The Chronicles of Korea

2007-12-15T11:40:00.000+09:00

Exacto Knives for Children...do you see any logic?

That's right...this is an exacto knife shaped like a cute little school bus.
I took this from a student who started using it in class a few months ago. My first week teaching I had an unforgettable encounter with an exacto knife. I gave my students an activity involving cutting paper so handed out 6 pairs of scissors...one for every 2 students. I notice the little shy boy (8 yrs old) in the back acting a bit strange so I walked over to see what was going on. As he bashfully tried to hide his paper I noticed bright red blood smeared all over it and his hands were hidden under the table. I told him to show me his hands and saw the exacto knife (his had little teddy bears on it...how sweet) he had cuts all over his little fingers. I was shocked. After the boy returned with bandaids and a towel to clean his mess, I asked him why he didn't use the scissors. "Tommy was using them" he replied. I realized he was probably too shy to ask him. So the lesson of the day for me was "don't assign cutting activities without prohibiting the use of knives in advance, when teaching in Korea." All my students have exacto knives in their pencil cases and apparently use them for sharpening pencils and crayons. All with cute little designs and pictures of puppy dogs or hearts. Why not a pencil sharpener...they are smaller and considerably safer? I just don't understand the logic in giving an 8-year old an exacto knife. Do you?
-Heather

2007-11-02T00:18:00.000+09:00

Halloween 2007
Well this marks the end of working for one year in Korea. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. For Halloween this year Jennifer, Aurelia, and I dressed up as Superjunior....the cheesiest pop band of Korea. As you can see, they all look like women so we thought we could pull it off. Of course, most people thought I was Joan Baez since I appeared to be dressed as a butch lesbian. We even had a dance to
perform for people when they asked us who we were as well as a photo of the band. It was a great time being a Korean pop star for the night and we made a lot of people laugh. I realized through this experience, that I should never dye my hair black and get a mullet.

What do you think...are we Superjunior?

One of our biggest fans!

2007-10-25T21:55:00.000+09:00

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

2007-10-21T09:35:00.000+09:00

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

2007-10-16T11:57:00.000+09:00

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

2007-09-21T00:32:00.000+09:00

SPAMMED AGAIN!!!!!

This weekend starts the 5 day holiday in Korea known as Chuseok It's similar to America's Thanksgiving with families getting together, big feasts, and giving thanks for a plentiful year. Families also pay respect to their ancestors and may perform ancestral worship rituals. Apparently it's also another holiday for the gift that keeps on giving....Spam. I received my lovely gift set of spam and canola oil today from my boss and once again pretended that it was just what I'd always wanted. We still have 6 cans of Spam from the last gifts. However, the olive oil was put into good use. I thought about starting some sort of foreigner Spam give away org. to help out the homeless. Jennifer came up with the great idea of giving our gift sets to our landlord. I hope the appreciate it more than we do.

2007-09-09T22:54:00.000+09:00

http://www.sivananda.org/

2007-09-09T22:21:00.000+09:00

Aurelia, Heather, Brian and I eating the freshest shellfish ever!!!

Hey All!!!

WOW.... We've been her for close to 11 months now! I am really a lazy girl when it comes to sitting in front of a computer! However, I really wanted to write tonight!

I have made some amazing changes in my life that I'm excited to share! In December I will be going to India by myself to practice at at Ashram, which is an place to practice yoga. They are all over the world, usually located in a secluded area. I will be free of alcohol, tobacco, mushrooms, onions, and garlic for 30 days. They believe in being pure and living a simple lifestyle. Onions and garlic supposedly are an aphrodisiac and mushrooms are dirty and well tobacco and alcohol are SHIT! I will live there for 30 days practice yoga and learn how to teach it as well!

http://www.sivananda.org/

Tomorrow I start teaching Yoga to children three days a week! I'm so thrilled for this opportunity! My first yoga teaching job... even though they are only 5 year olds!!

I really enjoy my life here in Korea. Life is good and life is easy! I truly love my students and teaching English! I will miss my life and my amazing friends here!

I am anxious to get to see my family and friends again though.... and I know I will see many of my "Korean" friends again one day!

-Jennifer

2007-09-04T23:45:00.000+09:00

Camping in Miryang and Seongnamsa Temple

Denise's last weekend here in Korea we went camping with some friends in Miryang (1 hour train from Haeundae Station) then ventured off to Seongnamsa Temple (40 min gorgeous bus ride from Miryang bus terminal) The camping trip was fun and Denise and I were able to find kind souls to let us share their tents since we didn't have one. We swam in the river and attempted to river raft in what little rapids the river had to offer. The sunset on the river was somewhat magical as the bright pink and orange colors illuminated the background of a large temple on a hill.
Our group of friends always have a blast when we camp together.

From Miryang we took a bus to Seongnamsa Temple which I highly recommend for anyone living here to see. Unfortunately it was raining so we didn't get to do Lonely Planet's recommended hike. The temple is situated in the mountains in a densely wooded forest. The area is quite breathtaking and camping is available along the river just near the temple. From Busan you can also take a bus to Eonyang then catch the local bus to the temple. Here are a couple photos I took there.

-Heather

2007-08-21T17:28:00.000+09:00

The Sherpa Derpa's thoughts on Korea.
Denise's 2 week visit summed up for your enjoyment.

I'm back home now. For the record, I had a wonderful two weeks in
Korea. I attribute a great deal of my 'good times' to my lovely
hostesses: Heather and Jennifer. It was great having a home base with
internet, air conditioner, a fridge and a blender for those A.M.
smoothies.

The Korean people are quite nice. As I would have expected based on my
Korean friends back in the states. My favorite thing about the Korean
people was how they all travel with their own personal BBQs and mini
gas tanks. They all squat down anywhere, the beach or the park, and
start up a good old pork and fat bbq. Then naturally as you walk by
you're invited to share some food with them. When I say share, I mean
that they will call you over, gesture for you to sit with them, then
place food directly from the bbq into your mouth with their own
chopsticks. Which then leads to something to wash down the food with.
Soju. There is no shortage of liquor in this country. If you pass on
soju, the staple firewater of Korea, then you get a watered down cheap
Korean beer. Which I actually liked. But I'm not a big beer drinker,
so what do I know. Honestly, I love how the whole society is so much
into being a community, sharing, eating and drinking together.

In general, I found Koreans to be very friendly and helpful, if you
are not embarrassed to act things out when trying to communicate.
Trying to find a restaurant, bathroom, or subway in Korea is like
charades or an Into to Drama class, you have to use your imagination
and be patient until you are understood.

Who knew that there was so much to do in Korea. I went on several
hikes to beautiful temples. Island hopped. Visited a botanical garden,
a fish market, and several bars. I went to many beaches. The beaches
are a cultural experience. They are very much into protecting their
skin from the sun, so they swim in their clothes. Even the kids were
wearing shirts and long shorts to play in the water. Many of them do
not know how to swim so the whole beach is full of yellow plastic
inflatable inner tubes.

