There's More Than Meets the Eye

We had a three day weekend so we decided to get out of Pohang for a bit and enjoy some time in Seoul. Instead of checking out palaces, temples and museums; we were focused on western food options!

We left about 8:15am on Friday morning to catch the intercity bus that would take us to the closest KTX (high speed train) station. Our only option was to get on the 8:50 am bus to SinGyeongju station because the next bus didn't leave until 9:45 which would have been cutting it WAY to close. We got to the bus station at about 8:45am, just in time to purchase tickets and wait in line. Well, the bus already looked pretty full and we were about 10th in line to still get on. When we finally got to the front of the line to hand the driver our tickets, he told us our only option to get on this bus was to stand. With no choice, we stood in the aisle along side 50 of our closest Korean friends. Picture a smaller version of a charter bus...now picture us standing in the aisle.

It wasn't so bad actually. It was a quick 40 minute ride to the KTX station. We had about an hour to kill until out train to Seoul so we grabbed a quick breakfast and enjoyed the view. This is a new station, less than a year old, and is located in a truly beautiful surrounding.

We boarded the train and 2.5 hours later we arrived at Seoul Station. It was great to be back in Seoul. The city is so vast with more than 10,000,000 million people! We felt like little country Pohang bumpkins visiting the big city.

We stayed at the BOA Guesthouse located in Hongdae which proved to be a smart choice. The hostel was clean, updated, and the location was perfect. After checking in, we decided to venture to Itaewaon, which is also known as the foreigner district. It's always a nice change to be around other foreigners. The citizens in Seoul see foreigners so often that they don't stare at us walking down the street, like we get in Pohang. Our first stop was a late lunch at Taco Bell! And wow was it delicious! After walking around for a few hours, we decided to grab at beer and people watch at a cute little pub.

We went back to the hostel to rest for a bit before heading out to the river to witness all the lanterns lit up in honor of Buddha's birthday. It was SO UNBELIEVABLY crowded, but we managed to snap a few photos. We grabbed a really late dinner at Subway and then headed back for some much needed rest!

We let ourselves sleep in a bit on Saturday morning because we were tired and we really had no plans. We decided to just explore the Hongdae area. It's home to Hongik University and has a real college town feel. Tons of cheap clothing shops, bars, and restaurants for every pallet! Our first mission was to find the "Trick Eye Museum." An overpriced exhibit where you can take pictures with the paintings as if you are a part of them. Well, it took us about an hour to actually find it. Between the terrible internet directions and a little arguing, we finally gave up and asked the tourist center for help. Turns out we were within about 50 yards the whole time.... Again, it was overly crowded but we had a really good time. Check out the pictures below :)

After the Trick Eye Museum, we headed for lunch and then did a little shopping. Went back to the

hostel for a little R&R before bearing the downpour to eat dinner. It rained REALLY hard the entire night which dampened any evening plans. We found a small little burger place then went to a coffee house to people watch. Have you ever walked narrow sidewalks in a city of ten-million while everyone is carrying an umbrella?! Super annoying and frustrating.

We left about 10:30am on Sunday morning and headed back to Pohang. It was a great short little trip and fun to get out of Pohang for a weekend. Seoul really makes our city seem like a small little town; but we do love it! We can't wait to return to Seoul in August and act as tour guides for Brian and Becky!!! We could not be more excited to introduce them to some Korean culture :)

Until next time!!

Just relaxing!

Oh sneaky, sneaky!

Sarah is "big size."

Will you accept this rose?

Spider Woman!

Come on!

Nice trick shot!

   

How cute is this :)

Hey, how ya doin? Thanks for coming out!

Whatcha lookin at?!

 

Yummy!

Just hanging around with a panda.

Oh no! My bags!

Hahahaha!

A DRAGON!!!!

Hi-ya!

Inappropriate...

Oh, hey there...

Chillin' in the pool!

Relax, We're Okay!

EEEEK! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I have no excuses other than we haven't been up to anything exciting or blog worthy. So I decided to make this an informative post and hopefully it will put some of my family and friends at ease with the current situation on the the Korean peninsula.

I have to start out by saying that life over here is virtually un-phased by the craziness that is coming from our 'totally sane' neighbor to the north. I get more stressed out from family and friends sending my panicked messages than I do from anything going on here.

