Goodbye Korean Students and Teachers

So this week marks the end of my contract in Korea, which also means it marks the completion of a FULL year in Korea.

There were times where I was fed up with students (who wouldn't have it happen at some point) but this week definitely showed me that my students actually WILL miss me.

Monday/Tuesday: Girl's Middle School (6 classes)
My grade 1 classes all wrote letters to me about how much they would miss me. Since their English isn't that great, it was really sweet of them. Most of the letters where about my pretty hair (which is now purple) and apologies for them talking in class.

My grade 3 classes BOTH surprised me with parties!
3.2 class (I had first). When I walked into the class, they pulled ribbon poppers, and had a cake with lit candles for me. They they had a spread of food for a party, and tons of messages on the board for me.
3.1 class had blown up balloons for my entrance and as I "walked the catwalk" into the class they sang "Over the Rainbow" to me and had a spread of food for another surprise party. Yeah, it was pretty awesome.

Wednesday: Elementary School
Since I teach grades 3-4 together, and grades 5-6 together, the teachers took a picture of me with the classes, and then they printed them off and gave them to me before I left. My Grade 5 students gave me a picture of their class, with a note from each of them written in the border.

Thursday: Elementary School
For grades 3-5 we had a movie/snack party, and the students gave me tons of snacks. My grade 4's (which have slowly made me like Thursdays a little bit) gave me goodbye notes and some gifts. One girl (the quietest in the class) spent the first 20 minutes of class writing a letter to me. She had made a draft in her notebook, and she copied it over VERY NEATLY to stationary to give to me before I left. My grade 6 students (which I'm NOT the fondest of) just watched movies in class, but the one GOOD student remembered that I liked coconut chips, and brought me a bag of them, with a goodbye letter.

Mudfest.2013

Mud = water + dirt
Festival = party

Put the 2 together and you get a party in the mud, or in Korea - MUDFEST!!! That's right, Korea has a whole 10 (yes, TEN!!) days dedicated to mud. What does it involve? Well, take a seat and let me tell ya how my experience went down...

Friday night: I was thrown on a bus with 15 strangers. I would also be sharing a room with them for the night (as my friends weren't coming until Saturday). I should have remembered that "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" because after about 3.5 minute of being on the bus with them, I had opened my first beer (in over a month and a half), had a seat buddy (and we named ourselves "the Ambers"), learned who everyone on the bus was, and even found a fellow Redskins fan. Well, that didn't take long. We made the MAYBE 2 hour trip to the BEACH...ahhhh the beach...and unloaded into the rooms we were sharing. Then, we hit THE BEACH! It was across the street, so once we stopped for beers, and fireworks, we grabbed our seats on the beach wall and thoroughly enjoyed the sand, the salt water, the smell of fireworks, and the 소맥주 (soju+beer).

We were joined by other "strangers" that were walking past and wanted to hang out. Since the Festival didn't start until Satuday, it was low key and people were just getting their bearings for the next day. Eventually we started trickling back in pairs and small groups to the pension, I think I was one of the last ones left (big surprise).

Saturday: We all moved out bags to the new pension (where they were staying in a room fit for 15) and then headed to the beach for food and to wait for our Mudfest tickets to arrive (as they were on the same bus as my friends). Once we got pizza, our morning beers (orrrr Vitamin Water filled with Soju) we headed to meet my friends, and pick up our tickets. Once my group appeared (Tom, Vicky, Allie, and Grant) we headed straight to the beach. Yes...the beach. Korean style. 

Korean Style - no bikinis anywhere

The water was rough, but that didn't stop us! We made our way past the maze of mudfest-ers and got right in. Well, "got right in" isn't exactly what I did. If you've ever seen me get in a pool, or the ocean, you know it was a long process. 

Ok Ok, I know you're thinking "WHERE'S THE MUD??" But here....it's coming.

Before getting to the "mud area" we had to shower....with mud, duh! So we "mudded up" (aka, Vicky throwing mud on me) and headed into the arena.

Vicky's right hand is in the mud shower, getting ready to throw at me

Ok, we are muddy and ready!!!

Circle of Friends.

 What happens in the "Mud Area"?? Well, you can do an obstacle course (yup, we did), you can do a mud slide (line was too long), you can mud wrestle, go to jail (of course we did), take more "mud showers" (Vicky always started this!), and then end up in the Bathtub to clean off. Here's how our time went...(in pictures)

I'm sure Vicky was throwing mud at us.

