Well, not a whole lot has happened the past month but the new semester is on its way. Last week was just general introductions and classroom rules and this week is the first "teaching" that I have done in almost 3 months. We will see how it goes. I will be teaching the 1st and 2nd grade middle school kids again, which I am excited about as I didn't really enjoy the 2nd graders last year and they have moved to grade 3 which I don't teach. I can't believe that over 6 months goes by and I am starting to book flights for my trip home and also polishing up my resume to start looking for a job. This has been a great experience thus far and even though I don't feel like I am completely immersed in Korean culture I think that when I reflect back on this time I will feel like I learned a lot more than I do now.
It is good to get back into some sort of a routine and be able to know if it is a Tuesday or Saturday. The last couple of months with traveling, camps and going time off it has been a struggle identifying what day it has been. It is amazing how many trips and parties that there are here as I look at my schedule for the next few weeks it seems that there is something going on every weekend for at least a month. I guess when people are away from their family and friends they adopt all the native speakers in the area as their new support group and create events to help them celebrate different things.
This past weekend we went on a booze cruise, it was a bit different than I expected but still a good time. I was surprised by the number of Koreans on the boat and was hoping that they did not get too offended by all the drunk foreigners that had taken over the boat. This week there are some St. Patrick's Day festivities but I will miss going to Dogtown for the parade and partying that comes with it. Have some green beer for me!!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Crouching Tiger, Riding Elephants
I got back from Thailand a few days ago and had an amazing time down there. The pictures that I put up on facebook really tell the story of what we did down there but I guess I will go into a little bit more details. The flight that I booked was pretty cheap but the layovers were extremely long. I had a 9 hour layover during the day on the way down and an 8 hour layover that was overnight, meaning sleeping at the airport. The other bad thing about the layovers were they occurred in China, which means no leaving the airport without a Visa. If I had 9 hours to explore a city I would have been very happy but instead I tried to get on an earlier flight but it was completely booked so I got to know the Beijing airport pretty well. All in all though the layover wasn't too bad, played on the free computers that they had at the airport and then got some food and studied a little Korean and then bumped into a couple of teachers from Incheon randomly that were going to the Philippines so we grabbed a beer before my flight to Bangkok. Another bonus was the person next to me didn't show up so I had both seats to myself so I was able to stretch and enjoy the ride down.
Once on the ground in Thailand it was nonstop for a while. I met another teacher in Thailand, Tom, and luckily a bed at the hostel that he was staying at opened up so we went onto Khao San Road for a little bit and then called it a night. The next day we went to a number of palaces and temples in Bangkok but the best of course was the Grand Palace which was beautiful. I think that you could have taken a picture every 10 feet as there was so much there. After a busy day of walking around Bangkok we went to the train station and caught our overnight train to Chaing Mai. The train was only supposed to take 13 hours but ended up taking 15 as I think we were averaging about 40 miles an hour the entire way. It wasn't too bad as we had a sleeper car but it was still a really long time. We met a couple of cool people on the train and were able to have a few drinks and share some stories.
The hostel that we stayed at in Chaing Mai was great. It is an actual house in a gated residential area so it is super quite and everyone at the hostel hangs out together. Once we checked in we just dropped off our bags and started the adventure. We didn't know before hand but saw on the tuk tuk we took to the hostel that there was a Tiger Kingdom in Chaing Mai, since we both wanted to pet a tiger we figured that would be a good place to start. We got a tuk tuk driver to take us out there and ended up keeping him for pretty much the entire day for 300 baht or roughly $10 for about 5 hours of driving us around. We went to the tigers and it was one of the coolest things that I have done. It is nice because these tigers were born there and had constant human contact and therefore didn't have to be sedated. We went and saw the smallest tigers (2-4 month) and the medium (11-13 month) and each were great in their own way. I am not going to lie when we got into the medium tiger are I was a little scared at first but that quickly subsided when it rolled over on its back and the trainer rubbed its belly like Frisco. After the tigers we went and saw some monkeys which was good and bad. We felt bad for them as they were chained up but it was fun watching them eat a banana or do some tricks for us.
