Dan is becoming more artistic with his photos.

It's been a while. Apologies - but we have been busy and time has really gone by! Life is good, and we really enjoy Korea. There is a lot to experience in this country, and we are glad to be here during a time of growth. Lots of things are happening and being built - especially around our area. We have become accustomed to most of the experiences that would be considered culturally different, which is why I guess my writing has been less and less. There is less of a "shock value" to the stuff that we do and see - which I think is a good thing.

You will be happy to know that winter has arrived - well...what I consider to be winter. It consists of temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius and wearing sweaters and closed toe shoes. I think it is cold. Dan thinks it is nice. I am a wimp. Needless to say, the cold weather is fast approaching. Scary!

We have enjoyed a bit more of the Korean culture and visited a Makkeolli Town in a city near Gunsan. Makkeolli is a rice wine and tastes sweet but has a strange gritty texture to it. It looks like milk mixed with Sprite and is served in massive gold tea kettles. We visited a Makkeolli restaurant, and like all things we have experienced thus far, we got much more than we imagined. It is customary in Korean restaurants to buy the main thing of a meal, and everything else comes as a free side dish. For example, buy the beef to grill for your meal and get 30 side dishes along with it. So in a Makkeolli restaurant - buy the wine and get a 3 course meal. This meal was a little less than desirable and Dan and I had to force some of the "food" down. We were a little concerned about what we would do if the live, moving octopus that was on our neighbor's plate was served to us...but luckily, our waitress noticed our Western heritage and I think she knew better than to give us that.

Some of our new buddies in Makkeolli Town. They helped us get back to the bus station.


A drum beating competition that we luckily ran across one day.

We had a Halloween party at school this past Friday and enjoyed games, food and an extreme amount of candy. Apparently the teachers from last year did not dress up in costumes, so when Dan and I showed up as pirates the students were pretty excited. Who knew that a fake mustache and cardboard swords would be so thrilling?!? Until next time...and I promise to write sooner.


The younger students playing mummy wrap race. Hilarious.


The older students testing out their cup stacking abilities at the Halloween party. The only games that I could come up with were teamwork and leadership games - pretty boring, but they worked out okay!

Love, Rachel and Dan.

9 weeks...

9 weeks and counting...doesn't seem like that long, but as you can imagine, super very many* things have happened. (*Our students use "super very many" in any combination and order to describe things that are great in number. The phrase can be used for a wide range of topics, from an amount of money to the amount of intelligence one has. For example: "I am super very genius boy" is quite common. Hilarious.) The Korean adjustment process has come into its final stages, and we feel comfortable in most situations. We order food with confidence and ease (it may only be the same 2 dishes every time, but it feels good), we have become more accustomed to the stares in the street and the supermarket (except the ones from the older generations...they should know better), and we even freely welcome Korean lessons from our taxi drivers. Everything is going well, and school is progressing.

When we accepted our job positions in May, we weren't fully sure of the set up or the details of the school or the position. I haven't explained anything about our jobs yet, so will give some quick details. We work in a hagwon which is a small, private language academy. Korean students go to public school in the morning until about mid-afternoon (the older students go till about 5). They then go to various hagwons - there are English, Math and Science - to supplement their public school education. Some students are in a classroom from about 8 am to 10 pm. Needless to say, they are very smart...but this also has its negatives as well, especially when you are trying to teach the intricacies of the English language. I have included some photos of our students. As you might know, Dan and I are the only foreigners at the school, and the other three teachers are related. We work with Jennifer (our boss), her sister and her sister-in-law. It is a very nice environment, and we are enjoying ourselves.


These are our younger students - they are 10 and 11 years old in Korean years...making them about 8 or 9 in our years.


This is Jack. He likes to take our pencils and bite/lick the erasers and shove them in his nose and ears. He has super very many of our pencils.


The peace sign is very popular, making an appearance in all photos no matter sex, age, weight, height, marital status, or religious belief.


This is Nina, she is 7 in Korean years so about 5 in our years. She is wearing her P.E. uniform.


I love these colors.

Seoul and Fall Weather!

This blog is long overdue - but we were recently on holiday! This past week was a traditional Korean holiday called Chuseok. Dan and I ventured to the big city! Seoul is one of the most populated cities in the world with over 20 million in the center and outer lying areas. We had great time and stayed with some of our friends for the week. Luckily, we went at an opportune time because of the big Chuseok holiday, and for the first two days Seoul was (almost) empty. We had great tour guides - Dan's friend - Tom and my friend David. We were fortunate to have them because we might have been lost for days.

Most children still wear the traditional Korean dress on Chuseok, the very colorful Hanbok - I have a picture below (not a creepy picture, I asked the mother before taking it). We wanted to do some tourist things since it was our first time to the city, so we visited the Gyeongbukgong Palace. We were also able to go to Seoul Towers - a massive circular structure that overlooks the entire city. I did not take any pictures, mainly because the camera would not do justice to the amazing views. It is overwhelming to look at how far the city stretches and how extensive everything is. There is also TONS of shopping in Seoul (I restrained myself this time...) and more importantly tons of open air flea markets. These are, of course, our favorite type of places to shop. Just something exciting about cheap and unique crap. We always feel like we need more.