The guard was NOT going to let us out!

This is how muddy you can get.

Giant bathtub to clean off.

There ya go...that's what it's all about.

Afterwards, we went back to our rooms for REAL showers and to get ready to meet up for dinner before fireworks and drinks on the beach again.

After I was showered off, I came downstairs and EVERYONE was there - my mud group, and the Jeonju kids. We had drinks on the porch and then once it started to get dark, we headed to the beach....where everyone lost everyone. Most of my night was wandering to find them, and running into a few people here and there. I ran into Tom and he was like "Oh! Everyone is over there!" and then I never saw HIM again. I was able to reunite with the Jeonju group, just in time for the fireworks.

My best pictures of the fireworks

After the fireworks, we stayed at the beach and watched the dance parties starting to happen, and then a few of us went to play the carnival games (I ended up with a blue penguin that I named Percy) and then we ended up at a club. There was 5 of us trying to get in, and the first guy went right in with no problem. Then we tried to go in, but they were charging us 20,000\. Negative, dudes. So back out we went....to the beach! And this is where we stayed while I waited for the sun to come up. BUT, as I started to pass out, I was told "April, you can't sleep here!" While I thought this was silly, as it was a beach, I went along and we headed back to the pension....or so we thought. I knew where the pension was, but apparently the guy I was with thought it was total wrong way. So we ended up at the town square, where the only 2 other people on the street, WERE PART OF OUR JEONJU GROUP! So, once we ate my ice cream and chocolates (yes, we stopped during our walk) we headed back in the direction I knew the pension was, and we made it home safe and sound around 5am-ish.

Sunday: Leaving day...how sad. Once we all woke up (I ended up staying with the Jeonju group since I had never put my bag in my friends room) we headed down to the porch to figure things out. Not sure what we had to figure out, except who wanted a beer.

Front Porch Sittin'

I shared a beer with one of the Jeonju guys, and then who comes strolling down the street but none other than Rachel from Seoul. So she ditches her friends, goes to grab a beer and then hangs with us for the rest of the day.

She - she got a beer and joined the fun.

We eventually made it to the beach to play and hang till our bus at 3pm arrived....

We've been in Korea too long - hanging on the beach, no bathing suits in site

 

Sexiest Korean Men on the beach

Unfortunately, after the volleyball, storytelling, and goofing off, it was time to get to the bus. While the weekend at the beach was over...the weekend was not! We still had a bus ride to Jeonju!!!

They had me sitting in the back of the bus like the cool kids....I've fooled them good :)

The ride was louder than the ride TO the beach, but it also seemed quicker. Probably because I didn't want the weekend to end.

Once we were back in Jeonju, a few of us decided to hit up hamburgers for dinner before I finally headed back to Jinan.

So there we go...I survived Mudfest. I made friends, got muddy, saw old friends, stayed up late, saw fireworks, and had a grand ol' time.

In fact - we had so much fun, that we are all getting together this Friday to have a night out in Jeonju!!

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)

Camping Party!

Friday night I had a date...with 8 korean 13 year olds. You're jealous, I know. I would be too if I were you.

The week before my kiddies came to me asking me to come camping with them. Of course I said yes. The teacher was surprised, and asked me multiple times if I wanted to go. I said yes each time.

So Thursday night, the teacher called to remind me about camping and to bring "spare clothes and a toothbrush" as my students would "prepare the house" for me.

So on Friday, I showed up to school, and the 6th graders came to make sure I was prepared for camping. They were excited that i said I was still coming :)

After lunch came and went, my other students asked if I was coming swimming with them (I usually ride the bus back to Jinan with them) and they were all a little upset that I wasn't going to be on the bus. But, I told them I was going camping with grade 6 and they seemed ok with that.

I hung out at the school until the 6th graders came to get me for CAMPING TIME around 3pm. And here's how it went:

Me & Co-teacher (CT)
The Boys: Mark, Jeep, Alex, Boss
The Girls: Crystal, Brownie, Victoria, Star (she recently changed her name from Christmas)

3:00pm - Boss comes to me "Teacher! Camping time! Let's go!"
I head with Boss downstairs, and the kids are hard at work setting up the tents. They show me where mine is to go, and Jeep and Victoria set it up. It's a single tent, so about the size of me and not much bigger.

Jeep making my house!

The boys made their own house - no tent involved!