The next day we did our day trek which cost about $30 for the entire day, we went hiking in the jungle and across some rice fields and then we got to the elephant farm. We got to ride on an elephant for an hour which was pretty cool, they really are massive animals. After riding we had lunch and then we hiked out of the jungle and took a truck up to where we would do our rafting. They called it white water rafting but there was only one section that we went through that had any sort of rapids. Regardless is was nice to be out on the water and also see the jungle that surrounds the river. While everyone was drying off a couple of elephants and their riders came down and took a bit a bath in the river which was pretty cool to watch. After that we headed home and explored the city a little bit that night. The last day in Chiang Mai we went to one of the temples and then played a round of golf. It was great to get out and play on a real course even though I didn't play very well it was still a lot of fun. The last night in Chiang Mai we went out with maybe 8-10 people that were staying at the hostel and went to 3 different bars/clubs. It was a great time and was pretty cheap. We ended up buying a bottle of vodka at each bar for about $25 each but the weird thing was that you had to pay also for the ice and mixers but still pretty cheap. The only bad part was we went out on Wednesday night and it wasn't too crowded at the last club that we went to, but the place looked like a club in Vegas, different rooms, lots of lights and just a really cool looking place.
We flew back to Bangkok and just relaxed for the last couple of days sitting at the rooftop pool at the hotel we stayed at and got our last few pad thais before we headed back to Korea. I had a 8 hour layover in Beijing again over night so I slept in the airport which was a bit chilly and uncomfortable but wasn't unbearable. The worst part of coming home was knowing that I had just left 35 degree temperatures and it was -10 back in Korea. All in all the trip was great and if you ever have a chance to go to Thailand I suggest you do it is a great place to visit and provides a little bit of everything you could be looking for.
Once on the ground in Thailand it was nonstop for a while. I met another teacher in Thailand, Tom, and luckily a bed at the hostel that he was staying at opened up so we went onto Khao San Road for a little bit and then called it a night. The next day we went to a number of palaces and temples in Bangkok but the best of course was the Grand Palace which was beautiful. I think that you could have taken a picture every 10 feet as there was so much there. After a busy day of walking around Bangkok we went to the train station and caught our overnight train to Chaing Mai. The train was only supposed to take 13 hours but ended up taking 15 as I think we were averaging about 40 miles an hour the entire way. It wasn't too bad as we had a sleeper car but it was still a really long time. We met a couple of cool people on the train and were able to have a few drinks and share some stories.
The hostel that we stayed at in Chaing Mai was great. It is an actual house in a gated residential area so it is super quite and everyone at the hostel hangs out together. Once we checked in we just dropped off our bags and started the adventure. We didn't know before hand but saw on the tuk tuk we took to the hostel that there was a Tiger Kingdom in Chaing Mai, since we both wanted to pet a tiger we figured that would be a good place to start. We got a tuk tuk driver to take us out there and ended up keeping him for pretty much the entire day for 300 baht or roughly $10 for about 5 hours of driving us around. We went to the tigers and it was one of the coolest things that I have done. It is nice because these tigers were born there and had constant human contact and therefore didn't have to be sedated. We went and saw the smallest tigers (2-4 month) and the medium (11-13 month) and each were great in their own way. I am not going to lie when we got into the medium tiger are I was a little scared at first but that quickly subsided when it rolled over on its back and the trainer rubbed its belly like Frisco. After the tigers we went and saw some monkeys which was good and bad. We felt bad for them as they were chained up but it was fun watching them eat a banana or do some tricks for us.
