headed to a kung-fu show. By then it was dark so B and I took a cab to Tianeman Square to get some night shots. The funny thing was that it was so brightly lit up it was as if we were in sunlight (almost).

Day 4: Last Day (Feb. 9th)
We awoke at 5am so that we could catch the sunrise from a park overlooking the city. A guy from our group also joined us, and he's full of information and we had a fun time chatting with him. We caught the sunrise and then headed to the Lama Temple, home to the biggest Buddha carved out of wood. This Buddha stands about 60 feet in the air, and is covered with a layer of gold. We had to rush back to our hotel so that we could check out by 10.30, and of course we had an incident. Our taxi was trying to merge right and another car was merging left and they bumped each other. Yes, we were involved in a car accident in Beijing. It wasn't serious, but our driver was seriously upset. We handed him some money and jumped in a different cab so we could make it on time. As it turns out, two lazy guys in our group didn't wake up until 10.30 anyway, so the whole group sat waiting for them on the bus!
The plane trip back was smooth, and our bus ride to Wonju was also uneventful. Our apt was at 15d C again, and we didn't think it would be a problem as it warms up quickly enough. We realized, however, that we're without hot water. We're hoping that the pipes will warm up b4 morning, as I don't want to take a cold birthday shower! We're meeting friends for a nice meal and bowling tomorrow, which will be fun.
Our trip was fun and informational and we wish we could have stayed longer.

PS- China does not allow blog or independent news sitess, so we were not able to blog while there.

Camp, Car, China, Gym

So many things to report today: We've got two days left of our English Camp. The kids really seem to be having a good time, and that naturally rubs off on us. Yesterday H taught the Macarena and B did an airport simulation. Today we both did simulations at the English Village; the post office and the hospital. Tomorrow B's in charge of teaching basketball while I'll be in charge of the mock supermarket. My co-teacher wanted me to bring her daughter along, who is two years younger than the other kids but just as good. The TV and newspaper crew showed up and of course ate her (and us) up in front of the cameras. My co said she would check the papers and cut out any pics of us.
We bought a car today! It's a 1992 Hyundai Elantra, with only about 60,000 miles on it (Korea's not a big country). It seems to run fine except for a loud exhaust, but at least the pedestrians get on the sidewalk when we're coming! We paid $300 for the car, but ended up forking over 6 months' worth of insurance at once ($500...ouch). We also found out that gas is over $6 a gallon, so not big roadtrips for us (unless we pick up hitchers).
We're trying to get to the gym on a regular basis now. We had one of those BMI-Body Mass Index reports done, and the results were not flattering. The Korean trainer made us a nice workout schedule, so we're trying to follow that strictly. He's tough in the gym, but a very nice guy. Apart from sore muscles, we're feeling better already!
February 6-10 is a National Holiday in Korea (Chinese or Lunar New Year). It sounded pretty cool to be able to celebrate the New Year in Beijing, so we got lucky and booked tickets today! We leave on the 6th and will get back the evening of the 9th. A very short trip, but it should be pretty amazing. It's a package tour, which is not something that we're used to, but the travel agent who recommended it is actually going as well and gave it to us at wholesale.
I'll try to get some of the car pics up soon.

Ice Festival

Today we took an hour long road trip with H's co-teacher and family to an Ice Festival in Jinbu. There were several ice-related events to partake in; we spent most of our time ice-fishing. The older child really loved it, and although we stood there for 2 hours and didn't catch a fish, she still walked away with a nice sized one thanks to a friendly old man who caught too many. On our way home, we stopped at a duck restaurant, and had a very nice meal. (They even let us cook our fish at the restaurant and we ate it after our meal).

We've got to get to bed early tonight as tomorrow we start our Winter English Camp with elementary school students. We'll do that all week, but it's just 4 hours each morning, so it won't be too rough.

B getting a free ride from Sarah.

Yedin chowing down on a warm fish snack.

Back in Korea

We left Siem Reap, Cambodia at 9pm on the 21st, and took a 40 minute flight to Bangkok. There we waited for 4 hours for our connecting to flight to Seoul, and landed in Korea around 9am. We were surprised to see that it was snowing! After a slight delay due to H's bag being misplaced, we made it on our bus back to Wonju with not a moment to spare and got home b4 1pm. We spent the day trying to stay warm as our apartment's heating timer got shut off sometime while we were away so our apt was 14D C when we got home!
The best surprise upon returning home was the nice pile of holiday letters from friends and family in the mailbox. They were so fun to read, and they are much appreciated! Thanks for thinking of us.
Tomorrow we have a winter camp meeting with all of our co-workers, but after that we can relax, as the camp doesn't start until the 28th. In the meantime, we'll try to get pics up. The files are quite large and we weren't able to get them up with slower internet connections. We're working on that now. Thanks for checking our site and keeping us aware of what's going on back home. We miss you all.

** Here's the link to photos I added to my Facebook profile:
http://uwrf.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054638&l=ee19d&id=184902869