I have noticed that CNN and Yahoo! and basically all major American media outlets are covering their homepages with North Korea's latest threats. The thing is, these threats have been going on for years. They even went on when we were here back in 2009-2010. It seems like for whatever reason, the US is suddenly taking an interest in the animosity between this divided nation. I don't want to be naive in thinking that NOTHING will happen, because it very much can. Kim Jong Un is unpredictable, young, and demands attention. But life here is going on without worry. I feel that although it's important to have an exit strategy  I am trying not to get too worked up about anything until I get word from the US Embassy or my co-teachers to do so.

The semester is still off and running and the spring weather here has been unpredictable. It's warm and sunny in the morning, then we get an unexpected downpour, then it clears up again, then it's back to coats and scarves the next day. Sheesh...

We have a three day weekend coming up, May 17th-19th and have booked a trip to Seoul that we are pretty pumped about. It's been a long time since we just walked around the big city. So be on the lookout for a post about that soon!

Sorry I has been so long and this post is less than exciting. But we have some fun things on the horizon that will be blog worthy!

A Blazing Saturday

I had been looking forward to Saturday all week. The weather was predicted to be a perfect 70 degrees and sunny. After such a cold winter, I could not have been more excited for springtime weather. Andrew and I decided to check out a local park to see what it had to offer. After a short 10 minutes bus ride we arrived to be beautiful park, built on the side of a mountain and bustling with kids and families enjoying the beautiful day. We decided to climb one of the hiking trails. Hiking isn't a common past time for Andrew and I but we wanted to get a birds eye view of the beach and coastline of Pohang.

After a while, we descended down the backside so we could walk beachside. We stopped for about 30 min to watch a group of fellow foreigners playing some beach softball. After a while we all started smelling smoke. Looking around we could see some smoke clouds, but we just figured it was burning trash, a common practice in Korea. Andrew and I decided to venture back to our apartment and noticed the smoke clouds getting bigger. It was be becoming more difficult to breathe and ash was beginning to fall from the sky. We decided to run to our apartment to close all the windows we had opened and then venture to see where the fire was coming from.

Walking down our street to find the fire

We walked about 400 yards from our apt and stopped dead in our tracks as we could see a raging fire among the tree tops. We looked around nervously as the other Koreans were also stopped and staring at the fire. Not being able to understand what was being said, Andrew and I became very uneasy. We decided to walk back to our apartment when we saw one of the scariest sites of our lives. It was straight out of a Hollywood movie. The elementary school near our home was directly in the growing fires path. I have never seen flames like that in all of my life. It looked like the school was set in front of a green screen and the Forrest fire was digitally created. I quickly snapped out of that day dream as I could feel the heat from the flames and the loud crackle of the fire moving down the hill to the school. Its next stop was our neighborhood.

Not getting direction from any sort of authority, Andrew suggested we run home, grab a backpack with a few essentials and get out of there. So we ran to our apartment and started throwing in our computer, chargers, a change of clothes, camera, passports, and toothbrushes. As we were leaving, we could see the flames rolling over the hill behind our apartment. That's when it really hit me. This is happening. Our apartment could burn down.

I put the handkerchief over my mouth and we ran out of the building and watched in awe with the rest of our neighbors as the fire trickled down the hill. I had my one moment of panic but Andrew calmed me down. Reassuring me that we were safe and the stuff we had in our backpacks was a bonus. He grabbed my hand and we decided to walk downtown to a coffee shop to see if we could get Internet and find out what was going on.

The scene during our walk downtown looked like a movie set. Between the building gaps, you could see flames and the smoke turned the beautiful blue sky grey. It was so windy that containing the flames almost seemed like an impossible task. Planes were flying over head with their buckets of water and the traffic out of the city was at a standstill. Announcements were being made over the intercom system but being totally in Korean we had no idea what was being said which put me on edge a bit. We made it to the coffee shop but we weren't able to get any information.

Andrew next to our apt watching the firefighters

After a while, we decided to head back with our fingers crossed that everything was ok. The smoke in the tree lines was so thick it was hard to see if the fires were still burning near our apt. When we got to our street, people were still outside but none of the homes or apts seemed to be damaged! The flames were still trickling down the hill but they were containing it! It now looked like hundreds of little campfires all over the hill. The fire department was there with their hoses trying to wet the last bits of dry forest and doing their best to put the fires out.

We noticed people going back into the apartment buildings so we felt safe enough to do so. We had not eaten since 11am and it was now almost 8pm. We decided to get something to eat and get out of the area of our apt once again as the smoke in the air was heavy and my lungs and eyes were beginning to burn.
We we returned, the firemen were still there but we were very confident that everything was under control and the hundreds of little fires had greatly dwindled.