4:15pm-ish - Now that my "house" is set up, it's time to prepare for the nights SCARE TEST! WOOOO. I trek up the mountain with Star and Victoria, and we place home made flags near the top. At night, we will break into groups and each group will have to come (in the dark) to retreive a flag. 

5:00pm - BBQ Party! Brownie has been hard at work getting dinner set up. She has made rice, ribs, hotdogs, steaks, and pork steaks for the group. I stuff myself silly. The students have a contest to see who gets the last little bit of Chilsung Cider from the bottle. I really wanted to cider, but apparently I had to judge the contest. The contest was "who can say the nicest thing to April Teacher" Ok, I can totally dig that contest!I was told "You're beautiful" "You are strong" "You're eyes are pretty" "You're English is good" - hahaha, I hope my English is good! Brownie wins, I was biased after her banging BBQ skills.

Brownie's cooking at its finest - BBQ party!

6:00pm - I'M STILL NOT DIGESTED but it's time to play a riveting game of Kick the Bottle. We had no can, so we had to modify it. There was hiding, tagging, kicking, and LOTS of running going on. I pretty much waddle everywhere. I shouldn't have eaten so much.

7:00pm - ICE CREAM SURPRISE! The principal comes by with a few other teachers and they have brought us ice-cream. Luckily, it was coffee flavored to give me some energy for the rest of the games!

7:30pm - Back to Kick the Bottle. After a few more rounds, it's time for JUMP ROPE CONTEST! Since I'm not a student, I'm in charge of being one of the rope rope turners. Not that exciting....I REALLY wanted to introduce double dutch, but I didn't think it would go over too well. Or someone would get hurt - probably me.

8:00pm - Jump Rope was stopped by new people arriving to the campsite. Oh, it's my students' parents! With more food! MORE FOOD?!?!? Watermelon, Steaks, etc. I am in trouble with all this food. I introduced myself to the various family members (in Korean), and avoided the fire pit with the food as it also had Soju and Beer....and I still can't drink due to LASIK.

8:30pm - I've now been given multiple slices of Watermelon, and have eaten them all.  I introduce the students to an American tradition - the watermelon seed spitting contest! I rep the Red/White/Blue well and win. I hope spitting isn't offensive. The parents are busy with their alcohol so they probably don't notice either way.

9:00pm - MOVIE TIME! We escape from the parents and head to the library. We have to walk in the dark and they students are already scared. I'm not sure they will bode to well in the SCARE TEST later, but we make it to the library. The students put on Matilda, and LUCKILY it's in English. Boy, am I happy I don't have to watch all my movies through subtitles. I don't know how they put up with subtitles all the time.

11:00pm - Movie is over and I hope it's bedtime. I'm wrong, of course. We say goodbye to the parents and family members and relax by the fire pit for a few minutes to prepare for the SCARE TEST!

11:10pm - SCARE TEST TIME! We break into groups - Victoria is too scared to go (even though she was with us when we set up the flags) so my group is just me and Brownie. The first group is Mark, Alex, and Star. They head off.

Scare Test buddies - me and Brownie!

11:15pm -  Me and Brownie head off with a flashlight. We decide to scare the 1st group as they come back, so we hide in a side street when we see their flashlight. We successfully scare them, YAY! They head back to camp, and Brownie and I continue on to the flags. The hill is steep up to the flags, so I only go halfway up. I make Brownie go the rest of the way, because I'm the teacher and I can do what I want. She comes back down with the flag, and we head back to the campsite. Brownie decides we should pretend there were no flags when we got there. Well, I can't argue with a good idea!

Once we got back, we hid out flag, then told the other groups that the flags were gone. Since the 3rd (and final group) had already left, the 1st group got worried that something had taken the flags! JUST KIDDING! We ran and got our hidden flag, and they thought it was a good joke.

11:40pm-the 3rd group returned, and we all put out flags into the fire and Brownie got to work making late night ramen (they pronounce it Ramyen here) but I was still TOO full from dinner/ice cream to have more food.

12:30am - FINALLY BEDTIME! We all got into our tents and it was lights OUT. I was exhausted, so of course I fell right asleep!

The night day I woke up around 7am (thanks to the sun, and the students waking at that same time) and after a few minutes, I packed up and then got a ride home with Mark's mother.

6th Grade Camping Trip.

Camping with my students....not a bad Friday night. It will DEF be one of those memories I keep, being able to meet my students parents, and bonding with the class outside of school.

