Jenni's Visit

So finally a friend came to visit! :D It was so nice to be able to share my life here and my experience here with a friend from home.

The adventure started off not so good (only for me). I had some money stolen from me on the bus to the airport... but it's my own fault. I left my bag "unattended" with an envelope of cash. ㅠ.ㅠ I would like to think I'm not usually that stupid...

The next step in our adventure was Kyung-ju! We went to the old capital to see all the historical sites and do a temple stay. (A "temple stay" is where you stay overnight at a Buddhist temple and experience the life of the monk there to help you understand their religion.) We saw the tombs that look like mountains, beautiful architecture, and then I introduced Jenni to the strangeness of Korean food! ㅋㅋ (hehe)

We did a temple stay together in Kyung-ju at Golgulsa. However, it was a little strange. Even though they had monks who could speak fluent English... nothing was really explained to us! We were told WHAT to do, but not WHY. I really thought the point of the "temple stay" was to help us understand Buddhism better...

There was one point during the temple stay that we thought we might be in hell because we were walking VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY SLOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWLYYYYYYY down a hill (that would only take us about 7 min normally) at 5 am when it was freakin freezing out. It took us at least 30 minutes. Painful. (And remember, we had no idea WHY we were doing it.)

It was until MUCH later (actually, one of the last things we did during the temple stay) at the Tea Ceremony that we could ask questions and were explained why they do certain things. I think that's a little backwards... but that happens often enough in Korea.

Well, we got back to Daegu safely enough. And partied. ^^ Dinner, board game room, karaoke room, a Korean bar and a Korean club!

I don't know which Jenni loved more... the karaoke room or the board game room. haha

The next day, our last day in Daegu, we did some local sites. The market, shopping and Dr. Fish! The fish eat your feet. It takes a little getting used to at first.

Sunday we headed up to Seoul! You could stay in Seoul for a week and still not see everything. So we tried to hit up the big ones. But first! Relaxing.

Masks are a great way to relax. Our hostel was also tops, so it was easy to feel comfortable there.

After we were all rested up, we headed out to the palaces! Gyungbokgung was our first stop. The weather was sooooo cold (and I, honestly, was soooooo sick) but we managed to have a great time!

The palace guard was there!

Don't we make a great couple? :D

Next stop was the Korean culture museum! It sounds boring, but it's actually very interesting because of all the folk statues they have, and unique pieces.

A must-do in Korea is getting your nails done. They have the best kind of "nail art" here. It's a little expensive, but worth it if you want to feel like a Korean. ^.* We got "couple nails." The same style, but different colors.

It was also really fun showing Jenni the food in Korea. It really is so different! So taking her to the restaurants and the grocery stores was a great experience. Needless to say, she LOVED the dried squid! haha. Can't you tell?

We were also able to make it to Seoul's art museum. Chagall was there, which was a wonderful surprise! However, we both thought it was kinda strange that there was no "Asian art" in the Seoul art museum!

After a long day of shopping, we treated ourselves to a nice show. The "Nanta" performance is really famous in Korea. It's kinda like the "Blue Man Group" with it's rhythm and storyline. ^^

On our last day before heading to the airport, we finally went to a Korean jjimjilbang! (Or, bathhouse.) We went to the best one in Seoul, called "Dragon Hill." It took Jenni a little getting used to, what with the being naked in public and all... hehe. But it really is a nice experience! I also had Jenni do the "body scrub." Basically, an old Korean woman in her underwear scrubs you down with the most abrasive cloth she can find until your skin is clean, new and bright red. haha.

So we definitely felt fresh after that. Jenni told me that her favorite parts of Korea were: the board game room, the karaoke room, the jjimjilbang, and the heated (ondol) floors. ^^ Those are my favorites too!

So after a too-quick week, we said good-bye. But not for long! I'm following soon... (too soon.)

Subbing

I got to work at a university today! My friend was sick and needed a substitute for her class at her university. ^^

Obviously, it was only temporary, but it was so nice! It was a really great change from teaching little children. Honestly, the college students' levels were lower than my 2nd graders... but their participation was so much better!

It really revived in me my desire to teach at a university level. Even if I never actually become a professor... I would like to teach people that age. It's more comfortable for me. I don't have such a "bubbly" personality that little children find appealing, so at times, drawing out the kids to learn and have fun can be difficult.

I really hope I can work with teaching adult students in the future...!

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.

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas in Korea:

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree and dollar-store decorations

Decorating the tree!

The finished product, complete with Christmas candles

Even better at night

Christmas eve get-together with friends at a "game room"

The punishment for losing the game was getting "bopped" by a stranger (hehe)

Merry Christmas from Korea!

Love and miss you all

Strep Throat

After two months of being sick, the doctors have FINALLY figured out what's wrong with me.

I've had strep throat.

I never heard of a doctor NOT being able to diagnose that on the first go-around.

You know what the doctor said to me the FIRST time I came in (after not being able to talk for 2 days)? "Your tonsils are fine, but your throat is infected. It's not serious."

I couldn't talk when I visited him. That's not serious? Wow.

Props to public health care for being cheap. What sucks is that the doctor sees you for 5 minutes. If you're lucky.

Thank God they finally figured out what was wrong!

Thanksgiving: Take 2

Thanksgiving meal at church again this year. Always a pleasure to have a little taste of home with my "Korean family." ^^

Bonus: I got to have some even BETTER thanksgiving food in a real home with my friend and former co-worker Nancy! Yay!

Her husband is from FL, so even though she's Canadian they pulled off American thanksgiving American-style. = YUM

They even had candied yams... the one thing my church thanksgiving was missing. hehe

It's a little sad that this will be my last Thanksgiving in Korea, but then I remember all the joys of American living... ;)

This year (and this moment) I'm thankful for:

-friends that are stand-in family

-candied yams

-being able to live so "extravagantly" in Korea

-being able to travel on a whim

-friends from home that miss me

-my mistakes not coming back to bite me in the butt

-God's faithfulness, love and grace

~*~

For my classroom celebration, I had the kids make hand-turkeys. It was SO cute. ^^ Not only had they never seen a turkey before in their lives, but they were not aware of the "hand-turkey" Thanksgiving tradition. I had a lot of fun teaching them how to do it. It's nice to pass on the tradition. ;) Ahhh... nostalgia.

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!

Halloween 2010

Last year we were able to have a Halloween party at our apt... this year, we're all in different places and it makes me sad.

Also, I'm not able to participate this year due to being really sick from something the doctors keep saying "isn't serious."

Happy Halloween yall

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!

Our haunted hotel in China

Late flight into Beijing. Angry taxi driver kicked us out because he didn't know where the hotel was... and then we were forced back into the taxi by the airport taxi guy who insisted the driver could find it.

Anyway, we finally get there and find that the hotel is empty, creepy, and haunted.

This is our story:

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