A part of the Gyeongbukgong Palace. It is one of the largest palaces in Korea.


Dan and I with the guards of Gyeongbukgong Palace - they don't smile.


A little girl in traditional Hanbok. They are all different and hand made - very beautiful. The little boy outfits are even better.

Anyway, went to a few very fun jazz bars and another restaurant/bar where the owner makes his own rice wine and tofu. Delicious. We are planning another trip soon, you can imagine with a city that big - we only touched the tip of the iceberg on the true Seoul experience. Despite the city being amazing, etc. etc. - Dan and I are really pleased that we live in our city. It has allowed us to immerse ourselves a bit more in the Korean lifestyle. If we were living in Seoul, we probably would've turned to things that made us immediately comfortable - and there are LOADS of western things in Seoul. Thusly, bring it on Gunsan.

On another note - the weather here has taken a turn for the better. The most delicious fall weather that I have ever experienced...well actually the only fall weather I have ever experienced. It is windy and cool outside - extremely pleasant and I could go on forever. So we are trying to take full advantage and spend time outside! We had a great holiday and will begin school again tomorrow. Cheers. We love you all x x (Many pictures below. Enjoy!!)


Koreans love shoes! This is a photo at one of the flea markets. Shoes everywhere.


A stop at the Korean War Museum. We spent a few hours here, very interesting and informative as you can imagine.


Dan, David and I at the bar that makes their own rice wine. As you can see - Dan is looking more and more Korean with every passing day.


WHAT! Black and Gold at the Dongdaemun Underground Market. Too good baby, too good. Apparently, they took an American shirt with English on it, then translated it into Korean and then untranslated it back to English. I can tell all of this because of the literal phrases that they use that are located above and under the Saints helmet - Shiny Gold and the best located underneath which you unfortunately cannot read: "Strong Man - I am enjoying the speed, a handsome man." And, of course, this shirt was created in honor of Archie Manning - which I am sure the Korean designers definitely knew to be...a handsome man.

Baseball and Temples

Greetings! We had a busy week and attended our first Korean baseball game (and Dan's first baseball game in general) with our Air Force friends. It was very exciting - we were cheering for the KIA Tigers, our home team, and they won 9-3. Korean baseball is much more active than American baseball due to smaller field dimensions and less steroids. It made for an interesting and fun game! Sadly, however, this was one of our last outings with the military guys. A few are leaving Korea and are being shipped out to either Iraq or Afghanistan. We will miss their company.

On Saturday, we decided that we were in need of some sightseeing, and we ventured to our first temple. We went to Eunjeok-san, a local Buddhist temple located at the base of one of the hiking trails in Wolmeyong Park. It was very peaceful and calm, and we were excited to see some of the amazing architecture and painting. After several hours of deep meditation and mental cleansing, we went for an exciting walk on one of the mountain trails. There are a few massive structures located around the mountain. The picture below is the Susi Pagoda and it is a symbol of the city's defenses. This particular structure can be seen from around the city and is especially beautiful to see in the evening.

The Susi Pagoda in Wolmeyong Park. I thought this was particularly nice. It is in the shape of a flame and represents the prosperity and protection of Gunsan (I got that out of a guide book.)


Eunjeok-san Temple in its beautiful courtyard. The weather provided us with a slight misty rain that I thought added to the visit. There were a few other buildings that we were not allowed to enter, but were equally as beautiful. We assumed that these were for the monks living there.


This is the inside of the main temple. The entire temple - both inside and outside - is painted with bright and beautiful colors and with very intricate details. The Buddha statues were made in 1629 - they depict the perfect and well balanced postures that are practiced in Buddhism. I wish I could share all of the photos with you!

We then ventured into the local fish market. Here is a sample of some of the fish/squid/sting rays that they offer. We were not brave enough to buy a fish that we didn't know how to appropriately gut and fillet, so maybe next time.


After our walk, we treated ourselves to dinner. We decided to go for the traditional Korean meal as pictured below. It was delicious. The meat we had is called galbi - and we cooked it at our table and wrapped it in lettuce leaves. All of the sides were delicious - bar a few - one that looked like the skin of a spiny snake-snail hybrid.

The colors of the food are just as good as the food itself! I am grilling - I've become quite the cook over here :)



Here is Dan trying out the spiny skin thing. Naturally - he is much braver than I am. However, I will say that neither of us thought about trying the raw octopus that they brought out, or the flesh colored squiggly substance that accompanied the pieces of raw liver. Sick.

Until next time. We miss you.

Friends!