Heather and Jennifer have a great group of international friends in
Buson who also teach English. The “Sherpa Derpa” was happy in Korea. If
I would have had more time I would have down some rock climbing,
shopping, another manicure and more museums. Especially the DMZ tour
which was cancelled b/c of the holiday unfortunately. Alas, two weeks
goes by so quickly.

I did manage to squeeze in a temple stay, which was so cool. Waking up
at 4am with the monks to meditate, walk and do martial arts with them.
Then eat a light vegetarian meal, followed my some more meditating and
martial arts. No wonder those monks are so fit! The most impressive
part about the temple stay was that since it was summer you were there
at the same time as the children who were doing 1 week to 1 month
programs. Imagine an American child up early to exercise and clear
his/her mind. No video games or TV. No wasting food, eat everything on
your plate. No whining, your elders are served first and you're served
last. That would be something I'd like every one of my LAUSD fifth
grade students to experience as a prerequisite to my class.

I can't wait for my next trip to Asia.
Cheers!
The Sherpa Derpa
aka Denise

2007-08-11T14:39:00.000+09:00

Denise attempts a Korean hula hoop.......
Denise, Jennifer, and I hiked along Yongdo island near my house and found some giant hula hula hoops. There are free outdoor gyms on most hiking trails in Korea (and in many other Asian countries). These gyms include various exercise equipment, bar bells, pull up bars, and giant hula hoops. I have no idea why they are so awkwardly large. Denise was a bit apprehensive at first about trying it, but she was able to get the hang of it for a bit. Watch the video below of her second attempt.

2007-08-07T18:02:00.000+09:00

Denise came to visit us!
So Denise came to visit us all the way from Los Angeles, Ca. I had a 4 day weekend when she arrived so we packed in as much as we could do in those days. So far we've gone hiking on Yongdo island (only 15 min. from my house), explored the fish market, drove up the coast to visit a temple and beaches, and took a ferry to Geoje island and Oedo island (1 1/12 hours from Busan).

At the Jalgachi fish market we not only took in all the delightful smells, but we saw some interesting live and dead animals including sea slugs, turtles,squid and sea cucumbers.

We went to a beautiful Buddhist temple just north of Busan called, Haedong Yongkung Temple. Denise felt her inner Zen emerging as she witnessed for the first time a standing, thin buddah. That's right...not all buddahs are sitting and fat as the popular notion may have it. Although there was a huge one of those at the temple as well.

on Sunday Denise and I went with my friends Derek and Matt to Geoje island and took a cab through the gorgeous countryside to a beach. There was a ferry terminal there with boats leaving for Oedo island and the lady at the counter informed us that it was leaving that very minute. Without time to think we impulsively purchased tickets and boarded the boat knowing that we had to be back at the main ferry terminal for a 6pm departure (the last boat to Busan). As we departed for the island of Oedo (which is one big botanical garden) I heard a man ramble off in Korean and looked at Denise in shock..."oh no...Are we on a tour???" Well it was a tour all right and of course we understood nothing but they let us explore the island on our own once we got there. We were also extremely lucky that the tour was only 2 1/2 hours long putting us back in time to make the ferry by 6. Of course our words were lost in translation once again as the driver dropped us off at the bus terminal at 5:55 instead of the ferry terminal. So we ended up jumping in and out of a cab and running through the rain to somehow make on the boat.
here are some pics of the island

2007-07-31T23:49:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to add this one pic of the 3 Jens having some fun last Friday at hour place.... We were getting crazy with the wigs that happened to come in our apartment!

2007-07-31T23:43:00.000+09:00

We have now been here eight months and things are good! I am loving my new schedule at work and I feel like a make a new friend every day! I started this crazy exercising schedule and I started seriously training in yoga! I'm trying to get healthy and fit before traveling round India in January! I broke up with my boyfriend and now I'm working on my body and my mind... reading more, and exercising! After watching the documentary, Sicko, it made me glad to be living in Korea!!!

Anyways... here's a photo of me practicing a full bridge or rainbow pose in front of a bar last Friday night!

2007-07-23T20:36:00.000+09:00

10th annual Boryeong Mud Festival

Jennifer and I went to the Boryeong Mud Festival last weekend with several friends from Busan. There were over 100 of us who went together from Busan via bus caravan. The festival included mud games, mud slides, mud wrestling, mud massages, live concerts and fireworks show. We had an amazing time and stayed muddy all day as we participated in mud games and enjoyed watching the muddy people in this absurd festival. Unfortunately our room didn't have enough bedding for the number of people sleeping there so Jennifer and I ended up sleeping on the beach and waking up to the blazing sun. It was a fun experience though and I highly recommend the mud fest to anyone moving here.
Enjoy the photos
-Heather

2007-07-06T21:39:00.000+09:00

Who is the man behind the green tape?????? An unsolved Busan mystery.

The story of Geen Tape Man
About 7 months ago I was in Nampo-dong walking around with some friends when I first spotted him. I watched him closely as he sat under his black umbrella with a knife to his face. He was slowly and methodically cutting away slices of green tape from his face as he stared into a mirror. The next time I spotted him he had several pieces of green tape that he was sticking onto his face one by one. Another time my friend caught him walking down the street and her photo revealed that he had green tape not only covering his entire face, but his wrists and ankles were as well. Could his entire body be covered in green tape? In the photo above you'll notice he has newspaper covering his ankles. He also seems to have newspapers or something stuffed in his shirt around his belly. I love Green Tape Man. He's mysterious and peculiar and I want to know what his story is. Does he have some sort of psychological disorder? Maybe he has body dysmorphic disorder.
My friends and I have questioned as to whether or not he's some sort of strange performance artist but we've ruled that out. If anyone knows anything about Green Tape Man...please respond to this blog.
-Heather

2007-07-01T23:43:00.000+09:00

Hello Everyone! Please check out my pictures of Vietnam! My awesome friend Aurelia and I had an amazing adventure ruffing it in the many magnificent cities of Vietnam!

We visited Saigon, The Makong Delta, Hoi Ann, (where we got clothes made for us and went scuba diving)Hanoi and the beautiful Nim Bhin where we went on a wild motorbike tour. Food was amazing and so were the people! The landscape was incredible. Every city was so unique and gorgeous! A week was not nearly enough time to experience the country, but that is all I was able to have!

I am still enjoying my experience teaching English, but I will be happy to come home and see my friends and family and have summers off again!

go to this link to check it out! http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb284/dealergirl21/Vietnam/

2007-06-19T22:43:00.001+09:00

Hiking near our home in Busanjin.

The other day I was taking Soju for a walk and stumbled upon an entrance into Daeshin Park. It was quite beautiful for being so near the city with its trees, spring flowers, scattered buddhist shrines, and tombs. There was even a random badminton court in the middle of the forest. I love hiking there and feeling like I'm miles away from the chaos of Busan. I do have to stretch my imagination a bit in order to block out those inevasible city sounds. Here are some photos and a link to the rest on my webshots page.

-Heather

2007-06-12T11:12:00.000+09:00

June 12, 2007

My Puppy's First Swimming Experience!