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)

Kimchi...I get it now.

Ok, so when you think of Korean food, what's the first thing you think of?

 

Kimchi.

There's good reason. Kimchi is a STAPLE of the Korean diet. As in staple, I mean it is served with EVERY SINGLE MEAL. I wish I had something to compare it to in America that we eat with every meal...so let's just compare it to breathing. IT'S THAT MUCH OF A STAPLE.

Exactly.

Now, coming to Korea, I was prepared to try Kimchi. I do NOT like it. However, I have found some resturants that make it with a recipe to where I don't MIND it. Not saying I LIKE it, I'm just saying there are some places where I don't MIND it. 

I've spoken to many foreigners about kimchi and it goes like this:
 

Me: "Do you like Kimchi?"
Fellow Foreigner: "At first I didn't. But now I love it."

Ok. This ALWAYS confuses me. If I don't like something, I don't keep eating it until I do. I mean, DUH?! 

But, after over half a year here...I have finally come to understand Kimchi.

Oh, let me backtrack....you may be asking "What IS Kimchi?" Wikipedia describes it as "a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. In traditional preparation Kimchi was often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months at a time." Yeah, it's basically fermented cabbage with spices. NOT TASTY. 

But, Korea is one sneaky country. It sneaks it into some AMAZING dishes....kimchi stew, kimchi pancake, kimchi fried rice. Ok, maybe it's not really sneaky since it's in the name, but these dishes are quite tasty. Weird, since it has Kimchi. 

So....since you eat the delicious food such as the examples above, you are CONSTANTLY eating Kimchi without realizing it. 

Well, here's what happened to me:

I hadn't had Kimchi in a while (even when it's served, again AT EVERY MEAL, I don't eat it), nor had I had my FAV Kimchi Stew. Then, one day at school...I recognized a flavor. It wasn't exactly a delicious flavor, but it was a familiar taste. Kind of "homely" I would say. Then it hit me. IT WAS KIMCHI!

You get USED to Kimchi here sneaking into all your dishes that it just becomes a familiar taste. You may not like it, but your mouth recognizes it and is like "Oh, I haven't had you in a while, nice to have you back."

So there. I get it. Kimchi. I don't mind it now. AND I understand how people start liking it even if they started off hating it. 

Ghamsamnida,

Apes 

IMPROVED EYES!!!

Yup, that's right...I fixed my eyes. Well, I didn't fix them, my doctor did. LASIK SURGERY!!! Saturday I went to the eye doctor, ready for my appointment for them to cut up my eyes to make me see better.

Was I scared? YES!
Did I think I'd end up Blind? OF COURSE I DID!
Was I excited? Only at the prospect of no longer needing contacts/glasses!

I headed to the office and ran into 2 foreigners who were there for a checkup. They answered TONS of questions for me, but I'm not sure if it eased any of my fears. One of them said "It was the craziest thing I've done" and I responded with "Have you been bungee jumping?" and she replied "Yes." Oh. SCARIER THAN BUNGEE JUMPING?!?!? I don't know if I can go through with it....Oh, well. Just do it, right?

Whelp...it was time. The doctor called me upstairs, and I went into the waiting room and checked out all the "success" pictures. The doc (Dr. Kim)  knew I was scared, and he kept telling me "Don't worry"...but that only helps so much.  Then he leads me in to the operating room...it's all white, and looks like an alien lab. He puts me in the first (of 2) chairs. It's FREEZING so they put a blanket on me. I start thinking that maybe I don't need this surgery.  Then they tape over my left eye and tell me they are going to "make a flap" in my eye. Then I REALLY think about just saying no and getting up and leaving. But I don't, surprisingly. So they put something on my right eye (pressed down so it went under my eyelid so I wouldn't blink). Apparently it wouldn't hold, so they had to do it again. It was kind of annoying. Then the press a machine onto the thing in my eye, and I felt a little sting in my eye...and the flap was made. Then it was time to do the left eye. Luckily, the left eye thing went in fine, so that was nice.

Then I had to move to chair number 2...LASER TIME! They tape over my left eye again, and tell me to look at the green dot in front of me. They remove part of my eye (I won't even pretend to remember what part, or bother goggling). In 10 seconds the laser will start. And then in 15 more seconds it will be over. Then he put the piece of my eye back on (the lens maybe?).  And the right eye is done! Whew, on to the left eye. Same procedure, and then I'm done.

