Happy New Year!

I literally "rang" in the New Year in Seoul. ^^

In Korea, it's a Buddhist tradition that you ring giant bells on the new year to "wake up" the world. I like the sentiment. It makes me think of creation singing praise to God. So for the new year all around Korea people are ringing humongous bells in the temples all at the same time. And we STILL couldn't hear the sound. :( Too much shouting. haha

We were in a very crowded area of Seoul for the event. Kinda like the "Times Square" of Seoul. Before the event the streets were closed off and police buses lined the sides. You could see police everywhere in preparation for crowd-control. (Or so I thought.)

When it event was over, of course everyone tried to leave at once. So the crowd became a mob. And the police did nothing. They stood there on the side watching people get pushed and shoved and carried. They only smiled and laughed about it. Useless! Worse than useless! (Like the "net neutrality" bill...)

BUT despite that (and the frigid temperatures) I had a wonderful time in Seoul~ and the thought that I will be back home soon cheers me even more.

Kyung-ju visit

Kyung-ju: Old Korean capital city back when there was a King. Obviously one of the oldest cities in Korea, and also one of the most rural. It has famous temples, farms, and old tombs. A very interesting place to visit. ^^

Hong Sung's family lives in Kyung-ju and he grew up there, so he invited me out to tour the sites. When we got to Kyung-ju one of the first things we did was eat! :D We had ssam-bap: meat wrapped in lettuce with a ton of side dishes... as you can see. haha

In the restaurant there were all these cute miniatures of traditional Korean "village life." A lot of the scenes had cows in them, since they were considered part of the family way back when you depended on them for your life. Since Kyung-ju is still very rural, we saw a whole bunch of cows. ^^ There were also fun game scenes depicted as well.

All these old people are playing yut-nol-i, a traditional Korean game. I'll teach you how to play when I'm back. ^^

After eating, we visited a park. Or what I thought was a park. It's actually a huge cemetery where all the old royalty is buried. See those mounds? Those are tombs.

The tombs were all different sizes. It all depended on how important you were. They're like the pyramids, except more natural. And I don't think it took thousands of slaves to make them.

Across from the graveyard was another graveyard, except bigger and more spread out. This one was definitely like a park. People were playing and eating and flying kites! An old man was selling kites he had made, and it was the perfect weather for it. Since I am the year of the tiger and this year is also the year of the tiger, I thought it was pretty cool that I could have my own "special" kite.

The tombs are about 2 inches high. And that man is just veeeeeeeeeeeery small. hehe

After the tombs, we stopped by one of the most famous temples in Korea: Bulguksa. At the entrance gate they have these huge statues on either side. They're the guarding gods, making sure the temple remains safe from evil spirits. They are definitely formidable-looking!

Temples in Korea usually have the same architecture, like churches in America. But every once in a while you come across one that has a unique quality; just like our famous churches in the world. They're special for some reason. Bulgulsa is special because it houses some of Korea's "national treasures," and is a World Heritage site.

I do like the architecture. It's unique and something I wont get to see back in the States.

After our adventures, we headed back to Hong Sung's home to eat with his family. His mom had made a special bulgogi just for my visit! One of my favorite Korean foods is bulgogi. ^^

Kyung-ju is completely different from Daegu. I was going to compare it to going from the city of Chicago out to the suburbs where my relatives live... but that's not even close enough. Kyung-ju is very refreshing; everything is natural and clean. A huge difference from the city smells of Daegu!

Andong Mask Festival

On the weekend of Oct 3rd, soon after my China trip, I was able to go to the Andong Mask Festival! Andong is one of the oldest cities in South Korea, and is seen as the cultural center of all the old traditions.

The most famous of the Korean masks, the Ha-hwae-tal

Andong is also famous for it's jim-dalk! (Or stewed marinated chicken with noodles and veggies)

Soooooooooooo yummy!

We were also able to make the traditional masks that we saw in the performances!

This is the traditional woman's mask, the gak-shi-tal.

Hong-sung's is the traditional man's mask

The kids were doing a performance of the Korean mask dance

Then we saw the real one later on!