Soju had his first swimming lesson on Gojea Island on Saturday! He didn't really like it so much, but it was a cute site to see!

-Jennifer

2007-06-11T00:39:00.000+09:00

My 31st Birthday Party

Thanks to Jennifer....I had an awesome birthday party at our place. We had a bbq, a bluegrass band, good friends, and beer. I feel really lucky to have met such wonderful people here. Our party was mostly outside since we have a huge patio where the roof extends from our place on the top floor of a crazy building. We live above 3 karaoke bars and a dongdongju (rice liquor) place. Two of the karaoke bars offer "special services" so it's not uncommon to here strange noises below our rooms in addition to the horrendous drunken Korean singing. The good thing is....we can make as much noise as we want...as late as we want. Oh yeah...I also received a traditional Korean birthday present......a 24 pack of toilet paper!

some pics from the party

Suna

Elana and Leslie made me a hat

2007-06-07T20:41:00.000+09:00

Vietnam (May 18 - 28)

This photo was taken in Hoi An

I went to Vietnam for my 10 day vacation with my friends Jen and Matt. It was an amazing trip, packed with adventure, delicious cuisine, and gorgeous scenery. We managed to see a good portion of the country in the little time we had thanks to the quick and frequent flights offered by Vietnamese Airlines. Our trip started in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) after a 5 hour flight from Korea and we ended up in the north of the country in Hanoi. I couldn't believe how many motorbikes there were. Crossing the street was like playing a game of Frogger and each time was a near death experience. Red lights are merely suggestions and crosswalks are only there to alert drivers to speed up.

The next day Jen and I went to the Cu Chi tunnels with a tour. It was quite an amazing place considering how complex these tunnels were and how they were used by the Viet Cong to hide during combat and safely travel to other towns.

In Nha Trang we rented motorbikes ($3 each) and a guide($3 for 5 hours) and drove out into the jungles. We ended up at a beautiful waterfall after passing several restaruants serving crocodile. I decided to swim anyway...but I was terrified quickly swam back to land. Driving through the villages made me feel as if I were back in time. Children were running with their water buffalos and farmers used oxen to pull their plows. It was amazing to see such beautiful life and vitality around me. The next day we took a boat ride to 5 islands and swam, played beach volleyball, and drank cheap wine that was given to us for free as part of our $6 tour. By the time we got to the last island....everyone was wasted (including the crew). Matt and I thought we were animal activists and needed to save the sea turtles at the aquarium on the island. We saw them in a turtle viewing tank and walked down the steps leading into the tank...suddenly I slipped on the slimy, moss-covered steps and fell into the tank. I then sat at the edge of the tank with my legs in the water and the turtles came right up to me so I could pet them. People above were looking down at us and pointing "Look there's people in the turtle tank!" "Those bite you know" I guess I shouldn't drink cheap wine before visiting an aquarium.

We flew to Danang and took a cab to Hoi An (know as the Ancient City). The architecture was a fusion of French, Chinese, and Japanese....some buildings dating back to the 16th century. I honestly felt as though I were walking through a painting.

In Hoi An, Matt and I hired a woman to take us to the beach in her boat. The ride out to the beach was spectacular as we went to small fishing villages and dropped off the people from our boat. The beach was great with hardly a sole on the immensely long beach. We swam out to a fishing boat and greeted the fisherman with the little Vietnamese I knew. They through down a rope and welcomed us onto their boat. Then they served us fried fish and poured us shots of who knows what from a fuel can. Who knows...maybe it was the fuel.....but it sure was delicious.
here is a picture of the actual boat

This is the woman who drove us in her boat to the beach

We flew to Hanoi and took a 2 day junk boat tour of Ha Long Bay. Despite the crew being assholes, it was a nice relaxing trip and the islands were gorgeous. We spent the night on the boat and went kayaking through a tunnel and into a private lagoon surrounded by limestone pinnacles.
Ha Long Bay

Our last stop was Ninh Binh and turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. We hired a private guide the first day there and rented a motorbike. We ended up driving over 140km that day and had the most amazing day. The do-it-yourself adventures in Vietnam are just incomparable to the the tours we did. We drove through villages and passed ruins of churches that probably dated back to the 17th century. The guide thought it was strange that we wanted to stop and take photos. I couldn't believe we were the only tourists in these gorgeous villages. We drove all the way to Cuc Phuong National Park where we hiked through the lush green jungle. Then we went to the magical town of Hoa Lu where I literally had to catch my breath as I looked around in awe. The bright green rice fields in contrast to the limestone pinnacles made it one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We never saw another foreigner accept for at the Hoa Lu Temple who were on a tour. The next day we went to Tam Coc which had equally stunning scenery. We took a boat ride down the same rivers used by rice farmers and the woman rowed with her feet. (Click pic below to see video). We also rode our motorbike out to the Bich Dong Pagoda which was a temple built into the side of a mountain with parts of it that were in a cave. I can't begin to explain in words the beauty of these places.

video of woman rowing with her feet and asking me for a dollar.

Tam Coc boat tour

Pics from Hoa Lu and Tam Coc

How cool is that guy?

The Bich Dong Pagoda

Link to all of my photos of Vietnam

2007-06-07T20:32:00.000+09:00

Tigers and Cock

I gave my beginner class a writing assignment in which they had to write what they liked, what they were afraid of, etc. One of my students, Sarah, wrote "I'm afraid of tigers and cock, because they are scary." I guess when you're 10 those things can be pretty terrifying.
-Heather

2007-05-02T02:05:00.000+09:00

Adventures in Gwangju....The green tea plantation, dildo vending machines and more!

I went to Gwangju last weekend (April 29-30) with my friends Aurelia and Matthew. We planned on visiting some of Aurelia's friends and taking a day trip to the tea plantation. We arrived in Gwangju and searched for a cheap motel...

We found a quaint little "love motel' . The kind of place that rents by the hour, but so very common in Korea. This one was actually pretty nice and even had a dildo vending machine in the hallway. We checked into our room, unloaded our stuff, and tried not to think of the kinky acts that had most likely occurred there the night before.
Then we went to a delicious dinner of shabu shabu with Aurelia's friends who were fantastic. After, we ventured off to a party in a 2 story pagoda with live music and outstanding views from the top.
The next day we headed to Boseong to see the famous green tea plantation. The views were breathtaking. The hills were lined with perfectly hedged rows of lush green tea. From the top of the hills there were views of the ocean and islands off the southern coast of Korea.