They send me back to the waiting room and they take a "souvenir picture" of me and Dr. Kim and give me as a keepsake. I mean, I thought perfect eyesight was a souvenir of itself, but apparently I was wrong. After Dr. Kim points out the red around my right eye (due to the placement of the "no blinking device" being placed twice - it will go away in 2 weeks), he sends me back downstairs to start my eye drops and wait for my 30 min checkup. I put my drops in every 10 minutes, and while I am waiting and dropping, I meet 2 other pairs of foreigners who ask about the surgery. They were shocked that I was up and walking around after it, and couldnt believe I had gotten it done just minutes before.

Then, it was checkup time! My checkup showed that everything was perfect, and I was on my way!

They put me in a fancy schmancy hotel down the street, and my the time I got settled, my eyes were starting to become light sensitive. So I turned off the lights and closed the curtains. Eventually, I had to turn off the TV as well. I felt like a vampire "NO LIGHT!! AHHHH!!" So I napped for about 10 minutes, and then my eyes started to sting, so it kept me from sleeping. So I tried keeping them open, but my eyelids were so heavy that wasn't happening. So for a few hours I laid in the dark, luckily with music playing, with burning eyes. It was SOOO painful! I thought for SURE this couldn't be normal..I even called the eye office to check, and they said it was. Well, I DEF didn't get warned about THIS! Eventually I was able to nod off. I woke up around midnight and my eyes were no longer burning. It was a nice feeling. I out in some more drops and went back to sleep.

In the morning, I woke up...AND I COULD SEE!! That's right, no reaching for glasses, no popping in contacts, no blurriness, just CLEARNESS. Well, my eyes were a LITTLE hazy, but WHO CARES! I headed for my 1 day checkup, where he removed the protective lens he had put in during my surgery ( may have left that out above).  He said all was perfect, and to abide by the rules for good recovery. Rules you may ask? Yup...here they are...

Eye Drops: Every 30 minutes
Antibacterial eye drops: 4 times a day (2 diff kinds each time)
NO RUBBING THE EYES!
No exercise for 1 week.
No strenuous exercise for 2 weeks.
No swimming for a month.
Sleep with the protective goggles for a month.
NO ALCOHOL FOR A MONTH.
I think there may have been some others, but those are the big ones.

So....good thing I'm broke from the surgery, as I can't spend money on drinking. Since I can't hit the gym for a week, it's a good think I can't drink.

Looks like it'll be pretty boring in my life for a little while...but then I will be back in action, with NEW EYES!!!

So LASIK...scary, but worth it.

NO MORE OF THESE FOR ME!!!

Sidenote: On Sunday, Jaclyn and I were shopping and every 30 min I stopped to put in drops. She said "People are going to think you're a druggie!" My response "I'm in Korea, people will see me putting drops in and know I just got Lasik" I think Korea may be the only place where you seeing people putting in drops and thinkg Lasik, not drugs. 

Welp, time for more eye drops!

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes

My Dancers

Over the weekend my 3rd Grade students from Jinan Girls Middle School competed in a dance competition....and they WON FIRST PLACE!!! WOOO HOOO!!!

Today at school, they performed for us.

**Sorry about the missing sound?!?!?

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes

Why maybe Korea isn't right for me...

Yes, I know that Korea hasn't exactly been my favorite place. I thought it was because of the weather (I learned I don't like the cold) but after reading a post by one of my fellow travelers and friend, Shelby, I would have to say that she hit the nail on the nose on her post "First World just ain't my thing".

Now, many people LOVE Korea. Great, for them. But for me, it was a year that I can look back on and think "I am happy I did it" but def not "I want to do it again". Why? Well....after living in Thailand and Myanmar, everything was RAW. As in, no AC (also, no cold weather), no kitchens (I LOVE the feeling of "I miss cooking"), and living out of my backpack. When I was in SE Asia, I didn't collect as much as I did....because honestly, when it's hot out the last thing you want to do is spend all day shopping in a hot market, or think "Man, I'mma have to carry that with the rest of my stuff". I enjoyed the simple-ness of the life there. Yes, I hated carrying my own TP and Hand Sanitizer, I hated when I had to take bucket showers, but I loved so much more of life over there....no TV? Ok, I'll go outside. No internet? Fine, I'll have facetime with the locals and other foreigners.