I had such a feeling of humility come over me. A fire, or any natural disaster for that matter, just reassured me that I am really not in control...but I know who is. When we were for sure our apartment was engulfed, I can honestly say that I felt a sense of calmness that everything was going to be ok.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear) but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. -2 Timothy 1:7

God is out refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. -Psalm 46

You can see how wide the wind spread the fire

Here you can watch a video of the fire from a Korean news team.

6th Month: Recap

Now that we have returned to Korea and are approaching the 6th month mark on February 23rd, here is a poem about all of the oddities that we never thought we would get used to again and some we still don’t understand:

Korea is a funny place, filled with new age and tradition,
Experiencing different cultures has always been our mission.

There are things here and there that just don’t seem right,

*Not my photo*

Some make us laugh while others enrage us to fight.

With so many awful smells we often hold our noses,
Between drying fish, trash and kimchi, we’d rather sniff roses.

Walking the streets you’ll notice one thing can’t be found,
Public trash cans don’t exist but there’s no trash on the ground!

Convert this to memory, you’ll never want to assume,
Bring your own toilet paper into the public restrooms.

Speaking of bathrooms, that’s its own gross situation,
Used paper goes in the trash, are there no laws for sanitation?!

To save the city money, schools aren’t cooled or heated.
We have to suffer in the winter and in the summer repeated.

We teach in thick jackets, scarves, and two pairs of socks,
The kids carry hand warmers and wear gloves to use chalk.

The best thing about Korea, is their public transportation,
Causing many headaches in this developed great nation.

Don’t get me wrong, all joking put aside,
There is no place we can’t go without finding a ride.

The problem is traffic laws equate to merely ‘suggestions,’
Cars, busses and scooters do what they want without question.

The sidewalks aren’t safe and are meant to be shared,
Between cars, motorbikes and people, no lives are spared.

You ALWAYS look both ways when crossing the road
Even on a one-way you can easily get mowed.

In a taxi it’s best to just breathe and close your eyes
All the honking and break slamming, you’re just happy to be alive.

On to the busses; the most interesting of them all,
You are packed like sardines with the goal not to fall.

Whether you’ve waited at the stop 30 seconds or minutes,
No one ever queues and people have no rudeness limits.

‘Bows are being thrown and the pushing’s insane,

*Not my photo*

Old people aren’t against to using their canes.

On the blue or green monster, for only a buck you can ride,
Grab a hold, bend your knees as you’re thrown side to side.

It’s hot and it’s smelly, filled with all different ages
These bus situations often set off my rages!

I’ve come pretty far, but I can’t stand the ‘butting’ in line,
Happens almost everywhere and ALL OF THE TIME!

It’s like they don’t ‘see me’ or think they can just cut,
It’s the older generation that feels entitled to butt.

One thing we have gotten used to but will never make sense,
Is making a laundry schedule, here it’s just commonsense.

There is no such thing as a “quick load of laundry,”
No dryers and cold weather make for quite the quandary.

Many a times, I have left for my school,
With wet pants and/or socks, as I planned like a fool.

Not hours, but days, it takes things to dry,
No more doing a ‘load’, just to get by.

On a positive note, Korea’s internet is fast,
The rate of downloads and surfing’s unsurpassed.

*Not my photo*

With so many cell phones and quick access to the net,
No country takes more ‘selfies,’ I could make a safe bet.

Wherever you go, you can be sure there’s picture taking,
But not of scenery, just themselves, with cutesy face making.

Teens have albums on Facebook, full of self taken snaps,
On busses, in coffee shops, or wearing MLB caps.

Facemasks are worn, no matter the season,
Are they sick? Are they cold? I never know the reason.

*Not my photo*

However in wearing the masks there’s something not understood yet,
Removing the mask to sneeze; not caring who they wet!


Speaking of healthcare, this one still throws us for loops,
Outside of the hospitals, patients will gather in groups.

Not to protest or to complain about care,
But to walk around and get some fresh air.

Now this doesn’t seem odd, no reason for fear,
Till you see them in gowns, IV bags, and drinking a beer.

OK, the beer was a stretch, but this I can’t lie,
We often see them smoking as they wheel themselves by!

With so many more thoughts, there are not enough lines,
To write all them down and create some more rhymes.

This is all in good fun, I will always love Korea,
Returning to teach English was our best idea!

**The comics are curtosey of ROKetship

Part I: Bohol, Philippines

2 Posts, 2 Weeks, 2.5 Countries
From January 19th to February 1st, we were lucky enough to spend time in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau. This is part one of our trip. Please scroll to the next post for part II.