The next day we did our day trek which cost about $30 for the entire day, we went hiking in the jungle and across some rice fields and then we got to the elephant farm. We got to ride on an elephant for an hour which was pretty cool, they really are massive animals. After riding we had lunch and then we hiked out of the jungle and took a truck up to where we would do our rafting. They called it white water rafting but there was only one section that we went through that had any sort of rapids. Regardless is was nice to be out on the water and also see the jungle that surrounds the river. While everyone was drying off a couple of elephants and their riders came down and took a bit a bath in the river which was pretty cool to watch. After that we headed home and explored the city a little bit that night. The last day in Chiang Mai we went to one of the temples and then played a round of golf. It was great to get out and play on a real course even though I didn't play very well it was still a lot of fun. The last night in Chiang Mai we went out with maybe 8-10 people that were staying at the hostel and went to 3 different bars/clubs. It was a great time and was pretty cheap. We ended up buying a bottle of vodka at each bar for about $25 each but the weird thing was that you had to pay also for the ice and mixers but still pretty cheap. The only bad part was we went out on Wednesday night and it wasn't too crowded at the last club that we went to, but the place looked like a club in Vegas, different rooms, lots of lights and just a really cool looking place.
We flew back to Bangkok and just relaxed for the last couple of days sitting at the rooftop pool at the hotel we stayed at and got our last few pad thais before we headed back to Korea. I had a 8 hour layover in Beijing again over night so I slept in the airport which was a bit chilly and uncomfortable but wasn't unbearable. The worst part of coming home was knowing that I had just left 35 degree temperatures and it was -10 back in Korea. All in all the trip was great and if you ever have a chance to go to Thailand I suggest you do it is a great place to visit and provides a little bit of everything you could be looking for.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
It's been a while...
I know that I have put anything up in a while and was thinking of good reasons why I hadn't, but have come to the conclusion that there really is no reason. I didn't have a whole lot to say before Christmas and then the holidays and break came a long and just never got around to typing one up. So here is the last month or so condensed into sections:
Christmas- Even though it did not feel like Christmas here we still managed to have a good time. In Korea they do not celebrate Christmas like we do back home. Here it is more of a couples holiday and not so much about family. They have these massive Christmas Eve parties at bars much like New Years Eve for single people to go out and drink away their sorrows. We all went to one of the western style bars that we frequent and a group of 12 or so all dressed up in our animal onesies that we picked up from www.sazac.com. They are fantastic and we will be using them again on an Ice Festival that we are going to. I have a Panda and considering getting a few more before I head back home. We stayed there drinking and playing darts until the wee hours in the morning. When I got home I talked to Mom and Dad and saw the nice snow that dropped in Washington. Definitely looked more like Christmas through Skype. I then took a little nap and skyped with everyone at the Christmas Eve dinner at my sisters which looked fantastic. We talked for about an hour during dinner and then I got ready for our Christmas dinner here in Korea. A group of 11 from the orientation group that I was in went into Seoul and had a western style Christmas meal at an Irish pub. The food was great and it was a buffet so we got our fill. After we ate we thought about going ice skating but decided to head back to Incheon as most people had pretty late nights on Christmas Eve. Went back to a bar and played some drinking games, definitely not like a Christmas back home, and went to a couple of other places and then went home. Unlike in the US they do not roll holidays over here which kind of sucks as Christmas and New Years fell on Saturdays this year, meaning two holidays that we do not get to enjoy a day off for. All in all it was a good time but definitely different than what I am used to. Thanks again to my family for sending my stocking, it was hung up on my wall for a few weeks and helped remind me of the Christmas that I am used to. After Christmas I had a few days left of classes and then a teacher hike and dinner. The area that we hiked has been infected with hoof and mouth disease so we had to eat eel. It is very expensive here but I would have rather had beef, chicken or pork. If you haven't you need to watch the video I have on the freshness of the eel. While at dinner I did get some good news. Most native teachers have to come to school even though nobody is there and they don't do anything, we call it "desk warming." I found out from my co-teacher that I did not need to do this for the remainder of the year and wouldn't have to go to school until after I got back from Australia which was an awesome New Years present.
