Noelle and Steve come to Korea!


yes, those are real pig heads



Since Noelle now lives and teaches in Vietnam....she was able to come visit me in Korea on her week long vacation. We had an incredible time. She said that Korea was the funniest country she'd ever been to. What I think she means by this is the quirkiness of this country and the random and bizarre things and situations you encounter here. Of course she was also impressed by the nature and beauty of the surrounding mountains and temples. You can feel like you're out of the city in only minutes because the mountains and ocean are so close. They absolutely loved the food...even kimchi. I took them to what I deemed to be points of interest...such as visiting a love motel to see a dildo vending machine, the dong-dong-ju (rice wine) cave with giant penis sculptures, a Korean red-light district, the fish market, a pig head soup restaurant, a waterfall,some temples, national parks, and cliff side coastal walks. One of the strangest and rather funny things that happened to us was when I introduced Noelle to a couple of old Korean ladies, whom I joyfully exchange hellos with every night on my way home. I told them she was my chingu (friend) and they got so excited they jumped up and ran to us...then grabbed our boobs and started rambling in Korean doing some sort of comparison or something. Really strange. Then Noelle showed them her soju bottle and apparently they deemed it a gift because they snatched it right out of her hand and stashed it behind their chairs. I have tons of other stories from their visit but I will post some pictures instead of rambling on.







Steve tried a bondegi (silkworm larvae...bugs!)These are often served free when you order beer or alcohol.

He didn't like it


We found some old military bunkers on our hike.



An "eat the seafood while it's still alive" food tent.


a link to more photos of when Noelle was here

Dog Lockers



This is a photo I took at Homeplus (a supermarket) of a dog locker. That's right...it's recommended to put your bags, backpacks, and dogs in a locker while you shop. Of course the ones for dogs have breathing holes. The lockers require a 10 cent deposit which you get back when you pick up your belongings or pooch. As you can see in the pic....it is also quite fashionable for dogs to have died green ears.
-Heather

Beijing, China



I had a short vacation from work so decided to go to Beijing with some friends. The flight there is only a couple hours so it's an ideal place to visit from Korea. China was an amazing city, full of culture and history. I traveled with 3 friends and we stayed at a full service apartment instead of a hotel. This was a great alternative and very nice for the price,especially since it was walking distance to most sights. We went to the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, rode bikes out to the Summer Palace, went shopping, and explored some of the Hutongs (traditional Chinese communities) saw the Temple of Heaven, and hiked up the Great Wall of China. We rode a zip line down from the Wall to a lake where we took a boat back to the parking lot.
Some interesting things about Beijing that I discovered were:
Most babies don't wear diapers....their mothers just hang them anywhere to let them go. The babies wear crotchless pants. The photo below of a child peeing, was taken at a coffee shop at the Temple of Heaven.



The Hutongs (neighborhoods) are quite poor and rundown. The city built big walls with beautiful landscaping all around these hutongs in order to conceal them. A visitor could travel around Beijing and never see any poverty. Sadly, many families have been displaced from their hutongs as the city rapidly renovates and entire neighborhoods are being wiped out. It seems a lot of the renovation is in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. I found the Hutongs to be some of the most beautiful and colorful parts of the city. Not to mention the beers were around 25 cents at their local bars. The people in the hutongs use a shared bathroom since their is no plumbing in their homes. It was quite an experience using a restroom with no partitions between toilets and having a Chinese lady squat next to me.
Check out the photos below of the hutongs and hutong bathroom.







The Forbidden City


The Summer Palace


Tienanmen Square




The Great Wall




Beihai Park




A link to my photos:

by heathersb9