A sunrise landing in Bohol, Philippines

January 19-20th
We began our journey at 4:20pm when we had to catch the bus from Pohang to the Gimhae airport in Busan. The trip took about two hours and we had no issues which was great. We waited about three and a half hours for our flight to Manilia that left at 10:00pm via Cebu Pacific. We arrived in Manilia at 1:30am and had the pleasure of waiting in the "2012 worst rated airport" until our next flight to Tagbilaran, the only airport on Bohol island, that left at 5:20am. We were tired at this point and the Manilia airport was so confusing. We arrived at terminal 3, and walked all around it looking for the Philippine Air departure gate which we never found. After asking a guard and going on a wild goose hunt, we found out we needed to take a taxi to terminal 2. This airport has three terminals spread among the city. A man approached us asking if we needed a taxi. I said "yes, to terminal 2." He told me it was a set price of $15 dollars and would take about 45 min. Having a Type A personality, I did quite a bit of research on the Philippines before arriving and it said to always take a metered cab. I asked the woman at the information center how much it should cost. She said $4 and takes about 10 min. We walked outside, got in a metered cab and exactly in 10 minutes and $4 later we were at terminal 2.

We went through security and then sat there for three hours until our flight. The flight to Bohol was quick and the sunrise was beautiful. That was the only positive to having such an early flight. We landed on the shortest runway ever, walked into a building, picked up our luggage and looked for the driver to our hotel. The drive from the airport took about 30 min and the scene was an interesting one. A lot of island shack homes lined the road and scooters were everywhere. We stayed at the Panglao Regents Park. It came recommend by a friend but also had great reviews on the Internet. Check in wasn't until 2pm, but luckily they weren't full and we could check in at 7:30am. We slept until 11:00am, then decided to walk the five minutes to check out the beach and have lunch. The beach isn't too big but it is beautiful. It reminded me of Koh Phi Phi a little bit. Restaurants everywhere and people trying to sell us tours of every kind. We enjoyed a nice lunch went back to the hotel and laid by the pool.

Choosing the pool over the beach the first day proved to be the best decision. We ended up chatting with a really nice couple from Denmark, Mette and Thomas, a married couple spending four weeks traveling all around the Philippines. They told us they had rented a motorbike for the next day so they could tour around and see all the sites in Bohol. This was something Andrew and I wanted to do as well, so when they invited us to join them we jumped at the opportunity! We walked down the street, met a man with a motorbike for rent, asked him to bring the bike to our hotel at 7:30am, and then shook his hand.

January 21st
Andrew and I don't particularly like early mornings, especially on vacation, but we felt more comfortable taking this island tour with other people. And if they wanted to leave at 7:30, then early risers we would be! Right on time our motorbike man was at our hotel. Registration papers and two helmets in hand Andrew and I had our mode of transportation for the whole day for the wallet-emptying price of $12! Thomas and Mette's motorbike was 20 minutes late, but what are you going to do. We filled up our bike with gas, for $5, and we were ready for the open road.

The only map we had was a postcard with tourist sites to hit, so navigation was a bit tricky at first, especially because Bohol has no street signs or stop lights. With Thomas taking the lead, it allowed Andrew and I to relax a bit. We rode about an hour before stopping at a bakery in one of the small  villages. For literally pennies, we got to taste all kinds of the most delicious breads and pastries, and give our butts a much needed rest. The drive was beautiful and we could not have asked for better weather. Everything was so green and lush, I felt like I was in a movie. ...Or a Kenny Chesney music video.

Chocolate Hills

We made it to our first destination, and the most famous in Bohol, the Chocolate Hills, in about two hours. While the view was breathtaking, it was just a bunch of really cool hills. We were there for about 45 min taking pictures and resting before we backtracked to our next destination, the Tarsier reserve in Loboc. Tarsiers are the smallest known primate in the world and have existed for more than 40 million years. They resemble Steven Speilbergs Gremlins  They look like teeny tiny little monkeys with huge eyes and Bohol is only one of two places where they live. It was a welcomed break for the butt!

Isn't he so cute!