We enjoyed green tea ice cream and attempted to get on a nori-bong ,(Korean karaoke) dancing, soju tour bus back to Busan. We knew we had missed the last bus home and would have to take a bus to Sucheon instead. To our surprise, a group of drunk Koreans from Busan told us to go back with them on what looked like a party on wheels. Sounded like a great idea until we went to get on the bus and the driver flipped out screaming in Korean. Some of the passengers yelled back in our defense, pleading with him to let us on. We sat there looking confused and feeling quite awkward. Then one of the passengers flipped out and refused to get on the bus unless we did. It was crazy so we quietly slipped away from the scene and watched the bus depart.
We ended up going to Sucheon and upon arriving to switch buses used their bathroom. One of the stalls said "Foreigner Only" and I nearly fell on the floor laughing after seeing it. I don't think they meant to be racist and only allow foreigners to use that stall but it is racist not to allow Koreans to use it. I don't really understand some of the strange things in this country.
Upon getting to our bus back to Busan there was a commotion because no seats were left. We stood outside the bus as a man with no seat proceeded to throw a fit. He yelled at the bus driver in the sort of madness a guy gets when he finds out his credit card had been charged thousands of dollars. Then he just plain out started punching the driver and some of the passengers had to restrain him. In any other country the guy would have been thrown off the bus or even arrested. This guy just stayed on the bus and everyone acted like nothing happened. He even bought us each a coffee at the first stop. That's when another passenger got off the bus and yelled for 25 minutes. This is going to be a long bus ride I thought.....and we have to sit on the floor between passengers with smelly feet for 3 hours!

2007-04-30T21:47:00.000+09:00

Our Trip to Japan: Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Fukuoka

Last weekend Jennifer and I ventured off to Japan for 3 days. We took a high speed ferry from our city of Busan to Fukuoka (a major port city in Japan). The boat ride only took 3 hours! Upon arriving, we walked around the park then hopped on a 4 hour bus to Hiroshima. What an amazing city! It's quite different than Busan as it is filled with beautiful parks, it's impeccably clean, and people don't stare or laugh at foreigners since they are so used to seeing them. There was also a lack of bright neon signs that Busan seems to be infested with. To walk around in Hiroshima, knowing it's history, was quite astonishing. The A-bomb dome (seen above) is the remains of the only structure still standing after the U.S. bombed the city on August 6, 1945. It is now a memorial and reminder to all those who visit...of the tragedy that destroyed most of the city. The Peace Memorial Museum was overwhelming with photos, burned clothes of children who died, and their stories. The museum did fail to mention other races of people affected by the bomb, such as the estimated 20,000 Koreans who were killed in Hiroshima. It was hard to believe that something so horrible was once a reality...that this city was completely destroyed and rebuilt to the glorious city I had experienced.

We took a 10 min ferry on Saturday to Miyajima island after a 25 min. train ride from the

city. Below is a view from the ferry of the island as we approached it.

The island is lush with forests and covered in mountains. There is also a beautiful Shinto shrine (Itsukushima Shrine), pagodas, temples, and national park. Below is a picture of us in front of Tori gate (part of the shrine) which is on land and approachable during low tide.
Another interesting fact about the island is that it is home to many wild deer and monkeys. As we stepped out of the ferry terminal, I was awestruck by the countless deer roaming around the plaza so fearlessly. I had always thought of deer as timid creatures that were instinctively afraid of man. "they're so cute" I said. My eyes were immediately drawn to the woman selling deer food at the edge of the plaza. I bought a bundle of biscuits from her...eager to try hand feeding a deer for the first time.
so to make a long story short....I was attacked by a hungry mob of deer! In reality they didn't really hurt me...except for a few bites on my leg and butt. Click the picture below to see the video.
After an exciting encounter with the islands wildlife, we hiked up Mt Misen (the highest peak on the island at about 1750 meters) which is considered to be a holy mountain. The views from the top were astounding of the surrounding islands. This island was amazing and I highly recommend visiting it. The only disappointment we had was not finding any monkeys. Below is a photo of the five-story pagoda on the island with some remaining cherry blossoms in front. We were lucky to come here in spring while they were in bloom.

Back in Hiroshima we toured the shopping areas in which the shops were too expensive to even breathe in. We went to Hiroshima Castle (pic below) which is surrounded by a moat and frolicked around a traditional Japanese garden that we had all to ourselves since it was raining.To see pictures of the garden and the rest of our trip click here: Japan Photos

2007-04-18T11:21:00.000+09:00

The Horrible Hoody
This is one of Jennifer's students who showed up for class wearing this hooded sweatshirt. That's right...if you look closely it says "Don't Break F#%*ing Nuts". I've noticed a lot of hilarious English written on T-shirts here, but none as vulgar as this one. We asked the kid if he knew what it said and he innocently replied "no". I wonder if is mother bought him this sweatshirt. I'm sure most people had no idea what was written on it.

2007-04-18T10:50:00.000+09:00

Pohang and Bogyeongsa Temple Adventures
Aurelia and I decided to get out of Busan for the weekend so we hopped on a bus to Ulsan (about 30 min north of here). We met the foreign community at a party at the Benchwarmers bar and realized at midnight that we had no place to sleep for the night. We wanted to stay in a jinjel-bong (Korean saunas and steam rooms) which is a common place for people to stay a night and only costs around 7 dollars. We ended up spending the night in a DVD bong with comfortable couches, a big screen TV, and the 2 movies we rented. It was 8 dollars each and we had lovely couches to sleep on with pillows and everything. Apparently they don't care if you use their facilities as a makeshift motel because they joyfully greeted us farewell as we departed the next morning for Pohang (45 min north of Ulsan) In Pohang we took a cab to Bogyeongsa Temple where the hikes to 12 waterfalls were awaiting us. There is a small tourist village before reaching the temple where Ajumas spend hours rolling out dough and cutting it into thin, flat noodles. We then explored the temple for a bit and made our way to the hiking trail. The trail was crowded with Korean hikers....all decked out in their latest northface hiking gear, walking sticks, and daypacks. They looked prepared for the Himalayas but I've learned this is typical for Koreans. The hike was beautiful as it took us through gorges, waterfalls and valleys with high limestone pinnacles reaching out of the forest. One of the waterfalls (as seen above) had caves behind it. We made it to the 6th waterfall and headed back to the tourist village for some tea and Pumpkin Pajeang (pumpkin pancake). I highly recommend this hike to anyone living here in Korea.
-Heather

2007-03-26T22:21:00.000+09:00

Gotta Love Modern Technology

I was in Daegu this weekend (that's a city about one hour from here by train) and found some amazing technology. The lockers in the subway (where we left our things as we toured the city) are programed to lock and open with your finger print. You just chose the locker you want...type in the number...place your finger on the scanner...add money....and it locks! You can then re-open it again later with your fingerprint. What a genius idea...no keys or codes to forget.
-Heather

2007-03-04T23:28:00.000+09:00

Hello All.... I've been super lazy about blogging my experiences here. I suck at finding time to sit down and write. I need to do it more... I have realized this!

So this weekend was very interesting. It was fun, but emotional. Heather and Matthew decided to have a international Badminton Tournament with all of our international friends. People from Canada, Germany, New York, Oregon, Texas, Florida, and Korea were able to compete! It was an 80's theme and 80's music was enjoyed by all. Heather sported leggings, leg warmers, and a sweet headband!

We had a blast drinking Soju Punch and hanging out on the subway line playing badminton. Heather even gave away amazing prizes, like Macaroni and Cheese and a bottle of Old English, which she purchased on an American Air Force Base here in Korea.