The experiences have been different, and I will say - I loved being in a 3rd world country. Even with the problems I encountered, I feel I was the most relaxed, and most simplistically happy then I am in a 1st world country.

Don't get me wrong, I still am going to Europe for a few months, and I am sure I will enjoy my time immensely, but there will always be a part of me that longs for my 3rd world lifestyle....maybe that means I will have to just go back for an extended stay.

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)

My students are performers!

Check out a mash up of videos I took when my Elementary students were performing for the families.

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)

Buddha's Birthday = HELLO NAMISEOM!!

For Buddha's birthday, we got Friday off of school. WOO HOOO, a sanctioned 3 day weekend! So my friend from Seoul, Jessica, and I decided to do a day trip to Namiseom Island (남이섬).

Here's a little about the island:

"Namiseom Island was formed as a result of the construction of the Cheongpyeong Dam. It is a half moon shaped (462,809㎡) isle, and on it is the grave of General Nami, who led a great victory against the rebels in the 13th year of the 7th king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejo (reign 1455 ~ 1468). Namiseom Island is 63 km away from Seoul in the direction of Chuncheon, and is famous for its beautiful tree lined roads. The island is 30 minutes away from Chuncheon and an hour away from suburbs of Seoul. Since it is not far from Seoul, many couples and families come to visit.

A special feature of Namiseom Island is that there are no telephone poles. This is because all electric wires were built underground to keep the natural feeling of the landscape. The complex is 553,560 square yards with chestnut trees and poplar trees around the isle. In the middle of the isle, there is a grass field about 316,320 square yards. It is composed of education and training facilities, camping sites, swimming pools and water-sports facilities for motorboats and water skiing. There is also a theme park with merry-go-rounds, a shooting range, roller skating rink, and there are lodging facilities such as resort villas and bungalows."

Also - IT IS ITS OWN COUNTRY! That's right, it's owned by a man who loves trash, so he makes art and decorations using bicycle parts, recycled bottles, and etc. There was also a movie filmed here, Winter Sonata.

Passing through Immigration

The brown coins are the currency

Anyways...so Jessica and I take the subway to the ferry port, and once we get there we get in line for....the ferry? NO WAY! THE ZIPLINE! That's right. You can ZIPLINE to the island!!! Wait, so you mean I can zipline, all "mission impossible style"? Well, DUH that's what we opted for. We hopped into line, and then we were told the zipline was full until 4pm. WTF, mate?!?! It was only 12:00pm at the time. While there was a BBQ and jazz fest happening on the mainland, we couldn't wait 4 HOURS to get to the island. So as we contemplated what to do, the ticket man piped up and we had this exchange:

Ticketman: I have idea for you.
Me: Ok, what's your idea?
Ticketman: You zipline 10 minutes from now.
Me: You mean we wait 10 minutes, and then our turn?
Ticketman: Yes. We had cancel.
Me: OK! Sign us up!

And that's how we went from a 4 hour wait to a 10 minute wait (we thanked Buddha for this one).

So, after our 10 minute wait, we headed up the elevator to the top of the zipline. Beside the zipline was a bungee jump, and I got scared looking at it. As we got higher and higher, I worried that I would be too scared to zipline, after the debacle of a time I had trying to bungee.

At the top, we got our instructions, and then waited out turn. The guys strapped us in, I got butterflies, and then the doors opened and we were off. "AHHHHHHHHH....ohhhh, this is soooo coooool" was what came out of my mouth. Needless to say, it was WAY better than bungee jumping. Here are some pix from the 'line...

Practicing

See ya later, Korea!

I'm on my way, Nami Island!

Landing Time

Once we landed, the first thing on our mind was FOOD! So we hopped into a chicken place, and had a bbq chicken/soup/rice meal. Then it was time to explore the island. Here are some pictures of the recycled trash I mentioned above, along with general pictures from the island.

Looking out over the water, between the "Soju Walls"

Scariest statue ever...a woman breastfeeding her son.

Recycling old shoes to use as planters.

I love this pond...and the "fish" seem easy to care for.

"Rockfish"

Wishing Gourds on trees all over the island

The newest actors in Winter Sonata...I think we can pull it off!

The "streets" were lined with trees, with no telephone or electricity lines anywhere!

Bottom of glass Soju bottles cut off and hung like a chandelier.

Soju Bottles, Makgeolli Bottles, and a Bike Wheel.