New Years Eve- As always NYE seems to be something that people never really know what they are going to do and try to build up as much as possible. It is no different here in Korea. Not many people really knew what they were going to do except go to Seoul and stay out late. I am used to parties at bars or going to houses and haven't actually just been at a bar like normal in a while for NYE. A group of us met up and went to a bar and started the night off, some people came and left but we were there until the New Year. It was weird leading up to midnight as nobody was really paying any attention and we checked our phones and realized that it was like 3 minutes away. We thought that we were going to have to rely on our phones for it but the bar put on a countdown on the TV with about 15 seconds left. They did the countdown we celebrated with sparklers and well wishes but most of the Koreans in the bar didn't do a whole lot. After midnight I met up with some other people at a club (I had to sneak into it as they were not letting any more foreigners in there) for a little bit but we soon decided to leave as it was really really crowded. We met up with someone's friend at another bar and a had a lot of fun there dancing on poles and chatting with new people. In Korea it is important to see the first sunrise of the year as it is supposed to bring you good luck for the year. We did our best and decided to take the metro home around 5:45 or so. By the time I got home it was about 7AM and in fact I did get to see the sun but don't really think I saw it rise. I guess that is good enough though. When I got home I packed the last few things for my trip to Australia and got a few hours of sleep before leaving for the airport.
Australia- What a great trip!! Even though I didn't do a whole lot it was so great to be in Melbourne. Things that I no longer took for granted were once again available, such as going to a bathroom and knowing that they have paper towels and there isn't a squatter in there or being able to ask for directions in English or being able to play on grass. In was a welcome break from Korea and the weather was fantastic. I did do a bit of sight seeing and went to the Aquarium, Zoo, Remembrance Museum, Rod Laver Arena (Australian Open will start next week), St. Kilda beach, Victoria Market, and some other small things. I had my first couch surfing experience and it was great. My host picked me up from the airport and we hung out all day on Sunday and then she let me know of some places to go for the rest of my trip. The public transportation in Melbourne is great as trams and buses pretty much cover all areas and are easily accessible. I bought a week long pass with unlimited rides for like $30 which wasn't too bad. That was the only thing that was cheap in Australia though. It was like $8 for a footlong meatball sub at Subway and like $7 for a beer and $9 for a mix drink. However, I was able to save a little bit on lodging expenses and didn't really eat breakfast or go out too much. I spent 3 nights with Helena (couch surfing host) and then stayed 3 nights at a hostel by Victoria market. I have put up some pictures from the Aquarium and Zoo and will try and upload the other photos sometime this week but am having internet issues at home that I will need to try and straighten out.
So right now I am doing a couple of winter camps which are kind of strange as I am averaging about 3 students a class. It is hard to do activities and games with so few of students, but I only have to be at school for like 4 hours a day and go in at 11:30 so I can't complain too much. I will have another week of these camps and then I leave for Thailand on the 22nd for some more warm weather. After Thailand I will be doing one class a day when I get back and then I think we start back up after the Lunar New Year. Then it is back to the normal routine and getting to know some new students. I can't believe that it is already January, it feels like I have only been here for a couple of months not the almost 5 that it is. New Years resolution one is to try and get better at Korean but that is easier said than done especially since I haven't studied in like 3 weeks.