Also, we have a new addition to our family, Soju-The cutest pup in the world! I adopted him after drinking a bottle of soju at a party.

I am still enjoying my life here, but having to say goodbye to our closest friends here has made living here bitter sweet. You meet these amazing people and then they are gone....just
like that. One of our dear friends, Aurelia is leaving us to take care of her sick mother.... We said goodbye to her tonight over cheesy fried rice. We will miss her soooo much! Another friend is leaving shortly to marry her man.... I guess that is what life is like here.... You see so many people come and go....

I miss everyone so much! Stay well!

-Jennifer 3/04/07

2007-03-04T23:06:00.000+09:00

Spam?????
A big holiday, Solnal, has just been celebrated here in Korea. Solnal is the lunar new year's day and all Korean's declare themselves one year older. I hope that doesn't mean I'm one year older as well because that would make me 32 in Korean since at birth you are already one in this country. On Solnal it is traditional for families to get together and and eat traditional foods and visit their ancestors' graves. Children wear traditional costumes called Hanboks (as seen above) and bow to their relatives who in turn give them money. This is why most Korean children will tell you Solnal is their favorite holiday. Some people hit loud drums to ward off the evil spirits of the past and welcome a prosperous and joyful new year. This year is the year of the pig so there are golden pig souvenirs all over the place now. A traditional gift on this joyous day is Spam.....yes Spam. Our boss was delighted to give Jennifer and I his deluxe package of Spam and olive oil and we respectfully thanked him. I guess I'll have to find some good Spam recipes. Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!
-Heather

2007-02-13T03:19:00.000+09:00

Almost 4 weeks ago I hopped on a plane to come and check up on our fearless adventurers, Jen and Heather, who not too long ago spontaneously decided to spend a year of their lives in Asia teaching English as a second language. Oh, and not just Asia, but South Korea. Like many of you, when Jennifer first told me she was moving to Korea, I quickly said, “Korea?!?! Why Korea???” I had heard of people teaching in Japan, a country I have always been very curious about, but couldn’t understand what would make them choose Korea.

I decided that I would need to come over here myself and check things out to make sure our girls were okay in this strange and faraway land. After arriving and spending a few days here, I had already decided that they definitely were NOT okay. Here is part of an e-mail I wrote shortly after arriving:

**So, Korea (note: later, after experiencing Seoul, I realized this mostly describes Busan, where Jen and Heather live) is very strange, unlike any place I've ever traveled, even Asian countries. It is almost all Korean people, you could easily go a day without seeing another foreigner. The Korean people don't speak much English. Jen actually speaks enough Korean to get what she needs- important stuff like hello, thank you, the numbers, no meat, I am a teacher... things like that.

The Korean people don't really pay any attention to the foreigners. Unlike in other countries, where people are pretty curious about me as an American, the Korean people don't even look at me. I had a really hard time getting from the airport in Seoul to Jen's city Busan alone with my two 50 pound bags. I even carried them down two flights of stairs and no one came to help. I've been told a few explanations for that- they may have been afraid I'd try to speak English to them and that they are very self-sufficient people and even the old people will refuse help. Also, I've been told that they are actually truly kind and helpful people that will go completely out of their way for you... if they know you. If they don't know you, it's like you don't exist.

Well, in a couple days... that's been my experience so far. I am very impressed by Jen that she is surviving here. I have heard many stories about teachers leaving after a couple months or even weeks. They take off in the middle of the night and do not complete their contracts because they just cannot handle it. Then there are others who love it here and end up staying extra years.**

Well, you will all be relieved to know that after a week of that depression and negativity (that was likely exacerbated by extreme jetlag)… I have fallen in love with Korea and am completely confident that Jen and Heather are safe and happy here.

I have learned how to connect with the Korean people, who are truly kind and generous, but have also begun to enjoy the freedom I experience when they don’t pay attention to me. I have seen beautiful places and had amazing experiences. Most of all, I have discovered a group of amazing, strong-spirited, adventurous, talented and grounded people among the teachers here that Jen and Heather can be proud to call their friends for life. I am very grateful for this entire experience and will cherish these memories forever.

Saludos, Shosh

2007-01-16T22:10:00.000+09:00

Weekend Trip to Jinju
Last weekend Jennifer and I went to Jinju (about 1 and 1/2 hours by bus nw of Busan) with some friends. The town was much smaller than Busan with a population of just over 340,000. The town has a beautiful fortress that was rebuilt in the 70's after being destroyed by the Japanese during the war. The fortress had traditional gates, shrines, and temples inside that were quite stunning. We also went to Lake Jinyang and hiked until we came across the first bar where we proceeded to have a couple beers and enjoy views of the lake at sunset. The most unusual part of the trip happened at night when we went stumbled upon what appeared to be a nice bar with a decent size crowd. We'd been searching for a bar for a while. 4 of us foreigners walked in there eager to get our first beer, but we were stopped by the bartender who said, "Korean only". Then he held up his arms in a cross and said "foreigner no". Well I guess that would have to be the most racist thing that has happened to me here so far. I never thought I'd be kicked out of a segregated bar but I guess it's good for us to experience some of the world's animosities....as long as we can see it with a sense of humor. It would have been hilarious if they had a picture out front of white people with a big "X" through them.
Happy New Year everyone
Cheers,
Heather

2006-12-28T18:41:00.000+09:00

The Korean government is bribing office employees not to use the services of prostitutes this holiday weekend. They believe giving men movie tickets for the New Year's eve will provide them with a fun and acceptable alternative. go to this website http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/25/korea.prostitutes.reut/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

2006-12-27T13:10:00.000+09:00

Christmas in Korea!
What's Christmas without Sea Monkeys? Jennifer and I went to a couple of Christmas parties over the holiday weekend...including a white elephant party. Jen won Sea Monkeys, Jennifer won the Idiot's guide to Starting a Bed and Breakfast, and I won a Blue Velvet dvd. I think we made out pretty good. Even thought we were so far away from home it still felt like Christmas spending it here with a Christmas tree, friends, excellent food, soju, and drunk santas. Jennifer and I made latkas (potato pancakes) in honor of the last night of Hanukkah and we also had roasted chicken, salad and an array of other foods our friends so heart fully prepared for the occasion.

2006-12-18T12:53:00.000+09:00

My birthday celebrations were spectacular! I had the greatest time hanging with my friends! Heather and I started the day off by going to a traditional Korean Spa. Then at night we started out a Korean BBQ...eating pork on the first night of Hannukkah...Whoops..bad jew! Then we went to a little bar called Ol 55 where we met up with the rest of the crew and drank a little....Then we went to the Noribong (Singing room) where everyone sang their asses off and got crazy!!! After the singing room we went to listen to Techno at Vinyl Underground!!! It was a very long, but fun night. I am soooo lucky to have met a really awesome group of people here in Korea.