Walls of melted Soju bottles

Once we had explored the island for hours, it was finally time to head back to the mainland, Korea. So, we start walking to the ferry (no zipline back..boo!!) and we see a line that looks to be about 2-3 hours long, going halfway through the island. Hmm...I wonder what that's for? Then we see it, ON AN ENGLISH SIGN "Line for Ferry" Ugh. REALLY? So, instead of getting in line, we go get coffee. Yeah, not the smartest idea. So we relax over some coffee and see the "Museum of Music" where they did NOT play any music!

We decide ok, let's make sure we don't need a ticket to the ferry, and then get in line. So Jessica asks the Namiseom Cop (crowd control) about a ticket and here's what transpires:

Jessica: "We ziplined onto the island, do we need a ticket to get on the ferry"
Cop: No ticket
Jessica: So. we don't need a ticket?
Cop: No.
Jessica: We just get in this.....liiinnee???
Cop: (looks around) 2 of you?
Me: Yes, just the 2 of us.
Cop: Come here
Me: Jess (as she had started walking away), let's go!
Cop: (leads us to the front of the herd - it wasn't really a LINE per say) Here.
Me: Ok, thanks!

Yup, we got to the front of the "line". No 3 hour wait for us. (Thanks again Buddha!)
We hopped on the next ferry, and within a few minutes we were walking back to the subway station.

Oh Buddha, you were really looking out for us. Thanks! Oh, wait...you're not done yet? Ok. Well, it's YOUR birthday...do as you wish!

So Jessica and I grab the train, and as we get on, we realize that it's not a subway train, but a REAL "tickets with assigned seats" train. Since we were already on, we plopped down on the floor in the "bike room" with some other Koreans. We had about 10 stops to go, so we were just happy to sit down this time. Then the train started going, past stop 1, past stop 2, and so on. Wow, we are going to make it home earlier than we thought!

Then it happened...the ticket man came through. He called out for tickets (or so I assume, as it was in Korean) and everyone in our room pulled out paper tickets. He glanced at them, said "OK" and Jessica and I shot each other nervous looks since we didn't have tickets. Then he left. Hmm, he'll probably come back to check ours. Yup, here he comes....right through the room. He doesn't stop for us. SWEET! So, we stay on the train till the next stop...which was the end of the line for the train, and the closest transfer to Jessica's house. PERFECT!

Buddha was looking out for us all day. No lines for us, and making our travel easier. It probably helped that we were the only foreigners around that day, but hey - sometimes it's good to be a foreigner :)

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes 

PS: Here's my zipling video!

My town has a gym...

...FINALLY something to do during the week!!!

About a month ago, we received huge news. A GYM HAS OPENED UP! Of course, I headed right over to see what it contained and let me tell you...I was PLEASANTLY surprised.

Floor 1: Lobby, locker rooms (with Sauna), showers, and a Lapped Pool! A POOL! A POOL!! Ok, I don't swim all that much, but it was exciting to have that option now!

Floor 2: WHAT?!?!?! TWO FLOORS!?!?! YES! The weight/cardio area hosts 5 treadmills (each with its own tv screen), weight machines, free weights, etc. The side room was padded to allow for yoga, stretching, non-weights workouts, cool downs. There is even an outside area to workout as well.

Needless to say, I bought a 2 month membership, and have frequented it at least 3 times a week (if not more). My legs are happy to be moving again....I have actually started to not mind the treadmill (I watch downloaded TV shows on my tablet while I run), and on Fridays I usually do a long treadmill workout followed by some body circuit training or swimming (while the pool is empty). When I swim, I almost ALWAYS see some of my students, and they LOVE to show off their swimming skills to me. Of course, my swimming isn't the best, so I am always impressed.

Since I haven't been to a Jimjibang (bathhouse) yet, I was surprised to see how naked the Koreans get. They are all very reserved in their dress (except their booty shorts), but once they get in the locker room, they strut around in their birthday suits. From the little kids changing into swimsuits to the old women hanging out in the sauna. I feel like I'm part of an all female nudist colony when I'm there!

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)


**My friend Adam made me a 4 week workout plan, and it was TOUGH but I finished it. It's perfect for me (it's a 3 day a week workout) and doesn't require a lot of equipment, so I can do the exercises while I travel as well!!

I parted the sea!!

You ever hear the story of  Moses parting the sea?  Whelp, now you can hear the story of Apes parting the sea. That's right, I work miracles. Well, maybe that's a stretch, but here's the story....