This weekend, we went out with our military friends again. One of them is being shipped to Iraq, so he was celebrating his last week in Korea and they wanted us to tag along. The night was fun (and long)! We ended up at a German Ice Bar and were served beers in mugs made of ice. Nothing special, but then we were able to throw our ice mugs at a target to win prizes. Needless to say, we definitely didn't win. We were in a very lively area of town, and happened to meet some Koreans playing games in the street. There are games set up - sort of like games at a fair - to measure your strength...basically how hard can you punch a punching bag, kick a soccer ball, etc. So there we were...4 Americans and a Brit in the middle of the street testing our strengths with an onlooking crowd of cheering Koreans. It was hilarious.


Our cheering buddies from the street.


Our military friends.

The next day, we went to a tourist area called Eun Pa Park. It is an extremely popular spot in the city and has a big walking trail and restaurants. It has a bridge that crosses over the lake that lights up in the evening with bright techno-colored lights, and there is also a music fountain that plays every hour. In the spring, the park has a cherry blossom path that will blossom as well. We took a stroll around the lake and listened to the live music being played in the park. It was very nice.


Dan in the stream at Eun Pa Park.


The bridge at sunset. The architecture of the bridge was very unique.


Here is the bridge lit up at night from across the lake. So colorful :)

Walking around Town...

We've taken a few walks around the neighborhood over the past few weeks, but I have not posted any pictures of the surrounding area. After visiting some of the different places in the city, we consider our area to be the "industrial" part of Gunsan. A lot of door and glass making businesses are located around here. Needless to say, the buildings are more run down and shabby than in other areas of Gunsan. However, there are very funny murals painted on various walls around the city, we assume these are to liven up and bring color to the streets. Since the other areas of the city are fresh and new, I suppose that the paintings are meant to bring a sense of pride and a future hope to the Gunsanians in this part of the city.


One of the few paintings on the walls. Must have to do with Art Vandelay's prosperous importing and exporting business that was set up in Gunsan (a Seinfeld joke for those who do not follow). As you can tell, most of my pictures are of Dan doing funny things.


This is a good one. Huge Korean girls playing on the beach.


Both of these paintings are across the street from this place. I put this here just to give you an idea of what the rest of our area looks like. I find it ironic. Images of a beautiful Gunsan...next to an interior decorating/remodeling business that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in 20 years and has been infested with hoarders. I wonder if they get any business.


But then you walk a few blocks - and you get stuff like this! This was on our walk in Wolmeyoung Park nearby. Lots of hiking and lots of statues and monuments. To me, these stairs have an Asian feel to them. Very cool.

O yeah - we found out about the special "bugs" that we ate. I have posted the picture again in case you have forgotten how delectable the look. They sell them in the grocery store. As it turns out, they are silkworm larvae. Disgusting.

The view from our apartment - the sunset is nice!

Dan and I continue to settle into our new teaching lifestyle, and are beginning to enjoy our jobs more everyday. We understand a little more "KorEnglish" and classes are becoming easier. However, we still have quite a ways to go! I started learning the Korean alphabet (not that difficult) and will hopefully begin reading it soon (very difficult). Dan is helping me learn Korean with his profound words of encouragement. He cannot wait until I get the hang of it.

Now for an interesting fact: Many of you may not know that Korea is not the hairiest of nations. Simply put, they do not have much hair on their arms or legs. Now, as many of you do know, Dan is quite the opposite, and this is extremely interesting and fascinating to many of the students - particularly the boys. Yesterday, Dan was in the library with students and received two sneaky, yet gentle strokes on the arm from a boy named Brad and the comment to follow: "Ah, you are very hairy!" Hilarious.

Before arriving, Dan and I often talked about making Korean friends. We were worried that we would not be able to bridge the language gap and that we would be doomed to only speak to each other for the entire year. Our worries were cast away last week when we were in E-Mart (a grocery store across the street). We sometimes sit in the air conditioned E-Mart with our fellow Koreans trying to escape the heat of our scorching apartment - it's like a big party. Normally, we get the blatant, body-turning stare, or the point and giggle, something we are still getting used to. However, one night, while drinking iced coffees and chatting about our day, a young girl (about 8 years old) came to our table bearing gifts - two vanilla McDonald's ice cream cones. As everyone knows, McDonald's is the ultimate symbol of acceptance :). She spoke fairly good English and told us that she wanted to give us the gifts. We were very thankful for our ice cream, and her actions showed us the truly welcoming nature of Koreans. We haven't seen her again, but I'm sure we will soon.


An artistic shot by Dan. And there I am with a small face and a big nose. I feel it getting bigger every day.

And finally, I would like to showcase a new game for the blog called: "What Doesn't Belong?". This weekend, Dan and I went to the "new downtown" of Gunsan - a place that we will be frequenting. Here are some photos from Naun-dong, please try to distinguish the places that do not belong:


Dunkin' Donuts is alright, but I am going to speak with the urban planners and developers to franchise a McKenzie's over here.


Surprised? I definitely was amazed when I saw this. Go figure that this city has the very restaurant that is the foundation of every New Orleanian's diet. I do not particularly like Popeyes (I know, crazy right?), but will have to eat it while here at least once, just based on principle alone. I dedicate this picture to Kory Zimmermann.

We love you all. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in the future.