-Jennifer

2006-12-11T16:58:00.000+09:00

Mispronunciation
I was teaching a lesson on future tense using space travel the other day and a funny thing happened. My kids were supposed to say "the astronaut is going to Venus" and they kept saying "the astronaut is going to penis" I was the only one who found it amusing so I guess the kids didn't realize what they were saying.
-Heather

2006-12-01T00:31:00.000+09:00

ALL MY SEOUL
Here are a few pics from our fabulous trip to Seoul! Let me say... that we were styling in Seoul at the W in Walker Hill! It was a very expensive section of Seoul up on a hill overlooking the entire city! The spa truly left a lasting impression on our Seouls! We experienced true bliss as we were lounging in a jacuzzi on the deck outside, overlooking the city, NAKED! We had to be naked and it was girls only... because it was a sauna, steamroom, showers, and several different temperature spas. This is how they do it Korea! It was very relaxing and surreal to be there... I kinda wish I had some pics.... but that would be too revealing! You'll have to just trust me or experience the WOW moment for yourself!
-Jennifer

2006-11-24T23:17:00.000+09:00

This is our Apartment!
That's right....the Sung Mi Village. It's nine floors and the roof has a big patio and awesome view of the mountains. Jennifer and I are in the process of findng free chairs to bring up there and leave. It's a great location....right across the street from the Subway station, jogging path, and gym. It's about a 10 min walk from all the cool bars in town. Inside we have a stove, sink, fridge, tv, and bathroom with a showerhead above the sink. The washing machine is inside the bathroom and just drains right onto the bathroom floor. I can take a shower, go to the bathroom and do laundry all at the same time! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
-Heather

2006-11-18T19:05:00.000+09:00

Busan Museum of Modern Art
I went to the Modern Art Museum today here the city of Busan (about 35 min subway ride). The above pictures include a giant fish constructed entirely of garbage, accept for the television inside the fish's mouth (it played footage of the artists building it). The top picture is part of a giant multiroom piece in which you could walk through and walk on top of the hundreds of upside down Hite (Korean beer) bottles. It was quite impressive. The museum had several rooms with video art productions of various artists from around the world. Suprisingly they were mostly with English subtitles and no Korean. I enjoyed the piece on Mumbai, India which included video and photos from schools that were set up amongst the devastation after the "Mumbai slum demolitions" Around 2,500 homes were destroyed by the government to clean the city of its slums (forcing thousands to be homeless) Well on that happy note....Hope everyone reading this is doing well!
-Heather

2006-11-11T01:07:00.000+09:00

More Pictures from Camp...
About last night....it was crazy! We had dinner with all of the teachers then went to 2 1/2 hours of presentations....then at 10:30pm they brought tons of alcohol and snacks to one of the director's rooms and everyone got wasted. Apparently this is customary for Korean teachers, foreign teachers and directors to spend time together in a drunken debauchery at such a formal teacher training event as this one. We had to be at a seminar at 9:30 the next morning. I asked one of the directors what would happen with the money our school won from the competition (thinking it went towards supplies for the kids or maybe the money would be split up between us) and she said "big party with lots of soju and beer!) I guess alcohol is more important than crayons for the students...oh well.
The next day we went to a temple and walked around enjoying the beautiful fall foilage as you can see above. There were hundreds of students there on field trips with their schools. They adorable and thrilled to see so many foreingers there. They crowded around me and the other teachers asking for autographs and waving pens and notebooks at us. The picture above shows some of the eager students asking Brent and Bob for autographs.
-Heather

2006-11-11T01:01:00.000+09:00

Pictures From Camp
Above is a picture of Jennifer with our school's team playing "catch the tail" in our lovely matching track suits the school bought us. There are 6 KJC campuses and they split us into 4 teams. The game consists of two teams linked to each other...hands on waste...each team trying to break the other teams chain. Naturally our team won!
-Heather

2006-11-10T16:26:00.000+09:00

Well...we just got home from our school retreat and we finally found out what cockfighting is. It has nothing to do with dildos or chickens. It is when you hold up one leg with two hands and try to knock over the other person. 20 people fighting at the same time resulted in sheer madness. It was a pretty hilarious site to see! Our trip was a lot of fun. We had games the first day at a huge sports stadium in Pusan. We not only did cockfighting, but we did a relay race, kickball, and catch the tail! Our branch won the most games and our reward was 1 million won (about $1100)! We were very excited!

That night we traveled to Gyeongju about an hour away and stayed in a traditional Korean Hotel. It was very bizarre. There were no beds, just a hard floor and comfortors in the closet that you sleep on (see pic.) We all got cleaned up and ate dinner and people from different branches gave speeches about discipline and the school curriculum. It was interesting!

After the speeches, each branch was given soju (korean liquor) and beer and lots of snacks (dried squids, raw fish, fruit, pringles, nuts, shrimp chips, ect.) So we gathered in someone's hotel room on the ground and drank and played concentration keep the beat and learned some Korean drinking games! It was a lot of fun and we got to know the korean teachers at our school a lot better. Plus we got to know other foreign teachers at other branches of our school, which was so cool!

Today we had an American breakfast in the hotel, because Kimchi and fish soup when you are a little bit hung over is pretty discusting! We went to a beautiful temple, where there were many Korean children saying hi...hi...hi... to us because they wanted to practice their English. One little girl gave me a little buddah figure! We felt like movie stars when they crowded around us and started asking us for our autographs! It was hilarious!
-Jennifer

2006-11-08T19:41:00.000+09:00

COCKFIGHTING?
Jennifer and I have to go to a camp in the mountains with the other teachers tomorrow as I mentioned before. Last night they passed around a list to all the teachers requiring us to sign up for two events or sports. Most things had already been filled with the maximum number of people by the time Jennifer and I got ahold of it. So the only thing left to sign up for was cockfighting. We have no idea what it is but we're doing it tomorrow. Does it mean we have to strap on giant dildos and sword fight each other? Do we fight with roosters? Or as Bob thinks...it's a Korean woman on her wedding night. We'll find out tomorrow.

2006-11-08T12:07:00.000+09:00

Haeundae Vaction
Jennifer and I stayed for 2 days in Haeundae at the Westin since Jennifer's discount (worked for Starwood) still applied. It was great and we were able to see the "Sea Art Festival" which consisted of about 100 modern art pieces from artists of 40 different countries. The pic above is one of the works. We only saw a handful, but they were interesting. One of the structures was a slilde, another was a giant baby lying in the sand. The artists utilized the beach into their pieces as you can see above for example. We also went to the aquarium where our friend Don works so he got us in for free and gave us private tour.

2006-11-04T20:45:00.003+09:00

Heather and I decided to try our luck and pick up some guys at the Saugage House, but found no luck. They were all weiners!

2006-11-04T16:04:00.000+09:00

A typical Friday night in Pusan

Staying up until 5am....because the bars NEVER seem to close...
Lots of dancing.....
Meeting a few new foreigners and running into one's we already know...
Last night we definatlely went BIG and this pic shows some of our new friends hanging out!