In the wee hours of the morning, Apes left her home of Jinan and headed on a new adventure. She was off to an area of South Korea called Jindo, to see the phenomenon of the parting sea.

Ok, enough of that...

Yes, this is about to happen!

 Here's the story behind the Jindo Sea Parting: 

"According to the local legend, a long time ago, there were many tigers on Jindo Island. When tigers began appearing frequently in the village, the people fled to Modo Island accidentally leaving behind an old woman named Ppong. The old lady longed to be reunited with her family and prayed for help night and day to the Dragon King of the Sea. Then, one night, the Dragon King appeared to her in a dream and told her to cross the sea by walking on the rainbow that he will provide for her. When she awoke the next morning, she ran to the sea and saw the sea part."

Ppong and the Tiger

I arrived in Jindo around 3pm and our 4 buses unloaded at the Sea Parting Festival. We put on rain boots as we knew we were walking into the sea.

New boots, or rubber socks?

 Once outfitted in our sea walking clothes, we watched traditional Korean dances,  played with Jindo puppies, had some Korean food (I finally tried the penis fish**!), took tons of photos, and ran into friends from other trips I had been on, and then it was time.

Penis Fish!

We started walking from the main land toward the island of Modo (no, not Mordor!), wading through the water. The water never reached our knees, and soon enough it was getting more shallow. As we walked, the sea started to part. By the time we were a little over half way to the island,  it was completely parted. We were in the middle of the sea,  with water on both sides of us,  but sea rocks in front and behind us, connecting the mainland to Modo Island.

A parade had started on the island, and flag carriers and a band of drums came barreling through the path. Everyone was singing and dancing and enjoying the special event. 

The Koreans all pulled out buckets and shovels and started digging in the mud. They pulled out clams, squids, and even starfish.  I got a starfish myself (it was already dead) and got a few shells.  We followed the parade back to the mainland, and as we were on our way back, the tide came in and the sea started to rejoin, and the water was ROUGH! It was coming in quick, and we had to hurry back! Once back, we reunited with our friends, and within a few minutes the sea was back to normal, with no sight of any "parting" taken place. 

Ghamsamnidah,

Apes

**The rest of my pictures wouldn't load for some reason, so check them out in my South Korea album.

Butterfly Festival

Yeah, Yeah. Butterflies. Wow. Exciting. Etc. No, I don't get super hyped over them either, but hey, it was included in my sea parting festival in Jindo and that was something I wasn't missing...so I went to the Butterfly Festival as well.

In Hapyeong, our 4 buses pulled up to the Butterfly Festival at about 11am. We had a full day ahead of us, and our first "event" was "freeing the butterflies!" We got out containers of butterflies, spread into the field of yellow flowers, and all at once we released our butterflies. We had to more or less shake the butterflies out, but it was still pretty awesome.

Afterwards, we headed to see the children catching the boars (we weren't allowed to..LAME) and then explored the rest of the festival.

We had festival food (ice cream, slushies, even kebabs!!), took tons of silly pix, and participated in everything we could!

I went Mudfish Catching - I get into a huge mud pit (reminded me of Oozeball back at Longwood) and dug my hands into the murky water looking for fish. A korean man saw me working hard, and gave me one. When I tried to show my friends, it flopped out back into the mud. This happened 2 more times. Then, I reached my hands back into the mud, ready to give up...when I felt it. A little slither under my hand. So I mashed my hand down further, and was able to scoop up the little fish. I slammed it to the sidewalk so I wouldn't lose it like I lost the others, and was beyond pleased with myself. I felt like a cat who brings a dead bird to its owner. "LOOK WHAT I CAUGHT!"

After I was cleaned up from my ONE fish catching, it was off to make weed flutes, and see the baby animals. Ducks, goats, cows...all the normal animals you would see at a carnival back home! Then we smoked some edamame over a fire we made, and it was tasty!

Here are some of my pictures from the festival...

Butterfly Mountain?

Apes and her Butterflies!

"RELEASE THE HOUNDS!...err....BUTTERFLIES!!!"

Butterflies are born to fly free

Why are the bugs so big?!!?

Just a little Vadering going on.

I CAUGHT SOMETHING!

Mudfishing

 

3 tries, but finally produced a fish!

Just cooking up an Edamame snack.

The group I spend the day with.

 Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)