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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jinju...

So I meant to put up this post earlier but kind of forgot about it. Last weekend a group of us went to the southern part of Korea to Jinju for the Lantern Festival mentioned in my last post. It was a really good time and here are some details. We left Seoul Express Bus Terminal around 9:15 and arrived in Jinju around 1:30 in the morning. Not the most fun sitting on a bus for 4 hours but the seats were actually pretty big and I was able to get a couple hours of sleep on the trip.

We then walked from the out of town bus terminal to the main area where the Lanterns were on the river. We got there about 10 minutes before they shut off at 2AM so we were able to get some pictures taken before it went dark (all the pictures are on facebook). We then proceeded to try and find a place for our group to sleep, only one of the hotels/motels that we went to had anyone awake at the front desk and Leona was able to decipher the notes on most of their doors saying that there were no rooms. We did find a place called Dong Bang that was a bit nicer and actually had a lobby closer to what we are used to in the US with someone at the desk all day. He was able to send us to a Jimjilbang that was fairly close (however went through the Jinju version of the red light district) and we were able to rest for a few hours.

If you don't know what they are go to the link attached to the word, but basically it is a bath house where you get orange outfits and there are separate floors for men and women and one mixed floor that is a sauna. You sleep on a blanket for the most part and people are scattered all over the place. I was smart enough to bring some ear plugs and was tired enough to sleep for 4 or 5 hours. Once we got Jinjuseong Fortress and walked around there for a bit.

A side note from the jimjilbang experience, there were some girls staring at the people that I was with as they probably don't see many foreigners and were giggling as we were waking people up. I thought that one of them was cute and figured, hey why not give them our number and see if they want to hang out later and maybe they can help us figure stuff out. So I leave my number for them on their blanket and they call but do not know much English, we text back in forth for a bit and yep they were down there for an interview for dental schools because they were seniors in high school. Yeah you gotta watch out for the ages here they could be 16 or 30.

Anyways back to the tourist stuff, so we walked around the Fortress and were stopped by a lady from the tourism department and they were asking people to take surveys on foreigners impressions of the city. She spoke English so we were talking to her as we filled out the survey and then she offered to help us find a place to stay. She said that she would call us back before noon and sure enough at 11:30 she called and had 2 rooms for us to stay in at the Lotte Motel right on the river. It was nice to have a place that we could put our bags, shower and know that we could go back and sleep.

Before going to the motel we stopped for lunch and got some traditional Jinju Bibimbap which they are known for in the area. It tasted like the regular bibimbap that I have had before but I guess there was something different. After eating we dropped off our stuff showered and rested a bit and then went and checked out a tent area with carnival type games and a few flea market type shops and finally grabbed dinner, which was some great samgyeopsal or Korean BBQ. Unfortunately it rained while we were at dinner and made things very muddy for the remainder of the evening. On the plus side it only rained for a little bit so we were able to walk around at night just had to watch our step.

For the night we wondered around the river and checked out all the festivities in the area and took lots of pictures and shot off a number of roman candles. There was an area where you could add to lanterns that they would be putting out on the river as well as an area that you could create your own lanterns. We went ahead and added to the existing lanterns to get our "culture" fix. After going up and down the river we decided to figure out if there was somewhere to go so we checked out a place by us and they sent us on the other side of the castle where there was more stuff to do. We went into a number of places looking for darts but apparently there were no bars/restaurants that had them in all of Jinju. We went to a few bars and then headed home as we were going to get the 11AM bus back into Incheon.

First mini trip...

So not a whole lot to report from the last week or so but I am going to southern Korea this weekend for the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival I don't really know what to expect but I am sure it will be a good time and it will be nice to get out of the city for a while and see some of the other areas of Korea. I am also hoping to get to Hong Kong in the coming weeks but need to straighten something out with American Express as the fraud protection won't let me buy my plane tickets. This week has been really boring as my school had midterms on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That means no classes and me sitting at my desk for 8 hours trying to figure out what to do. Also two of my classes were canceled yesterday as well as one today. So for the week I had a total of 6 classes. Needless to say it makes the time go by much much much slower. We tried to play some screen golf on Wednesday but the place that we went to was full, I am looking forward to swinging some sticks even though it won't be the same. I will also be getting a language exchange partner at this place called CulCom (Culture Complex). Basically it is a place that Koreans join to talk to native speakers. It cost money for them but it is free for us which is nice and you get to learn a little Korean in the process, hopefully I can pick some up as it has been slow going for the 7 weeks I have been here. I will have more to report after my trip. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!