2006-11-04T16:00:00.000+09:00

Korean Teacher
This is a picture of Jennifer and I with our Korean teacher Sueshi. We met her at Moe's bar last night. She is extremely kind and even went out of her way to come to my apartment and show us how to use the heater and washing machine.

2006-10-31T15:20:00.000+09:00

Gyeongju cont...
Dinner for two?
We found the bus back to the town of Gyeongju (just outside the National Park) and went to a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. We ordered rice with barley since the book suggested it. We not only got the rice but as you can see, an array of assorted vegies and strange things including a little whole fish. They bring out so many sides in this country when you order something...it's unbelievable!
-Heather

2006-10-31T15:10:00.000+09:00

Gyeongju cont...

Then we found this neat courtyard with a big Buddah for Jennifer to practice her Zen ways at and then just when we thought we'd never find our way......we found the pond we were looking for! It's called Seochulji pond (it dates back to the Silla era) and there is an interesting legend behind it. A face once appeared in the pond and warned the king against a terrible omen which later came true.

2006-10-31T15:04:00.000+09:00

Gyeongju cont...
There were barley fields and Korean style homes (unlike the modern buildings of Pusan) that were beautiful. It didn't matter we were lost because it was amazing here! We strolled through the village and saw locals drying out red chili peppers and harvesting cabbage. There were men pulling carts of vegetables down the roads. We even picked a persimon off a tree and ate it. (There were persimon trees growning everywhere).

2006-10-31T14:55:00.000+09:00

Gyeongju National Park
We made it to the top of Namsan and the views were breathtaking. This photo doesn't do a justice. It was a bit difficult making it to the top since the map they gave us didn't have all the trails that off shooted the main one. We kept coming to forks in the trail with signs in Korean (we were able to read but didn't understand) From the top we could see down to the east side of the mountain (our destination) but we couldn't find a trail to get down there. In a confused state we wondered the top of Mount Namsan. We found a Korean man and asked him in broken Korean how to get down to the fortress and pond we needed to get to. He looked around and pointed to a small, hardly visible, trail signaling to us that this was indeed the trail down the mountain. We took it and it kept spliting into other trails. "Oh no... now we're really lost", we thought. It was steep, rocky, and parts didn't even look like a trail. Finally we made it to the bottom and ended up in a small farming village.

2006-10-31T14:36:00.000+09:00

Gyeongju National Park
We decided to climb Mt Namsan (meaning South mountain) from the west side...up and over to the east side of the mountain. The height of Namsan is about 1574 feet or 480 m. The hike was amazing with several ancient relics, pagodas and tombs from the Silla Dynasty. Gyeongju is considered a national treasure because it is one of the only places not destroyed by the Korean war. We saw 3 Buddah's carved into a rock from about 570 AD. We also saw many of the tombs (pictured above and look like a grassy hill) from ancient kings. The tomb is contructed by piling rocks over a stone casket (with the body and treasures inside) then covering the stones with dirt and planting grass on top. Some of the temples and relics here are on the Unesco World Heritage list.
-Heather

2006-10-31T14:26:00.000+09:00

10/30/06 Gyeongju National Park
We took a nice bus with reclyning chairs to the city of Gyeongju today. The bus was only $10 roundtrip! There is a national park there and several ancient relics and tombs to see in the various parks and museums the city has to offer.

2006-10-31T14:19:00.000+09:00

This is a picture of some of the teachers we will be working with. From the left is Theresa from New Zealand, Melissa from Canada, Katie from Pusan, Jen and Me, Mina from Pusan, and Ali from New Zealand. We also work with Hugh from Australia and Bob from USA. Next week we have a 2 day retreat in the mountains with all the KJC teachers (there are 7 KJC schools) so it should be fun.

2006-10-31T14:00:00.000+09:00

October 31, 2006

Well... Heather and I are officially starting our jobs tomorrow! I am excited to start working and to get out of our LOVE motel! It hasn't been that bad, but I'm ready to have my own place so we can at least cook our own food! Last night we resorted to cup 0-noodles because that was the only thing we could make in our motel! It at least tasted good and there were no live creatures floating around in it!

Korea has been a bit of a culture shock for me. We can walk around for hours without seeing a single white person and very few people speak English. The subways are great though and there are signs written in English. As you read, the food is pretty disgusting, but we are finding edible places to eat every day. This turkish restaurant is so far my favorite! Technology here is amazing. They have these money cards that you just scan and can use for everything, restaurants, taxis, buses, and subways! We won't be getting cell phones until we get our alien resident cards November 9th, but we will have a land line in our new apartments, that are the size of a shoe box!

Today we had our second Korean class. We are improving on our reading and we are learning new vocabulary everyday. Money is our newest challenge and they have 2 different counting systems!

Now, we are off to our favorite store Home Plus, kinda like a nice grocery store/walmart with lots of food samples, to buy a giant white board for our classes. They only give you paint pens which ends up ruining everyone's nice clothes, so we decided to invest instead of ruining our clothes!

Missing you all! -Jennifer

2006-10-29T18:56:00.000+09:00

Welcome Dinner
Our bosses took everyone out to dinner tonight to welcome Jennifer and I and say farewell to the teachers we will be replacing. The dinner was very interesting and they kept pouring us shots of Soju (Korean Alcohol). The waiters brought these large pots to our tables and placed them on the burners. Inside the pot was an array of seafood (lobster, shrimp, crab...everything whole and with heads). On top of the seafood was an octopus which appeared to be dead. When the soup started boiling the octopus came to life and started squirming around the pot in a desperate attempt to escape. It was so sad I almost cried. Each pot one by one heated up and had a moving octopus on top. All the Koreans thought it was funny. We've noticed that most seafood restaurants keep their fish, crabs, octopus, squid, etc alive in tanks. Even at the grocery stores they have tanks and someone catches a fish and puts it into a bag for you. I guess they love their seafood really fresh here.
-Heather

2006-10-29T18:49:00.000+09:00

10/28/06 Samgwangsa Temple

There are several temples within the city of Pusan where we live. We went to this one today and it was beautiful. It was quite a hike to get up to it since the temple is on top of a mountain. I got in trouble from a little old lady for taking this picture.
-Heather

2006-10-29T18:09:00.000+09:00

Halloween Bash 2006!
There was a huge party for Halloween Sat. night. There were 5 bars hosting the party one of them had live music. The band Mojo was really great. We bought passes for 5 dollars and that got us into each bar plus a free drink at every bar. If you ordered beer you got two for free! Everyone was dressed up in crazy costumes. One guy was dressed as the Chiquita banana lady with fruit on his head. We met a cute gay couple (one from Spain) who were very nice. We'll probably keep in touch with them.The bars were packed and we met tons of people. We met a guy who's from Vancouver and works in the aquarium here in Busan (Busan Aquarium shark tank photos). He said he could get us in for free. They have a shark tank there you pay $50 and put scuba gear, go into the tank, and feed the sharks! One of the sharks is 12 feet long. So far nobody has been bit. I can't wait to try it! Above is Jennifer and I with our co worker Katie (she's from Busan) who is tons of fun. The other picture is with our friend Andrew who we met last week. We found a good restaurant to eat at too. It's a Turkish restaurant and the food was delicious. Finally something normal to eat.