Christmas- Even though it did not feel like Christmas here we still managed to have a good time. In Korea they do not celebrate Christmas like we do back home. Here it is more of a couples holiday and not so much about family. They have these massive Christmas Eve parties at bars much like New Years Eve for single people to go out and drink away their sorrows. We all went to one of the western style bars that we frequent and a group of 12 or so all dressed up in our animal onesies that we picked up from www.sazac.com. They are fantastic and we will be using them again on an Ice Festival that we are going to. I have a Panda and considering getting a few more before I head back home. We stayed there drinking and playing darts until the wee hours in the morning. When I got home I talked to Mom and Dad and saw the nice snow that dropped in Washington. Definitely looked more like Christmas through Skype. I then took a little nap and skyped with everyone at the Christmas Eve dinner at my sisters which looked fantastic. We talked for about an hour during dinner and then I got ready for our Christmas dinner here in Korea. A group of 11 from the orientation group that I was in went into Seoul and had a western style Christmas meal at an Irish pub. The food was great and it was a buffet so we got our fill. After we ate we thought about going ice skating but decided to head back to Incheon as most people had pretty late nights on Christmas Eve. Went back to a bar and played some drinking games, definitely not like a Christmas back home, and went to a couple of other places and then went home. Unlike in the US they do not roll holidays over here which kind of sucks as Christmas and New Years fell on Saturdays this year, meaning two holidays that we do not get to enjoy a day off for. All in all it was a good time but definitely different than what I am used to. Thanks again to my family for sending my stocking, it was hung up on my wall for a few weeks and helped remind me of the Christmas that I am used to. After Christmas I had a few days left of classes and then a teacher hike and dinner. The area that we hiked has been infected with hoof and mouth disease so we had to eat eel. It is very expensive here but I would have rather had beef, chicken or pork. If you haven't you need to watch the video I have on the freshness of the eel. While at dinner I did get some good news. Most native teachers have to come to school even though nobody is there and they don't do anything, we call it "desk warming." I found out from my co-teacher that I did not need to do this for the remainder of the year and wouldn't have to go to school until after I got back from Australia which was an awesome New Years present.
New Years Eve- As always NYE seems to be something that people never really know what they are going to do and try to build up as much as possible. It is no different here in Korea. Not many people really knew what they were going to do except go to Seoul and stay out late. I am used to parties at bars or going to houses and haven't actually just been at a bar like normal in a while for NYE. A group of us met up and went to a bar and started the night off, some people came and left but we were there until the New Year. It was weird leading up to midnight as nobody was really paying any attention and we checked our phones and realized that it was like 3 minutes away. We thought that we were going to have to rely on our phones for it but the bar put on a countdown on the TV with about 15 seconds left. They did the countdown we celebrated with sparklers and well wishes but most of the Koreans in the bar didn't do a whole lot. After midnight I met up with some other people at a club (I had to sneak into it as they were not letting any more foreigners in there) for a little bit but we soon decided to leave as it was really really crowded. We met up with someone's friend at another bar and a had a lot of fun there dancing on poles and chatting with new people. In Korea it is important to see the first sunrise of the year as it is supposed to bring you good luck for the year. We did our best and decided to take the metro home around 5:45 or so. By the time I got home it was about 7AM and in fact I did get to see the sun but don't really think I saw it rise. I guess that is good enough though. When I got home I packed the last few things for my trip to Australia and got a few hours of sleep before leaving for the airport.
Australia- What a great trip!! Even though I didn't do a whole lot it was so great to be in Melbourne. Things that I no longer took for granted were once again available, such as going to a bathroom and knowing that they have paper towels and there isn't a squatter in there or being able to ask for directions in English or being able to play on grass. In was a welcome break from Korea and the weather was fantastic. I did do a bit of sight seeing and went to the Aquarium, Zoo, Remembrance Museum, Rod Laver Arena (Australian Open will start next week), St. Kilda beach, Victoria Market, and some other small things. I had my first couch surfing experience and it was great. My host picked me up from the airport and we hung out all day on Sunday and then she let me know of some places to go for the rest of my trip. The public transportation in Melbourne is great as trams and buses pretty much cover all areas and are easily accessible. I bought a week long pass with unlimited rides for like $30 which wasn't too bad. That was the only thing that was cheap in Australia though. It was like $8 for a footlong meatball sub at Subway and like $7 for a beer and $9 for a mix drink. However, I was able to save a little bit on lodging expenses and didn't really eat breakfast or go out too much. I spent 3 nights with Helena (couch surfing host) and then stayed 3 nights at a hostel by Victoria market. I have put up some pictures from the Aquarium and Zoo and will try and upload the other photos sometime this week but am having internet issues at home that I will need to try and straighten out.