All the performers were men, as per tradition.

They also had village totems up with people writing and tying their wishes to the strings around them

Our wishes

Hong-sung and I had a great time at the Andong Mask Festival and I was so grateful to have such a great tour guide!

Beijing, China

The best thing about Beijing was sleeping on the Great Wall. With a bunch of foreign English teachers (like us), from Korea (like us), mostly from Daegu (like us).

What're the chances, right??? haha

The second best thing was the Summer Palace. It is HUGE. We didn't know how huge it was until we got there and realized that we weren't even going to cover half in the few hours we had. We hardly covered a quarter! And they have a map... but they don't have any signs, so you just kinda hafta guess where you are all the time. haha. I thought the most amazing thing was that it was all built for one woman. She had it practically all to herself. THAT was an amazing thought. If I had a "garden palace" that size... wow. Jeeeeeeeeaaaaalous!

The third great thing was the shopping. Beijing's markets are fantastic! You really can find "name brand" stuff there for less than $10. Bargaining was an absolute must, and usually it

worked out pretty well.

The best thing I got was a warm Abercrombie jacket for $15!

The Forbidden City was also pretty amazing. It had a lot of things to see on the side, so it was possible to get lost in it! A lot of areas looked the same too, with maybe one or two defining features. I think I was expecting it to be a little more "forbidding," but I'll take what I can get from one of the most historical sites in the East.

Beijing was not my favorite, but it was definitely different enough to warrant going.

Hong Kong: The Low-down

Traveling with people is always tricky. Traveling with people you don't know is even more so. Traveling with people you know can also be surprising.

As for the places, Hong Kong was really nice. Such a difference from Korea! The culture was mixed... and I saw so many interracial couples I almost didn't know what to do with myself! People actually spoke English and were so helpful! The public transportation system was so easy that by our second day there we felt comfortable with it. And their system is really extensive! There's no place you can't go, by bus, subway or ferry! Truly incredible. ^^

The sites in Hong Kong were really cool. Tall mountains with equally tall buildings on top of them. (yeah, that's right Korea... they BUILT on their mountains!) The view of Hong Kong harbor was really amazing, as was the architecture there. My favorite place to see it that way was from Victoria Peak. It's one of the "hot spots" in Hong Kong and I could see why, with its view and nature all wrapped into one. It was a really modern city with a lot of natural charm.

Thanks to my dad I was also able to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! :D It was fun and short; we finished it in about 5 hours. It's just the basic "Magic Kingdom," but they added their own "Hong Kong" twist. For example, some of the Lion King show was in Cantonese, and they had a "Tarzan" tree house instead of Robinson Crusoe. I'm really glad I got to go; I think Disney is truly magical. ^^

A kind of seedy underside of Hong Kong was the immigrants. They were mostly Indians and Nigerians. I don't know much about the politics of it all or the reasons why so many immigrants were there, but the area they lived in was stereotypically low-income with a lot loitering about and trying to scam any tourist that walked by. It was a little frustrating at times because the hostel we stayed at was in the middle of that area, so it felt a little skeazy and dangerous.

Hong Kong is also famous for its shopping. Although I'm not exactly sure why because it's all freakin expensive stuff. I have to say though, that the markets are definitely worth going to! They were fun, cheap and had lots of knock-offs. haha

Anyway, all in all I really enjoyed Hong Kong. I would even consider living there for awhile!

Next topic: Beijing

Success!

I ordered food in Korean on the phone without the help of anyone else. And it came, too.

:D

I'm so proud of myself. hehe

Thailand Highlights

To see more:

Thailand and Thailand Cont.

Off to Thailand!

Yay summer adventures!

Eli and I are off to Thailand and I couldn't be more excited! From what I've heard from so many other friends that have made it there... it's very adventurous. hehe. All their pictures boast of riding elephants, petting tigers, eating delicious food, and really having an amazing time!

So tomorrow we head to Seoul for the day and then early Sunday is our flight. We're flying into Chiang Mai first (to see Eli's fam) and then down to Phuket for the second half of our vacation and some relaxing.