2006-10-26T17:32:00.000+09:00

Chicken Parts and Kimchi
Yesterday Jennifer and I had our first day of training at our school. It's a great school and the kids are adorable. We have a full curriculum to follow with plenty of materials. Today we had our first Korean lesson and we did quite well. On our way to Korean we tried to find something to eat and ended up in a Chinese restaurant unknowingly. We pointed to the only picture on the menu that looked appetizing (chicken with vegetables) and instead recieved the most disgusting meal yet. There was fried chicken parts in a sauce with a few vegies for good measure. What I mean by parts is necks, feet, hearts, mystery parts, yuck. It was disguised by the breading so I took a bite and munched down on bones and strange textured things that were not chicken by my standards. Oh well....another lesson learned. Chinese food in Korea is horrible. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that everything you order in this country comes with kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage). It's quite disgusting but apparently it's rude to ask the waiters not to bring it. I feel bad just wasting it each time. Yesterday Jennifer and I ordered some soup that had peanuts and random sealife floating in it. I think we've already both lost weight as a result of the unavailable tasty food.
-Heather

2006-10-25T19:25:00.000+09:00

10/24/06
The Bathroom Mishap
Today we attempted to use a bathroom inside a Burger King (no we did not eat there). The toilet had a digital screen and several buttons with Korean writing and pictures (look above at the pic). Well what happened was that we couldn’t tell which picture meant flush. When I heard Jennifer shriek “oh my god I’m getting squirted with water…don’t push the pink button!” I thought I was safe pushing the blue one but instead I was hit with double streams of water that would not stop. I ended up with a wet tee shirt and completely flooding the bathroom floor while Jennifer laughed her ass off. We tried to play it cool as we exited the Burger King but it was hard not to notice our wet clothes and the fact we are foreigners. We’ll just take this as another lesson learned.

2006-10-25T19:24:00.000+09:00

10/24/06 Haeundae Beach
We went to Haeundae Beach today which we read about before we came to Korea. It was a nice sunny, warm day and the beach was quite beautiful. Jennifer said it reminded her of Tel Aviv, Israel with the sky scraper hotels right on the beach. We hung out and studied Korean in the Westin Hotel bar until we got kicked out for not buying anything.
-Heather and Jennifer

2006-10-25T19:21:00.000+09:00

10/23/06 We live amongst the whores
In order to get over the jetlag, we decided to stay up as long as possible. We forced ourselves to go out to some of the bars at 9pm (a dead hour for Pusan, especially on Mon. night) and we met a guy from Canada (annoying and cocky) He asked where we were staying and when we told him Yeonseon-dong he said “oh that’s where all the whore houses are”. He informed us that strip bars are illegal in Korea so all those bars with pics of half naked ladies were really brothels. Great I thought….we live in whore central. Apparently it's some sort of indescreet redlight district. When we arrived home that night at about 11pm we saw a hooker coming out of the room at the end of the hall with a man buttoning up his suit. Disgusting!
-Heather

2006-10-25T19:18:00.000+09:00

10/23/06 Beomeosa Temple
Today we went to Beomasa Temple. It was a beautiful day and the temple is only about 15 minutes from our motel. It was a gorgeous temple and there were hiking trails up to other temples that we did. The temple is at the top of a mountain so the view was spectacular. And then there was lunch… Jennifer and I have not had much luck finding non repulsive food to eat. Everything has been either too spicy or it has pieces of hotdog floating in it. Nothing on the menus is in English and NOBODY speaks English so we really have no idea what we’ve eaten. I hope we haven’t eaten any dog! Hopefully through process of elimination, we’ll finally find something tasty.
We met today with our school manager and she took us to the school we will be teaching at. It’s very nice and on the 10th floor so has an amazing view. The students were so curious about us. They crowded around the doorway to peek at us and say hello in English.

2006-10-25T19:17:00.000+09:00

10/21/06
We arrived in Busan tonight at 9pm. At the airport we were greeted by our recruiter, Monica, and she took us to our motel. We wanted a cheap motel since we’re paying for the first nine days and yes the hotel she took us to is reasonably priced. We live in a 9 story building in which the first 7 floors are strip joints or bars. Tonight we went out to the PNU(Pusan National University) area to some bars we read about in Lonely Planet and met some Canadians who invited us back to a party on the rooftop of their apt. building. It was a great time but we decided to head back home to our motel above the bars. Heather had the brilliant idea of going to one of the bars in our building for a beer and it turned out….well…a disaster. We went to the 6th floor (thinking it was a typical Korean bar) and asked for 2 beers (in Korean). Instead….two guys told us to go into a room with microphones and forced us to pay 20,000 won. They wouldn’t let us leave until we drank the beers and sang “I can’t get no Satisfaction". After singing a disgraceful version of the song we somehow managed to escape. Wow! What a first night in Korea.

2006-10-20T15:29:00.000+09:00

We leave tomorrow for Korea!
This is a picture from our going away party at Candlelight in Simi Valley last week. Thanks to everyone who came...we had a blast! To update everyone, we leave Friday, Oct. 20th at 12:55 pm. We fly to Narita, Japan and connect on a flight to Pusan from there. We arrive Korea at 9pm on Saturday. Korea is 17 hours ahead of Pacific time. It's the middle of Typhoon season now and Pusan, the city we're moving to, is the most Typhoon stricken city in Korea. Niether of us have ever been in a typhoon so we're excited to try something new. It's also an interesting political time to be moving to Korea with North Korea's nuclear weapons testing and Kim Jong-il's egotistical threats. (more on N. Korea's nuclear testing to come).
Just to let everyone know, we are actually moving to Korea 10 days before we start work so we can explore the city and get our bearings. The school we are teaching for however thinks it's perfectly fine for us to move into our apartment the day we start work. Since we have no place to live we're going to ruff it for 10 days in a youth hostel before moving to our apartments, which by the way are 10 pyongs big. (We're scared to find out how small a pyong really is!) We'll keep you posted.
-Heather and Jennifer

2006-10-04T15:59:00.000+09:00

We're really moving to Korea!
Last week Jennifer and I spent hours on the phone to Korea with recruiters, directors, and occasional assholes. It seemed likeeveryone wanted to convince you to work at their school because they got some sort of commission out of it. They tell you it's the best school in Korea and they lie about the conditions of your contract. Since I'm no fool, I read each one thoroughly only to discover the deceitfulness of these people. One school offered us a great job and assured us we worked Monday through Friday. I noticed in small print on the contract that we had to work 6 days a week for 6 months. After a long and stressful process of finding an honest job...we finally settled with one school and signed the contract. We will be working at a private English language institute in Pusan. They have provided each of us with a studio apartment in the same building (at least that's what they say). The apt is a 15 min. walk from the school and in a great part of town from what we hear. We leave on Oct. 17th. We are both extremely excited for this new chapter to begin in our lives.
-Heather

2006-09-22T12:32:00.000+09:00