So right now I am doing a couple of winter camps which are kind of strange as I am averaging about 3 students a class. It is hard to do activities and games with so few of students, but I only have to be at school for like 4 hours a day and go in at 11:30 so I can't complain too much. I will have another week of these camps and then I leave for Thailand on the 22nd for some more warm weather. After Thailand I will be doing one class a day when I get back and then I think we start back up after the Lunar New Year. Then it is back to the normal routine and getting to know some new students. I can't believe that it is already January, it feels like I have only been here for a couple of months not the almost 5 that it is. New Years resolution one is to try and get better at Korean but that is easier said than done especially since I haven't studied in like 3 weeks.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
First Snowboarding trip...
So the group that I went to the island with put on a snowboarding trip last weekend and we had a great time. The mountain isn't huge but I am not that good so it works out pretty well. There was a good group of people that went so we had a good time on the mountain and off. It is amazing how crowded it was for this early in season, can't imagine how it will be in January when it is in full swing. I am hoping to go again in a couple of weeks to another resort that I bought a pass to for the season. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to make it down all the runs without falling. All in all everything is still going good here. No new news on the old North/South bit but I try and read the news to make sure I am not missing anything. It is starting to get cold here and coming to the realization that my room does not stay that warm, might have to bring a space heater to school with me. I can't believe that Christmas is almost two weeks away, where did the year go?!?! I did receive my stocking today early from Santa so I am pretty excited about that. All in all just winding down the school year and getting ready for my trips in January. I am going to Melbourne for the first week in January and then Thailand the last week in January. If anyone has any suggestions on things that I should see or visit please let me know as I haven't done much research as of yet. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and getting all the Christmas shopping done.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
November...
Well I just realized that I have not put a post up here in over a month so I figured that I should do something about that. There hasn't been a whole lot to talk about lately so I guess that is the main reason that I haven't written anything. My life has gotten into a pretty steady routine with working during the week and going out on the weekends. During the week I have a couple of Korean classes and language exchanges as well as go to the gym and golfing so I keep pretty busy.
Since my last post I had a birthday party at a really small Mexican restaurant in Incheon. The food was pretty good and there was a good sized group of people to help me celebrate so that was a good time. I am going to have to go to the restaurant again to get a better taste of the food. We literally had the entire place packed and they were stopping people from ordering because they were that far behind. At one point the lady had to go to the store and get more supplies as we had eaten everything already. All in all though it was fun and I am glad that I have met a lot of people here in order to celebrate.
We also just had Thanksgiving here. A group of us got together at a friends apartment and tried to make the most of the holiday away. There are a few places in Seoul that do "to go" turkey meals so we got one of those. The food was good but the sides portions were a little small which was a little disappointing. Nevertheless it was still good to celebrate with people and get a little bit of that taste from back home.
Other than those two things everything is pretty much going as routine. As I am sure everyone is aware of last Tuesday there was an attack on an island off the coast of Incheon and people were talking about that for a little bit but it appears as things have calmed down. This weekend I am going to be going snowboarding with a group here which should be fun. I am interested to see how the mountains in Korea compare to Colorado. It actually snowed last night here and I was with a couple of Californians that had never seen it snow before so it was cool for them. I am not looking forward to the long, cold winter though. There are only about 2 weeks of school until finals and then it is Christmas, New Years and my trip to Melbourne. I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks as it should be a good time.
Since my last post I had a birthday party at a really small Mexican restaurant in Incheon. The food was pretty good and there was a good sized group of people to help me celebrate so that was a good time. I am going to have to go to the restaurant again to get a better taste of the food. We literally had the entire place packed and they were stopping people from ordering because they were that far behind. At one point the lady had to go to the store and get more supplies as we had eaten everything already. All in all though it was fun and I am glad that I have met a lot of people here in order to celebrate.
We also just had Thanksgiving here. A group of us got together at a friends apartment and tried to make the most of the holiday away. There are a few places in Seoul that do "to go" turkey meals so we got one of those. The food was good but the sides portions were a little small which was a little disappointing. Nevertheless it was still good to celebrate with people and get a little bit of that taste from back home.