We got back on our scooters and headed to our last stop, the Busai Monark Floating Resteurant. For $20 we enjoyed a buffet, live music and river cruise. I'm glad we stopped but it's not something I would probably spend the money to do again. Before heading back to the hotel, racing daylight, we had some homemade ice cream. The ride back to the hotel wasn't as enjoyable. Traffic had picked up a bit and we unfortunately we got stuck behind some buses and work trucks with the worst exhaust trails ever. We were both feeling a bit sick. We made it to the hotel at 4:58pm, two minutes to spare on our bike reservation time. We all capped off our wonderful day with happy hour drinks by the pool toasting to travel and good people before parting ways for dinner. We felt so blessed to have met Thomas and Mette. Unfortunately they left the next day so we didn't have much time with them. They have literally traveled all around the world so we enjoyed picking their brains of all their travel tips.

Looking a little tired and sweaty with Thomas and Mette

Besides the beautiful change in scenery, my favorite thing about traveling is all of the people we get to meet. People from all around the world. I love learning from them and seeing things from totally different perspectives. Seriously it was the perfect day, and we have only just begun!

January 22nd
"Today I don't feel like doing anything..." This Bruno Mars lyric comes to mind when I think about our Tuesday activity. We didn't do anything but lounge by the pool reading and playing cards. We ventured to the beach for lunch then returned to the pool. A great day of relaxation after yesterday's adventure.

January 23rd
Andrew and I decided that we weren't quite done with the scooter touring yet. On Monday, we saw all the tourist sites but this time we wanted to ride and stop at will when we saw something that peaked our interest. So from 10:20am until 3:00pm, we drove around the island until our butts just couldn't handle it anymore. We obviously didn't stick out enough as tourists, so they had to give us a hot pink motor bike. "Bad to the Bone" is the only thing that comes to mind when I think about what we must have looked like. We stopped at a local market and walked around. We stopped at a few piers to enjoy the views. And of course we stopped at a bakery...or maybe two. You know how I adore my carbohydrates. The bread is to die for. It's so fresh and delicious....nothing like we can get in Korea, so we HAD to stop, multiple times. We ate lunch at a local restaurant and then walked around a beautiful old church. The weather was cloudy but it was a welcomed temperature. It's nice to not feel like the sun is beating down on you.

January 24th
Today was another day of relaxation. We spent the whole day outside, and the better half of it at the beach. However, only one word comes to mind when I reflect back on Thursday, and that is ouch! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a sunscreen fanatic. Yes, I like a good tan, but I've always got sunscreen on. In Korea, for whatever reason, sunscreen is super expensive, like $20 for a travel size bottle. So we decided to wait, and buy some when we arrived. We found some, but oddly enough we could not find "waterproof" sunscreen, only "very water resistant" whatever that means. So we bought it. It has worked great the whole time we were here until Thursday. I took a dip in the ocean, dried off and reapplied. Most of my time on the beach was spent on my stomach because it was reading, so it was mostly my back that was exposed...and exposed it was. OUCH! "Very water resistant" my scorched red ass, back and legs Banana Boat. I can't remember a time when I have ever been this burnt. The only bright side to this is that it didn't happen on the first or last day. Had it happened the first, I would have been miserable the whole trip, and had it happened the last, it would have made traveling to Hong Kong much more uncomfortable. Needless to say, I had a very restless night sleep...I'm sure you have all been there.

January 25th

Alona Beach

Our last day on the island and we woke up to pouring rain. We've been really lucky with the weather so I can't complain about some rain in the tropics. It's what keeps this place lush and beautiful. it rained on and off the whole day making the walk to the beach a muddy sandy mess. We needed to go to a souvenir shop to purchase Philippine flag patches for our backpacks before leaving. We returned to the hotel, played some cards and then laid in a cabana by the pool while our feet got wet from the rain. At about 4:00pm we decided to venture back to the beach for a massage. We had been talking about getting massages since we arrived but never did and it was something we wanted to do before we left. Well, stupid me, got too burnt yesterday to actually enjoy a rub down, so I got a $5 pedicure while Andrew enjoyed a $7, one hour, fairly ivasive Swedish full body massage. We ate cheap, delicious barbecue for dinner and watched the Australian open. It was a great ending to our island getaway!

I just have to mention one thing. I read up a lot on the Philippines before coming here and there are so many horror stories out there that it made me quite nervous. But I felt super safe here and the Filipino people are some of the nicest and most genuine I have ever come across. Yes, we got asked about every 10 yards if we wanted a boat tour, or motorbike or massage or sunglasses etc, but a polite "no thank you" sends them on their way. Seriously, we felt so welcomed and were treated so well that if anyone has the opportunity to travel here, don't turn it down on the account of being scared. There is such a sense of community here and they are eager to welcome you to their paradise. Thank you Philippine citizens for your grace and hospitality!

Common Trasportation

Tag City

Man Made Forrest

Beautiful Church