Not sure if I'll be able to update while I'm there, so I guess I'll save most of it for when I come back and sort through my pictures. (I already know that's going to take me forever!)

We're avoiding Bangkok altogether because of the drama that was happening there recently... so pray for safe travels!

Last Korean World Cup game

Eli and I went to the Daegu World Cup Stadium for the World Cup game vs. Uruguay. It was way better than we expected! The stadium was huge and the people were so excited and friendly! The guys we sat next to gave us blow-up clappers to cheer with!

...and the guy in front of us was really enjoying his Soju. haha.

Drinking straight out of the bottle man! geeeeeez...

However, it was pretty incredible to once again see how strong Korean spirit is when they're together. It's infectious!

At the beginning of the game they also played the Korean National Anthem, and it was really beautiful and amazing to see the Koreans singing it at the top of their lungs.

I've never seen so many people so gathered for and excited about a game they're not even at!!! Koreans are amazing!

Count of Monte Cristo

Last night I went to a musical performed by Keimyung University (게명대) Arts program in their Student Arts Center. It was amazing! I haven't been to a musical since Chicago, and I had forgotten how much I loved them.

Their singing was INCREDIBLE. The stage effects were also very creative-- especially the prison scenes. I wish I could've taken pictures during the performance!

Sooo... only downside was that it was in Korean. (Of course. hehe) But there's a LOT you can pick up from body language and tone of voice, etc. You'd be surprised! Thankfully, when I wasn't exactly sure what was going on my friend Hong-sung helped me out.

At the end of the show a pretty amazing thing happened: half of the people in the theater whipped out their cameras to record the actors "finale," when they come out and bow and sing all together. It was like it was an "unwritten rule" for them that it was ok because they ALL did it at the same time! It was crazy. (Just another example of Korean's funny uniformity--hehe).

Anyway, even though mine was a little delayed, I tried to do the same thing:

"Fan Death" is REAL?

Ok, so when I first heard about "fan death" I thought it was completely ridiculous. Seriously? Death-by-fan? And not like a hand-held fan like the type used by Jackie Chan to kick some guys butt... but those fun osculating fans that you used to speak into when you were a lil kid to hear your voice change into a robot's.

"How," you may ask? Well, the fan creates a vortex and sucks out all the oxygen and then you suffocate. That is, if you leave it on in a room and close all the windows and doors.

~OR~ (equally as crazy) Since you breathe through your skin, and the fan blows on your body... the fast moving air from the fan makes skin-breathing difficult and you suffocate that way. One friend even explained that when you get goosebumps your pores close up and you can't breathe through your skin, and fans give you goosebumps. Hence, death.

Since America is one of the most advanced countries in the world scientifically, etc, and it has never been mentioned there... I passed this off for utter nonsense and complete (albeit, hilarious) urban legend.

However, today something changed my mind. This article. Along with this pamphlet by the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

Basically, a section in there states that when you use a fan in temperatures above 99 degrees F, you are more likely to get heat exhaustion or a heat stroke, due to the cooling effect with your evaporating sweat and the circulation of hot air. If you don't have a window or a door open, your room becomes like an oven and you get hyperthermia.

After I saw the facts, I realized I had the "Korean Derangement Syndrome." I didn't think I was one of "those kinds" of foreigners... but so many of the things in Korea that seem odd to me or "mis-practiced" (like their dentistry--seriously, what kind of dentists don't check for cavities???), I'd just write off as ridiculous.

Well, my opinion has changed--a little. Why not completely? Because there are other factors than besides just the fan. Like the persons age, and if they have any other medical conditions that could be aggravated by intense heat.

Korea's own prove this point (from Wiki):

Dr. John Linton at Yonsei's Severance Hospital, who attended medical school at Yonsei University, is licensed to practice medicine in South Korea:^[2]

There are several things that could be causing the fan deaths, things like pulmonary embolisms, cerebrovascular accidents or arrhythmia. There is little scientific evidence to support that a fan alone can kill you if you are using it in a sealed room. Although it is a common belief among Koreans, there are other explainable reasons for why these deaths are happening.