Other than those two things everything is pretty much going as routine. As I am sure everyone is aware of last Tuesday there was an attack on an island off the coast of Incheon and people were talking about that for a little bit but it appears as things have calmed down. This weekend I am going to be going snowboarding with a group here which should be fun. I am interested to see how the mountains in Korea compare to Colorado. It actually snowed last night here and I was with a couple of Californians that had never seen it snow before so it was cool for them. I am not looking forward to the long, cold winter though. There are only about 2 weeks of school until finals and then it is Christmas, New Years and my trip to Melbourne. I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks as it should be a good time.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Hong Kong...
So last weekend I made my first trip outside of Korea and it was a great time. Went to Hong Kong and met up with a friend from college that I haven't seen in 4 or 5 years (Barry Timmons). He has been in Hong Kong for almost 4 years so new the lay of the land which was great. I didn't get into Hong Kong until around 11:30PM so we hung out for a bit on the roof of his building, which provided a great view of the city at night) and then decided to go out. We went to a bar that had a membership fee to get in (something like $5000 a year) but met up with one of his friends who knew the bouncers so we were able to get in. We ended up staying there until about 5AM and then went to some noodle house with some people we had met. This place was really crowded at 5AM, there are so many people in Hong Kong from all over the world it is amazing. So we got home around 6 and went straight to bed. I actually woke up at 9:30 and took a shower and wandered around the city for a couple of hours and headed back to Barry's apartment and we then went and grabbed some Chinese for lunch. We went all around the city, most notably Stanley, and checked out a lot of shopping areas and saw a lot of other things in the city. The next time that I am there I would like to go to The Peak and also Macau if possible. I wasn't able to get any pictures on Saturday as I broke my camera the night before which kind of sucked but I was able to take it to a Nikon store in Incheon and they should be able to fix it. Saturday night we met up with some more of their friends and went to a tapas style restaurant. It was nice to get a chance to get another cuisines as Incheon is very limited on the selection and I don't make into to Seoul to often to eat. After dinner we went by Soho and it was packed and kind of looked like this picture
We only stayed there for a little bit and then went to another bar that we could actually sit down at. We were only out until 1 or 2 and called it a night. The next day we had brunch and then I went to the airport for my flight. All in all it was a lot of fun and the weather was great. There was supposed to be a typhoon coming through pretty much exactly when I was there and they were saying it was going to be the worst one in 50 years, but between Wed-Fri it slowed down and it was sunny and 80 degrees the whole time I was there. I am sure that I will go back there sometime again during the winter to escape the cold here in Korea.
We only stayed there for a little bit and then went to another bar that we could actually sit down at. We were only out until 1 or 2 and called it a night. The next day we had brunch and then I went to the airport for my flight. All in all it was a lot of fun and the weather was great. There was supposed to be a typhoon coming through pretty much exactly when I was there and they were saying it was going to be the worst one in 50 years, but between Wed-Fri it slowed down and it was sunny and 80 degrees the whole time I was there. I am sure that I will go back there sometime again during the winter to escape the cold here in Korea.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Field Trip to Wolmido...
Well last Friday I went on a field trip with the 2nd grade middle school kids to a place on the edge of Incheon called Wolmido. I feel like it is close to a Coney Island type feel even though I haven't been there as there are some rides, a lot of little shops and restaurants and it is on the water. The field trip was way different than anything that we I have ever been to in the US. We all met at the location opposed to taking a bus there and all the students checked in and were pretty much free to do what they want the rest of the day. The teachers just went to a restaurant and hung out and ate food which was prepared by the parents and sent with the students. We were there for about 3 hours and then we walked a little bit around the area and then back to the main entrance where they took roll again. After that everyone was sent home. I have a few pictures on my camera but broke it while in Hong Kong and will hopefully be able to get it fixed this week. I will put up another post on Hong Kong later this week.
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