Dr. Lee Yoon-song is a professor at Seoul National University's medical school and works with the school's Institute of Scientific Investigation. He has conducted autopsies on some of the people who have been described in Korean media as having succumbed to fan death:

When someone's body temperature drops below 35 degrees, they do start to lose judgment ability. So if someone was hiking and later found dead, that could be part of the reason. But we can't really apply this to fan accidents. I found most of the victims already had some sort of disease like heart problems or serious alcoholism. So hypothermia is not the main reason for death, but it may contribute.

So there you have it, folks. It's real. And extremely rare.

Armored Vehicle Accident

When I first came to Korea, while I was trying to navigate my way through culture shock and understanding Koreans, I learned about the Armored Vehicle Accident.

During a training exercise, two Korean girls were killed. They were run over by tanks. Sounds horrible, right?

It happened during a time when Koreans were resenting US involvement in South Korea. So... not good timing at all.

When I heard this story, all I learned was how irresponsible the US Military was and how Koreans still resented the Military for killing those two girls. I, also, was angry at the Military for their obvious negligence... and a little sickened at the thought of being run over by a TANK--of all things.

Today, I read an article from the other side. I hadn't realized how one-sided what I heard was until I read this!

Basically, it explains how it was a horrible coincidence. The mountain road was narrow, there was no shoulder to walk on, the tanks have blind-spots while driving, and the radio headsets weren't working to hear the warnings of other soldiers.

Sometimes when you hear about a tragedy it's easy to only hear the side of the victim... but I guess some horrible happenings are just really bad accidents.

World Cup Fever

*cheering* Dae-ha-min-gook! Fighting!
(meaning "Republic of Korea")

So with their last game against Nigeria, Korea tied and made it into the finals! This game was much better than their last disappointment against Argentina (where they make men as big as monsters).

Yay Korea! ^^

Speaking of cheers... Koreans have SO MANY organized cheers for their team. It's really cool, actually. Especially when you're in the middle of a big crowd in Seoul shouting and cheering for their team to win! Even if you don't understand all that's being said... you definitely get the general idea. The great part is that if you wear a red shirt and cheer just as loudly, they make you feel like one of them! ^^ We were definitely cheering along!

Korea fighting! Go Korea!

(This video includes the official Korean chant sung by pop stars with an "official" dance that is so wonderfully demonstrated. Enjoy!)

Summertiiiiiiiiiiime

I love summer! However, it sometimes seems like Koreans don't. hehe.

They're always fully clothed to protect themselves from the sun... and they really do carry around those umbrellas.

(Found a picture! hehe)

Korean Sizes

Things in Korea are smaller than in America. Starting with the cars, all the way down to the kitchen counters which aren't even to my waist.

Here is an lovely example we found for your enjoyment:

It's about 2 feet shorter than me! hehe.

Forever 21 in Seoul

We visited the Myung-dong Forever 21 in Seoul for a little taste of home. This is what we got along with our "made in China" clothing...

(For those of you unsure of what they're doing, the staff/employees of Forever 21 are bowing and thanking the customers coming in and out for shopping there.)

JUMP!

For our long weekend, during Buddha's birthday, we decided to go to Seoul!

We stayed at Windflower Guesthouse by Hyae-hwa... and it was ok. We did wait a bit too long to book it, so all the "nice" hostels were already taken. I don't think I'd recommend Windflower for a long stay. Even three nights was too long. The set-up of the rooms is pretty bad... we had to walk through a "mixed" room where 4 people were sleeping, to get to our "private 4 person" room. They hated it. We didn't exactly like it either.

ANYWAY~ besides the sleeping arrangements, our time was pretty fantastic! We went to Everland on Friday (which was the craziest idea we've had in a while), and then went shopping on Saturday and watched JUMP!

It's a comedic martial arts performance. Basically, the best slap-stick humor you'd ever see! ^^ Afterwards, we bought this poster and lined up for their autographs. Assa! hehe

The show is about this martial arts family, and the boy the grandfather brings home to marry the granddaughter.

...And the drunk uncle. hehe. I don't know how he managed to act like that! It was incredible!

--More pictures on Everland coming soon--